The TV adaptation diverges so regularly from Cornwell’s books in fact, that it’s probably folly to use them to try to predict the show’s next moves.
In the Saxon Stories, dastardly, scheming Aethelhelm doesn’t take his own life and after he dies, is replaced by his dastardly, scheming son Aethelhelm the Younger… Sigtryggr survives in the books, but not in the show, while the reverse is true for Aldhelm. Lady Aelswith, for one, retired to a convent and died soon after the death of her husband King Alfred in the Saxon Stories, but is alive and well and planning a move to Bebbanburg by the season five finale. Uhtred’s route home, and who else is left standing by the time he gets there, differs from version to version. In their final moments, he looks out over the water (with Finan in the book, alone on the show) and feels that he’s finally home. Season five and Book 10 The Flame Bearer both end with Uhtred having regained his ancestral seat of Bebbanburg. Kings die and battles are fought, but exactly when, where, how, and who the casualties are, can vary. Both prioritise their own storytelling over slavish adherence to source material, and so wind different paths towards the same destinations. Netflix’s The Last Kingdom approaches fidelity to Bernard Cornwell’s Saxon Stories in much the same way that Cornwell’s novels approach fidelity to historical fact – as inspiration, not obligation. Warning: contains spoilers for The Last Kingdom season five finale and Bernard Cornwell’s War of the Wolf, Sword of Kings and War Lord.
0 kommentar(er)
