Seven kings would die in The Last Kingdom movie. That’s what the title told us had to happen. It was in the prophecy. Who were the seven kings?
The title of the movie gave everything away. Sort of. We knew “Seven Kings Must Die.” Not only was this in the title of The Last Kingdom movie but it was uttered in a prophecy. Finan’s wife shared her dream with Uhtred. (Sadly, she was “the one you love” who died. She looked at Finan when she said that.)
The big question was going to be which kings would die. We knew based on history that Aethelstan would need to live. So, how would the movie come to an end, and would we see a united England?
Six kings died in The Last Kingdom movie
The movie started with the death of a king: Edward. It was this death that led to Aethelstan killing one of his half-brothers (in cold blood). This death also led to the Scottish and Danish kings in the north joining together to take on Aethelstan.
They all made it clear to Uhtred that they didn’t fear death. Killing a king with an heir just meant that the heir would become king. It wasn’t the end of the line.
Well, that’s where things changed in the battle. You see, the five kings of Scotland and the Scottish isles weren’t the ones to die. Their children died, and that meant nobody for the kings to pass the crown onto. In a way, their lineage died, and the five counted as five of the kings.
So, that was six kings to die. What about the seventh?
I guess we could see that Uhtred was that last king. He never viewed himself as king, but others did. The end of the movie is purposely ambiguous. We don’t know if Uhtred chooses to go to Valhalla or not. All we know is that he is offered that choice. If he is the last “king” to die, does that mean the prophecy has been met?
It’s also possible that it’s Aethelstan’s death after the movie that counts. Uhtred had Aethelstan promise not to take a wife or have heirs. That way, the crown would pass to his other younger brother, Edmund. Edmund could then have children and work on the united England.
We’ll never know. The movie left it open to give us something to talk and think about.