The Last Kingdom

I am Uhtred, son of Uhtred.

King Alfred grows weaker each day

leaving Wessex vulnerable to enemies within.

Aethelwold is there?

They will march, from north to south, as a single army.

I too am now seen as a threat.

But I have promised to protect Alfred's daughter, Aethelflaed.

Your husband intends to kill you. I shall leave now and you must do the same.

Indeed, both Aethelred and Haesten wish her dead.

Saving her life has come at a high cost to me.

Skade in place of Aethelflaed.

And you are cursed once more, Uhtred of Bebbanburg.

I have been thinking about Ragnar and the likelihood of him killing me.

I should kill him first.

My brother has disowned me as a traitor.

And it is true.

You are no longer my brother!

I betrayed him by leaving him in the company of men without honour.

Destiny is all!

He is dead! He is dead!

Alfred's dead! He is dead! Alfred's dead!

The Saxon cur is no more! He is dead! Alfred is dead!

Jackdaw, is this true? How did you hear this?

It's all over the country, they say, he is dead!

Alfred has shat his precious soul out of his arsehole!

Ragnar! Alfred is dead! The Saxon shit is gone!

Ragnar!

Ragnar?

Ragnar...

Ragnar... Ragnar...

Take it. Close your hand. Ragnar. Ragnar, close your hand and take this.

Ragnar, take this.

Ragnar, take it! No! No! No, Ragnar! No!

No! No! No! No!

So he is dead. This is good news.

No! No!

Ragnar! Ragnar! Ragnar, no!

Move! Move!

Ragnar, no! No!

Who? Who did this?

His whore?

I will ask.

Ragnar Ragnarson, the only man amongst you is dead!

Who did this?

Cowards! All of you! You had to kill him while he was sleeping!

Brida, it was his woman, the knife was in her hand.

It is Ragnar's sword in her belly.

Why would he kill a woman he was trying to pup?

Why would she kill him? How?

Maybe it was you who killed him.

Her husband was ploughing another field, so the crazy bitch killed them both.

No. Bloodhair, no!

This is not the answer!

He was your leader! He was to give you wealth! Protection!

We go on! Nothing has changed.

Everything has changed!

We go on!

You have no leader.

Then I shall lead!

With Bloodhair.

We will bury Ragnar and we will march.

Then get it done and keep her quiet.

Release her.

Though I did not know him well. He was a good man, a brave warrior.

Are you going to behave?

You speak to him as if he understands?

He will not understand the words, but he will know I am a friend,

someone he can trust.

So, when the time comes to push him into battle, he will not hesitate.

Is that the way you treat your men?

You win their trust and expect them to follow?

It is not a game nor a strategy.

It is who you are.

A man who instils trust.

I would like you to kiss me.

And then?

Begin with a kiss and see where it leads.

- If you would rather not... - It is something I would enjoy...

and then regret.

Lady, in Erik, you chose someone you could not be with.

And I am the same.

I would not see you hurt again.

Who would have to know?

- Who would need to know...? - Skade.

Skade would know.

She would see everything I care for destroyed.

She must be found, recovered.

I would say it is impossible for you to recover her.

- I must. - How?

How? You cannot attack Beamfleot.

To fight Haesten's army, you will need an army.

My father is to join the Mercians at Aegelesburg.

I will meet him with our guards and Aethelred.

You will be safer there than here. It is a good decision.

I will tell the King of Haesten's attempt to kill me.

By attacking me, he has made himself an enemy of Wessex.

Come with me.

My father will forgive you.

And you will lead his men against Beamfleot.

I do not want his forgiveness.

Then use his army! Use his men!

And recover Skade. I offer you a way to end this curse.

Lord? We are ready for another chapter.

The country is rife with word of my death I am told?

So what a fright you shall be to the Danes.

Marching beyond Wessex and into Mercia,

to stand by the side of Aethelred and look them in the eye.

To look them in the eye.

Yes.

- Steapa, when you are ready. - Yes, Lord.

We march, men of Wessex!

We march!

Leave us.

Some of his men believe this to be a sign.

For Ragnar to die without his sword means the battle can't be won.

They are your men now.

You must convince them otherwise.

I won't prevent any man from returning north.

They have no leader.

We can lead, you and I.

This morning, you claimed that you would lead with Bloodhair and now you choose me?

I do not wish to bed Bloodhair.

Already we're divided.

Without Ragnar, we shall become separate tribes.

I will let you grieve.

You will find us at the river Ouse, one army.

It was either you or Bloodhair who killed Ragnar.

Brida, you cannot accept that his last night was spent with a whore

and that she killed him.

Who knows what goes on between a man and a woman?

Ragnar did not appreciate nor deserve your love.

We have lost a great warrior, a great man.

I know this better than most. Ragnar Ragnarson was my cousin.

And I am angry with him, because he deserved a better death!

Killed half naked, killed without his breeches and his sword!

Far from the battlefield! It is a death I fear most.

It is a death our great warrior, Bloodhair, fears most.

But we men standing here are fortunate men, the gods are with us.

Yes!

We have swords in hand and the battle ahead of us!

Land to be won, silver to be shared and Saxons to kill!

We are Danes, together!

- Together! - Together!

Together!

Osferth...

Fetch Uhtred, tell him we have a guest. A woman.

How can you tell it's a woman?

You have to ask?

Fetch Uhtred.

I knew you'd be with your princess.

Something has happened?

You left him.

Ragnar?

He had waited years for you to come home,

and within a matter of days, you were gone.

You should have left the Saxon bitch to die.

Where is he? I will go to him.

He's dead! Ragnar is dead!

He doesn't feast in Valhalla.

Instead, he lies under a pile of stones at a lake near Loidis!

There was no honour in his death.

None.

He will spend eternity in the cold of Niflheim,

because of you, Uhtred of Bebbanburg.

You chose her.

You chose Alfred, and you left him.

No, Sihtric.

I should kill you,

but I want you to live with the pain of his death.

He was your brother.

Uhtred, I...

My brother is dead.

Oh, God.

It is her, Skade, and her curse. It goes on and on.

Could it not be just life? Death comes to us all.

It is her. She must be recovered. We go to Alfred and to Aethelred.

We do?

And we beg for an army.

Once the last of Bloodhair's men have sailed up the Ouse,

we will march on Mercia and then Wessex.

He will have me send you to him, Bloodhair.

It is I who chooses who I sit with.

Lie with.

Kill.

You have only ever taken women. They do not give themselves to you.

Whether it is given or taken, I get what I want.

You may take my body, but you will not have my power.

I have one thousand men. That is power enough.

The man I choose, he will benefit greatly from Alfred's death.

But I will have to give myself to that man...

and only when it is earned.

Maybe I should just hump you now and be done with it.

Prove yourself, Lord.

Prove myself to a woman?

And I will allow you inside me and my power inside you.

Uhtred will come for me,

and if you are to take his place, then you must first kill him.

And then I am yours.

Riders.

Spears to the walls!