So I just finished watching series 1 of The Last Kingdom, which was on Netflix, and I thought I’d write this before I venture any further into series 2 onwards, because I can’t believe they will not being into it some convergence, lesbianism, homosexuality or what have you.
There are a number of surprisingly positive elements in this series, which I think is good to list, without giving any detailed spoilers, though there are some generic overview potential semi-spoilers.
Most important of all
I think is the representation of the warrior mentality, best shown, obviously, by Uhtred and Leofric. Not just the interplay between them, but also individually with respect also to their individual views of God and how they move in the world as a result of it.
It is, I think, very well done in general too, not just for these two characters, but throughout the series, showing different types of men who are in that caste, although not necessarily by natural inclination but as a result of mere necessity.
The Danes represent a far more worldly aspect of the warrior class, while the Saxons are supposed to represent more of a God-inspired aspect, best exampled by King Alfred, who starts out overly pious before forging himself as a warrior, unlike instead one of the Danes that goes the other route before being baptised. Both paths are valid.
The overview of the Danes as being more materialistic in their day-to-day aims fits their aspect of warrior mentality, as the mass is always somewhat reduced to that of the lowest common denominator, but their culture is also not exclusively negative, with the aspect of what is normally referred to as the honour of the noble savage being the pinnacle of their embodiment of a great man.
The Saxons on the other had are en-masse represented as more docile, cowardly when it comes to their life being on the line and somewhat more intellectual. Once again, the overview of the general negatives is correct. In a nominally more pious society, the intellectual aspects will be highlighted, which, in negative expression lead to subterfuge, dishonesty, cowardice and general lack of honour. That said, the best among them who also embody the warrior aspect are indeed formidable men not just in practical terms, but of faith too. Once again, best represented by King Alfred.
The absolute crucial point of both though is that in their best expression, neither type of warrior is going to let an outrage stand. No matter the patience required. No matter the risk. No matter the consequences after, the primary supernatural aspect of a warrior soul is to ultimately serve Justice. Yes, of course, at its lowest expression warriors are thugs. Raiders, plunderers, murderers and rapists. But at its best, they are the only motive force on this Earth, cursed by the dominion of Satan, that can or ever does produce a measure of Earthly justice. The concerted effort that has been made over the last 100 years especially, to ensure that such men are wiped out has been terribly effective. I pray enough are left that at least some of the injustices we are seeing in our time can get righted, and soon. If for no other reason then, watch at least this season 1 to get a certain level of inspiration. Process the viewing of it as you would from the perspective of everyone, from a peasant farmer to a warrior, to a priest, to a leader or king. See what resonates with you most rather than just observe another programme while your vegetative state increases and your butt forms roots to your couch, sustained by the power of Doritos crumbs and cold pizza slices.
Their respective approaches to the Divine
The representation of the Church (which remember at this time there was only one Church, the One, True, Holy and Apostolic Catholic Church) is again very well done, with everything from the best, being pious, intellectual and courageous, like Beocca, to the obviously corrupt like the Bishop, or the cowardly or lukewarm. Again, a very fair representation of Catholic clergy as well as the attitudes of the lay people to it and faith. The best warriors, like Leofric, certainly do not deny God, nor are they unwilling to submit to His Will as required, even of they might rebel against supposedly Earthly representatives of it, and rightly so, since the Justice they serve, intrinsically, though of a worldly nature, is ultimately driven by a need to fulfil Divine Justice.
The Danes represent the Pagan aspect and is best embodied by the short speech Uhtred gives Alfred concerning his view of God, which is that the entirety of creation is his Church and so on. Again, both aspects are valid. I have lived as both and recall distinctly the truth aspects embodied in each, though, ultimately, the Catholic aspect is superior, as long as, and this is very important, you are free of the (paradoxically mostly Pagan) superstitious elements of it, worldly elements of it, and the usual human weaknesses. The kind of rigid superstitious and binary aspect of a poorly Catechised Catholic are embodied in the Queen, Alfred’s wife, at least for most of the series. The best aspects of it from a warrior perspective by Leofric, and from a leader perspective by King Alfred, certainly by the end of the season.
The Danes represent what is, certainly from a Catholic perspective, the embracing of the demonic aspects of the supernatural. Their Gods are brutal and very human in their “needs”. And as the shadow queen demonstrates, they do grant them certain powers… at the inevitable cost.
The ambiguity for the agnostic is preserved in all the “acts of God/the gods”, as is the skepticism and “superstition” (both real and assumed) for the atheist, and the validity of the Pagan supernatural is also pre-eminent for the Pagan, while the validity of the Catholic supernatural remains pre-eminent for the Catholic; and all this in the same scene or act. Which makes it quite a superb bit of film-making.
In this respect, a Protestant watching the series is possibly the least able to appreciate the nuances, since they are, in essence, the furthest removed from reality, be it Pagan or Catholic. A Protestant watching is liable to assume the Pagan and the Catholic positions are both “wrong” and “Pagan”, because they have been historically lobotomised and had logic and reason excised from any aspect of faith from birth, so, just as I explained in BELIEVE! The Churchian position is ultimately the hardest one to be in, as it’s the hardest one to come out of. It is one of the reasons why Catholic dogma states it is worse for a fake Christian to try to “Christianise” Pagans with their false Christianity than it is to leave them Pagan, for the inculcating of error at a baseline that is close but deviant from the Truth is worse than merely having to find your own path without any instruction at all, since ultimately, as the Bible states, all of creation ultimately demonstrates God; and logic and reason are divine aspects of God we are obviously meant to use, given we are built in his image.
That little aside for the benefit of the few Protestants which will be able to assimilate it (if any) notwithstanding, if you have had the experience of being an atheist, an agnostic and finally a real Catholic (sedevacantist), as I have, then the subtlety of the process and the ultimately superior position of the Catholic faith, as it expresses itself in both society as well as individual lives become visible; if you pay attention. In fact, there is even the opportunity to see how even the evil done by men, or the supernatural “benefits” that the Pagan ways provide at the usual cost exacted by demonic influences, can and are turned to an overall good by God. The expression of free will and resulting bad choices or descent into evil, intentional or unconscious, can still result in a greater good from other perspectives.
In essence, once again, the representation of all aspects of faith are eminently well done.
I have no idea what the remaining four seasons will be like, and I assume an inevitable descent into degeneracy, homosexuality and perversion of a modern nature are inevitable, because netflix. But the first season is very good.
There is also one last disturbing point and that is that some versions have cut out certain scenes, and I have no idea how to know which version you are watching. We discovered this only because in catching up with one episode (my wife invariably falls asleep) she had a scene I had not seen on the ipad when playing there instead of her laptop.
So you know, there is a scene with Alfred and Uhtred just before the duel, and another scene where the nun tells Leofric “He sent you.” Neither of these were on the ipad but both are on the laptop version. Similarly, in the ipad version the episodes have different end points. The right end point is that one of the episodes ends when Uhtred kills the wood thief. If an episode does not end there then you are seeing the version with the missing scenes. This happens around episode 5 to 8 or so.
I hope that you watch season 1.
And then I hope you seriously contemplate what men, actual men that still have warrior souls, would do in the current era. How they might go about it. What would be their aims. How would they form their kingdoms?
A series that is not actually Gay?!?
So I just finished watching series 1 of The Last Kingdom, which was on Netflix, and I thought I’d write this before I venture any further into series 2 onwards, because I can’t believe they will not being into it some convergence, lesbianism, homosexuality or what have you.
There are a number of surprisingly positive elements in this series, which I think is good to list, without giving any detailed spoilers, though there are some generic overview potential semi-spoilers.
Most important of all
I think is the representation of the warrior mentality, best shown, obviously, by Uhtred and Leofric. Not just the interplay between them, but also individually with respect also to their individual views of God and how they move in the world as a result of it.
It is, I think, very well done in general too, not just for these two characters, but throughout the series, showing different types of men who are in that caste, although not necessarily by natural inclination but as a result of mere necessity.
The Danes represent a far more worldly aspect of the warrior class, while the Saxons are supposed to represent more of a God-inspired aspect, best exampled by King Alfred, who starts out overly pious before forging himself as a warrior, unlike instead one of the Danes that goes the other route before being baptised. Both paths are valid.
The overview of the Danes as being more materialistic in their day-to-day aims fits their aspect of warrior mentality, as the mass is always somewhat reduced to that of the lowest common denominator, but their culture is also not exclusively negative, with the aspect of what is normally referred to as the honour of the noble savage being the pinnacle of their embodiment of a great man.
The Saxons on the other had are en-masse represented as more docile, cowardly when it comes to their life being on the line and somewhat more intellectual. Once again, the overview of the general negatives is correct. In a nominally more pious society, the intellectual aspects will be highlighted, which, in negative expression lead to subterfuge, dishonesty, cowardice and general lack of honour. That said, the best among them who also embody the warrior aspect are indeed formidable men not just in practical terms, but of faith too. Once again, best represented by King Alfred.
The absolute crucial point of both though is that in their best expression, neither type of warrior is going to let an outrage stand. No matter the patience required. No matter the risk. No matter the consequences after, the primary supernatural aspect of a warrior soul is to ultimately serve Justice. Yes, of course, at its lowest expression warriors are thugs. Raiders, plunderers, murderers and rapists. But at its best, they are the only motive force on this Earth, cursed by the dominion of Satan, that can or ever does produce a measure of Earthly justice. The concerted effort that has been made over the last 100 years especially, to ensure that such men are wiped out has been terribly effective. I pray enough are left that at least some of the injustices we are seeing in our time can get righted, and soon. If for no other reason then, watch at least this season 1 to get a certain level of inspiration. Process the viewing of it as you would from the perspective of everyone, from a peasant farmer to a warrior, to a priest, to a leader or king. See what resonates with you most rather than just observe another programme while your vegetative state increases and your butt forms roots to your couch, sustained by the power of Doritos crumbs and cold pizza slices.
Their respective approaches to the Divine
The representation of the Church (which remember at this time there was only one Church, the One, True, Holy and Apostolic Catholic Church) is again very well done, with everything from the best, being pious, intellectual and courageous, like Beocca, to the obviously corrupt like the Bishop, or the cowardly or lukewarm. Again, a very fair representation of Catholic clergy as well as the attitudes of the lay people to it and faith. The best warriors, like Leofric, certainly do not deny God, nor are they unwilling to submit to His Will as required, even of they might rebel against supposedly Earthly representatives of it, and rightly so, since the Justice they serve, intrinsically, though of a worldly nature, is ultimately driven by a need to fulfil Divine Justice.
The Danes represent the Pagan aspect and is best embodied by the short speech Uhtred gives Alfred concerning his view of God, which is that the entirety of creation is his Church and so on. Again, both aspects are valid. I have lived as both and recall distinctly the truth aspects embodied in each, though, ultimately, the Catholic aspect is superior, as long as, and this is very important, you are free of the (paradoxically mostly Pagan) superstitious elements of it, worldly elements of it, and the usual human weaknesses. The kind of rigid superstitious and binary aspect of a poorly Catechised Catholic are embodied in the Queen, Alfred’s wife, at least for most of the series. The best aspects of it from a warrior perspective by Leofric, and from a leader perspective by King Alfred, certainly by the end of the season.
The Danes represent what is, certainly from a Catholic perspective, the embracing of the demonic aspects of the supernatural. Their Gods are brutal and very human in their “needs”. And as the shadow queen demonstrates, they do grant them certain powers… at the inevitable cost.
The ambiguity for the agnostic is preserved in all the “acts of God/the gods”, as is the skepticism and “superstition” (both real and assumed) for the atheist, and the validity of the Pagan supernatural is also pre-eminent for the Pagan, while the validity of the Catholic supernatural remains pre-eminent for the Catholic; and all this in the same scene or act. Which makes it quite a superb bit of film-making.
In this respect, a Protestant watching the series is possibly the least able to appreciate the nuances, since they are, in essence, the furthest removed from reality, be it Pagan or Catholic. A Protestant watching is liable to assume the Pagan and the Catholic positions are both “wrong” and “Pagan”, because they have been historically lobotomised and had logic and reason excised from any aspect of faith from birth, so, just as I explained in BELIEVE! The Churchian position is ultimately the hardest one to be in, as it’s the hardest one to come out of. It is one of the reasons why Catholic dogma states it is worse for a fake Christian to try to “Christianise” Pagans with their false Christianity than it is to leave them Pagan, for the inculcating of error at a baseline that is close but deviant from the Truth is worse than merely having to find your own path without any instruction at all, since ultimately, as the Bible states, all of creation ultimately demonstrates God; and logic and reason are divine aspects of God we are obviously meant to use, given we are built in his image.
That little aside for the benefit of the few Protestants which will be able to assimilate it (if any) notwithstanding, if you have had the experience of being an atheist, an agnostic and finally a real Catholic (sedevacantist), as I have, then the subtlety of the process and the ultimately superior position of the Catholic faith, as it expresses itself in both society as well as individual lives become visible; if you pay attention. In fact, there is even the opportunity to see how even the evil done by men, or the supernatural “benefits” that the Pagan ways provide at the usual cost exacted by demonic influences, can and are turned to an overall good by God. The expression of free will and resulting bad choices or descent into evil, intentional or unconscious, can still result in a greater good from other perspectives.
In essence, once again, the representation of all aspects of faith are eminently well done.
I have no idea what the remaining four seasons will be like, and I assume an inevitable descent into degeneracy, homosexuality and perversion of a modern nature are inevitable, because netflix. But the first season is very good.
There is also one last disturbing point and that is that some versions have cut out certain scenes, and I have no idea how to know which version you are watching. We discovered this only because in catching up with one episode (my wife invariably falls asleep) she had a scene I had not seen on the ipad when playing there instead of her laptop.
So you know, there is a scene with Alfred and Uhtred just before the duel, and another scene where the nun tells Leofric “He sent you.” Neither of these were on the ipad but both are on the laptop version. Similarly, in the ipad version the episodes have different end points. The right end point is that one of the episodes ends when Uhtred kills the wood thief. If an episode does not end there then you are seeing the version with the missing scenes. This happens around episode 5 to 8 or so.
I hope that you watch season 1.
And then I hope you seriously contemplate what men, actual men that still have warrior souls, would do in the current era. How they might go about it. What would be their aims. How would they form their kingdoms?
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