Imagine this: One of the books you love most is adapted as a movie or series. You are very excited and happy to watch it. And you really enjoy watching it. But then there are some major changes that you just don\u2019t understand and that really disappoint you.
This is something that happened to me watching \u201cThe Last Kingdom\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Don\u2019t get me wrong, I love the show. I really do. But I love the books a lot more. And I just don\u2019t understand some of the changes that were made.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But first I\u2019ll start with the things I loved. I really love the performance of the actors. Especially Stiorra, Sigtryggr and Finan who are my favorite characters in the books and seeing them on the show made me love them even more. Also this strong bond between Finan and Uhtred is so well displayed. I also liked Uhtred the younger a lot in this show. Even though there is something.. well, I\u2019ll get to that when writing about the major changes I disliked. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
But there were also some things I missed. Let me start with some small details that are mentioned in the books quite often: \u00c6thelfl\u00e6d\u2019s golden hair, Uhtred\u2019s fair hair, Hild\u2019s Cross that is forged into Uhtred\u2019s sword hilt, in the books Sigtryggr is not a Dane but a Norseman, \u00c6thelhelm\u2019s red cloaked troops. Small details, but especially the latter would have been nice to see in the series. (And let\u2019s not discuss historical accuracy of some weapons and clothing..) What I really missed a lot in the show is Uhtred saying \u201cwyrd bi\u00f0 ful ar\u00e6d \u2013 fate is inexorable\u201d. In the books he says this a lot. In the show he says \u201cdestiny is all.\u201d WHY?!? It really makes me sad everytime I hear him say \u201cDestiny is all\u201d. Maybe it\u2019s because \u201cdestiny is all\u201d is shorter and maybe easier to remember. But this \u201cwyrd bi\u00f0 ful ar\u00e6d\u201d is so present in the books. Always. It\u2019s about as iconic as \u201cmay the force be with you\u201d in Star Wars. It would have been great if it had made it into the show.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There are more smaller changes. And some bigger changes. Some I did not mind. Like the death of Ragnar the younger which was sad of course, but it gave the storyline a new twist and in the books Ragnar was sitting in Dunholm, became fat and wasn\u2019t mentioned that much anymore anywas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But some changes really bugged me. And here they are:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Father Pyrlig was described as a big guy if I recall that right who always lets his enemies cut him once into his belly before he kills them. This way he has sort of a collection of men he\u2019s killed so far on his belly.
<\/em>I hope we\u2019ll see <\/em>\u00c6thelfl\u00e6d\u2019s flags in the upcoming season \u2013 in the books Uhtred always thought it kind of funny.. I won\u2019t tell you more in case it\u2019ll turn up later in the show. \ud83d\ude09<\/p>\n\n\n\n