When a show is canceled, we always have to wonder why. That’s especially when it comes to a popular Netflix series like The Last Kingdom. Why would the streamer cancel the show?
The announcement that the fifth season would be the last came back in April 2021. It took just a few months for Carnival, the studio behind the series, to announce a plan for a follow-up movie, Seven Kings Must Die. With the decision for a movie, it certainly made fans wonder if Netflix had made a mistake.
Netflix didn’t cancel The Last Kingdom
It turned out that Netflix didn’t actually cancel the series. Not in the way that most thought. It was always the plan to run with five seasons.
Fans of the series will know that the story of Uhtred follows the books of Bernard Cornwell. There was never a decision to move ahead of the books, and the show creators decided to end the story with five seasons. Yes, there is a lot from the books missed out with the way the show did two books per season, but it was still a great adaptation and there’s no doubt that we fell in love with the show’s characters.
The show ended in the only way that it really made sense. Uhtred got his ancestral home back. This is partly because when The Last Kingdom was initially created, there were only 10 books. More books were added to Uhtred’s story, but the plans for the series never changed, according to Alexander Dreymon.
So, Seven Kings Must Die was needed afterward to wrap up a few things. But it wasn’t because Netflix canceled the show and only offered a movie. It’s just the way things worked out for the creators.
The Last Kingdom is available to stream on Netflix.