Latest Posts by elocinmaen - Page 2

The Last Kingdom + beginnings and endings

Whatever it is— whatever you do. Try not to miss.

SADIE SINK AS MAX MAYFIELD IN STRANGER THINGS 4

ELIZABETH OLSEN AS WANDA MAXIMOFF / SCARLET WITCH IN WANDAVISION | The Series Finale

jaskier : ladies and gentlemen i give you my new song about the white wolf, geralt of rivia!

tavern goers :

jaskier : i hear you're alive

jaskier : how disappointing

everyone in the tavern :

The Witcher + Text Posts [6/?]

Oh, yay! A little stone! You've saved us all!

Stranger Things + Brett Gelman Tweets (insp)

REIGN | 1x13 x 2x03 x 3x05

WELLY BOOTS | The Amazing Devil [insp]

I know you're strong enough to do this on your own

Everything here is hard and bright and violent… Everything I feel, everything I touch… this is Hell. Just getting through the next moment, and the one after that, knowing what I’ve lost… (Buffy the Vampire Sayer season 6 episode 3)

requested by anon: Earth-838 Wanda

Elizabeth Olsen as Wanda Maximoff DOCTOR STRANGE IN THE MULTIVERSE OF MADNESS (2022) - dir. Sam Raimi

LILI REINHART as BETTY COOPER RIVERDALE | Chapter One Hundred and One: Unbelievable

MARK ROWLEY as Finan The Last Kingdom (5.02)

Uhtred and Aethelflaed + The Battle of Tettenhall

Queen Æthelflæd of Mercia in 5.01 of The Last Kingdom. 👑

TLK Season 5 - NO! OSFERTH!!!

(Spoilers ahead!) 

What a treat season 5 was. It was the first season where I was there for the release. Got it finished the same day it was out. Don’t regret a thing. 

Um… first thing to say… WHAT THE FUCK??? While this was a brilliant lot of episodes, WHY DO THE WRITERS KEEP BREAKING OUR HEARTS??? There were three major deaths that occurred and all were executed extremely well. By that I mean they were beyond emotional, extremely heartbreaking yet satisfying deaths. Every character who perished (save for a few) died with dignity and purpose. And the emotional fall out of them was felt for episodes to come. I’m so sad and happy at the same time. 

And Osferth... Oh my god... The way he was pleading for his life. The way Finan just hugged him close. The way he fucking sobbed when they laid his body down. I can’t...

My heart fell out my ass when they made Finan almost fall off that cliff.

The Coccham gang is in Rumcofa now! We have a whole bunch of new characters to enjoy. I live all of them but special shout out to Aethelstan. Everyone wants you as a son now, apparently. As do I. He must be protected at all costs. 

Special shout out to Aelfwynn also for being annoying??? I dislike her and I hate that. Little Aelfwynn was beyond cute but now that she’s grown I just feel like she’s not a good character. No hate to the actress, she did a great job. She’s just whiny. Yeah, yeah. Maybe that’s how she’s meant to be. Just doesn’t work for me. 

I can see so much of Gisela in her children. Both of them, even though Stiorra and Uhtred are almost complete opposites, they both have their mother’s traits. It’s so damn cute. 

Brida was very hit or miss for me. She got SO cruel this season, but I found myself feeling for her. She lost the only damn child she had after DECADES of wanting for one. That makes it a little hypocritical for her to attack Uhtred’s children. Fuck that. Her ending though was brilliant. She needed to die. Sorry. I don’t like that Uhtred couldn’t kill her even after everything she had done. I’m glad she got a little bit of humanity shining through in those last moments though. I saw the Brida there from season 1, the one I actually loved. They way she called out for Ragnar made me weep. 

How amazing was that final episode, though??? We end where we began, at Bebbanburg, now with the true lord restored to his rightful place. I’m so fucking happy with how this panned out and I’m so fucking sad that it’s over. Looking forward to the movie that’s coming after it, though. If this show is anything to go by, it’s gonna be a banger.

Aethelstan and Aldhelm and "I think the fuck not, my good bitch."

TLK Season 4 - The Best???

(Spoliers ahead!)  

I don’t know if this is an unpopular opinion or not but… I think season 4 is my favourite of the lot. It’s very difficult to say for definite which I like the most, but when I sun up the pros and cons of each, 4 is quite possibly the one I can say I enjoyed the most. 

There are a lot of new characters or ages up characters that are introduced this season. Usually I don’t enjoy when there are so many new introductions all at once but TLK always does it well. Maybe it works because there is so much death anyway, they kind of just fill in the gaps. 

Speaking of death… Thyra was done dirty is season 3 and now Beocca has been done dirty. I say that lightly, because while I hated his death, it did make sense in some aspects. He died protecting Uhtred’s son. As a father figure to Uhtred himself, that just kind of comes full circle. Moreover, he died where his story began: in Bebbanburg. After Thyra was already gone, I think I can kind of accept this. It broke my heart, but death is meant to happen. Not everyone can always die of old age like they do in the books. People want to see drama on screen. 

The character progression in this season is phenomenal. We see so many people grow out of old, bad habits or come to have new views of life that just feel so satisfying. There are many examples of this, but Lady Aelswith is probably the most prominent of these. She has always been an interesting character though not particularly likeable, but I actually kind of love her now.

Uhtred, however, is someone who also has a big change of character this season. He becomes less of a warrior and more of a father, not just to his own children but to Aethelstan and Aelfwynn. He becomes a protector rather than a fighter. And I love that. I love to see how many times he fails only to keep going because it is love for his family that drives him forward (both his children and his men). 

The friendships have developed tenfold. Stiorra was right when she said that Uhtred’s men are his family. They feel so close knit and the dynamics are so good. Good fucking job to the actors for just being able to translate real life friendship into on screen friendship. It’s so real and honestly I just want to give them all hugs, all the time. 

Eadith??? Hello??? I love her. Her and Finan have CHEMISTRY, so I’m rather disappointed that they didn’t do something with that in season 5, but also I’m so glad to finally see a female character that doesn’t need a man. I found her a little annoying during the first watch but after countless rewatches, she’s actually very likeable. I am very happy with her. 

Episode 6, I think, is one of my favourite episodes in the whole show. Am I being dramatic when I say that I love the little family dynamic they make  while on the run? Maybe. But it’s nice to see them running for once rather than fighting. Bad way of phrasing it, perhaps. The quiet moments in the woods, though, are ones I enjoy a lot. And Finan playing with Aethelstan is the cutest shit I’ve ever seen.

Young Uhtred and Stiorra are so well casted. We love Sigtryggr. Brida continues to be a menace that I despise. Also, fuck the Welsh (only in this, love my Welsh folk in real life).

TLK Season 3 - The Good, The Bad and The Sexy

(Spoilers ahead!) 

I have a love hate relationship with season 3. I want to say it’s my favourite but also it kind of pisses me off. Or rather, some of the characters and plot lines piss me off. Yet I still very much enjoyed it. Can you tell I’m conflicted? 

I’ve gotta start off by saying how much I fell in love with Finan, Sihtric and Osferth. Sihtric had a major glow up from season 2 where he looked like a boy, now turned into a GORGEOUS man. Osferth grew into a warrior, but he is still so kindhearted. Finan is just Finan and we love him for it. 

Aethelflaed is another character who gets to shine. Since her whole situation at Beamfleot, she has become a warrior and a powerful leader just as the real life version of her was and it is so good to see that portrayed on screen. Now, let me explain why Brida makes me so irritated. She does especially so in this season. Brida has suffered, that I will not deny. I feel for her, I really do, but her constant need to make others suffer too is just irritating. Uhtred has suffered just as badly if not worse than her, as have many other people, and yet she is the only one that essentially spiralled into madness. I really hate it, because I really want to love her. I just cannot with the direction they have taken with her. Spiteful, vengeful and angry does not suit her. She was badass enough as her season 1 self. 

Skade is another character I despise. But, as is said of her, she is poison to all men. It’s just who she is. She’s not meant to be likeable. I just wish someone would tell her to shut the fuck up or perhaps punch her in the face. 

Aethelwold is as slimy as ever. His ending was pretty satisfying. Ragnar being avenged, but also seeing Aethelwold’s true colours as nothing more than a grovelling turd. Unlikeable character, yet I enjoyed his journey. 

Shoutout to Thyra and Beocca for being the most wholesome characters in the show. My heart aches for them and I hate the way it ended for them both. Thyra’s death was beyond unnecessary and just hurt. 

You can probably justify everything that happened in this season. I just think a lot of unnecessary things happened. Regardless, season 3 is pretty awesome.

TLK Season 2 - Hell yeah!

(Spoilers ahead!) 

Wow! Season 2! One of my favourites. We finally have our core four as well as being introduced to other brilliant characters that are some of my favourites (Aldhelm!). 

Let’s start by talking about Hild, Queen of the Water Bucket, scourger of slavers and once kicked out of the nunnery. Hild took a leap from season 1 to 2 and landed right in the midst of battle, kicking ass and taking names. I loved her this season. 

I’m glad we got to focus on somewhere outside of Wessex, that Uhtred wasn’t just chained to Alfred. Of course, he goes back, but seeing him take his own path to Northumbria and try to gain power there, his homeland, is… satisfying. It ends tragically, and 2x04 is still one of the most heart wrenching episodes of this entire show for me. What did it bring us though???? 

FINAN!!! What a joy he is. My favourite. I would throw myself in front of any man’s sword for Finan. This show would NOT be the same without our best Irish boy. 

David Dawson, you’ve done it again. You’ve blown me away. Alfred is one of the people in this where I am consistently in love with the delivery. He’s not the most likeable but he’s not meant to be. Again, the quiet intensity he has just makes for a top notch performance. I was very near shedding tears during the scenes he had in the final three episodes, tears in his own eyes. The very quiet “damn him, I say damn him” when Odda betrays him is just chef’s kiss. 

My hatred for Brida begins here. I had some… problems… with her in the first season, but I didn’t dislike her. However, in season 2 I begin to slowly lose my patience. I don’t know if it’s her story, the writing, or whatever else but I just… don’t enjoy seeing her on screen. Don’t get me wrong, Emily Cox does an amazing job at bringing the character to like, it’s just a shame Brida becomes annoying. Further clarification on this when I talk about season 3… 

One of the most underrated characters in this season is Clapa. I loved him with all my heart and I really wish they didn’t kill him off within the one season he had to shine. I would have loved to see more. Same with Halig. He was barely here for… what… 6 episodes? Yet he was one of the best during that time. 

Aethelflaed and Erik’s relationship is questionable. I’m really not sure how I feel about it. This man kidnapped her. Yes, he treated her with respect but… is this not a case of Stockholm syndrome? I dislike it. 

Final thoughts… I really enjoy season 2. A lot. Mostly the first 5 episodes, but the 3 after the time jump are solid as well.

TLK Season 1 - It’s Good

(Spoilers ahead!)

My mum introduced me to The Last Kingdom in 2021. I was late to the club, but I fell in love quickly. Season 1 was an awesome introduction to my now favourite series out there. Let me explain why.

The first two episodes of this season had me hooked. It was a questionable choice to rush through Uhtred’s childhood with the Danes (which was a rather large section in the first book of the TLK series). I still fell in love with the family though. I can’t picture anyone else as Uhtred, nor Brida. Emily Cox and Alexander Dreymon have undeniably chemistry, although I definitely would say they make better friends than lovers. 

Alfred is probably one of the things that I was most pleasantly surprised by. David Dawson is... incredible. He brings such a quiet intensity to the character. I will have more to say about him when I talk about later seasons. Only good things. 

The story of season 1 flows well. It is well paced, mostly. It’s bingeworthy, yet every episode can be enjoyed as a single one. Travels to Cornwalum and Cynuit felt more like side quests than actual plot drivers. Perhaps that’s just me.

There are some characters which feel unnecessary (*cough* Wulfhere *cough*), some which I think deserve more screen time. Aethelwold is a slimy piece of shit but his character is so well done. It’s made clear he’s not meant to be liked, and it works. I don’t like his character, but I do enjoy his character.

I don’t want to say this is a huge downfall of the season, because it is truly fantastic. However, I feel like Iseult’s storyline was kind of rushed. Of course, they have to have limitations on screen compared to the pages of a book. I just didn’t connect that well with her character. 

I hate to say it but I didn’t really like Hild either. In later seasons, I grow to like her, but in season 1 she is just kind of useless? Save for the scene where she comforts Lady Aelswith, she just kind of is there without doing anything of value. 

Leofric, however... Man did his death hit me hard. Leofric was a character that is a great right hand man to Uhtred, while also being a warrior in his own right. He doesn’t blindly follow him, and doesn’t treat him with immediate respect. Uhtred is not his lord he is his friend. We don’t learn much about him, yet he is so likeable. I loved him, and it was a shame to see him go. 

What a good opener this season is to the series. As a huge history nerd, I find it difficult to watch a lot of historic dramas (for a lot of reasons), but TLK is one of the few that I an enjoy unconditionally.