Episode II.XII – The Fires of Idirsholas
In which we wax lyrical about the stunning art direction in this episode and the breathtaking performance of every single person on screen, while trying to ignore the glaring plot holes. As always, we fail.
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26th December 2020 @ 9:27 pm
I am very much late, BUT I JUST HEARD THE TINIEST ‘MIAUW’ IN THE PODCAST AND IT WAS AMAZING AND DISTRACTING AND I LOVE IT
(Also, very glad I finally discovered the comment section, took me at least 6 visits to this maze of a site xD)
27th December 2020 @ 7:25 pm
haha there will be more meows in your future, I can promise you that!
I’m sorry you’re finding the site hard to navigate, was it because you couldn’t find the blog entry for each old episode, or was it something else that made it difficult?
M Xx
11th May 2020 @ 11:18 pm
I just hated that Merlin tried to kill Morgana. He believes the dragon who feeds him a line about this being the only way – but is it? Merlin so ruthless and not even asking Morgana about it. I usually put this one at the bottom of my list because it makes me so angry.
Anyway, great job with the podcasts. I’m really enjoying them so much.
5th May 2020 @ 5:25 am
This is my first time leaving a comment, but I had to comment on this episode because it completely caught me off guard when I started it; I love so many of the scenes in this episode but I always forget that it is in this episode, so I always skip this episode…woops. Anyway, some of my favorite humorous moments in this episode (and in the series in general) are: when Merlin says he’ll grab Uther two pillows because he is the king and when Merlin slaps Arthur and tells him if he needs a servant in the next life, to not ask him.
The poisoning scene is heartbreaking especially because of the betrayal in Morgana’s face because the one person who knows about her magic and accepted her has condemned her to death. After this moment she truly feels that no one in Camelot can be trusted. Because of the complexities of this scene and the direct implications on Morgana’s character, I don’t find the last episode as egregious you guys. In that episode Morgana is not acting like herself because she is at war with herself and doubting everything she thought she knew about those around her. Similarly, she is shocked at the sudden action that has taken place; it is one thing to say you want someone dead (Uther) and it is another thing entirely to be in the middle of the situation, feeling like prey and knowing that she might have caused this to happen. I also think Morgana is scared at the lengths that Morgause will use to bring down Camelot and Morgana feels in over her head and guilty being with Arthur and Merlin.
I might have over over-analayzed it and went on a tangent, but besides that I love this podcast and how it has allowed me to rewatch the show and enjoy it more than the first time I watched it.
5th May 2020 @ 12:02 am
Lessons:
We learn that Morgana is too trusting of magic users too quickly. As far as we know, Morgana has only met Morgause once when she gave her the nightmare-cancelling bracelet and we saw that there was awkwardness between them but also an instant connection. (Gosh, Morgana has so many instant unexplained bonds! Stranger danger, Morgana!) We are not aware that afterwards they have been messaging back and forth or kept in contact in any other way. So, why isn’t Morgana freaked out by the message on her window? Does it even say it’s from Morgause? (I tried to pause it but Morgana’s fingers covered the final line with (possibly) the name of the sender.) Even if she did know who this was from, why is she trusting her enough to agree to meet her in the woods, alone, at night!? That’s really dangerous, Morgana, and all your alarm bells should be going off! Or maybe was the bracelet imbued with more than just a dreamcatcher charm? Did it also more trusting towards Morgause? Did it rob Morgana of her agency and make her easier to manipulate?
We have learned that (in this episode at least – unfortunately, we might have to unlearn this lesson depending on the demands of the plot in future episodes) the greater the peril, the better Arthur and Merlin work together and the more respectful they are of each other’s skills. I love the moment when they ride out with the knights to investigate at Idirsholas and Merlin looks frightened but doesn’t say anything. Arthur turns around and prompts him to talk. He clearly relies on Merlin (not any of his knights) to provide conversation or entertainment but he also specifically asks about ‘Gaius’ bedtime stories’, so he has realised that Merlin is a valuable source of potentially dangerous/ illegal but often crucial information that he can tap into if he veils it in insults and assertions of Merlin’s idiocy.
Just another lesson about Gaius: We see him now actively shirking his physician’s duties: he examines the king and then goes off and leaves Sir Leon, a knight clearly not trained as a nurse, in charge, asking him to let him know if there is any change. That’s literally your job, Gaius!
General comments:
Like I commented last week, I think one thing that has always bothered me about Morgana’s arc and it’s development is the inconsistency between the Morgana of early season 1 and now. Not only has she seemingly lost all agency but, whereas before, she was always took the side of the less fortunate, she now portrayed as selfish. In her nightly conversation with Morgause, she asserts that she didn’t kill Uther when she had the chance in S1 Ep 12 because she thought he cared for her. But she knows he doesn’t care for her or anyone. But, what indication has Uther given that he does not care for Morgana? He sent an entire army after her to raid and kill the entire druid camp that, allegedly, kidnapped her. If anything, Uther cares about her way too much! The only violence we have seen Uther use against Morgana was before the outcome of ‘To Kill the King’ so that should have been cancelled out by that last scene by the grave of Gorlois and those later instances of extreme overprotection! Even last week, when she really challenged him, all Uther did was shout and sent her to her room! I mean, he literally grounds her – that’s it. Presumably to give her time to consider that condemning a dangerous radical and murderer is actually justified. So, is Morgana selfishly basing her assumption that Uther doesn’t care for her on the fact that he doesn’t give her what she wants or doesn’t listen to her? Or is she so fixated on the problem of her magic and her belief that Uther would immediately slaughter her, that this tints every experience she has and she begins to see the world in black and white: pro or against magic, friends or foes?
Why isn’t her answer to Morgause: I know he cares for me but I cannot silently watch as he murders innocent people and magic users. But I guess the dilemma still is how to believably turn her from a generous, loving person who seeks to do the right thing for others to the murderous villain she will later become. I don’t think the writers thought of the best solution nor can I really think of a good one. But giving Morgana agency and choice would have definitely been a step in the right direction. Morgana saying, ‘It doesn’t matter what I want. The future is not of my making’ is the greatest departure from her established character: This thought has never stopped her before from standing up for the right thing and doing something to affect the future.
This entire plot (perhaps the entire plot of Merlin) relies on miscommunication: Morgana fails to ask Morgause to ‘eloborate on that, please’ when Morgause asks her whether she is with her to plan Uther’s downfall. Morgause deliberately does not communicate the full picture and Morgana, because of special-bond-and-thus-immediate-complete-trust issues, does not question this. Why? She questions Arthur and Uther at every toss and turn? What makes Morgause different?
Equally, Merlin, after Arthur left the council room to get the cart, fails to outright tell Morgana, “Look, I know you are the source of the spell that makes everyone go to sleep…How do I know? I can’t tell you and we have no time. But I know.” The knights won’t kill you – so, please can you just get out of the city asap?”
You mentioned that Morgana, because she does not know that Merlin has magic, lacks a piece of the puzzle to realise that her magic is not the reason she isn’t affected by the spell. However, I think that Merlin also lacks the knowledge that Morgana doesn’t know that she is the source of the spell. I think the way Katie acts this episode makes me think that she suspects something but Merlin, probably based on his experiences last episode, believes that she does know, hence he never explains anything to her.
Just a note on Katie McGrath’s acting: I agree: it’s the best it’s ever been and will ever be and I think this is because here Morgana is at her most complicated, still clearly caring about people in the castle, even Uther, but also wanting to support Morgause. I just wish we had kept her in the grey zone for many episodes and build up a gradual change slowly over several seasons. It also might have been helpful to explain how Arthur lost her friendship and loyalty which (spoiler) is the one thing that basically bothered me most about all of Merlin (until the final two-parter, that is – then I found lots of other things to bother me…), because the progression from friendship/ sibling love to hate/ jealousy successfully plotted. So, none of the later Morgana stuff works for me because I am not clear how she has developed certain motivations.
I think this, for me, this is the game-changer episode. Could we say that everything that goes awry from here on out could have been fixed by better choices in this one episode? Having looked up the translation/ meaning of Morgause’s spell to awaken the knights of Medhir (something like: Knights of Medhir, your souls are my soul. Yield and join me. Be ready and destroy again. Grief, Uther Pendragon), I agree with your interpretation that Morgause was not intending to harm Arthur or kill anyone but Uther in Camelot. So, because of the fatalistic pronouncements of the dragon (more on that later) which Merlin believed, he managed to make both Morgana and Morgause into his and Camelot’s enemies with that hemlock bottle. Morgause even threatens him with death if he does not reveal the poison which might suggest that she did not intend to kill him according to her original plan. How might an Arthur-friendly Morgause, after Uther’s death, have influenced Camelot? Or was the rift bound to happen because Arthur would have turned against Morgause? And whom would Morgana have supported in that case?
I think this episode thinks quite deeply about the real villains of the story, as well as generational or inherited sin or conflict. The dragon blames Uther for everything and that’s fair enough. But the stinky old lizard now uses any means to achieve his revenge. He feeds Merlin with fatalistic pronouncements about the doom or Camelot and Arthur’s death if Morgana isn’t stopped. However, I think especially the fact that he does not mention Morgause betrays the fact that the dragon is concocting a story and phrasing it in a way that will serve only his ends: be freed and have Uther alive to witness his revenge. Also, nice side effect, the witch will be killed.
Uther, obviously, has always been a villain of the story but his final line to Arthur (“Her loss will forever be on my conscience, not yours”) confesses his involvement not just in her disappearance but uses Morgana’s development as an example of the effects of his vendetta against magic users. I don’t know if Uther means it that way, but I interpret his line on quite a few levels.
This, to me, stresses the generational divide we have always had in the show, between the past/ older generations and the present/ young generations and the way the deal with or inherit this conflict. In fact, I think we can see Merlin, Morgana and Morgause turn into younger versions of their older generation counterparts. Merlin commits murder and, whereas it isn’t easy for him as the dragon says, his future development will show him to become more ruthless. Morgana inherits her hate and drive for revenge from Uther and, after this episode, even Morgause assumes the role of her predecessors, becoming a vengeful High Priestess in the spirit of Nimueh. The only person exempt from this seems to be Arthur. You commented on his pragmatism, even though he is literally ‘born of magic’, so of more magical origin than possibly any of the other characters. Perhaps this suggests that, because of him lacking human/ mortal ancestry, he is the only character to be a man in and of himself, unaffected by generational sin and enabled to be the Once and Future King: idealistic, loyal and true to himself until the very end.
5th May 2020 @ 12:05 am
I’m really sorry about the wordiness/ lack of coherence of my post. I was struggling to get this on here on time and to make sense of it all. So sorry if it doesn’t. Please ignore any passages that are clearly incomprehensible! (See, even that last statement is an oxymoron!)
4th May 2020 @ 10:28 am
After the discussions over the last few weeks with Morgana and her lack of agency and the general portrayal of females on this show and my inevitable overthinking of this episode, I have to say I was left really frustrated after watching this, which is a shame because there are some really lovely parts in this episode.
I honestly really struggled with lessons this week – I listened to your podcast, watched the episode, and then listened to your podcast again. Gaius and Uther were both asleep so their lesson-learning abilities were minimal, and Arthur, as is often the case in magic-centrist episodes where Merlin is clued in an he is not, takes a bit of a backseat in terms of hugely character-developing moments (although I did adore the lovely moments he and Merlin re Merlin’s ‘battle wound’ and before Arthur leaves Merlin to fight the Knights of Medhir).
LESSON
I think it is interesting that Merlin, Arthur and Uther (as well as Morgana when she wakes up) must have learnt that Morgause would sacrifice her opportunity to live in a world without fear of Uther and his cruelty (as well as the opportunity for all others with magic to gain the same freedom) for the safety of Morgana. Despite the obviously close bond the two have had since first meeting each other, this is a huge decision for Morgause to make with no hesitation and with such ferocity and determination. This is a huge development for their relationship (Morgause and Morgana), and I think it becomes clear to everyone that whatever else they think is true of Morgana at this point, for Morgause, Morgana is not a person she will allow harm to come to, and Morgause has at this point openly declared that she will not leave Morgana.
Of course, the implications of this will change for each character, with Uther and Arthur seeing is as a malicous act, of kidnapping essentially, and Morgana would be against this if they were able to speak to her, whereas Merlin, based on his discussion with the stinky lizard, will interpret this as a dangerous bond, and will be at the least concerned for when they meet again (as I think he must suspect they will seeing as Morgause told him she could save Morgana).
3rd May 2020 @ 12:03 pm
The poisoning scene was intense. Confession: it makes me ship Merlin and Morgana! I didn’t like Merlin’s token romance with Freya –it should have been a longer term tragic romance instead. Or would have been interesting if Merlin had a complicated romance with Morgana, leading up to this scene…and beyond.
30th April 2020 @ 8:34 pm
When you commented on how loads of knights go off with Arthur and Merlin but don’t return, I got this image in my head of Merlin being treated like a bad luck charm by all the knights – like going on a super dangerous trip with just Arthur is fine, but as soon as they see Merlin it doesn’t matter if they’re just going on a fun hunting trip, suddenly it’s bad. They start getting jumpy at the sight of anyone in a neckerchief, and seeing Merlin in the armoury getting Arthur’s stuff is like a bad omen. Merlin becomes the black cat whose path none of the knights dare cross for the bad luck he brings… ANYWAY.
I actually don’t much mind Morgana not getting to make decisions, for two reasons: Firstly, I think the idea that she is a pawn in the games of Uther’s enemies brings pathos to her story, complicating the idea that she is a villain. That sense that she is a pawn makes her parallel Mordred, in that they are people with raw power who get used by those around them, manipulated and convinced by people who promise them belonging or justice or revenge. It assumes a specific reading of Mordred, of course, but I think it works. Secondly, it makes a very moving contrast with her in season 1 – she used to be so self-assured, and now she doubts herself at every turn. It’s perhaps a marker of how different it is to watch others being oppressed vs being the one living in fear of oppression yourself. It doesn’t make the gender politics any better, but it’s essentially how I interpret her character.
I feel like maybe some of the issues with Morgana as a whole could have been mitigated at least a bit if more had been done between her and Gwen. What if Morgana had tried to get Gwen’s opinion without telling her what was going on, finding opportunities to subtly find out her stance on magic, or on Uther, or something – or if Gwen made a remark that made Morgana question a decision she was just about settled on. It would parallel the way Merlin’s mind was made up to save Uther from Morgana after a conversation with Gwen so long ago. I don’t know, I just often feel after watching Gwen and Morgana together that more could have been done with the pair of them. Their scenes together are so good in terms of acting but don’t do much for the plot or the development of their relationship, or not as much as I’d like anyway.
The moment when Gaius tells Merlin he’s made the right choice, I do wonder if Merlin is only half thinking about Morgana, and half thinking about the dragon. Like, Gaius is talking about Morgana, and the scene seems to be entirely about Morgana, until Merlin goes to free the dragon and suddenly “you made the right decision”/”there was nothing else you could do” seems to apply to his promise to the dragon as well, and I wonder whether Merlin was applying those words to his promise and to what he was about to do… I don’t know, it just felt that way to me and it’s a really interesting bit of dramatic irony, *especially* because just last week Gaius said that Merlin’s actions were super important in shaping the future *and* Merlin saw the dragon in the crystal of Neahtid…
I definitely agree with you both on the art direction and acting being phenomemal and on the rather frustrating plot issues. Additionally, I feel like, although I love the way Arthur and Merlin return to a ghostly and silent Camelot, it could have worked so much better if we hadn’t already seen them falling ill, if we could have the same shock and fear that they have seeing it with no knowledge of what’s come before. Similarly, the humour in Merlin trying to wake up Gaius felt misplaced – I enjoyed the scene in isolation but sandwiched between the more serious scenes, it felt off. Otherwise, though, I love it. Merlin standing next to those huge chains, looking so small. The imagery of Arthur and Merlin stood in the silent courtyard, alone together as the place Arthur should feel the safest becomes unfamiliar and strange. At the end when Morgause and Morgana have gone and Arthur is stood with his knights on one side of the hall, Uther is waking up on the other, and Merlin is off to the side, alone, separate from everyone else, having just separated himself irreparably from the only other person in Camelot who has magic… the visual storytelling is just perfect.