BBC Merlin Round Up Thoughts
A place for you to leave your full series round up thoughts for all 5 seasons of BBC Merlin, and to read other peoples thoughts, best bits, favourite episodes, favourite guest stars, favourite outfits, and anything else you can think of.
Cut off: Friday the 10th December
19th December 2021 @ 4:49 pm
D&C Community:
This will be my once and only post.
This was the first time watching the Merlin series in it’s entirety. I have always been fascinated with the Arthurian Legend and through my obsessive nature of needing to know more, I stumbled across a podcast known as “Destiny and Chicken”. I’m glad that I found this podcast!
Between hearing the perspectives of Michelle and Ruth and the community, I learned to be more critical of the series and how the story played out. More importantly, I felt like I was part of a community who shared a similar geeky interest in Merlin 🙂
Ruth: your expertise in film/creative writing brought alternative ways of understanding the story and how slight differences in narrative could have lead to dramatic changes
Michelle: I appreciated that you were just as thirsty as I was for all the gorgeous glistening bodies in the show! (your humour always brought the conversation back from the “Doom Zone”)
All in all, I just wanted to say (because I’ve never said it before): thank you.
17th December 2021 @ 4:31 am
This comment is totally late – but just to get that last thought out into the Merlin universe –
Why did I watch Merlin? – for the relationship between the two leads of course.
But after thinking through all the episodes along with F &F, my favourite scenes from the entire show are the ones between Arthur and Uther – when Uther is suffering some kind of emotional/mental break after learning about Morgana’s treachery.
Arthur is so tender with Uther, the father who showed him no tenderness whatsoever.
Bradley and Anthony do such a great job together with soft voices and touches – those scenes are just beautiful.
11th December 2021 @ 10:59 am
Sorry, I realise that I am late in posting this comment. The run-up to Christmas in schools in just crazy and last night I came home and just had about enough energy left to fall into bed.. I understand if you can’t consider it anymore – but I’ve had ample opportunity to have my say over the last four seasons. 🙂
The main things which I find regrettable are:
That they didn’t get the balance between the two protagonists and the wider ensemble cast right, i.e. that other characters had very shoddy motivations, arcs or even lost character altogether.
That characters (even our central characters – especially Arthur) often had their growth, learning and consistency sacrificed for plot convenience
That the show did not fulfil its central prophecy but, instead of being clear about another prophecy (doom) taking its place if Merlin fails to do XYZ, they still, at the end, pretended that they did fulfil it.
That they left Merlin to live and walk alone forever with his failures and griefs – give this man a bloody mission or purpose; that’s the least you can do!
That we have no consistent, positive, females: from the beginning, Merlin, by leaving his mother, is removed from female authority in his life, the only woman throughout the show who isn’t a deceiver, enchanter or traitor at some point during the series. I actually wish that they’d made Gaius a woman. Why couldn’t we have had some strong, positive female authority guiding Merlin? Was he doomed to fail from the moment Merlin left his mother to search out non-female tutelage?
That we didn’t finish the show better at any of the following points: The Last Dragonlord, The Coming of Arthur, the final beat with Arthur bringing ‘hope for us all’, seeking peace and being received back in Camelot with celebrations at the end of His Father’s Son. (I think the last option is my favourite if we had that episode be the final of season 4, slotting in the Sword in the Stone, the wedding etc. beforehand.
That the writing was very often disappointing and, as we have said so often, very good in small scenes but mostly not up to connecting the dots in the bigger picture to something coherent.
And finally: that they, in my opinion, hamstrung themselves by a very unhelpful focus on being unconventional.
Let me explain the last point further(and I’m building heavily on Mark Allan’s lesson from a few weeks ago):
There are certain things that kept the Arthurian legends alive for so long. One was that they are so adaptable (like BBC Merlin shows). But another essential part of the longevity of these stories is that many story elements that are simply good and work have been kept intact and constant: you need both to tell the Arthurian legends well! But in their dedication to be unconventional and surprising and new, they forgot to maintain the essential good parts. It’s like they were given a box with a great number of good Arthurian story blocks and a number of new, surprising turn blocks. They were told to build a city using both of these types of blocks. But, at every decision and every turn, they tossed out the most suitable, best blocks because it had been done before and ignored the fact that, perhaps, there are reasons that they had been used over and over again. Now, at the end of season 5, it left them with a pretty empty box of fairly disparate story elements and hardly any successful solutions how to connect them to each other sensibly and cohesively. And so, their great city remains unbuilt, events and scenes like little lonely towers without rhyme or reason spiking into the sky. We can wander from tower to tower and admire it and feel the emotion of the scenes but they are not built into one, unified city. Or, dare I say it, one, unified kingdom. I guess this state of affairs at the end of the entire show is symbolised by neither Merlin or Arthur achieving the future they had longed for. There is no freedom for magic users, they do not live side-by-side with non-magic users in a united kingdom. And goodness knows what Arthur really wanted his kingdom to be like – we’ll never know! No wonder we had so many lone-standing towers in this series!
Okay, I’m going to finish on a positive note now because I am not like BBC Merlin and a certain truck scene!
Despite it all, the bottom line is this: Merlin is, and, quite likely, will always be my favourite show for the acting, the props, the set design and costume, for the central premise of the story (whether unfulfilled or not) and, most importantly for that central relationship between our two boys. It is the most human and relatable part of the show.
12th December 2021 @ 8:29 am
I’ve just finished listening to the session 5 round-up and realised that many of my points here (for the whole Merlin round up) you’ve already discussed. Thank you – and sorry for being a broken record.
Also, thanks for giving me the last lesson point! 😀
12th December 2021 @ 4:47 pm
I’ve just sat down to gather and collate the full show round up thoughts and while reading through yours kept thinking ‘oh no, we already talked about that!’ so I’m glad you agree haha We tried really hard to keep things season 5 specific in the round up, but it’s soooooo easy to slip into overall thinking about the show. I’m a bit worried we won’t have anything to talk about in the whole show round up, and then I remember that we are us, and will definitely find something to talk about, as we always do… lol
12th December 2021 @ 7:00 pm
Oh, you’ll find stuff to talk about. And there are a couple of points I made (lack of positive female authority figures /role models for example) that I’m interested to hear your thoughts on.
11th December 2021 @ 3:57 am
I love all of these comments! I want to thank this entire community for always being so engaged and thoughtful and fun. Love to all ya’ll, even if you’re like me and usually just read the comments. 😃
I’m so happy there will be a full show round up! Because I have nothing to say about S5, honestly. I’m glad to see the back of it! But the show, as a whole, is really fascinating. And yes, frustrating!
The actors and their performances are my greatest loves in this show. The core cast kept me coming back for more even after the show became a hot mess, right around season 4 😂 Their commitment to these roles, with all their flaws, is really remarkable given that this is a family TV show where no one really expects acting at that caliber. To have it in all the leads, as well, is really incredible. I’m so glad I rewatched the show after discovering D&C, because going back gave me a deeper appreciation for Bradley James and Katie McGraw’s work, specifically.
My favorite episodes pretty much mirror the List of Destiny, actually, but I would argue for A Herald of a New Age to be ranked higher. It’s not perfect but it was one of the tightest and most interesting episodes in S4, and had big implications for the future of Arthur’s reign and relationship with magic users…which, of course, didn’t go anywhere, but it was still exciting to see in that episode. And, to top it off, it had more of an ensemble cast feel and lots of Adetomowa who, like so many of the knights, I always felt was underutilized.
What I hated was how the story started out about magic being wrongly persecuted and it was Merlin’s destiny to right that wrong…then, by season 5, all of that has fallen to the wayside for a tragedy that felt completely under baked and unearned. Maybe, maybe if we’d seen the golden age at all in the three year jump from S4 to S5 then the tragic ending of S5 would have felt deeper. As it was I just felt duped and mislead by the show and so angry about it! It inspired me to go online and find more people who were angry about the finale and then I found D&C, thank goodness.
There’s also a lot of weird messaging going on with female sexuality in this show, which I think Ruth and Michelle covered very well and I’ve commented about before.
Maybe one central theme of the whole show is, “No good deed goes unpunished.” Saving Mordred, sparing Morgana earlier in the show, and keeping his magic hidden so as not to put Arthur in an impossible position; everything Merlin did backfired on him, horribly. I dislike that kind of tragedy, really, but I can see it was at least consistent.
I wish Merlin’s magic had been revealed at the end of season 3. I wish there had been a separation between all of the four friends, for at least part of season 4 if not all of it, then reuniting them in a new configuration for the final season (or two, in my fantasy world, haha). Don’t get me wrong, I love the joined-at-the-hip thing that Merlin and Arthur had going on in the show, and the intimacy they built over the show (despite the resets and the script undermining it at times) was really great to watch. But I always wondered, who would these characters be if they’d been given more autonomy, more challenge, more individuality? Especially Arthur and Merlin. It’s like their characters stopped growing because there was no where for them to go if Merlin’s magic wasn’t revealed and a break in their relationship created and then worked through. Granted, Merlin grew very dark as a character in the final seasons and I actually thought that was very interesting. But Arthur? Arthur became almost ridiculously unobservant and clueless. Like, seriously, how could he never have noticed anything magical going on around him? It drove me crazy. If you have to make one of your characters dumb for the story to work, it’s not a good story!
I think anything else I have to say has already been said, haha! Thanks to Ruth and Michelle for such a wonderful podcast. I’m genuinely going to miss it!
9th December 2021 @ 8:55 pm
Hey Ruth & Michelle,
This will be my first (and probably last, since the podcast is now ending ☹ ) write in, as I only discovered this podcast about a month ago, when I decided to finally continue watching ( I was somewhere close to the end of season 4) after many, many years. You still had about three episodes of the entire series to go, and I entertained the idea to quickly go through season 5 so I could end with you guys, but the reason I stopped in season 4 was, paraphrasing Ruth here, that it failed to do what it had been telling us it would do. Although I never watched any of season 5 before, I have also long known that the bodies would just be piling up and I’d rather live in my own fantasy land where everyone is alive and happy. Getting through season 5 would thus be a lot of frustration and emotion, so instead I started rewatching season 1, of course now with your fantastic commentary alongside it, and indulged in a lot of fanfiction.
That does mean that I have nothing to say really on season 5 except for the generic spoilers that I do know from hanging out in the fandom a lot, but I do have a lot of thoughts and feelings about Merlin, that I would really like to talk about here.
Interestingly enough, while season 4 (and I would assume season 5 as well) frustrate me to no end, there is also a certain beauty to the way the show played out. The fact that the magic never returned under Arthurs rule, and that Merlin actually also played quite an important role in that. That destiny might actually just be in Merlin’s head. He worked so hard to make some parts come to fruition while trying to prevent others, and maybe that is the reason that things did not turn out the way he had wanted to.
The weird thing is that maybe the show always wore its tragic heart on its sleeve, I just did not really want to see it. I mean, it pretty much starts with a beheading and then Merlin murders someone in that same episode. Episode 8 is called “The beginning of the end”, in which the way this is going to end is already prophesied and putting Merlin in a horrible position, and then in episode 10 “The moment of truth” (an episode which I love by the way, because it is a wonderful showcase for the relationship of our two boys, and because Gwen and Morgana are all in on the action two. It’s our fantastic foursome the way I really like to see them) Merlin has to build a pyre for his first friend, and we have this very clear moment in which he might tell Arthur about his magic come and go. The show is telling us it is going to go some dark places, but it is also obscuring it with a lot of humor, bright colors, tomfoolery, lighthearted adventure quests, not really dealing with trauma, and the charm and likability of its leads. And I most certainly did not want to see to the dark themes, because I was having too much fun with Merlin and Arthur, as well as Morgana and Gwen in the first season. I think if you accept the show is really a tragedy, with some humor thrown in (although as you have noted on several occasions the tone fluctuations don’t always make sense, so the thrown in humor sometimes makes the tragedy just harder to parse), the last two seasons might be more enjoyable, but I just haven’t quite gotten there. Maybe someday.
Not surprisingly, Merlin is the first show that to me was more about the fandom than about the show. You have pointed out in your fanfic recs that Merlin has some of the very best fanfiction around, and that it is fanfic you return to again and again. For me that is absolutely the same. With Arthur and Merlin and their relationship as well as the way Bradley James and Colin Morgan portrayed it, they had struck gold. Since fanfic is usually very much centered on the characters this gave a lot of And since the plot quite often wasn’t all that tight, there was a lot of untapped potential. When the show seemed to go in a much darker direction, and also the relationship between Arthur and Merlin started to feel more and more problematic, fanfic gave an option to those (like me) who found that direction very sad.
But I digress ! Let’s talk about some favourites!
Favourite episodes: It has been too long since I saw most them to really know for sure. So these are based on memory, and possibly a fair amount of fanon that has taken hold in my brain. I love “The Moment of Truth” (see above); “Gwaine” because, well, Gwaine; “The Eye of the Phoenix” because it is Merlin at its questy best, and also, well, Gwaine :p; “Lancelot and Guinevere” because of the wonderful triangle; and “Le Morte d’Arthur” because it is the first episode I ever saw of Merlin and it is a really strong finale. I also have very fond feelings about the pilot even if it is a very uneven episode, but some of the quotes of that episode still bubble up in my brain quite often.
Favourite character: Honestly, it has to be either Merlin or Arthur. No one else really got the development they deserved. Also, neither Merlin nor Arthur would be Merlin or Arthur without Arthur or Merlin (am I still making sense?). So I am going with both. Both is good.
Favourite costume: Morgana’s battle outfits. I love the fine chainmail shirt she has on at one point, and also this shirt with the big belt, green cape thing and super weird necklace that up close looks like it is made out of many, many safety pins strung on a silver cord that she wears in Ealdor. I also love the shows commitment of the show to Merlin’s neckerchiefs and Arthur’s unlaced shirts.
Favourite guest stars: I once made a photogrid (badly photoshopped too) of all the overlap of actors between Merlin and GoT. So I am gonna go with Charles Dance, because he is awesome. And Lindsay Duncan, who is not in GoT, but is also awesome. Oh and Tom Ellis, because he is Tom Ellis ( flawless reasoning, this here)
Most wasted potential: Morgana’s storyline. I just wished there was so much more nuance in the way she went down the villain road. She went from brave and compasionate to scared and confused and influenced by different parties to full blown stomach twirling (or smirking) evil, and then did not look back at all. The road from scared and confused to evil was really not well realized and I really did not like that there were hardly and shades of doubt or nuance in her. She really cared about Arthur and Gwen, it would have mad so much more sense if she was sometimes troubled by how she hurt them.
Well, this turned into a whole story, so I am leaving it at this. Thank you so much for the wonderfulness that is Destiny & Chicken!
9th December 2021 @ 2:29 am
So I think I really loved this show overall and this podcast is definitely a major reason for that. It was a really fun show and I do look forward to revisiting it in the future. It wasn’t the best it could have been but I guess that’s part of the appeal. I would definitely consider it one of my favourite shows!
I started watching this show this year and binged most of it in a relatively short period and was instantly charmed. There’s something really earnest about this show especially in the first season and I completely get why it has such a long running fandom.
If I had to pick out my favourite season it would be the second half of season 2 and maybe season 3. The second half of season 2 sets up the tragedy really well and season 3 is probably the strongest season overall.
I don’t actually have all that much to say and preparing for exams has fried my brain so here goes.
For the first couple of seasons there’s the interesting theme of Uther undermining Arthur’s authority as a leader with stuff like throwing him in the dungeons, humiliating him in front of the court, not listening to his suggestions, etc. Throughout season 1 and 2 we see him take charge and defy his father more and more culminating in the last dragonlord where he fully takes charge and everyone defers to him.
We still continue that but it starts getting too repetitive because of Uther still being alive. A way to fix that would be putting Uther in the position he’s in season 4. The Mandrake roots completely shattered his mind and he can’t function anymore so Arthur has to be in charge. Other kingdoms would see this as a good opportunity to attack and Arthur would have to go the same journey he had in season 4 just with Morgana as the mole trying to sabotage him. He would have to earn the respect of the court and neighbouring kingdoms while changing the way things work. Then season 4 can be about magic and season 5 will be the Mordred storyline.
Because Arthur’s still going on missions and trying to sacrifice himself constantly but none of that seems to affect his reign or how he’s perceived by his people/council. It’s like they just combined Uther and Arthur’s characters after his death because they had no idea how to write Arthur as a king. So when Arthur is being a king it feels like they just gave him Uther’s lines and when he’s not he still acts like prince Arthur.
So many of this show’s problems are caused by not wanting to change the status quo.
One of the things that occurred to me as we got to season 4 and 5 is I don’t think the show/Arthur gets the actual problem with the whole knight’s code thing anymore. It also seems confused about what makes a good ruler and those are kind of connected to my earlier point.
Based on the stuff Uther says and the way he rules it’s clear that the rules exist so that he can keep all of his power with him. He’s a tyrant who doesn’t want to lose his power. The purge in general and going after the dragonlords specifically could be interpreted as him creating an enemy that everyone fears so that the general public turns to him for protection and taking out anyone with the power to oppose him. This is why he doesn’t want commoners to be knights, because he can’t control them the same way he can control nobles.
Now Arthur ends up knighting commoners that have proved their nobility and are loyal to him. Presumably in the time he has been king he has knighted even more commoners and done the whole round table thing which is great. But we don’t get any indication that the actual issues have actually changed. Because if we look back to Gwaine (the episode) the problem was that a commoner and a knight were held to different standards and the common people couldn’t hold their king or nobles accountable for anything. That’s the big problem with the system. It’s that a servant’s word doesn’t mean anything compared to a noble’s word. As far as we can tell Arthur didn’t create a more equal and fair system, he just tried to fill the positions of power with people who are loyal to him.
His entire existence being illegal gives Merlin a unique perspective on the law. And that’s what the point of Merlin helping Arthur achieve his destiny should have been. Or maybe I’m reading it this way because I started watching Leverage alongside season 5. But why make magic illegal if they weren’t going to deal with it?
Also this might be a reach because I know very little about Arthurian legends but this entire show seems to have all the hallmarks of a bad adaptation. By that I mean it seems to copy elements from the legends without understanding the point of the story or adjusting it to the story they already have. For instance Lancelot du Lac (episode). Being a bad adaptation doesn’t necessarily make it a bad show but it does cause a lot of problems.
It seems I’m incapable of talking about this show without complaining but it’s from a place of love. I really do love the world this show has created and all of the questions and problems it creates.
I probably wouldn’t have watched past the Disir if I wasn’t watching along with the podcast and I’m really glad I did. You guys have created a really welcoming and lovely community and I’m really grateful for that. This podcast has been wonderful and insightful and really helped me look at this show in a new light. And thank-you for creating this lovely podcast, art, and all of the work that goes into it. Looking forward to the round-up!
9th December 2021 @ 9:19 pm
-Also this might be a reach because I know very little about Arthurian legends but this entire show seems to have all the hallmarks of a bad adaptation. By that I mean it seems to copy elements from the legends without understanding the point of the story or adjusting it to the story they already have.
Totally agree! I don’t know much about the legends either, but seems they could have done more research or made it fit better.
8th December 2021 @ 7:00 am
• In the beginning:
I’m going to try and distil 12 years of fandom thoughts, here goes!
When I saw the first Merlin trailer it was the age of Gossip Girls and 90210 -shows where pretty, young people got up to no good, generally catered to teenage girls. I was a teenage girl. I was also aware of all the scandalous turns within the Arthurian stories. So a series with pretty, young people, exploring these stories could only mean trouble, right? While I was here for the magic and dragons, I was determined to be unimpressed by the young people with raging hormones or whatever, partying it up in Camelot (looking at you, Arthur Pendragon*). Yep, still teenage-me!
*Not that the trailer really suggests that of Arthur apart from him being a good-looking, confident prince. Was I prematurely judgemental? Definitely.
So I start forming some baselines in my head as the TV channel previews Merlin for many days. Merlin: our likeable, charming good-boy hero, occasionally being a ‘typical teenager’ but coming through in the end and being awesome. Gwen: Merlin’s sweet, if a bit clichéd, love interest (season 1 really shipped them, remember?) Morgana: possibly more like the traditional Guinevere, the aloof princess who tames the prince Arthur, makes him a better man as he falls for her. Arthur: the playboy jock, some kind of a Medieval ‘Chuck Bass’ perhaps? (I mean power to Chuck/Gossip Girls, but it wasn’t my cup of tea). Then I watched the first episode, a snarky Merlin meets Arthur, and the characters start growing on me. As of the present, a certain Prince Arthur ended up being my favourite character. In his own words, ‘Wonders never cease!’
• Adventures of Merlin, with bonus Arthur:
Merlin is a rare case where you have a main, titular character, yet it is a pair of characters that make up most of the story. I came here expecting everything from Merlin, (which I got) and expected Arthur to be, at best, a likeable sidekick. But then a couple of episodes in, Arthur had all kinds of layers: why he has to put on a front, how he’s willing to risk it all for a servant, then pretends to be entitled so that he can sneak in the plant for Merlin.
Arthur is often described as the character who has to learn to be a worthy king. I think the problem was, he had all the ingredients of that end character in season 1: intelligence, competence, compassion. So it made sense to take some back steps from the layers every new season (and effectively dumb down the character). Having grown up with Disney, what struck me most was that Arthur wasn’t a one-note perfect, fairy tale prince, nor a rampant bad-boy who becomes unrealistically good.
When Colin won the NTA at the end of Merlin (and the show got nominated as Best Drama) it was such an end-on-a-high moment. Some of the best Merlin moments mean he should have won that award twice over! But watching his nomination clip, I couldn’t help but think I wish there was some sort of a nod to Bradley as well. Maybe they should introduce a ‘best pairing’ award or something!
• The age of innocence:
Merlin started before the days of high-budget, “gritty” streaming shows and was pitched to be a family show. Granted, that perhaps hindered the proper exploration of some themes as we discussed here. But it also meant you could watch something that made you care about the characters, all without worrying about fast-forwarding them awkward scenes when your parents are around (looking at you GoT!) or skipping the gore. Farts and trolls aside, Merlin was good family-viewing when it worked. I think it’s especially the sign of a good story when it can be liked by kids and reach adults on a different level as well.
• The Merlin rabbit hole:
One experience of being a Merlin fan for some is going down the ‘Merlin rabbit hole’. I.e. being won over by the characters enough that you start watching the behind the scenes content…and get won over by, erm, all the ‘characters’ involved in those! You’re-the-voice or the spider incident, anyone? I always loved it when the cast would point out things that all the fans were probably thinking and their characters couldn’t acknowledge. For instance, I would always support Bradley being sarcastic about Arthur’s shirtless scenes! Not sure what his thinking was there, but I liked that he pointed it out in the first instance –the season 2 opener- rather than being jokey about it once it became ‘a thing’.
• ‘You always surprise me’:
The characters really have. Does this show know how to do sensitivity, or what? Nearly every character has a tender moment/chemistry with every other character. Yes, I used to ship Arthur/Morgana in the way beginning. And yeah, Arthur’s whole rationale for falling in love with Gwen –that she challenges him- kind of goes out the window once she stops being more than just supportive. But I was SOLD when Arthur/Gwen was established in season 2. The characters have won me over way more than I expected them to. So when I needed motivation for my big high school exam, I could hear Arthur going ‘I have everything to prove, to myself’. When I need to tell myself to be me, I remember Gwen going ‘Don’t ever change, not for anyone’.
• A Merlin for everyone:
One of the best things about this show is it leaves just enough unanswered -and just enough inconsistencies- that you can have your own version of the show and characters! No matter how insensitive or silly Arthur is, Sincere!Arthur is so believable that it’s easy to forget those other bits. Merlin’s loss of Freya, Arthur’s bittersweet confession of his feelings for Gwen make you forget Gwen and Merlin shared that random kiss and Arthur once saw a hot Morgana and uttered ‘God have mercy.’ (Though I still love that Arthur can’t really flatter the ladies and said stuff like that!)
Some moments are so well done that it’s enough to make you forget the season 4 and 5 disappointments and take the series 3 finale as the ‘ending on a high’. But I think the biggest takeaway is the characters and how you find parts of yourself in them.
9th December 2021 @ 9:26 pm
-But watching his nomination clip, I couldn’t help but think I wish there was some sort of a nod to Bradley as well. Maybe they should introduce a ‘best pairing’ award or something!-
Totally agree! Colin is amazing but so is Bradley and it was them TOGETHER that blew our minds and made our hearts explode! 💗💓
4th December 2021 @ 7:47 pm
i’m very glad i found this series and this podcast. normally i would send a few thoughts on each season but i haven’t watched the whole show straight through in a couple of years. they make such a big deal on the prophecy in the early seasons just to ignore it later on. i think the only original plan they stuck to was making morgana evil because they kept uther and gauis around for so long that when arthur finally became king the show didn’t have enough seasons to explore the concept. i often felt that morgana was evil just for the sake of being evil. i found it even more disappointing she did nothing for magical beings once she was on the throne but that would have made her too good i guess so mass murdering innocent villagers it was. i’m sorry morgana died alone in the forest without even aithusa there though i could have sworn for the longest time aithusa carried her body off. i hope merlin eventually went back to camelot because i can’t imagine him anywhere else. i love the series but it simply has such unexplored potential
4th December 2021 @ 9:19 am
I’m going to start my Merlin round up in an unfortunate place:
Season 3 Goblin’s Gold
This episode ends with Arthur and Gwen deciding that “it’s best if we never speak of these events again.”. I decided then and there that Arthur and Gwen were a stand in for the show and the audience and that the show gave us permission to never think of their stupid fart jokes again, thank goodness.
But this opened the door to allowing the audience to decide which bits of Merlin to remember and use to create the narrative, and which bits to ignore.
I think I ignored most of season 5 for example. I’m only half joking.
I just loved Arthur and Merlin’s relationship and the idea of the Golden Age of Albion where magic users would be accepted. I overlooked the growing unease between Merlin and destiny, and focused on the hopeful parts – eg. Aithusa bodes well for Arthur and Merlin…Mordred telling Kara that he believes in Arthur and that one day things will be different…
So I was totally unprepared for the ending! I hoped it would somehow all work out right up until the end and I didn’t know Arthur was going to die.
Admittedly, this make me sound like an idiot, but in my defence:
i’m not British so hadn’t paid that much attention to the Arthurian legend
I thought the Once and Future King would be older than Bradley James in his late twenties.
Fascination and Frustration’s review of the journey through BBC Merlin really made me aware of how easy it is to pick and chose parts of the show to create your own individual narrative that may differ from other people experiencing the same story. Especially when the narrative isn’t that cohesive in the first place!
For me, there was a clear opposition between my own Merlin story line and the very sad place we eventually ended up.
This made me think that Arthur’s blinkered relationship with Merlin is mirrored in my own choice to not see the tragedy the show was suggesting.
It’s like I had Arthur’s POV regarding the show instead of Merlin’s. How could I not see what the show was saying about Merlin’s tragic trajectory? Well, because I foolishly didn’t want to, and the show provided enough superficial reassurance that I wasn’t forced to.
Poor Arthur and I had quite a shock at the end, didn’t we? I cried my eyes out.
And speaking of sad endings – I will miss my weekly dose of thoughtful Merlin. I think after some time, I’ll go back and rewatch the show again. How different will the experience be after all I’ve learned through F&F? Has the analysis stripped away the magic? I remain hopeful, and suspect not.
2nd December 2021 @ 2:38 pm
I wanted to leave a big summarizing comment. I was thinking about leaving it for ages. But there are so many feelings I have about this show, it feels like it’s impossible to summarize it in one comment, however long. So I may get a bit personal here, heh, and I hope it won’t be too cringe-y 😀
So I never watched Merlin in real time; it was broadcasted in Poland, but not so popular as to be talked about and I never just stumbled upon it in TV. The first time I even heard about the show was around 2019, I think. YT was recommending some Merlin compilations to me, and someone in the Tolkien fandom said the show was “good fun”. So I turned Netflix on and decided to give it a go, but didn’t get through the distractingly 2008-BBC CGI. Then, I heard yet another recommendation, and gave it a second chance. It was July 2020, and I really had nothing better to do. And that’s how it started.
By the mid-s1, I knew that this was a “fun show” indeed, but made no more of it than just casually watching it. By The Poisoned Chalice, I shipped Merthur. Then, I reached The Moment of Truth and The Beginning of The End. After watching Mordred walk away from Arthur, I said to myself “this can’t end well”. After seeing Merlin almost reveal his magic to Arthur in Ealdor, I got a little frustrated and googled “when does Merlin reveal his magic to Arthur”. I got an answer. I got a little meltdown.
I came to terms with that after a few days and realized this – that is, the magic reveal/adventure time – is not necessarily the story the show wants to tell. Maybe it will be sadder than that. I was intrigued. I was a Tolkien nerd, so of course I was intrigued by the possibility of tragedy.
I reached s2. Got irritated by the s2e1 reset of Arthur’s character. Got annoyed at Arthur’s abuse of Merlin. Briefly got anti-Merthur vibes. By the end of The Lady of the Lake, I knew 2 things: 1) this show is going to be a tragedy. 2) I fell in love with Colin Morgan’s acting choice at Freya’s funeral and wanted to see everything he’s ever starred in.
As s2 went on, the tragedy vein became more and more prominent. The Sins of the Father and The Fires of Idirsholas could be standalone tragedies, imo. I fell in love with the tragic dynamic between Merlin and Morgana, as I knew there were no easy solutions there. Nothing was as simple as “Merlin should have told her he had magic!”. There were no authority figures that could guide Merlin. The dragon was exposed as unreliable, Gaius was the worst. It was wonderfully tragic. I was wondering if I’m still watching a family show. I expected Merlin and Morgana to become mirror images of each other, both morally ambiguous. Merlin’s emotions were my emotions. I cried.
Then, s3 rolled in, and Morgana was back as a smirk-y villain. I got super frustrated. I felt like they ruined that whole dynamic. This is why to this day, contrary to the rest of the fandom, s3 is my least favorite season, despite having some great Gwaine and OG Round Table related episodes. Gwaine was my light in the tunnel, really. I loved Gilli. I loved the Round Table. But in general, s3 was kinda meh for me.
Then, s4 rolled, and I regained my faith in Merthur. There were so many lovely scenes between those two. In general, with s4 and s5 both, I was watching them for the scenes more than for the episodes, if it makes sense? Except for The Servant of Two Masters. I LOVE The Servant of Two Masters.
I was initially very grateful that s5 seemed to try to come back to the Merlin-Morgana dynamic from s2: they reiterated Merlin’s dubious morality, they juxtaposed them more. But it wasn’t the same. Still, I was happy about the scraps I was given, and even though there were many plotholes, I had a higher opinion on s5 than the rest of the fandom. I was all there for Merlin’s downfall, for the self-fulfilling prophecy, and for the destiny talk to be a lie. Oh yeah, did I mention? I probably stopped believing in anything that Kilgarrah has to say by the s1 finale. So I believed the destiny to be a lie, and I didn’t wait for the golden era. I still think they never wanted to really do that. I still think that the expectations of the family genre TV made this show a disservice.
The s5 finale had me bawling my eyes out. Then, I realized Merlin was over, I cried more, and rewatched the finale. Cried even more. Started looking for fanfic. Set up a Tumblr Merlin-dedicated blog. Had to share my thoughts with someone. Searched for a Merlin podcast and couldn’t believe my eyes when I found you 🙂 and here I am.
I have many interests and fixations, and I enjoy many TV shows for about 2 weeks after I watch them – but Merlin was special. NOTHING hit me so much in the feels since the first time I read LOTR. I don’t know why; maybe it was the compilation of the weirdness of 2020 and a need for escapism, with the superb acting on this show, with the interesting characters. Oh, no, wait, it was also something else. It was the fact that, when Merlin asked Gaius if he’s a monster in s1e1; when he said he was born with his magic; when the show made a point of emphasizing how painful it is to hide who you are – that was right in the moment when I felt I was hiding who I am and didn’t even fully realize it yet. BBCM showed the power of fantasy in addressing real-life issues without saying the words. I’m sure if I watched a show about a closeted gay/bi trans man, however great that show would be (can I have a show like that? Please?), it would affect me less than a show about a magical manservant did. And combined with Colin’s superb acting, it was just a blow straight to the heart. That’s why I think my Merlin obsession isn’t going anywhere any time soon. There are so many more fics to write, after all.
I never had my own List of Destiny, as I’m not the best in that. But I can give you my own subjective ranking of the seasons, and my list of favorite episodes ever. I think after what I wrote, the reason for that will be clear. So here we go:
1. season 2
2. season 1
3. season 4
4. season 5
5. season 3
My favorite episodes:
1. The Fires of Idirsholas, a.k.a. The Tragedy of Merlin
2. The Sins of the Father, a.k.a. The Tragedy of Arthur
3. The Last Dragonlord
4. The Moment of Truth
5. The Servant of Two Masters
6. The Sorcerer’s Shadow
7. The Coming of Arthur Part 2
Thank you so much for this wild podcast ride! It has been such a pleasure 🙂 And now, I got s2 Merlin feels, so I’m going to rewatch that. 😀
11th December 2021 @ 1:19 am
-Then, s4 rolled, and I regained my faith in Merthur. There were so many lovely scenes between those two. In general, with s4 and s5 both, I was watching them for the scenes more than for the episodes, if it makes sense? Except for The Servant of Two Masters. I LOVE The Servant of Two Masters.-
Me too! 🙋🏼♀️ Totally watch Season 4 and 5 for individual scenes then actual over all plot line and I also LOVE the servant of two masters!!
-BBCM showed the power of fantasy in addressing real-life issues without saying the words. –
And this is why I LOVE fantasy! I try to explain this to my friends who do not care for fantasy. They continually dismiss fantasy as a genre that is all “magic and rainbows” and “not real,” arguing there is no substance. I then explain passionately that the world may not be “real,” but the issues addressed in fantasy certainly are! Fantasy is a way to look at real world issues from another perspective. Sometimes plucking a moral issue/conflict out of the real world and plopping it in a new world with different rules sheds light on an issue in a way that would not have been apparent when using our usual “real world” lens.
There is such POWER in the fantasy genre and it makes me sad that some just cannot see it….
12th December 2021 @ 12:23 am
” Sometimes plucking a moral issue/conflict out of the real world and plopping it in a new world with different rules sheds light on an issue in a way that would not have been apparent when using our usual “real world” lens.”
Exactly that! I think fantasy and scifi have a great advantage in that they could really influence your way of thinking about certain things. If you’re watching a real world realistic story and there are, say, real minority labels thrown around, this could discourage you from seeing the issue differently than you’ve done before. But take fantasy – and obviously, I don’t think fantasy should be allegorical, the parallels don’t have to be perfect – and it can spun your world around! It can change your opinion, or help you figure out things about yourself!
I’m also so sad (and baffled) that so many people can’t see that.
13th December 2021 @ 12:54 am
Dan, this is so beautifully written, I just wanted to call out that you are incredibly eloquent and I enjoy seeing/hearing your comments on top of everything else as part of this podcast. thanks for sharing your journey with this show!
16th December 2021 @ 3:08 pm
Wow, thank you so much 💖
1st December 2021 @ 10:55 pm
Well, I guess somebody has to be first! I don’t even know where to begin. I can’t decide if this podcast enhanced or destroyed my love for the show or (most likely) somewhere in between :). I will probably lurk on the site for days to see what other people have to say, I’m so curious! And ready to respond 🙂
FAVORITES/DEFINITELY NOT FAVORITES:
Extremely good things about the show: The acting. The relationship between Arthur and Merlin. The character of Uther (in that, good villains are delicious sort of way; not in the “I actually like him” sort of way). Gwaine, before he was ruined. Arthur and Gwen, before they were actually married and had some actual tension. The tension of Merlin hiding his magic, at least in the first couple seasons, before it got old. The brilliance of the Round Table and Sword and the Stone scenes. Arthur and Merlin, Arthur and Merlin, Arthur and Merlin. We were so freaking blessed to enjoy Colin Morgan and Bradley James in this ridiculous but lovable show. And, I can’t make this list without paying some love to the beauty of the men in this show, if I’m being honest. Again, #blessed.
Things in the show with enormous untapped potential: Morgana, Morgana, Morgana. The story of Gwen. The story of any and every woman on this show. The story of Mordred! There’s someone I uncritically hated on first watch and have new appreciation for after watching through this podcast. Political intrigue in Camelot. Arthur with character development. Gwen with character development. Gwaine with character development! Ok, I think you get my point, I like character development. I can live with messy plots if I have better character development, but the show fell apart on this front the longer it went on.
Actively terrible parts of the show: Agravaine, like a thousand times over. Evil Gwen. Those random terrible episodes about trolls and goblins and fill-in-the-blank cringe. The mess of the prophecy.
Ranking of Seasons:
1) This is hard but I think I see Season 2 as the best. The set of episodes of ending S2 is so well done, and this is when Morgana is still intriguing and Arthur and Gwen still have chemistry.
2) S3 has some standouts as well and is a close second in my book. S3 suffers a little with smirky Morgana, but the brilliance of some individual episodes saves it. And no doubt I love the finale.
3) S1 is probably the goofiest of the seasons, but again has some real standouts that make the series what it is, and again is helped by including a more interesting Morgana character.
4) S4 is almost in last place because I hate Agravaine so much. No more to say here really. The sword and the stone scene is epic, but feels less incredible after the better nod to Arthurian legend that is the roundtable scenes at the end of S3.
5) Man S5 -What a terrible way to close out with so much untapped potential in Mordred, a ruined Morgana, and a messy close to the prophecy. I didn’t actually rank any of the S5 episodes in my “list of destiny” yet so this is mostly a gut check feeling, but I think this is how my rankings go.
Favorite episode: Knowing its not a S5 episode, if I was asked quickly I would say Fires of Idirsholas. Morgana’s flip in this episode is fascinating and well played. Merlin having to deal with Morgana while not exposing the problem to Arthur is great tv, and one of the earliest points I really saw the darker side of Merlin’s role, especially when he poisons her. The bromance of Merlin and Arthur is epic in this episode, and actually enhances everything, rather than just being a side benefit. And even the plot itself paces well for me. And yet, when I looked at my list… I put the Last Dragonlord. Then started making arguments to myself about why it might actually be Eye of the Phoenix, or Sins of the Father, or even the Beginning of the End. I think the top 5-8 episodes of this series are fairly interchangeable for me in terms of both quality and enjoyment and I would rewatch any day.
Best character: Ummmmmm I’m highly biased by how much I love looking at Bradley James. But I think I gotta give it to the title character here. So many layers and intriguing, and certainly would never have been this great without Colin Morgan in the role. The podcast DID though give me new appreciation for how great Bradley James is as well. He’s definitely underappreciated!
Worst character: Agravaine. See complaints above. I know there’s an argument for Gaius- but I do think his weaknesses are a somewhat realistic part of his character. Mostly I wish he died because it would have been a tighter narrative to remove both him and Uther from the show.
SHOW THEMES/LESSONS
I really really could discuss for days a few of the major themes (or missed opportunities for major themes on this show). What is the show really saying about the impact of parents on us? Arthur and Morgana clearly suffer without mothers, and Merlin clearly needs a father. Gaius loves him and is a teacher, but I do think Gaius’ failings are in part because of his unusual role in Merlin’s life as part father, part teacher.
I also have questions about its themes regarding friendship. I guess the main takeaway is that you need to learn to be yourself with your friends – but as much as I love Arthur and Merlin, I have trouble sometimes with glorifying this friendship. A friendship where one person is actively that dubious and the other doesn’t actually pay attention to what is going on with their friend doesn’t strike me as a particularly healthy friendship to glorify. But at their best moments at least in S2/S3, the Arthur/Merlin; Merlin/Gwaine; Merlin/Lancelot, and Arthur/knights relationships on the show are awesome relationships to watch on TV. Whether romantic or not, I will never say no to watching healthy male relationships on tv.
What is the show actually telling us about persecution of others? Way back in S1 in the Beginning of the End, they told an incredible story about Merlin ignoring the prophecy and going with his gut, because in the end, you should always do the right thing and strive to not hurt or mistreat innocent people. But that message gets muddied the further they go on. Clearly the message gets muddied for Merlin too, and that is part of why the tragedy happens. But at the end of the show, I’m sort of left with the feeling of “ok, so what was the point?” By not having a clear sense of what part of the legend this story would focus on, the show’s overarching themes and lessons suffered.
2nd December 2021 @ 6:21 pm
Totally with you on the love of season 2 and The Fires of Idirsholas! 💖
I also like Merlin the most. I think his character arc was the most consistent one.
8th December 2021 @ 7:28 am
I’m getting behind everyone’s love for Season 2. It might have some glaring annoyances (hello troll) and characters taking a step back. But it also had the most growth for every character -I like Dan’s ‘tragedy of’ episodes. Also, Gwen had a strong voice that season and don’t forget the tragedy of Morgana. And totally agree we were #blessed with the cast/aesthetics/emotions in this show!