Netflix Cancels One of Its Most Epic Dramas, and Fans Aren't Too Happy

Michael Hein

05/02/2021 04:50 pm EDT

Netflix has announced that its historical drama series The Last Kingdom will end with its upcoming season, and fans are completely inconsolable. The adaptation of Bernard Cornwell's Saxon Stories novels will be wrapping up in this final batch of episodes, which are currently filming. On social media, many fans think that this is not enough time to bring the story to a satisfactory close.

According to a report by Deadline, Netflix and Carnival Films have both now confirmed that The Last Kingdom Season 5 will be the series' end. The final installment will consist of 10 episodes, which are filming now in Hungary. This season will carry on the adventure of Uhtred of Bebbanburg (Alexander Dreymon), a ninth and tenth-century English warrior born as a Saxon but raised as a Dane. The season draws on the ninth and tenth books in Cornwall's series, which has 13 installments in total. Fans feel that the show should have gotten at least as many seasons as books.

The Last Kingdom has received generally positive reviews during its years on the air — at the time of this writing, it has an 87 percent score on Rotten Tomatoes, a 78 out of 100 average score on MetaCritic, and an 8.4 out of 10 average score on IMDb. However, the show has never reached as wide an audience as a production of its scale needs to be sustained — it has already migrated from BBC America to Netflix for its U.S. distribution, hinting that it's not a guaranteed hit to begin with.

Still, the fans that it does have are deeply dedicated, and they are horrified to see The Last Kingdom getting canceled. Here is a look at what fans are saying about The Last Kingdom's final ride.

Buried the Lede

The cancellation announcement was included with the news that Season 5 is finally filming, leaving fans confused and unsure of how to feel. Many had emotional whiplash from this twist.

Best Shows

Fans mourned The Last Kingdom alongside other shows of its style, complaining that networks and streaming services always seem to cut their favorites too short.

More Books

Many fans pointed out that there are plenty of more books in the series to continue adapting, and they want to see the story all the way through. Some tried to tag Netflix and the BBC directly for answers.

On the Hunt

Some fans began discussing what their next obsession would be when The Last Kingdom and others like it really came to an end.

Cast Prospects

With this series ending, many fans crossed their fingers that the cast could migrate over to one of the many other swords-and-sorcery style shows coming soon. Some called for Dreymon to get a role in Amazon's The Wheel of Time.

Deaths

Fans feared that the last season would bring some dramatic character deaths with it, especially based on the series' reputation up until now.

Books

Some fans took a glass-half-full view of the cancellation, saying that this was the motivation they needed to dive into the books and experience the rest of the story there. They encouraged others to do the same.

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