I would still like a spinoff of “Last Kingdom” about the series’ missing character (and her saddest story)

The Netflix film of 2023 Seven kings must die tried to finish The Last KingdomThe story has a suitably epic feel to it, and while many characters received a satisfying send-off, I can’t help but feel that one main character still needs her own series. Although she doesn’t appear until later in The Last KingdomThroughout the five seasons of The Last Night, Uhtred’s daughter Stiorra was an important character in the story. Not only did she enrich Uhtred’s narrative journey, but she is also a strong female character with a lot to contribute. And yet, despite her status, Stiorra was pushed aside when it came to the film.

Although it was still very present at the end of the year, The Last KingdomStiorra did not appear at all in Seven kings must die. Given that The Last Kingdom The film had an incredibly large cast, featuring characters from the series as well as several new faces. It is perhaps understandable that the film made cuts where it could. To me, however, Stiorra feels like a glaring omission. Not only is her arc left incomplete in Season 5, but The show missed the chance to adapt her heartbreaking story from the original novels by Bernard Cornwell – something that a Stiorra spin-off could still correct.

Stiorra would be great for a spinoff of “Last Kingdom”

She was one of the most captivating characters in the series

As one of the younger generation of Last Kingdom characters, Stiorra is ideally suited to lead a spin-off series. Season 5 has already proven that she is more than capable of shouldering a dramatic storyline, with her and Sigtryggyr’s conflict with Edward forming a cornerstone of the series’ narrative, but She is the perfect character to continue Uhtred’s legacy. The couple’s strong personalities often clashed, partly because father and daughter are so similar, and she is in many ways Uhtred’s natural successor after his Seven kings must die Death.

Perhaps the most convincing argument for a return to a Last Kingdom The crucial point is that Stiorra’s story is not yet over. After Sigtryggyr’s heartbreaking death in Season 5Stiorra seemed destined to go her own way and possibly become an important figure in English politics. And yet she was completely absent from the film’s story, which raises the obvious question of what happened to her when The Last Kingdom I, for one, would like to know how the fate of her father and her husband shaped her future and how she might carry on Uhtred’s legacy in Aethelstan’s reign.

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The Last Kingdom ends with the Battle of Brunanburgh and Aethelstan’s rise to King of England. This was only the beginning of England’s history.

What happened to Stiorra?

The books provide a template for a spinoff

The question of what happened to Stiorra after Seven kings must die And The Last Kingdom is complicated by the adaptation’s deviation from the source material. Although the series spins a compelling narrative (and Stiorra arguably has an even more central presence than in the novels), there have been several changes to her original story. For one thing, The show never shows Stiorra and Sigtryggyr’s children dying of the plague – a shocking episode in The Saxon Stories this has a profound effect on her character. The biggest change in Stiorra, however, concerns her death.

In the books, Stiorra actually died before her husband – a moment that has devastating emotional consequences for Sigtryggyr and Uhtred. Unlike in the series The literary version of Stiorra has to defend Eoforwic alone against Sigtryggyr’s unclethe villainous Skoll. Although both Uhtred and Sigtryggyr rush back to Eoforwic to save her, they are too late. It is a profound moment that particularly touched me as a reader, as it is another example of the brutality of The Last Kingdom‘s world and is a particularly traumatic episode for Uhtred.

“The Last Kingdom” could still tell Stiorra’s sad story that was left out of the show

It would be completely different in the end

Since her fate is very different in the novel and the TV series, there is clearly scope for a Stiorra spin-off series that explores the conflict between her and Skoll. I would love to see a series that explores both her life after Uhtred and Sigtryggyr, but ends in the same tragic way – and answers the lingering questions left by The Last Kingdom And Seven kings must die while honoring her narrative arc from the original novels. It is easy to imagine how In a one-season spinoff, Stiorra could continue Uhtred’s legacy (perhaps she defends Eoforwic on behalf of Aethelstan) before dying in the same manner as on the page.

Of course, such a spinoff would inevitably differ from Stiorra’s original story. In the novels Her death is particularly notable for the way it affects Uhtred – something that would change fundamentally if a Stiorra spin-off were to Seven kings must dieAn alternative could be to tell Stiorra’s story between The Last Kingdom Season 5 and Seven kings must diein that case, Uhtred himself could still appear. This would potentially make Stiorra’s death just as impactful as it was in the books (and would retrospectively explain her absence in the film).

Looking at the approach Seven kings must die ultimately took, it makes sense that Stiorra was ignored in favor of other characters. However, now that the audience knows where Uhtred’s story ends, there is a great opportunity to explore other aspects of The Last Kingdom that haven’t been adequately explained yet. Even if that means revisiting old storylines, I think a proper resolution is the least Stiorra deserves.

The Last Kingdom

Pour

Alexander Dreymon, Emily Cox, Ian Hart, Eliza Butterworth, Eva Birthistle, Mark Rowley, Cavan Clerkin, Tobias Santelmann, David Dawson

Release date

5 October 2015

Seasons

5