History YMMV / TheLastKingdom

** Alternatively, there's ''VideoGame/ThronesOfBritanniaTotalWarSaga'' which takes place in the same time period complete with the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms and the Vikings as playable factions.

* SpiritualLicensee: ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedValhalla'' is essentially ''The Last Kingdom: The Video Game'' complete with King Alfred the Great as a major antagonist, similar time period and characters. Even the male version of Eivor Varinsdottir is voiced by Creator/MagnusBruun, Cnut's actor from the show.

** Season 2's second & third episodes: [[BadBoss Sverri]] is an Icelandic [[SlaveryIsASpecialKindOfEvil slaver]] notorious for working and torturing his slaves to death. Having his slaves row to Iceland for days without food, Sverri [[EvilIsPetty forces them to fight over an apple he's already taken a bite out of]]. After recapturing Uhtred and Halig after their failed escape attempt, Sverri has the latter bound to the prow of his ship and forces Uhtred and the other slaves to row the roaring seas, [[CruelAndUnusualDeath slowly killing Halig]].

* CompleteMonster: [[BadBoss Sverri]], from season 2, is an Icelandic [[SlaveryIsASpecialKindOfEvil slaver]] notorious for working and torturing his slaves to death. Having his slaves row to Iceland for days without food, Sverri [[EvilIsPetty forces them to fight over an apple he's already taken a bite out of]]. After recapturing Uhtred and Halig after their failed escape attempt, Sverri has the latter bound to the prow of his ship and forces Uhtred and the other slaves to row the roaring seas, [[CruelAndUnusualDeath slowly killing Halig]].

* SpiritualLicensee: ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedValhalla'' is essentially ''The Last Kingdom: The Video Game'' complete with King Alfred the Great as a major antagonist, similar time period and characters. Even the male version of Eivor Varinsdottir is voiced by Creator/MagnusBrunn, Cnut's actor from the show.

* SpiritualLicensee: ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedValhalla'' is essentially ''The Last Kingdom: The Video Game'' complete with King Alfred the Great as a major antagonist, similar time period and characters. Even the male version of Eivor Varinsdottir is voiced by Creator/MagnussBrunn, Cnut's actor from the show.

* [[SpiritualAdaptation Spiritual Licensee]]: ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedValhalla'' is essentially ''The Last Kingdom: The Video Game'' complete with King Alfred the Great as a major antagonist and the male version of Eivor Varinsdottir voiced by Cnut's actor Magnus Brunn.

* FriendlyFandoms: With ''Series/{{Vikings}}'', see below for why.
* HilariousInHindsight: The Vikings issue of the 1960's comic book series "The World Around Us" featured an Alfred the Great who bore an uncanny resemblance to David Dawson who portrays the same figure here.

* CreepyAwesome: Skorpa again, for basically the same reason. Added to that is the fact that his teeth are permanently stained red with blood.

* DyingMomentOfAwesome: [[spoiler: Ragnar]] charges out the door of a burning longhall, the inrush of oxygen immediately lighting his whole body on fire, and proceeds to hack and slash his way through his enemies even while the flames are consuming him. That man arrived at Valhalla in'' style.''

* PragmaticAdaptation: Due to ''Literature/TheSaxonStories'' featuring [[LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters a lot of characters]] throughout the series over differing points in time, the inclusion of [[CompositeCharacter composite characters]] and [[TimeSkip time skips]] were likely employed to keep the cast down to a reasonable level.
** Many set piece battles in the series are also scaled down to open field battles, as opposed to the sieges and fleet battles presented in the first two books. Again this was likely done to keep the show within budget.
* SpiritualSuccessor: To ''Series/{{Vikings}}'', which takes place a generation before this show, though it is still ongoing and the source material for this series ''[[Literature/TheSaxonStories Saxon Stories]]'' predates it by almost a decade. ''The Last Kingdom'' also downplays direct links between the shows like the Danish warlord antagonist [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ubba Ubba]] being a son of [[Literature/RagnarLodbrokAndHisSons Ragnar Lothbrok]], the semi-historical protagonist of ''Vikings''. Ubba himself appears in ''Vikings'', though that show uses the alternate spelling "Ubbe". Ragnar Lothbrok is often alluded to in the books through Ubba's {{UsefulNotes/patronymic}} "Lothbroksson", but the show only uses it once. Their relation is left to FridgeBrilliance on the audience's part - like a few mentions of Ubba's brother Ivar, meant to be [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivar_the_Boneless Ivar the Boneless]], who also appears in ''Vikings''. The books mention his epithet "Boneless" but the show doesn't.

* TearJerker: Everything surrounding [[spoiler: Ragnar's]] death, especially Brida frantically pushing a knife into his hand so that he may gain entry to Valhalla and her admitting that the thought of him in Niflheim is not one that she could bear.

** Poor, poor Thyra. For a [[NiceGirl kindhearted]] [[ThePollyanna Pollyanna]] with very little screen time, her story is sure heartbreaking and full of NightmareFuel. As a child, she has her shirt torn off by Sven, a perverted StalkerWithACrush who believes he is [[EntitledToHaveYou Entitled To Have Her]], and is only saved from further assault by Uhtred. When she grows up, she's happily engaged to be married, but her family is massacred in front of her by Sven and his father. She has a brief HopeSpot when she sees Uhtred sneak onto the property, but, unfortunately, he doesn't see her. The last we see of her is when Sven vows that she will endure endless sexual torture before dragging her away. Years later, Uhtred learns that she's still alive and being held prisoner, though Skorpa's blunt and vulgar remark about her is one of the most disturbing moments in the series. By the end of the first season, she is still Sven's sex slave, and he is, at present, a massive KarmaHoudini (though he may get his comeuppance in the second season.)

* SpiritualSuccessor: To ''Series/{{Vikings}}'', which takes place a generation before this show, though it is still ongoing and the source material for this series ''[[Literature/TheSaxonStories Saxon Stories]]'' predates it by almost a decade. ''The Last Kingdom'' also downplays direct links between the shows like the Danish warlord antagonist [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ubba Ubba]] being a son of [[Literature/RagnarLodbrokAndHisSons Ragnar Lothbrok]], the semi-historical protagonist of ''Vikings''. Ubba himself appears in ''Vikings'' as a child, though that show uses the alternate spelling "Ubbe". Ragnar Lothbrok is often alluded to in the books through Ubba's {{UsefulNotes/patronymic}}, but the show only uses it once. Their relation is left to FridgeBrilliance on the audience's part - like a few mentions of Ubba's brother Ivar, meant to be [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivar_the_Boneless Ivar the Boneless]], who has also appeared on ''Vikings''. The books mention his epithet "Boneless" but the show doesn't.

* CatharsisFactor: [[spoiler: After everything [=Æ=]thelwold has done, it was absolutely satisfying to see Uhtred kill him.]]

* IdiotHero: Uhtred is an excellent warrior and a skilled military commander. In every other respect he's a meathead who thinks with his sword or his other sword.

* PragmaticAdaptation: Due to ''Literature/TheSaxonStories'' featuring [[LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters alot of characters]] throughout the series over differing points in time, the inclusion of [[CompositeCharacter composite characters]] and [[TimeSkip time skips]] were likely employed to keep the cast down to a reasonable level.

* SpiritualSuccessor: To ''Series/{{Vikings}}'' which takes place a generation before this show, though it is still ongoing and the ''[[Literature/TheSaxonStories Saxon Stories]]'' predate it by almost a decade. ''The Last Kingdom'' also downplays direct links between the shows like the Danish warlord antagonist [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ubba Ubba]] being a son of [[Literature/RagnarLodbrokAndHisSons Ragnar Lothbrok]], the semi-historical protagonist of ''Vikings''. Ubba himself appears in ''Vikings'' as a child, though that show uses the alternate spelling "Ubbe". Ragnar Lothbrok is often alluded to in the books through Ubba's {{UsefulNotes/patronymic}}, but the show only uses it once. Their relation is left to FridgeBrilliance on the audience's part - like a few mentions of Ubba's brother Ivar, meant to be [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivar_the_Boneless Ivar the Boneless]], who has also appeared on ''Vikings''. The books mention his epithet "Boneless" but the show doesn't.

* PragmaticAdaptation: Due to TheSaxonStories featuring [[LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters alot of characters]] throughout the series over differing points in time, the inclusion of [[CompositeCharacter composite characters]] and [[TimeSkip time skips]] were likely employed to keep the cast down to a reasonable level.

* SpiritualSuccessor: To ''Series/{{Vikings}}'' which takes place a generation before this show, though it is still ongoing and the ''[[Literature/TheSaxonStories Saxon Stories]]'' predate it by almost a decade. ''The Last Kingdom'' also downplays direct links between the shows like the Danish warlord antagonist [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ubba Ubba]] being a son of [[Literature/RagnarLodbrokAndHisSons Ragnar Lothbrok]], the semi-historical protagonist of ''Vikings''. Ubba himself appears in ''Vikings'' as a child, though that show uses the alternate spelling "Ubbe". Ragnar Lothbrok is often alluded to in the books through Ubba's {{patronymic}}, but the show only uses it once. Their relation is left to FridgeBrilliance on the audience's part - like a few mentions of Ubba's brother Ivar, meant to be [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivar_the_Boneless Ivar the Boneless]], who has also appeared on ''Vikings''. The books mention his epithet "Boneless" but the show doesn't.

* IdiotHero: Uhtred is an excellent warrior and a skilled military commander. In every other respect he's a drooling moron.

** [[spoiler Thyra has become this when we see her again. Although she is locked in a cell, she is surrounded by wolfhounds that she can apparently control, and Sven flees in terror after spending just a few moments in her presence.]]

* DesignatedHero: England itself. For a while the Danes are portrayed as this simple, egalitarian society that's just looking for farmable land to sustain its people. English society is portrayed as unnecessarily complex, convoluted, and full of weird power structures and customs. It doesn't help that Uhtred becomes more unpleasant as a character as he roots himself deeper in the kingdom.