Episode II.XIII – The Last Dragonlord
This episode is SO GOOD!!! in spite of the stinky lizzard, and the patriarchal nonsense being so 2009 it hurts 🙁
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14th May 2020 @ 9:43 am
Sorry to not have got this in the podcast, we received it the day after we recorded the last episode, but Mary said the same thing about Porth Yr Ogof and it really really makes me want to go to Wales now! Well, now, when going anywhere is allowed and safe again…
Ruth and myself have different opinions on the one take fireside chat. I thought it was the one about parents a few episodes ago that they did in a single take, with two cameras pointing either direction, but because we couldn’t agree on it, and were mid podcasting so didn’t really want to spend 20 minutes looking it up, we ended up cutting that entire discussion in the end lol seems it’s time for a commetaries rewatch, because i’m pretty sure it’s brought up in the commentaries and let’s be honest, it’s ALWAYS time for a commentaries rewatch… lol
this just made me look at our list again, and I can’t believe how low sweet dreams is on ours!! DESTINY AND CHICKEN!!! 🙁
damn you purely hypothetical rubric that we use to rank episodes! hahahaha
13th May 2020 @ 2:15 pm
Having been to Balinor’s cave, Porth Yr Ogof, and having it look exactly like the show, it gave me a shiver. I would have liked to have stayed longer but I was alone and didn’t want to go to see the waterfalls since the ground was too slippery. If I ever get back, then yeah, it’s well worth the trip.
I absolutely love this episode, just about everything about it, but Arthur and Merlin’s fireside chat (which I believe they did in one take) was amazing.
Here is my list of favorites – quite a bit different from yours but I really like humor (and angst) so that usually puts episodes higher on my list.
The last dragonlord
The sins of the father
Sweet dreams
The witchfinder
Beauty and the beast (1/2)
Lancelot and Guinevere
The lady of the lake
The once and future queen
The witch’s quickening
The fires of Idirsholas
The nightmare begins
The Curse of Cornelius Sigan
12th May 2020 @ 1:36 am
Oh my goodness. The comments that everyone else has left are amazing and I feel like I have nothing more to add. But…I like to talk anyway and I would be very sad not to submit something for the season 2 roundup! But honestly, the quality of the comments here is just next level. I first got addicted to The Descent is Easy partly because Ruth made me feel like I was back in my college lit class deconstructing stories. Now I feel like I wandered into the PhD program and maybe need to back away slowly. Thank you to everyone on here for making me think in new ways and notice nuances I never would have contemplated on my own.
Roundup Thoughts:
[DISCLAIMER: I feel like I have to put all the apologies, because I followed Ruth and Michelle over from The Descent is Easy and just don’t have the Merlin nostalgia that everyone else seems to. Plus I’m American, and my exposure to the Arthurian legends as a kid was mostly one Disney movie (two if you count Mickey as Merlin in the LSD trip that was Fantasia). I so genuinely want to love this show FOR the fandom, but I’m struggling a bit to pick it up as a nearly 40-year-old.]
Season 2 will forever be “The Yahtzee Season” for me. I’m still on my first watch and only just keeping pace with the podcast, so I admit it makes me a little nervous to see some people saying this is one of the best seasons. If I didn’t love Ruth and Michelle’s commentary so much, I probably would have quit halfway. (I’m sorry!!!) It is a testament to the quality of this podcast that I wouldn’t let myself wander into other Netflix pastures because I couldn’t bear not being able to continue listening.
Man am I glad I DID stick it out, because “The Last Dragonlord” was one of the most amazing episodes of television I have ever seen. I rewound the Merlin and Balinor scenes multiple times just to watch Colin’s face. I don’t think I’ve ever seen emoting like that from an actor before. I 100% believed the pain that Merlin was in when Balinor died…even though it was a bit crazy for him to be that devastated over the loss of someone he literally just met. I think it was Mary who commented about how the show doesn’t give Merlin enough time to build deep attachments. She was speaking to Freya but I feel like I could generalize that to pretty much anyone other than Arthur in Merlin’s life. As a TV show, you can maybe pull off the whole, “I got deeply close to someone and lost that person in the same episode” once in the whole run of the series. Merlin did it twice this season.
Which gets me back to Yahtzee. I think I need to thank this show, because it helped me understand something about myself: I love soapy dramas. I don’t love actual soap operas, but without a doubt my favorite shows are ones that follow their characters over really long arcs with lots of emotional ups and downs and tell the long story. This was clearly what I loved in Shadowhunters (Season 3B notwithstanding) and I can now see the pattern throughout my entire fan life. As a kid, I was a big Star Trek fan. But the nuance of that was that I never watched The Original Series (adventure of the week), got into The Next Generation (adventure of the week slowly morphing into space soap), and was OBSESSED with Deep Space Nine (space soap all the way).
I’m using the word “soapy” to describe what I’m desperate for in Merlin, but what I really am missing is continuity in motivation. (OMG Morgana. I can’t.) This hit home for me watching the Shadowhunters con videos on Michelle’s Twitter feed. There was a clip where Dom was talking about arguing with the writers about whether or not Jace would actually do something that was written in the script, and it made me wonder if Bradley and Colin ever got to make that same argument. This season makes it feel like they didn’t. And the tragedy in that is that they are SUCH talented actors. Gosh, just imagine if they’d been told, “We’re going to arc this character over 5 years and here’s where he starts and here’s where he ends. Do what you will.”
Will we get that for the remainder of the show? Please please please??
Best Bits of the Season:
-Colin’s face in the conversation where Merlin is revealing that Balinor is his father.
-Colin’s face in the scene in the previous episode where he’s just poisoned Morgana.
-I guess just Colin’s face?
Worst Bits:
-The entire Morgana storyline.
-The random reintroduction of Lancelot, primarily for revealing that he and Gwen shared a “deep love” that was then immediately forgotten about.
I feel like this seems very negative and again, I am SO sorry. I love this podcast so much that I am sticking with it no matter what. And I have great optimism going into Season 3 after two strong episodes!
Enjoy the hiatus <3
Chris
PS – I feel the need to report to everyone who was on the IG live where we talked about laundry that I actually witnessed a squirrel fall out of a tree on my run this morning. Michelle was right. It must happen all the time!
11th May 2020 @ 10:14 pm
I just remembered that you asked in your podcast that someone pointed out the filming location of the dragonlord’s cave to you. (Sorry if someone has already done this on another platform).
The scene by the river and the cave entrance were filmed in the Brecon Beacons (Wales). What they show on the screen is the largest or main entrance to the Porth Yr Ogof cave and it really, really looks like this. I don’t think they did much (if anything) to its appearance or the surroundings. It’s actually a really awesome place to visit because it’s literally just below a small car park and if you’ve had enough of sitting in front of the cave and pretending to be Arthur and Merlin (not that I have done that…:) ), you can take a beautiful walk to see four different waterfalls. (Not sure they featured in Merlin but my point is, it’s all amazingly magical and stunning and I was lucky enough to catch a day when there was no one down by the cave – picking a snowy day helps – so I could take all the time and pictures I wanted!)
There are, by the way, also loads and loads of other Merlin filming locations in Wales. Raglan Castle is beautiful (where Merlin fought Nimueh in 1.13) and it featured this season at the very least in the Fires of Idirsholas and will very heavily in the opening two-parter of the fourth season. And those are only the instances I can think of right now.
Just some thoughts on The Last Dragonlord specifically (which aren’t very plentiful or insightful since I spend most of the episode just crying):
In a comment for ‘The Curse of Cornelius Sigan’ I said that Merlin has learned that he can perform magic in the middle of the courtyard trusting that no one will see, also pointing to this episode where the same happens again. Like you later discussed, it’s probably true that with lots of smoke and chaos and people hiding, Merlin feels pretty safe to try magic against the dragon. But then the dragon bellows at him from quite a considerable height: ‘Do not think that your petty magic can harm me.’ That’s a courtyard with lots of echoes, with windows and walls that should surely have carried the dragon’s sound everywhere. How did no one hear this?
I also just wanted to raise up Bradley’s performance, in particular during the pre-credit battle and the first council when he decides to seek out Balinor against his father’s will. Everything he does in those scenes make me watch dumbstruck…even his voice sounds like he recently cried!
Finally, I think Gaius is a lot nicer and kinder in this episode because he isn’t stuck inside his old stuffy laboratory but out and about. He is in the (size-reduced?) council chamber and, yes, he does have that scene in the lab when he tells Merlin about the identity of his father. But then we see him out in the courtyard all the time. I think the sunshine and fresh air was really good for him and made him more bearable and considerate. Maybe, as a physician, he should look into the health benefits of fresh air and exercise outside.
11th May 2020 @ 9:50 pm
This episode is very good structurally and it makes sense but i have one huge problem with it. Morgana is absent for the whole thing. Not a fault with the actual episode, i just really really really love katie mcgrath.
There’s not many bad things to say about this episode so i made a list of all of the points i find funny (intended or not) there are always facepalm worthy moments in every merlin episode, the writers never fail to make characters sound stuid at one point or another:
Uther asks if they know how the dragon escaped….if i was arthur i would have said-he flied
Just the way Merlin said “she stood up against uther?, she was brave” random moments that colin morgan just makes the best.
The look on merlin’s face when he considers one of the men i the tavern could be his father and the way he shuts arthur down so smoothly when he thought he was being clever when asking merlin whats up, 2 moments that reminded me of the quality bromance these 2 share
Merlin impressing arthur with his fancy words, then straight up insulting him
The lizard thing spends all of his time telling merlin that his magic was powerful and he needed to trust it, then calls it petty? Honestly i dont know whats made him so angry as he has just been set free, is he not thankful to merlin? I guess he must really hate uther but because of this we are once again shown that uther was supposedly right to kill all the dragons if they were doing anything like kilgarah. Not a problem with the episode, just a problem with the character in general, he never makes sense.
Another random point, is there a literal line marking the border into Cenred’s kingdom? Thats a bit odd. Can you imagine what that would look like nowadays? Arthur being randomly stopped and asked for a passport, he would not be happy haha also everyone suddenly goes silent when (im guessing) 2 random people walk into a tavern, the respect they had for strangers.
LESSONS:
So the first lessons are for Merlin, they are the most obvious lessons: he learns who his father is and that he is a dragonlord. These lessons are simple and obvious but from these he learnt a lot about Uther’s past and the life of those targeted by him, it really showed him the impact and extent of the ban of magic. He also learns not to make promises that he knows he has to keep that won’t end well, him letting the dragon out was another example of him sacrificing the lives of innocent people to gain knowledge of a situation he feels is immensely important at the time.
Next lesson is for arthur: don’t under-estimate Merlin’s knowledge of long, fancy words, because he will get shown up. He also learned that bad things happen to good people for the wrong reasons, that’s just something that happens and he has to find a way of adapting and overcoming the situation.
The final lesson is for Uther, don’t lock up dragons, it makes them angry, also don’t chain them up with magic chains because they are easier to break for people with magic which are most likely the only people that would want to free the dragon to bring the use of magic back to Camelot. He also learns to trust in Arthur more as he has shown himself capable of facing problems with courage and solving them without getting himself killed. If Arthur was not around, the dragon would have destroyed Camelot because Uther would not have traveled into Cenred’s kingdom to find Balinor and even if he did, he would never have agreed to help.
So with all of that said, its time to move on to my overview of season 2:
So first off, I have made my own list of destiny for season 2, however, I did it on my personal preference with the stories rather than quality:
The nightmare begins
The once and future queen
The lady of the lake
The sins of the father
The witch’s quickening
Lancelot and Guinevere
Sweet dreams
The fires of Idirsholas
The last dragonlord
The witchfinder
Beauty and the beast (1/2)
The Curse of Cornelius Sigan
I put them in this order because, for me, the ones nearer the top are the ones that stuck in my memory best. I would have put ‘The once and future queen’ first but I always favor a Morgana centric episode over anything else.
This season I really think everyone has come a lot further than in season 1, I mean: the dragon has been released, Morgana is finally with Morgause and she hates Uther, merlin and Arthur have built up an amazing friendship that is unlike any other bonds in the show, merlin is now a dragonlord and Morgana has magic that she knows about. Overall it was a great season and i really enjoyed listening to the podcast. i definitely prefer this season to the last one.
I hope that this was ok and not too painful to read, I annoyed my mum by using the whiteboard in the kitchen to do my list of destiny whilst she was cooking dinner, she really hates merlin 🙁 Oh well, I have made loads of new friends from it and I tell all of them to listen to D+C because it’s fridging amazing. Anyways thanks for reading and hope you are doing well, see yall next season when I get to rant about how amazing Katie McGrath is when she does the very iconic ‘smirkana’ 😉
11th May 2020 @ 5:00 am
Hello! First time commenter here. I am loving the podcast by the way. Thank you for making it. Your discussion of Balinor and Gaius’s different stances on magic and the old religion got me thinking. Gaius very much seems to approach everything with a scientific approach, and clearly likes research considering all the books and various beasties he and Merlin have to look into. Balinor, for the short amount of his personality we see, is more emotional. While studying religion in university (I should mention I go to school in America, so religion is a bit different here) I noticed that those who studied various religions simply to study, to understand what people worshiped, and how they worshiped often were more research leaning (like Gaius) verses those who learned studied religion with a full belief of it (like Balinor) who studied it to further their own belief. I can’t tell you how many people walked out of my “Jesus and the Gospels” class when the professor simply said that Jesus was not white, had blue eyes, or a Christian. There were many angry Karens that day. With all of that said, it makes me wonder if Gaius was someone who was interested in studying the Old Religion when he was younger, and then decided to expand his research and try magic, which was tied to the Old Religion and attend various ceremonies. I know many colleagues who, while studying would attend various religious services or take part in their rituals i.e. fasting for Ramadan, pilgrimages, or concentrated meditation to further understand what this could bring to someone who is religious and their experiences. This would maybe make sense as to why it was so easy for him to stop using magic when the great purge happened. Balinor clearly believes in the Old Religion and is a disciple of it. He would never dream of turning his back on his religion, because as he said “The Old Religion is part of us. It is something you learn but you are born into. It either speaks to you or it doesn’t.”
When you were discussing it you talked about how Merlin “practices magic but doesn’t practice the religion.” It makes me wonder if he would fall into the “spiritual but not religious” category. Though this does go against the idea you guys were saying when you drew the messiah comparison. You also said Balinor may think that “part of Uther’s problem with magic is that he doesn’t understand the religion or… he doesn’t believe.” It seems interesting that in this one episode, which is laden with religious tones in terms of the Old Religion vs …whatever the current religion is, you have the gambit of believers. You have the ultra religious in Balinor, the spiritualist in Merlin, the theologian in Gaius, and the atheist in Uther.
Sorry if this was a bit rambly. This section of the discussion you guys had really stood out to me and I had thoughts! Again, loving the podcast! Thanks!!
LESSONS:
I feel like Arthur learns that Merlin is a bit more complex than he originally thought. Before, he was always able to kick Merlin out of any bad mood he was feeling fairly easily, but this time Arthur isn’t able to. I think Arthur is a bit (more than a bit) emotionally constipated and doesn’t know what to do with people, especially Merlin, unless they are smiling and having fun. Merlin has always given off a fairly carefree, happy-go-lucky vibe. The one time Arthur sees him sad is after Freya dies, but Arthur is able to get him laughing fairly quickly after that. When faced with a truly upset and emotional Merlin, Arthur is lost. His usual tricks don’t work and I’m sure he was feeling hopeless, which, considering what was happening in Camelot already, just added to the feeling. It will be interesting to see how the writers go on and if they show Arthur being able to handle other peoples emotions better in the upcoming seasons.
10th May 2020 @ 10:37 am
Yo! First things first, I’m behind on the podcast (On Sins of the Father) so this is no roundup, just a mid-season thought. Because of this, I’m not gonna do any critical analysis things, mainly just wanted to write in to say thanks for creating this community! Also it’s the 10th anniversary of me finding Merlin (Season 3 aired on Mothers Day in Australia in 2010, hence why I remember it), so I just feel like I gotta do something Merlin to commemorate.
To me, season 2 is about establishing. Plot points aside, it establishes what Camelot is like is when nothing too bad happens. I feel like I wait the entire season for the meat of the plot. Why couldn’t we just have an overarching dragon themed plot in season 2? It’s such an underused plot!!! 🙁
Season 2 is just kinda thrivin in Camelot life and that’s important with the turn the series is about to take. At the end of season 2, you understand the sheer greatness of Camelot in comparison to other kingdoms and know ‘regular’ life in this magical kingdom. From here on, the characters are fighting to retain the chaotic calmness of Season 2 Camelot, without impending doom. Yes. I’m aware I’m describing Season 1&2 Camelot, magic invasions and all, as ‘calm.’ Though, I have lowkey forgotten the middle parts of all the seasons, so this may be me comparing the season openers and finales with season 2 Camelot.
Side note: I forgot how horrendous the troll was. Thank you for tearing it to shreds. As a 9 year old in 2010, this episode was traumatically horrendous. This was the introductory episode of one of my friends. She never watched Merlin since.
It gave her recurring nightmares for a year. I swear. She still bullies me for this horrendous show I made her watch.
Implying Uther’s having sex with a troll, that’s fine for the kids. But make sure the bandages go on top of the armor!
Although I’m glad it gave us Merlin shoving things into a corner, which is my highlight of this troll crap, this arc was so terrifying to so many who were 10 and under. The producers tried to cater for all age ranges in this episode, and ended up catering to none.
Dreading the hiatus, but glad to have found you guys. The patreon looks sick and can’t wait to join! (but after spending 6 hours listening to the podcast today, and none on my Uni assignments, I think I’d better stop for now.)
Sorry this doesn’t bring the insight these other comments do, I’ll try harder in ‘Season smirk’ for you guys!
10th May 2020 @ 1:15 am
O.M.G. I laughed out loud when I heard The Last Dragonlord podcast was “mine.” Thank you for chanting my name; so bizarre! I’m happy I could make a contribution and be a small part of your podcast empire.
I love Merlin and have been a fan since it moved to the Syfy Channel (I don’t think NBC really gave it a chance to grow, but I’m glad it found a home where I could catch up with it). Consequently, I have all the DVDs & music soundtracks and was able to catch the last Merlin panel at Comic-Con in 2012 featuring Colin, Katie & Angel. I found your podcast from a Bradley James tweet, although I think I had heard of it before then, but Bradley’s endorsement was the catalyst to get me listening and then rewatching so I could catch up with you all.
I really enjoy your analyses, debates, commentaries, banter and interaction with the fandom. One thing I sometimes mutter to myself during your podcast, is that the series was filmed nearly 13 years ago, give them a break. There have been massive changes in the composition of creative teams behind shows like Merlin. And I think some of your criticism is partly generational. I’m a Baby Boomer, and things that you expect and take for granted now, are part of an ongoing struggle for diversity & representation.
My List of Destiny is composed of episodes that I can call up without a re-watch for various reasons, among them Colin’s nuanced performance throughout and the rapport he and Bradley exhibit. Anyway, in no particular order: Sins of the Father; The Last Dragonlord; Fires of Idirsholas; The Lady of the Lake; The Witchfinder; Excalibur; Le Morte d’Arthur; The Once and Future Queen; and Beauty & the Beast (I like Sarah Parish & the lovestruck expressions Anthony Head displays are priceless). One of my favorite episodes is Season 4.6, so I’ll just have to wait for your evaluation.
I’m looking forward to your season roundup and dreading the hiatus that will follow. The “surprise” you have coming up is wonderful (wink, wink; nudge, nudge). Thank you!
9th May 2020 @ 10:01 pm
Sorry for commenting again but if you’re interested, here are some overall season 2 thoughts because I can’t shut up:
When I look back on being a Merlin-obsessed preteen, it’s season 2 that I picture, I think, for the most part. I mean, I remember the knights fondly, and there are absolutely other aspects of season 3 that had a big impact… but yeah, seasons 2 and 3 are the heart of what I think of as quintessential Merlin. I’m not totally sure why. I’m also aware that I didn’t care all that much about the arcs of any characters other than Merlin and Arthur (possibly evident from my comments?) – I mean, Merlin is still one of my all-time favourite characters in anything ever, and I can psychoanalyse my 12-year-old self all I want regarding that particular attachment, but still, it’s interesting to me that none of the other characters made anywhere near as much of an impression. From your episodes, though, I think at least some of it has to do with how unsatisfying an undermotivated Morgana’s arc was, and how little Gwen actually gets to be in these early seasons except in relation to romantic subplots that were never really my cup of tea no matter how well done. Like, Morgana as a character should have been right up my street but I just never cared that much, and your criticisms of her arc have suggested part of why – we just never really know what’s going on with her, and so there’s not much to latch onto about her beyond the potential, beyond what we wish she was, and preteen me didn’t think as critically as 22-year-old me does. Merlin and Arthur are the only characters whose motivations I can clearly understand (and even then sometimes the plot has them conveniently forget lessons we thought they’d learnt ages ago).
I feel like Merlin undergoes such a transformation in this season – Arthur grows too, of course, but not the way Merlin does. He is so much stronger, making really tough decisions, but he is also more vulnerable in some respects too – he’s questioning his decisions so much, possibly more than he did in season 1. Certainly he has less faith in his own judgement, basically doing as Gaius and Kilgharrah say, and he’s put all his hope for the future into Arthur. It’s strange – at the end of season 1 he was ready and willing to die for Arthur, but in season 2 I started to really *feel* that he was living for Arthur, that his own life was mattering less and less – something I’d not picked up on at all on first watch. Despite that shadowy side to his development, though, I think Merlin is starting to take on a role less like caretaker or healer and more like protector. Arthur protects the kingdom, and Merlin protects Arthur… at whatever cost. You’ve discussed before how Merlin’s character is inherently tied to Arthur, how service is his role in life and his destiny and who he is. I think the meanings of ‘service’ diffract like light through a prism and we see each new colour one by one.
My own List of Destiny (based more on how much I personally liked the episodes than any critical analysis) ended up less a list and more a collection of categories:
Absolute favourite
The Last Dragonlord
Enjoyed a fair bit
Lancelot and Guinevere
The Sins of the Father
The Lady of the Lake
The Fires of Idirsholas
Ehhh
The Curse of Cornelius Sigan
The Nightmare Begins
The Witchfinder
The Witch’s Quickening
The Once and Future Queen
Sweet Dreams
Ew nope
Beauty and the Beast parts 1 and 2
Despite my possibly harsh ratings, I do actually like season 2 more than season 1, I think. Season 1 has some great moments, of course – the final scene of the Labyrinth of Gedref, Lancelot being too pure for this world, everything about the Poisoned Chalice – but season 2 feels like the story is really beginning properly, like the episode plots in season 1 were often a bit overstuffed and exposition-heavy, whereas season 2 feels like we’re really getting to know Merlin and Arthur in depth.
9th May 2020 @ 9:23 pm
Helloooo. First time commenting, and very very new to this fandom. I started watching Merlin late March and into April of this year as something to fill my time quarantining. I’ve been Online (in fandom spaces, LJ and then Tumblr) since the early 2000s so I was very aware of Merlin and how popular it was, but I never really got into it. However a viewing of Sword in the Stone made me think of the TV show and I thought, “well I have nothing else to do, and I’m not really part of a fandom right now.” I knew Merlin fandom had prolific fanfic writers, and I needed something to fill my now empty hours. Seemed like a good fit.
Nothing could have prepared me for how far and fast I fell into it all.
I’m now listening to your podcast and rewatching the episodes as I go along (I know it’s really soon for a rewatch, did I mention how much spare time I have?) and I’m enjoying the rewatch immensely. I have a tendency to get really wrapped up in a story and wanting to know how it will unfold and end, that I spend less time noticing the details, or thinking critically about what I am watching. Going through the episodes a second time is enabling me to notice more and think more about what I am seeing, and I am enjoying (or being critical of) the acting, the cinematography, the art direction, the character choices etc. much more this time around.
But more on topic of The Last Dragonlord, this is one of my favourite episodes. It seems to set the tone for the next three series, which I think overall have many more strong episodes than the first two series. This is our first taste of what is to come. It’s one of the highest rated episodes on IMDb. #1 is 3.13 at 9.3, 2.13, 4.13, and 5.12 are all at 9 (if you wanted to know, the lowest is 4.08 Lamia, which comes in at a 7.4 rating. Totally checks out.)
Some of my highlights from the episode are:
– Colin Morgan’s acting throughout the entire episode is so strong. I think another reason I love this episode so much is that we’re finally dipping our toes into the pool of his talent. Again it speaks volumes about what’s to come in future episodes. It’s a small moment, but when Arthur defies Uther and decides to leave Camelot to find the Dragonlord, he tells Merlin to ready the horses. Merlin looks scared, but there’s a brief look of hesitation yet also resolution on his face. It reveals how Uther intimidates him, but also how loyal he is to Arthur. So much conveyed without even saying anything. TALENT.
– When Arthur leaves the cave, exclaiming how amazing he feels, absolutely failing to read the vibe in the room. Amazing.
– Merlin and Arthur’s relationship in general in this episode. Specifically the scene after they’ve left Balinor, right before he sneaks up on them (I don’t even know what’s happening, Merlin is shoving things into bags?) when Arthur is teasing him about how quiet he’s being. It’s the first time I feel like their dynamic is really obvious without me having to headcanon some of the details. Arthur is clearly worried about Merlin, and Merlin knows this, but before at the tavern he was unwilling to give in to make Arthur feel better. Now, however, he feels Arthur’s worry again, and his brand of checking in on him. This time he’s giving into it and bantering back because he recognizes how Arthur is feeling and what he’s trying to do. It’s really beautiful, in an emotionally stunted type of way, but beautiful nonetheless.
What I don’t love is the show, once again, killing off someone Merlin loves, who loves Merlin back, and who knows about his magic, further isolating him and making him reliant on Arthur. I understand why it was done, and why the powers that be felt it necessary to isolate Merlin, but that does not mean I enjoy it.
I feel like I could go on about this episode much more, but I think this comment is long enough already. Can’t wait for series three episodes, as I know there’s some bangers on the way.
Thanks x
9th May 2020 @ 11:23 pm
Oh, the Merlin fandom is such a massive rabbit hole. Yes, you fell down and you just keep falling and it’s awesome. At least we haven’t met blue, smoking caterpillars or rabbits in waistcoats yet. But I might have prefered those to the troll actually…
I don’t think it’s ever too early for a rewatch of Merlin! 🙂
I’m actually really surprised by the IMDB ratings that you mentioned. Not The Last Dragonlord obviously nor 3.13. Those ones deserve all the praise. But I am surprised by the others. We can’t really talk about them yet, I think, but after I watched Merlin for the first time, I sat down and wrote down my own rating of each episode (based on a 5-star system) and I seem to remember (haven’t got it in front of me right now) that I wasn’t quite so thrilled by some… But then, I have rewatched some of my initial 1-star episodes and listened to the podcast and my view of them has defintely changed and improved.
13th May 2020 @ 1:30 am
It is such a rabbit hole…I think it’s kind of hilarious that I got into it initially for fanfic to read and now every time I sit down to read, I bookmark about 30 things and only read one or two? It’s very overwhelming.
I’m very bad at assigning numerical value to things. In general I usually like something, don’t like it, feel kinda meh about it, or sometimes recognize something is objectively not good, but I enjoy it anyways. But it’s extremely difficult for me to equate something with a number. Honestly, any time I even think of creating my own List of Destiny I get overwhelmed!
I definitely don’t remember much about the other episodes I mentioned the ratings of (another reason a rewatch is necessary, my memory for specific details from specific episodes is very bad) such as Lamia. I remember it feeling like a bit of a throwaway one, but not really anything more than that.
9th May 2020 @ 1:25 pm
First off can I just say, despite the circumstances, how refreshing the Merlin Fandom has been recently? My highlight would be the Lockdown Quiz and this podcast, of course! I might have been a little ecstatic when me and my sister’s team got mentioned at one point of the quiz (which quickly became a reaction-time competition). I think I’m gonna call this the Once-and-Future fandom. : )
Thoughts on season 2:
With both Uther and Arthur getting enchanted this season, I thought I’d discuss the concept of violation…obviously not something they could openly talk about in a PG-rated show! But this idea of getting seduced/manipulated by someone, being violated, is central to some of the famous Arthurian stories. Igraine being violated by Uther disguised as her husband, resulting in the birth of Arthur. Arthur, in turn, being seduced by Morgan le Faye without knowing it’s his sister, resulting in Mordred. In the BBC version, we have something similar, I suppose…thrown in as comedy. I might be a bit disturbed!
It’s interesting that at least at the end of Sweet Dreams, Arthur seems to be aware of the idea that some things have happened against his (and Vivienne’s) will. But he seems more dismissive of it (‘my feelings for her weren’t real’) than genuinely concerned. I wonder if gender roles come into play here. Like, if he were a princess who found herself in the bedroom of a visiting prince, alarm bells would have been far louder. Or maybe as a knight dude, Arthur doesn’t want to acknowledge the fact that he has been violated (even if they got stopped before they went further). Also, everyone in Camelot thinks Arthur is a player and again, he seems not too concerned about this (hopefully!) false reputation. Perhaps he wants outsiders and even Uther to think this, that he has lived up to the expected alpha male role?
Finally, I know my very first comment on season 2 was how much I didn’t like the fanservice. Well, if you want to know how I think it should be done I’d refer you to the shirtless bandaging scene in The Last Dragonlord. : D It should be used sparingly and help tell the story, like in this scene where it’s practical for Gwen to tend to a shirtless Arthur. I love how Arthur’s expression/behaviour is the perfect balance of affectionate and maybe a tiny bit lustful! Gwen’s mix of reservation but also affection is equally lovely.
In general, this season may have inspired a few eye-rolls:
-shirtless Arthur putting his key away
-the cliched precision-fall of a heroine on top of a hero
-the troll…just the troll
But it also made me speechless at how good it can get:
-Arthur proving his integrity to himself
-Gwen standing up to the guy-every-girl-wants (King Mwahaha told us!)
-The beginning of a certain ship called Arwen
-Merlin and Arthur bonding
-Merlin poisoning and cradling Morgana at once
-Arthur’s dark side on finding out about his mother
-Merlin’s harrowing experience of finding his father
9th May 2020 @ 11:10 pm
I agree: The Once and Future fandom is very much alive and well, despite the show ending so long ago and despite Corona locking us into our houses. Well, they do say that people remember what’s most important in times of crises. Naturally, I don’t mean to say that that’s necessarily Merlin the show. But finding people who love the same thing as you do, sharing ideas, sharing your passion, that’s awesome and so, so important.
Also, might the recent rejuvenation of the fandom in these times of crisis be a portent that someone Once and Future may make his return very soon to save the day because we have need of him? It’s been a long time and we can hope, can’t we? 😊
I am, to be fair, pretty glad that the comedy in the show ‘avoided’ the darker implications of being violated through enchantment. But it’s still there and part of the reason why Sweet Dreams so quite so low on my personal list of destiny is because despite all the comedy, I can’t help but be terribly disturbed by it all: by Arthur and Vivian and the deeper implications of their enchantment and most especially by King Mwahaha/ Alined and Trickler. They are so devious and malicious and evil. They seem to hate the others without any particular reason and they also seem to hate each other. And there is that sickening violence of Alined towards Trickler. *Wince*
11th May 2020 @ 6:36 pm
I am biting my tongue so hard right now and you will understand when next week rolls round!!!!
8th May 2020 @ 11:14 pm
Okay, so here are some motley collections of ideas and thoughts for the round-up. (I haven’t included any comments/ lessons for The Last Dragonlord yet – might do that in a separate comment.)
Season 2: Personal List of Destiny – Based not on the episodes’ artistic or narrative merit but purely on the enjoyment I receive watching them, i.e. Which episode am I most likely to put on?
1. The Once and Future Queen
2. The Sins of the Father
3. The Last Dragonlord
4. The Fires of Idirsholas
5. The Witchfinder
6. The Lady of the Lake
7. Lancelot and Guinevere
8. The Curse of Cornelius Sigan
9. Sweet Dreams
10. The Nightmare Begins
11. Beauty and the Beast II
12. Beauty and the Beast I
13. The Witch’s Quickening
Overall, season 2 isn’t my favourite season by far but I am very fond of it nevertheless because it is still so playful in many ways yet manages to balance this with much darker themes and our characters undergoing extremely fast (and sometimes under-motivated) growth-spurts. ‘Blossoming’ is the word I would choose if I was asked to describe season 2 in one word: I think no matter the season’s faults, it has achieved a pretty solid and definitely entertaining transition to season 3 and all that is to come later on. And it has made me grow so, so fond of all the characters, gave each of them space to express the pathos of their individual existence and also to mess up spectacularly. It is the last time Merlin (the show and the character) will ever feel so innocent and so generously saturated with bold colours and I really enjoyed this about the show this season.
Favourite moments:
• 2.1 – Whenever anyone says the word ‘clotpole’, especially to Arthur
• 2.1 – Cedric and Merlin fighting in Arthur’s room
• 2.2 onwards – Sir Leon!
• 2.2 – ‘Sir William of Deira’ learning to be a knight
• 2.2 – Arthur inspecting Gwen’s chicken; 2.10 – Arthur offering chicken to Vivian. (This now sounds like sexual
innuendo…)
• 2.2 – Arthur and Gwen’s first kiss
• 2.4 – The entire scene between Merlin and Arthur at the river, after they escaped from the wilddeoren caves
• 2.6 – Arthur warning Merlin and helping him escape when he was about to be arrested because Catrina accused him of stealing her seal
• 2.6 – Arthur standing up to his father and Catrina and refusing quietly to collect more taxes from the people
• 2.7 – When Merlin assures Gaius that he is not a witch: “Look, no dress or anything.”
• 2.7 – Arthur taking Merlin out of the throne room after Gaius is condemned to death and giving him a moment to say goodbye in the dungeons
• 2.8 – Merlin and Arthur’s campfire conversation about their lost parents
• 2.8 – Arthur’s confrontation and fight with Uther in the council room
• 2.8 – The scene between Uther and Merlin at the end
• 2.10 – Merlin and Arthur planning how to ‘woo’ Vivian
• 2.13 – Gaius telling Merlin that Balinor is his father
• 2.13 – Merlin telling Balinor that he is his son and their campfire conversation
• 2.13 – Merlin and Arthur’s conversation before they ride out to battle the dragon
• Whenever Gaius gives Merlin food as a reward. 😊
(Un)favourite moments (those I wish hadn’t happened but were nevertheless beautiful and often heart-wrenching):
• 2.6 – Merlin being caught spying on ‘Lady Catrina’ by Arthur
• 2.6 – Merlin and Arthur’s almost hug
• 2.9 – Merlin sending the boat with Freya drifting away on Lake Avalon and setting it alight
• 2.10 – Gwen waiting for Arthur to visit her and being disappointed
• 2.12 – Merlin poisoning Morgana
• 2.12 – Merlin freeing the dragon
• 2.13 – Merlin and Arthur’s bedroom conversation at the inn
• 2.13 – Merlin crying over his father’s body then having to literally swallow down his grief
• Actually, any time Merlin cries! So hard to watch. ☹
Despised moments:
• 2.1 – Merlin crouching down so that Arthur can mount his horse.
• Anytime Gwen or Morgana are given token scenes that aren’t put in context or are relevant for the greater plot of the episode
• 2.3 (and others) – Anytime Gaius refuses to tell Morgana the truth and prevents Merlin from doing so or being helpful. Generally, all those moments when Gaius is the worst.
• 2.4 – Lancelot leaving Gwen without giving her a chance to make a choice.
• 2.5 + 2.6 – The troll being disgusting!
• The dragon manipulating Merlin and betraying his trust!
• 2.8 – When Merlin lies to Arthur to stop him from killing Uther
• 2.11 – Shouty Arthur being mean to Merlin
• 2.11 – SPOILER! That Mordred’s final line to Merlin won’t mean anything at all, won’t ever be remembered or picked up in the future
• 2.11 + 2.12 – Morgana being manipulated and given no choice or agency; her lack of credible development and motivation to explain the things she does do
As I re-watched this season and listened to your podcast, one question kept demanding my attention again and again: What were the writers and producers thinking?
Naturally, this led to me imagining what their creative planning sessions might have looked like and this little scene just strolled into my head. It’s not going to be helpful in your round-up but perhaps you might find it a little amusing. 😊 This obviously isn’t analysis or criticism – it’s more like creaticism or comedicism. But I thought I’d post it anyway to thank you for your awesome podcasts that were so educational and inspiring to me!
NB: I wrote this a couple of weeks ago (between the podcast release for ‘The Witchfinder’ and ‘The Sins of the Father’) so some of the scene might feel ‘dated’; for comedic purposes, hyperbole and generalisation have been used without discretion.
Scene: Late 2008 in a dimly lit writers’ room; people chatting in subdued tones, anxiously waiting for something.
Suddenly, the producers of Merlin burst into the room, their smiles are tell-tale, their simultaneous frowns a portent of many months of hard work to come.
Producers (P): We did it! They gave us the second season!
(Cheers all round the room. The atmosphere seems to grow a little brighter, the previously stifling air a little fresher. )
Writer 1 (W1): So, what are we going to do?
P: What aren’t we going to do?
(The assembled writers exchange some puzzled looks.)
P: Right, everyone, let’s all get down our best ideas for season 2 of Merlin. I’m thinking near magic reveal; I’m thinking humour and tragedy, love and unrequited love; I’m thinking traditional myth presented in unconventional ways. There must be banter and death threats…
W2: (Lifts up head from scribbling down producers’ ideas furiously) Is it okay to make the main characters cry?
P: Yes, yes! Let’s have our characters cry! All of them!
Writers: Uther?!
P: Let’s make Uther cry!
(For about ½ hour, everyone quietly but ferociously whets their pencils on paper. Only occasional whispers about characters’ names or enquiries about the general geography of Camelot disturb the frantic atmosphere…)
P: (Announces for everyone) Don’t worry too much about the geography of places. If need be, we’ll change it. No one will notice these inconsistencies.
(At that, several of the bowed heads lift fractionally, eyes exchange dubious glances only to swiftly return to the papers in front of them. Someone gets up and opens a window but the sun is hidden behind ominous rainclouds and the fresh air chills rather than rejuvenates. Finally…)
P: Okay everyone: Let’s hear your ideas!
W1: Love! Lots of love. Arthur and Gwen’s first kiss…
Other writers: Awww!
W2: And Gwen and Lancelot’s first kiss…
Other Ws: Erm….?
P: And we’ll have Arthur kiss another princess as well.
Writers: …?
W4: Isn’t it a little early in the series to go that far? I mean, we have barely seen Gwen and Arthur speak to each other. Only a couple of times.
P: Nah, it’ll work. People need some good love stories with misunderstandings and confusion. Like Shakespeare.
W2: We’re comparing BBC Merlin to Shakespeare? (Gives producers a slightly outraged look.)
P: (Oblivious) Wouldn’t be the first time we rival the great Bard, now would it? Besides, our subject matter is older.
(Non-committal murmurings.)
W3: Merlin should fall in love as well, with a druid girl perhaps. Seems only fair.
Other Ws: Oh, the audience would love to see this. And he deserves happiness after all he has done. Also, the Merlin of legend is definitely a bit of a ladies’ man…
(Producers remain still and silent. One of them taps his fingers impatiently on the table.)
W3: (Suddenly losing heart) …erm, and obviously his lady dies almost immediately. And then Colin can give one of his incredible weeping performances again.
P: Love it!
W4: Uther falls in love too…
Other Ws: Yes, yes, that would reveal him as the king he could have been: understanding, loving, considerate, wise…
(Producers’ faces are deadpan; one narrows his eyes and shifts his gaze from one writer to the next; the writers’ enthusiasm flounders.)
W4: (defeated) Uther falls in love…with a troll. There could be lots of fart humour and gross stuff for everyone in the family to enjoy.
P: Now you’re really getting the hang of it.
W5: Arthur learns of the secret of his birth…
(Producers raise their eyebrows dangerously.)
W5: But Merlin twists the truth of it, so Arthur continues to believe the lie his father told him, protecting Uther’s life, preventing Arthur from becoming king and magic from returning to the land.
Other Ws: But why would Merlin …?
P: Silence! It’s brilliant. Arthur will never find out.
W3: Merlin meets his long-lost father…(sigh) only to lose him immediately.
W4: The Great Dragon is released and attacks Camelot, killing nearly all of the knights…
W1: What if we need the knights in future seasons?
P: We’ll just bring them back.
W1: Ah…! Erm…?
W2: (Interrupts W1) I think we should name one of them Sir Leon.
(At this, everyone in the room nods approvingly, happy that they have finally found an idea everyone likes without requiring alteration.)
W1: Morgana finds out about her magic and Merlin…
(He winces as W3 kicks his shin under the table.)
W3: Merlin does not reveal his magic to her. She turns to evil and against all of Camelot and her friends.
W4: Wait, but that doesn’t make sense: Morgana might turn against Uther. But what’s her motivation to turn against everyone else: her foster-brother, her maid and friend, all the other people she knows in the castle and town?
P: We’ll worry about appropriate motivations later…maybe a dashing sorcerer or a long-lost relative?
W3 to W4 (in whispers) They mean never.
(He is silenced by the producers’ stern looks.)
W5: I was also thinking about potential threats: perhaps a witchfinder or the most powerful mage to ever walk the earth coming back to life and threatening Camelot.
W2: Great! Why don’t we make them the over-arching villain of all of season 2, providing consistency and …
P: No. That sounds like just about enough material to fill one episode.
W5: …’kay? (Takes a steadying breath and then sits up straighter, seemingly steeling themselves) Should…erm…should we, maybe, perhaps, include some more female characters? You know…there is just so much testosterone going around in Camelot.
P: Yeah…maybe. But we shouldn’t stray too far from established female prototypes.
(Writers exchange quizzical glances.)
P: (exhaling in exasperation) Deceptive sorceresses with a vendetta against Uther or Camelot. We could have a dumb blonde as well. Anyway, they must present a threat to the male heroes of our story.
W5: (gives embarrassed cough) Erm, just looking around the room now, should we maybe consider adding some diversity to our team? You know, maybe we could start with more female creativity to get their input and perspective on things? You know, diversify things a little in general?
(Once again, everyone glances around the room, puzzled and confused, then back again at W5. Awkward pause. No one speaks until…)
P: Nah, we’re good.
(W5 slinks back into the shadows of the room as literally and as’ female’ as they can. Pause.)
W1: Great. So, which of these ideas should we pursue?
P: (blinking in confusion) What do you mean: ‘Which’? All of them!
(A united sharp intake of breath from the writers, then silence.)
W2: (tries again) But in what order of episodes would all this create a coherent story and make for credible character development?
(Collectively, the producers lean forward, one shaking his head in disbelief, another pinning W2 to the table with his incredulous gaze. Awkward silence.)
W3: I…
(Producers turn sharply on W3.)
W3: I have a game of Yahtzee…
(A smile spreads slowly across the producers’ faces and they nod approvingly.)
8th May 2020 @ 12:36 am
First timer here in the comment section, and terrified because social anxiety is le mort de my sanity so that’s fun I guess. I have been putting this comment off because 1- it’s not that relevant, I guess, and 2 – I didn’t want to spoil anything until this episode came out because spoilers.
Let’s talk maths. Fun I know. Stay with me though, it gets better. There’s been a lot of speculation about our main characters’ ages, so I tried to dissect it a little bit. By the time of this episode, Arthur is canonically 21. In The Dragon’s Call they’re celebrating the 20th anniversary of the abolition of magic in Camelot, and then there’s the whole Arthur being appointed Crown Prince on his birthday – presumably his 21st. If that is to be true, Merlin has to be at least two or three years younger. I’m assuming hunting and killing all the dragons in the land isn’t something you do in a timely fashion, especially considering their Ferrarris were of a different variety. Even a wooden cart wouldn’t push itself. (There’s also a whole discussion that can be had about Uther going outside of his jurisdiction and slaying dragons outside of Camelot, if Kilgarrah is the very last one, which… Why? I’m sure Camelot wouldn’t be the only Dragon Breeding Central in ye oldie Albion, but I digress). For Balinor to help lock Kilgarrah, the last dragon, and then flee and meet Hunith, and then make a baby Merlin would have taken time. So let’s be generous and give them 1 or 1 1/2 years for the Dragoncide + imprisonment of Kilgarrah, and another year for Balinor to meet Hunith, teach Hunith about the birds and the bees, bail on pregnant Hunith and little Merlin to bake in Hunith’s cozy oven… That’s easily two years. So let’s go with that. Right now Arthur would be 21 going on 22 and Merlin 19 going on 20. Which. Is. Young. That would have put Merlin’s arrival at Camelot at age 17. It’s easy to forget how young he is, especially because compared to most 19 year olds we know today he acts so much like mature adult most of the times. Not an old and wise one, but one that knows the weight of responsibility.
Are you still with me? I’m so sorry this is such a mess.
Shall we talk Morgan a for a bit? Morgana’s father loved his wife so much that it lead him to make unforgiving decisions upon her passing. So it’s safe to assume that Morgana was born before Arthur, and lived with Vivienne and Gorlois for long enough to have memories of them before Vivienne disappeared and Gorlois died, and consecutively being sent to live with Uther. She has memories of Arthur as a child, though, and though the wiki says she’s younger, I’m convinced that that isn’t the case. By the way Uther speaks of Gorlois, it suggests that he passed before the Great Purge, which puts Morgana at, maybe, 23/24. Which (cue alien music) will be relevant when she insists she wants to sit on a fancy chair in the fancy chair room. That would also justify why Morgana has had so much sway with Arthur. I imagine him being a wee baby and seeing this cool girl who is maybe kinda sad because – dead parents – but is also brave and can fight with a sword, at least well enough to play knights with him. Which makes the whole Morgana/Arthur will they won’t they scenes in the beginning of the first season kinda ridiculous and uncomfortable? I kind of get what and why they’re doing it, but I would rather have had them banter like siblings, because they’ve clearly been raised as such, than to have them hint at a potential match that clearly neither of them wants. It’s kind of pointless.
So there’s my two cents. I’m so sorry for this massive mess, but I want to thank you for rekindling my love for this series. It is to this date my favourite series of all time despite its flaws. If nothing of that makes any sense… Fair enough, english isn’t my first language and a girl struggles.
Much love and keep up the good work!
8th May 2020 @ 11:28 am
Hi Mickey! I totally get you with the social anxiety thing.
In terms of character ages, I swear I’ve seen someone come to the same conclusions before somewhere, and in my opinion your logic definitely holds up. It’s pretty close to my own interpretation of the characters as well. That said, I don’t know if the Merlin writers really put that much thought into it? I mean, I think characters’ ages are left deliberately ambiguous. I do definitely agree about Merlin being really young – he acts older, like you said, because the weight of his destiny has forced him to grow up so fast, but you can see in his emotional reactions to things (eg with Balinor, or when he first arrived in Camelot) that he is barely out of adolescence, at least. I think Colin Morgan plays him quite young most of the time. Again, though, I think it’s deliberately ambiguous so everyone’s headcanons are fair enough to me!
And YES I wish Arthur and Morgana hadn’t had that weird flirty thing in season 1; they’re at their best in my opinion when they’re acting like the siblings they were presumably raised as.
9th May 2020 @ 11:09 am
I enjoyed reading your post, Mickey! That’s pretty much my interpretation of the ages too. Though I thought Morgana was the same age or at most a year younger than Arthur, since there was some comment in the first episode about Uther telling her ‘you weren’t around 20 years ago’. I even made a maths riddle for school, thinking of the Merlin characters, back when I first became enchanted by this show (also favourite series of all time)!
For the record, I shipped Arthur/Morgana like crazy back in season 1. Knowing some bits of the legend, I was stoked that they were not ‘officially’ siblings in this version and therefore I could ship this unconventional/un-romantic prince and the sharp-tongued Lady who banters with him. As of season 2 (where their potential chemistry decided to have an amnesia) I fully ship Arthur/Gwen. As of season 3…we won’t go there!
Speaking of season 3 onward, I got confused as to why Morgana has certain thoughts about sitting on certain chairs if she is the age I thought she was. Then again she also thinks the future king’s wife is stealing ‘her crown’ even though she will just be the king’s consort. : p
PS: if anyone’s interested in the maths riddle: The year is 515 AD. There was a Knight, who was four years older than the Prince, who was a year older than the Lady, who was two years older than the Lad, who was the same age as the Maid -she was born in the year 497. How old is the Knight? *The show actually looks more like 14th century, now that future me thinks about it*
9th May 2020 @ 10:37 pm
Oh my goodness, thanks for the maths riddle. Will try to figure this out now. I can’t tell you how much happiness I get out of mentioning Merlin in my lessons and I have gotten particularly good at finding any and all reasons to do so. My year 10s had to recently write a script/ scene based on a photograph and, quite naturally, I chose one from the show. Turns out one of my students is a massive fan too and there were quite a few potential ‘converts’. 😀
9th May 2020 @ 10:54 pm
Welcome to our merry Merlin discussions! Please don’t worry about posting your comments – yours was so great and hilarious. Made me laugh quite a few times!
I also found the Arthur/ Morgana potential romance in season 1 very odd. But mainly because I knew what happened to them according to legend, so I just didn’t have time for it because I knew it wasn’t going anywhere. (But then, I also knew that about Gwen and I still, still even now, wish that she and Merlin could have become a things. I would have been the sweetest and most awkward romance in the world!)
But back to Morgana. I still cringe every time when, in the first episode of season 1 (and some later ones as well), Morgana floats into the banquet hall like a femme fatale, dressed in definitely not medieval robes and accessories and I am utterly bewildered why Morgana is presented as nothing more than eye candy and the male gaze so shamelessly sanctioned. Hmmm, thinking back to our recent discussions about Morgana’s possible motivations for her actions later this season: this, if spun into a coherent narrative for her, would have been of great use! The talented, intelligent, kind lady of the court that is constantly subjected to the whims of a tyrannical king and the teasings of the prince/knights who see her as no more than an object of their fantasies, clad in shoulder-less maroon dresses. Erg! I’d have joined Alvarr, I’d have joined anyone to escape that and show them my mettle! Sad the producers didn’t pursue this route. That would have been an awesome message to send and would have made her descent into darkness (when paired with Arthur’s simultaneous development into a good man/ king) all the more believable and tragic!
7th May 2020 @ 4:40 pm
The discussion of the Fires of Idirsholas made me realise something: Merlin doesn’t use magic to kill Morgana. In theory, since he waits until Arthur is out of the room and Morgana will soon be dead, Merlin has no reason to not to use magic. I guess there are plot reasons – Merlin has to use something Morgause can plausibly reverse or cure, and a small bottle of poison is easy to hide – but still, it struck me as interesting. I wonder if it represents Merlin’s unwillingness to use magic to harm, or an attempt to distance himself from the responsibility of what he’s doing (since he didn’t force Morgana to drink it, technically), or if he doesn’t want to use magic against Morgana specifically because of her own complicated relationship with it… I don’t know. It just seems significant.
Anyway, The Last Dragonlord. Well I absolutely loved it and completely agree with it being at the top of the List of Destiny. Honestly, my first thought as the ending credits played was that if the entire show had ended here, it would have been a satisfying ending to me. I know there were narrative threads still untied, but it still would have *felt* right to me to end it there because I loved where we left the characters I care about most.
My love for this episode is in no way lessened by the fact that I completely agree with you about the irritating parts! I assumed that the placement of the dragon’s heart would come into play (as usual I hardly remember any details from my first watch). In terms of Gaius and Uther not knowing much about Balinor in the early scenes, I assumed they were playing down how much they knew because they were in front of Arthur and the knights – that Uther wasn’t about to say “oh, yeah, that guy I tried really hard to murder and then failed to capture lol” in front of Arthur. But I don’t know.
When Gaius said “Uther would view the son of a dragonlord with deepest suspicion”, I thought “well, yeah, but Arthur might not,” and that opinion didn’t change at all across the episode. Arthur has literally just stood up to his father, for a start, insisting that he will go ask this dragonlord for help, in fact. I would have liked it if Merlin had said “I wouldn’t want Arthur to have to make that decision” or something – even just “I don’t want my life to get in the way of what he has to do” would work, since at that point in time Merlin doesn’t know that the dragonlord powers are hereditary – and neither does Arthur, so at no point would Arthur have serious reason to suspect Merlin. He could even BE suspicious and then decide “no, just because his father had magic doesn’t mean anything about Merlin,” since as you said Arthur knows next to nothing about magic! So that’s annoying. That said, I thought at first that it was odd that Merlin kept dancing around outright saying “hey Balinor, I know who you are, I’m your son and I have magic,” but now I think it makes sense – Merlin has got so used to secrecy, and I guess he’s only heard bad things about Balinor when they first meet… in retrospect, it just makes me really sad that he doesn’t trust either Balinor or Arthur completely due to factors outside of his immediate relationships with either of them (the shadow of Uther hanging over every interaction with Arthur regarding magic, the bad first impression Balinor made and the talk that preceded meeting him, the fact that Gaius doesn’t think Arthur should know, etc).
The scenes in which Arthur tries to get Merlin to open up were so beautiful, because Arthur genuinely wants to know what’s up with Merlin, and Merlin *knows* that, and *still* can’t tell him, and so these moments are strengthening their relationship even though Arthur assumes he’s getting nowhere. Arthur saying that if he wasn’t a prince then they’d “probably get on” feels to me like Arthur saying “I see you as a friend,” but with “if I wasn’t a prince” added so that Merlin isn’t forced into an emotional spot he isn’t ok with – like, he leaves Merlin that bit of distance if he needs it. And then when Merlin says it’s that he’s concerned about everyone back in Camelot, Arthur accepts it, even though I’m sure he knows Merlin isn’t telling him everything. He engages with that, shows his own bit of vulnerability (acknowledging that he feels the same), but doesn’t push. It’s something they’ve done a lot, using teasing and their respective statuses to give each other space instead of barging into the other’s emotional space, but I really love how it’s done in this episode especially. It’s the lovely way that Arthur especially is able to use language that would seem insenstive, even harsh, to actually be very gentle with Merlin.
I am fascinated by the stuff you were saying about the Old Religion and magic and Balinor and I don’t know what to add except to say that I really hope you talk more about it in future seasons because it’s so interesting. As usual I’m tempted to get nerdy about it and compare it to other Arthurian stuff – ignore me if this is boring! I just think the idea of Merlin being the son of a dragonlord is really interesting when you think about the version of the legends in which Merlin is the son of the devil; I’m not sure where that first appears, but there’s the idea that his mother was seduced by the devil (or just a demon) and then she confessed to a priest or a monk called Blaise, and this meant that Merlin had magic powers from the demon side but wasn’t the evil (potentially Antichrist) figure he would have been had his mother not confessed. There’s an interesting relationship in the history of the legends between the old Welsh sources and the later Christianization, especially in terms of how Merlin’s magic is portrayed, that I don’t know enough about to comment on beyond that it exists and it’s interesting. Anyway, magical parentage is an interesting thing to bring up, as is the issue of religion and magic and the relationship between them. I think there’s one moment much later (it might S5, but I really don’t know) that in my opinion suggests something vaguely spiritual in Merlin himself – avoiding spoilers, it’s a small comment and it sets him apart from Arthur but isn’t about *using* magic. But it’s interesting to think about: if the world of BBC Merlin is one with religious and non-religious people (atheism obviously not historically accurate but that’s essentially how Arthur especially comes across), and the only religion we know about is the Old Religion, and it’s the Old Religion from which magic users draw their power and whose rules govern the way magic works… that means that the narrative is telling us the Old Religion *is* true, whether Uther believes in it or whether Merlin practices it or not. So, the way in which the believers/practitioners of the Old Religion are so set apart from the main characters, othered via strange clothes, foreign languages that are rarely translated, being physically outside of Camelot’s borders, is strange to me. Like, these people are different and strange but they’re correct in their assessment of the rules of this universe. And so the various types of magic user (druids, high priestesses, those who as you said don’t seem to ‘believe’ per se but use magic) are all like different outlooks on the truth, on science almost, whereas those who reject it outright are akin to rejecting the laws of physics nowadays. I don’t know, it’s confusing. And oh man I’m having many Thoughts about Merlin as a sort of initiate or neophyte slowly being drawn deeper into something almost like an ancient mystery cult… Ok, I’ll stop.
9th May 2020 @ 8:48 pm
I think you’re right about Merlin not using magic to kill Morgana: it’s definitely significant and quite sad that it never stood out to me before. I agree that Merlin, as we have discussed elsewhere throughout the season, prefers to use his magic to create beautiful things or, of course, to benefit Arthur and Camelot. Now, his poisoning of Morgana does, of course, benefit Camelot, but I think Merlin is reluctant to involve his magic as it is the deepest and most secret part of him. He knows his murder will contaminate his conscience forever but I think he would rather not have his magic be defiled by this as well, in effect, keeping that deepest part of him pure and beautiful. Perhaps he is also thinking that he would rather not reveal his use of magic to kill Morgana to Arthur should the prince ever find out about his secret.
I also believe that he chooses to take the hemlock bottle because it catches his eye at a point in time when he has in no way made up his mind whether or not to kill Morgana and he certainly hasn’t made any plans. He takes it along in case he is left with no other choice and perhaps he’s also subconsciously hoping, because he is less talented with potions than with magic, that he might get the poisoning wrong and Morgana will survive after all. Choosing this not entirely fail-safe method to kill her could signify his reluctance to harm her – and in the end, it is because he chose poison that Morgause manages to save Morgana. Would have been more difficult if he had done the old Nimueh trick.
Apart from the reasons you mentioned for Merlin not telling Balinor outright about their relationship, I think Merlin is probably wondering whether or not his father knew of his existence and, if so, why he would abandon Hunith and his baby son. I think Merlin needs time to secretly observe Balinor and to learn whether his father is worthy of knowing that Merlin’s his son. And I think he absolutely has a right to make the call when, where and if to tell him, since he had to do without a father all his life! I know it’s never directly said in the show, but, many of the other medieval values and social structures being in place, I always imagined that growing up as someone’s illegitimate son whose father abandoned his family would have added some extra difficulty to Merlin’s childhood.
You are very brave to attempt to make sense of the Old Religion/ magic conundrum. I’ve never really understood how one is linked to the other, whether the Old Religion governs magic by its rules and is the source from which magic users draw their power; or perhaps, magic was there first, and the Old Religion is the practice/ study/ worship of this power and the deities associated with it. I tend to favour the latter view: I think magic exists with or without the OR, but that isn’t true vice versa. I think the reason there are so many villains in the story who are followers of the OR could point to the fact that many practise it to achieve more powerful magic. Hence, their approach to the OR isn’t as a humble worshipper (as perhaps the druids are) but as people ambitious and greedy for power and influence. Those people, no matter what religion we are talking about, will always manage to twist things their way and, in turn, implicate the faith and the true worshippers with their bad reputation. That’s why Merlin calls out the dragon and Nimueh in 1.13 and refuses to be part of such a ‘selfish’ religion. This would also explain why Merlin isn’t seeking to follow the OR: he has no need for greater power nor is he terribly ambitious to be of more consequence. I think he is truly happy to have found his purpose with Arthur and to serve him. He doesn’t need to be in charge. It would be, of course, worth to chart whether we see Merlin developing into a true worshipper in the spirit of the peaceful druids throughout the series. We already know he enjoys the beauty of magic and revelling in something just for its own merit is, in many ways, what inspires true faith or worship. We shall see…
Also, thanks for pointing out that The Last Dragonlord would have been a great overall ending. You’re so right – I will remind myself of this in more desperate hours and pretend that it truly, really, did end there. Also, what an epic final episode that would have been for the series!
10th May 2020 @ 2:44 am
Loving how we’re basically having an S2 wrap-party here. : D
Thanks Mary for that burst of imagination about how that creative meeting might have gone. You’re not the only one. I’ve had a similar one for Season 4. It’s short and hardly spoilery:
Merlin creative team member: So shirtless Arthur is going well. Any ideas where to go from there?
Team member 2: Steal his pants too?
Team members: Yeah, yep, we’re doing trousers too! Done.
(now you know where my rant comes from!)
Also, feel free to steal my riddle for a maths lesson. : )
Esme’s comment about Old Religion got me thinking about how the show tries to imply the religious divisions without anything too heavy-handed. Which is understandable, given it’s for a modern and family audience. This is one of the ambiguities of the series I like –leaving things to people’s interpretation. For instance, I see Merlin as perhaps atheist at this stage. Like he is tuning into the magic itself rather than connecting it to a deity. Whereas Arthur, I assume, grew up in a Christian (or the show’s equivalent) household. This is also me trying to tie it to actual history. Like I remember learning about how a squire became a knight at 21, and the night before the ceremony he would have to spend it alone praying…which looks a lot like a certain scene in the future (without the show bringing religion into it)! So I kind of thought Arthur –being so concerned about living up to the knight’s code- would have a basic level of religiousness to him. Not to mention his ‘God have mercy’s and ‘God help me’s! Perhaps he’s been raised with the idea that supernatural power is only for the higher being and so people should stay away from the OR because it allows mere humans to tap into that power. And yes, those born with it might be considered demonic or something.
Oh and another reason why The Last Dragonlord is awesome: it taught me the word ‘supercilious’.
10th May 2020 @ 6:07 pm
“I think Merlin is reluctant to involve his magic as it is the deepest and most secret part of him. He knows his murder will contaminate his conscience forever but I think he would rather not have his magic be defiled by this as well” – yes yes yes that’s exactly what I failed to find the words for!
“I think Merlin needs time to secretly observe Balinor and to learn whether his father is worthy of knowing that Merlin’s his son.” That makes a lot of sense, actually. I didn’t judge Merlin for it, I just noticed that it seemed like a departure from his inital excitement (?) at the idea of meeting him.
OK Old Religion thoughts based on both Mary and Rez (I love both your contributions to the discussion): so I definitely think Mary is on to something in saying that “magic was there first, and the Old Religion is the practice/ study/ worship of this power and the deities associated with it.” My only question is whether there are deities. Like, I think Merlin mentions god(s) in the Poisoned Chalice, but after that I’m not aware of any references to deities, except, as Rez pointed out, Arthur saying “God have mercy!” etc. The latter is maybe the writers forgetting that this is a world without real life religions 😛 But if we assume it’s all intentional, then we have an interesting picture of a society in which there’s a monotheistic religion with no visible temples, no outward discussion *except* in very causal scenarios, and no known representatives or authorities BUT which is universally accepted as ‘normal’ and rational, vs the Old Religion which worships a power (or the source of a power) that everyone knows exists but that is outlawed. I would say that the “God” to whom Arthur refers could be a monotheistic god of a now rarely practiced religion – that there are no temples left or anything but there’s still evidence of it in the common language, but then it would be strange to have just one “Old Religion” – and anyway, I don’t think we hear Merlin say “for God’s sake” or anything similar, nor anyone else really. We have so little information from which to extrapolate but all I can think of that would explain this is that some variation of Christianity does exist, or another monotheistic religion, and mostly people take the “don’t take the Lord’s name in vain” thing quite seriously, but Arthur doesn’t really believe very strongly and so that’s why we hear him say “God have mercy” when he’s annoyed, because he doesn’t really believe in the god (or he doesn’t believe that god would be offended by his casual language, or that any harm could come from that offence). It fits his overall character, anyway. Not superstitious or spiritual, with a practical approach to the knight’s code (as you said, Rez, he takes it seriously, but he is willing to bend the rules such as to allow Lancelot to become a knight despite not being of noble birth: it suggests he takes it seriously as a standard of morality and honour, rather than following the letter of the law as a matter of spirituality).
I guess I sort of take the opposite view to you, Rez, in terms of Merlin and Arthur’s levels of religiosity. In terms of characterisation, I see Arthur as an atheist and Merlin as agnostic – open to whatever comes but not committing himself to any paradigm. Both, though, respect the power that comes with magic when confronted with it (it just takes Arthur longer to see and accept it – he isn’t ready to in the Labyrinth of Gedref, but he does come to understand its power). When Mary says “This would also explain why Merlin isn’t seeking to follow the OR: he has no need for greater power nor is he terribly ambitious to be of more consequence. I think he is truly happy to have found his purpose with Arthur and to serve him,” I definitely agree, but I think also Merlin isn’t inclined to worship – he would do well with the druids up to a point, and he has a healthy respect and admiration for the power of magic and whatever its source might be, but I can’t imagine him worshipping. Supplication, maybe, for the sake of a loved one (especially Arthur), and praise and reverence where its due, but worship? I’m not so sure. It’s even harder to picture Arthur worshipping anything, in part because it would mean relinquishing control.
10th May 2020 @ 10:41 pm
Most definitely we are having a wrap-party! Hope everyone is writing/ reading these comments with a glass of something delectable in their hands. 🙂
I also learned the word ‘supercilious’ from Merlin! (I think Arthur probably learned it from Merlin too and just didn’t want to admit it.) It’s clearly a very educational show: maths problems, writing assignments, vocab lessons, possibly RE…
Rez, I think your idea about Arthur pursuing knightly prowess and virtues as his religion is something I can completely support. I’ve never thought about it before! I guess, if I link that back to my thoughts about how there are power-hungry followers of the OR and the true worshippers that pursue it because of it’s own merit, Uther, in terms of how he treats the knightly code and behaviour, can be equalled to the power-hungry OR followers: he only allows men of noble birth to become knights to bind their families to his rule and cement his power. He is also willing to bend the knightly rules if it is of benefit to him and his grasp on power. (See, for example, 1.9. Excalibur – Uther is doing everything to prevent Arthur from fighting the Black Knight because, not only would his son die, but his kingdom would have no heir and his power would fall into others’ hands).
Arthur, on the other hand, would then be a true worshipper who follows the knightly code because he believes in its inherent merit and submits himself willingly to its demands because they are right. But he doesn’t demand the same of others (f.e. Merlin isn’t expected to act knightly nor are his knights expected to be quite as loyal, brave and honourable as their leader) so he is not using his knighthood as a way to gain power or influence over others.
I guess that goes back to the generational divide/ conflict I mentioned last week: the ‘older generation’, Uther, Nimueh, the dragon (and soon others) are the power-hungry followers of their respective ‘religion’. The young generation, Merlin, Arthur, some lovely new people soon to arrive on the scene, represent the true worshippers, following their ‘religion’ because they see it as right and good not as a way to gain power.
Does that make sense?
The question is: where does Morgana fit into this concept? Or is she outside this concept because Gaius refused to give her any information whatsoever, so she could become neither the one nor the other? In 2.3. it looked like, under the influence of the druids, she might have been turned into a true worshipper, admiring and seeking the beauty of magic and how to benefit people with it. Now, it seems, her influencers are more of the ‘power-hungry’ type. Which side will she come down on? And, once again, why couldn’t she have been given knowledge and agency to make this choice hers alone rather than be swayed by other like a leaf in the wind?
Esme, I think I agree that I can’t picture either Merlin or Arthur ‘worshipping’ in the stereotypical sense: i.e. bringing sacrifices, singing, chanting prayers, etc. I think I meant worship as a more general attitude and lifestyle of loving something very much, pursuing it because you know it is right and good and seeking to revel in its beauty. I think I meant to express ‘true worship’ as acts/ thoughts/ attitudes/ behaviours that come from the genuine admiration for something and only for that something’s sake and not any benefits attached to the ‘worship’. Otherwise, it becomes false worship. Again, does that make any sense?
11th May 2020 @ 3:42 pm
Mary, I think I agree with you in light of your definition of worship. And actually I’m terms of how Arthur views the knights’ code, maybe it is religious in that sense. I suppose I don’t see Arthur or Merlin metaphorically bowing down to someone or something – it’s hard to explain. I guess the difference is between “I love and respect and admire you because you’re powerful and I believe you to be morally good” and “I am not worthy, you are the source of all goodness.” Like the knights‘ code, I think, isn’t the source of Arthur’s morality, it’s the code of ethics by which he expresses that morality. He will bend the code according to his morals, and the source of his morals is empathy, internal to him. In contrast, the image of worship I had in mind while writing my previous comment would involve forgoing your own morals to instead serve a power external to yourself. Does that make any sense?
11th May 2020 @ 9:44 pm
Yes, it makes perfect sense and you were clearly able to express what I meant to in ever so many words much more succinctly. 🙂
10th May 2020 @ 10:45 pm
Sorry, I forgot to say: Rez, I love your little Season 4 creative session scene. Seems entirely plausible that that’s how it all happened.
Makes me wonder what they would have made Arthur take off if there had been more than 5 seasons…:( No, no! I’m not even going to go there!