The Last Kingdom: Seven Kings Must Die has confirmed what is only hinted at in Bernard Cornwell's Saxon Stories novel series: Aethelstan is gay. The movie concluded The Last Kingdom's story in thrilling fashion, though Seven Kings Must Die's ending is somewhat obscure. The fate of Uhtred of Bebbanburg is particularly ambiguous, but overall Seven Kings Must Die does well to bring the series to a fitting end.

Seven Kings Must Die has a lot of ground to cover in wrapping up The Last Kingdom's story, but it does an adequate job of bringing most of the character arcs to a proper conclusion. One of the most important of those arcs becomes that of Aethelstan, the successor to Edward and eventual first king of all England. Aethelstan's story was necessarily central to the plot of Seven Kings Must Die, and the reveal that he is gay became...