‘The Last Kingdom’: How Uhtred Revealed How Much Father Beocca Meant to Him: ‘Without Beocca I Have No Home’

In the series The Last Kingdom, the main character, Uhtred (Alexander Dreymon), has a special relationship with a man named Father Brocca (Ian Hart). He was his father’s priest, and he has looked after Uhtred since he was just a boy. He has been a father figure to him for many years, and the two genuinely care for one another. 

Spoilers Ahead for season 4, episode 3 of ‘The Last Kingdom’

In season 4, Beocca loses his life, and Uhtred is more than devastated. He reveals how much Father Beocca meant to him to his good friend, Finan (Mark Rowley).

Uhtred has wanted to take back his home of Bebbanburg since he was a child. He finally feels like he has the opportunity as his Uncle Aelfric (Joseph Millson) has lost a lot of men. However, he doesn’t know that his cousin, Wihtgar (Ossian Perret), has come home, reinforcing Bebbanburg with his warriors. 

Uhtred and his men get inside, however, Wihtgar outmaneuvers him and kills his own father. Beocca tries to deescalate the situation, but Wihtgar says Uhtred will watch his son’s death first before his own. Everyone drops their swords to try and stop Wihtgar, but it doesn’t work. Beocca is then hit and killed by an arrow meant for Uhtred’s son after moving in the way when Wihtgar pulled the trigger, saving Young Uhtred (Finn Elliot). Uhtred is shocked, and he fights his way out completely devastated by the loss.

How Uhtred revealed how much Father Beocca meant to him

Uhtred and his warriors gets away on their ship, but just barely. They end up becoming shipwrecked, and Uhtred grieves the loss of his longest friend and father figure. Uhtred sits by himself on a hill, and Finan, his friend and a warrior, comes to talk with him. He tells their leader that the warriors are “tired and hungry,” and that they need to go on. However, Uhtred is fixated on going back to get Beocca’s body.

“No, Uhtred, you cannot,” Finan says as he puts a hand on Uhtred’s arm. “Retrieving his body means nothing now. His journey in this world has ended.”

“He is left with thieves and traitors!” Uhtred tells him. “He should lie beside Thyra where his friends can grieve. Instead, I led him to die among strangers.”

Uhtred then opens up about how much Father Beocca meant to him, calling him “the only constant” in his life. He expresses himself about his feelings when it comes to the great loss in his life.

“I’ve lost every family I had,” Uhtred tells his friend. “Beocca was always there. The only constant. Without Beocca I have no home.” Uhtred gets emotional as he says it, and we can understand why. He lost his father in a way, someone who was always there for him over the years. He knew Beocca cared about him, and he cared for him in return. 

“His death is on my hands,” Uhtred says. “I failed him.”

“No,” Finan tries to tell him, putting a hand on his arm and then another hand as well.

Uhtred breaks down from the loss

Later in the episode, he buries a cross Hild (Eva Birthistle) gifted him while thinking about Beocca. Finan again speaks to him, saying, “Beocca would not want you to starve or stay destroyed by grief.”

Uhtred gets up, and tells him, “He held me on the ramparts when Earl Ragnar rode to Bebbanburg with the head of my brother. When my father named me Uhtred in his stead and told me to die for Bebbanburg, Beocca was at my side.” He also recalls Beocca baptizing him, and that Beocca saved his life when he was a boy, and also as a man “many times.”

“He was like a father,” Finan declares.

Uhtred lightly nods his head in agreement and then cries, and Finan holds him as he breaks down. Finan tells him it’s “all right.” But Uhtred insists Beocca won’t have a grave. Finan tells him that Beocca is with both God with his late wife, Thyra (Julia Bache-Wiig). He says he’s “at peace.” Finan mentions that if Beocca was there, he’d tell Uhtred it isn’t “the end,” and they will get more men, returning with an army to “batter down the gates.”

Uhtred agrees, and they hug once more. It’s a sad loss for both Uhtred and fans everywhere. But Uhtred will never forget Father Beocca, and neither will viewers of The Last Kingdom.