Is Seven Kings Must Die based on a True Story?

By Louie Fecou
Published: April 15, 2023
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Is Seven Kings Must Die based on a True Story? We discuss The Last Kingdom Netflix movie and determine whether it’s based on real events. It will contain spoilers.

There’s a bit of buzz regarding  Seven Kings Must Die on Netflix.

The movie has been long anticipated by fans of the British historical TV show The Last Kingdom

Based on the series of novels by Bernard Cornwell, the show was a bit of a sleeper hit for the BBC way back in 2015.

By the time a second season got renewed, Netflix had pitched in to co-produce it, and by 2018, Netflix had just decided they wanted the show for their very own and produced another three seasons.

After 46 episodes, the story would start to wrap up, but there is one more treat in store, a feature-length finale to conclude the run.

However, as long as the show has aired, viewers have asked if the story is true, so this article is poised to answer the question, is Seven Kings Must Die based on a true story?

Is The Last Kingdom: Seven Kings Must Die based on a True Story?

No. The story is based on a series of books, but they are not true stories. It appears that the confusion comes from the author blending real historical characters and events into the narrative, giving it an air of authenticity.

The material for Seven Kings Must Die is taken directly from the last two books in the series: Sword of Kings (2019) and War Lord (2020). However, significant changes have been introduced to the film.

Who are the Seven Kings?

This is a tricky one, as the statement is a prophecy from a dream that Ingrith has.

First of all, news quickly arrives of the death of King Edward, making him number one.

As events escalate towards the tremendously bloody final Battle of Brunanburh, five of the children of the rival kings were killed during the fight. This is essentially another five people that would have been kings, so existentially, and with a whiff of Macbeth, that puts our total up to six.

Our seventh prophetically extinguished king has to be Uhtred, although, to be fair, the jury is still out as to whether he is really dead, but that’s a different article.

Which of The Last Kingdom characters were real?

So there are a whole lot of real-life characters fictionally depicted, so here’s the inside story on the more prominent ones, but there are a few others we may have missed.

Odda, the Elder

Aethelwold

Guthrum 

Aelhswith

Uhtred

Although there was a real Uhtred, it seems apart from name and location, the two have very little in common.

Constantine

An early King of Scotland, not to be confused with John Constantine.

Dunstan

An English Bishop later canonized as a Saint.

Edmund of Wessex

King of the English from 939 to 946.

Owain

King of Strathclyde in the 10th century.

Osbert

King of Northumbria in the middle of the 9th century.

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