The Last Kingdom recap: season one, episode two – Alfred's Wessex plan sounds great

Politics enters the frame as we meet Alfred and Edmund the Martyr, while Brida and Uhtred enjoy their Anglo-Saxon roots

‘The fate of Wessex will be determined by Englishmen, all Englishmen’

Things got rather more political this week as we headed deeper into Saxon territory, meeting the inhabitants of the Last Kingdom, aka Wessex. Of these, the most important was Alfred (Ripper Street’s David Dawson), younger brother to King Aethelred and a man with a very interesting plan. Said plan, a wider vision of an England no longer divided, swiftly established the wide-eyed and hollow-cheeked Alfred as someone worth watching, while his compatriots think in terms of their own parcel of land and the Danes only of immediate conquest, he has his mind on an altogether grander prize.

It helped too that Alfred brought a welcome note of ambiguity to the proceedings, being not only considerably smarter than just about every other character, but also interestingly conflicted. So far we know that he’s religious (or at least would like to be), prone to temptations of the flesh and also struggles with some sort of bodily complaint (this wasn’t actually spelt out in great detail although Asser’s Life of Alfred states that he suffered from haemorrhoids) but he also has great strength of will and I would say a rather devious cast of mind – certainly he was sharp enough not to immediately trust any old random Saxon/Dane who wanders into the court claiming friendship with his priest even if he did take his advice – all of which makes him an interesting foil to the more straightforward Uhtred.

‘I want a warrior’s sword to last a lifetime’

Things were not looking especially rosy for our nominal hero this week as he swiftly discovered that heading off to wave decapitated heads at his uncle had allowed Kjartan and Sven to seize control of the narrative by convincing Ubba that the massacre at Ragnar’s home had been carried out by Uhtred rather than them. The look on Brida’s face when they learnt this said it all – less time spent worrying about Bebbanburg and revenge, more about how to survive.

That said Uhtred (and actor Alexander Dreymon) rather grew on me this week, displaying considerably more charm and charisma, and making it easy to see him as someone who is capable of enjoying life’s vagaries even as he accepts its brutality. I’m still inclined to see Brida as the true brains of this operation, however, and not only because she was the one who came up with the plan to get to Ubba.

There’s an interesting tension between Brida’s obvious smarts and the limitations of her background – most obvious in her inability to move on from being Dane to Saxon again. Where Uhtred grasped the possibility of freedom swiftly, Brida remains more than half-convinced that she’d be better off serving a lord than being her own woman. It’s an interesting position and a believable one and Emily Cox does a good job of convincing us both of that and that she’s a woman who can wound with both tongue and arm.

That said, it should also be noted that Brida is currently the only female character we have been allowed to glimpse more than five minutes of – although Alfred’s wife seemed as though she might make be interesting in a slightly unpleasant way if we were allowed to know more.

‘How about we see if Odin protects you from the arrows? I like this game’

Ravn warned us last week that no man in their right minds should ever fight Ubba – and we got a further insight into the big man’s psychopathy this week as he and his men headed into East Anglia to introduce themselves to that kingdom’s ruler, Edmund (Jason Flemyng). Crucifixion, lectures on early Roman martyrs and unpleasant death soon followed.

As a side note this was another part of the tale that was historically accurate – Edmund the Martyr really was killed by being shot full of arrows after refusing to denounce his religion and Ubba really was the man responsible. That said I liked the fact that Edmund was portrayed as a man of courage and faith, who, though he wavered when he realised what was going to happen, faced his death with a kind of appalled equanimity, a sort of “Oh, God, what have I done?” look on his face as he died.

Additional Notes

• Arthur might be the most interesting member of the family but I have time for his brother Aethelred as well. The men of Wessex seem to have more understanding of the true horror they’re facing than the other kingdoms.
  
• Aethelred’s son, Aethelwold, clearly isn’t much cop, however – unlucky for him that the laws of primogeniture don’t yet exist as they were introduced to England in 1066 after the Norman conquest and thus the Witan will help decide who becomes the next king.
  
• We met a lot of Saxons this week including Odda the Older (trusted advisor to Aethelred) and Odda the Younger (his hot-headed son).
  
• We also got to spend a bit more time with Ubba’s right hand man Guthrum, who revealed himself to be in possession of an entertainingly dry sense of humour (which probably means he’ll be killed soon).
  
• Poor old Beocca – he seemed to be wondering if his boy cub had grown up rather more wolf than lion.
  
• Talking of things with sharp teeth, that curse Storri laid on Brida is clearly going to come back to bite her in some way.
  
• I was quite amused by the amount of time Brida and Uhtred spent getting down to Anglo-Saxon business as it were. Fair play, guys – life is short, brutal and there’s a good chance you might die – I too would probably dedicate a fair part of it to rolling around on a fur-strewn bed.
  
• Brida might be a slave on the run but she’s still in possession of a rocking fashion sense. I’m sure I saw this week’s short fur jacket in all the magazines this season.
  
• Finally the arrival of Alfred on the scene means that this song from Horrible Histories is now stuck in my head, so I thought I’d share it. No, really, you’re welcome.
  

Violence count

One burned-out holding featuring strung-up Saxon body parts, one Saxon survivor with an axe in his back thanks to Brida’s throwing skills followed by a swift mercy throat slitting from Uhtred. Several dying priests and a crucified king, who ended up punctured after making the mistake of telling the story of St Sebastian to a group of Danes. One naked sorcerer with a branch in a very painful place, several dead assassins and the imprisoning of Brida and Uhtred in two very small wooden cages.

Quote of the week

“I’m thinking you have a turd where there’s supposed to be a mind,” – and I’m thinking that Brida has a rather wonderful way with the insulting metaphor (not to mention an apparently unending supply of arse-related jokes and references).

So what did you think – were you interested in the machinations in Wessex? Do you think Brida has better strategic sense than Uhtred? What about fashion sense?

And how much smarter is Alfred then just about everyone else on this show? As ever all speculation and no spoilers are welcome below …

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