Merlin Review, because how can I not?

[kriadydragon]

I don't plan on making this a regular thing, because I hate where reviewing episodes of any show tends to take me, but I felt the need to talk about this one because... dang! I heard they were going dark, and this one was pretty dark. I feel so bad for Merlin, who's pretty much darned if he does or darned if he doesn't. And the acting was friggin' brilliant because you could totally see how painful the decision was for Merlin. Poor guy just can't win.

But I am getting a little nervous. Merlin's destiny is starting to break him down and I worry about where that might take him. Then there's fandom. It often feels like that once a show starts making the characters and situations more complicated, then people become more prone to anti-character sentiments, and I worry about anti-Merlin sentiments popping up.

Then again, people would probably rather keep harping on the lack of reveal (yes, I am already tired of hearing about the lack of reveal. The reveal will happen when it happens). What I'm actually anxious to find out is what will happen to cause Mordred to turn against Arthur.

One theory I have - and I seriously hope this is the direction the show goes because I think it would be interesting - is that while Arthur slowly comes to accept magic, Mordred comes to turn against it. Then Arthur reaches the point where he lifts the ban on sorcery, Mordred isn't happy about it, thinks Arthur is bringing down Camelot (or that he's enchanted) so decides the only way to save Camelot is to take him out.

Or

It's actually Arthur's death that brings about the return of magic, and Merlin's destiny was actually, and unwittingly, to set things in motion that would lead to his death. In which case that would shatter Merlin and he would go insane so I'm seriously hoping that's not the direction the show goes.

Or

In Merlin's quest to protect Arthur, Arthur and Merlin become more and more at odds to the point that Arthur is no longer listening to Merlin. Maybe it even reaches the point where he banishes Merlin - maybe this will be how the reveal plays out - and Merlin isn't there to save Arthur. Or maybe he is! Saving the day at the last minute (which would be awesome if it wasn't for the little obnoxious bit that it is legend that Mordred kills Arthur. Then again, Arthur was also supposed to be Mordred's daddy *shrugs* It could be that Mordred turns against Arthur but it's not until many, many, many years later that he actually kills him, and there's peace and happiness and Merlin the court sorcerer until that time).

It's fun speculating :D But I do hate seeing Merlin moving deeper into a darker place.

Comments

[phoenixi77.livejournal.com]

Since S3 Merlin has been getting darker..making so many 'wrong' or 'bad' decisions..I can not even rewatch S1 or S2, it makes me cringe watching how less complicated their lives were before (even with Uther present lol)

[swanpride.livejournal.com]

Merlin isn't getting darker. It's more or less the same thing they did in season 3, with the difference that back then he decided to rescue Morgana's life and it turned out the wrong decision. It's an universal rule of this show that there is no right or wrong, only contrivance of the writers in order to get a dramatic scene, which has, most of the time, no bearing on the future plot whatsoever.
Sorry, but really, the only reason I'm still watching is that I'm sure that this will be the last season, and I want to see it through. At this point I don't care about the reveal, it should have happened last season the latest, now, after ten years, it's riddiculous. I don't care if Arthur dies, because he is a terrible king....he should let Gwen and Merlin rule at his stead. I don't care about magic getting back to the land, because it wont happen.
The ending will be dramatic with a nice twist to soften the blow, but at this point there is no way that it will be good enough to make up for all the nonsense we had to suffer through at this point. Or for ruining Morgana, who used to be my favourite character in the show. Or for never presenting us with the "once and futere king", instead of this buffon a lot of people are loyal to for some strange reason. It's great to see someone who has still some enthusiasm for the show, though.

[smcstrav.livejournal.com]

Hi Kriadydragon. i saw your rant ;) in fanfiction, and I totally agree with you. I thought it would be better to comment here though.

Actually, i still LOVE Merlin. Although I'd love to see a reveal, I also adore the 'Merlin with hidden talents/underappreciated' theme, even more. It lets Colin Morgan show those wonderful angsty crushing-destiny moments and I can't get enough of him. God he's a great actor! I am also worried that the post-reveal show would not have more than 3 or 4 episodes before boring me! I figure the shows creators probably feel the same and the post-reveal may be more like an epilogue, or next season if they get renewed.

Regarding episode 5, I think that Merlin really really had no choice. He 'knows' that Mordred is to be the death of Arthur but he needs Arthur alive to bring back magic and fulfil his own destiny. So he must have deduced that denying magic now would bring it back later in spite of the Disir. I think the tears and angst at that time were more because he knew he had to pass up the chance to let magic return 'now', and he also knew he was condemning Mordred to death.

Up to the point when they got the renewed choice from the Desir, I bet Merlin hoped that since the Disir may be able to influence destiny, they may also have been able to grant another way to get the happy ending, like with the unicorn curse. After all, Arthur's behaviour during the second visit would show them that he was in fact a just king AND that he was changing his attitude to at least respect magic if not embrace it. Without that hope I believe Merlin would have felt he had take Mordreds demise more actively into his own hands earlier on. The fact that he didn't help it along even shows that however bad things seem for Merlin, he's still trying to be 'good'. It's one thing to refuse magical healing and allow a natural death, but another to murder, after all.

I felt so sorry for Merlin during this episode and even worse when Mordred recovered anyway. Crushing destiny indeed!! I wonder how Merlin will deal with it in coming episodes.

One other thing though: I think Merlin's choice is the right one. If denying magic caused Mordred to live, doesn't that kind of equate to accepting magic and having Mordred die? So wouldn't that enrage Arthur like it did when his father died? Maybe he'd then have gone and obliterated the Disir sacred spot and it would be the purge all over. Or else maybe Mordred lives, but then we'd have had an Arthur who felt forced by sorcery rather than an Arthur who was allowed by sorcery to make his own decisions and was seemingly even given the 'gift' of a healed Mordred after. All things considered, even with Mordred alive I think Arthur is in a much better state to see the eventual good in magic due to rejecting it now. Time will tell I guess.

One last thing, if any of my arguments make any sense, feel free to weave them into your magical stories!!

[kriadydragon.livejournal.com]

You know, I hadn't thought about it but the lack of reveal does make for some excellent angst moments. Although I look forward to the reveal as well, the show's going to have to come up with something new for Merlin to angst about or it's not going to be as fun :D (my word we're cruel to Merlin, aren't we ;)).

Without that hope I believe Merlin would have felt he had take Mordreds demise more actively into his own hands earlier on. The fact that he didn't help it along even shows that however bad things seem for Merlin, he's still trying to be 'good'. It's one thing to refuse magical healing and allow a natural death, but another to murder, after all.

Yeah, I do get the feeling that outright murder is something Merlin is trying to avoid. Not that standing by and doing nothing could be considered any better but there is something a heck of a lot darker about taking the initiative to actually kill someone. And that, too, is what also makes this season rather sad, because Merlin is toeing the darkness line a lot more but you know he doesn't want to cross it. He's trying hard to be the better person but is beginning to realize that, to keep Arthur safe, that might not be possible.

And a lot of people have been making the excellent point that Merlin choosing magic wouldn't have been any better, because it wouldn't have been any better. Even had Mordred lived had Merlin chosen magic, it would still be something forced on Arthur rather than Arthur accepting it. It would still be something he would be wary of, possibly even more wary since he was forced to accept it, constantly having to worry about magical attacks and whether thwarting those attacks would mean going back on the deal. It just... wouldn't have worked.

I've really been enjoying these discussions :D I do think the writers did something interesting with this episode and it makes me even more curious to see where they take it.