So, this week’s episode is one that’s pretty universally
loathed, but more on that as I go.
It opens with Merlin and Arthur running away from a giant
hoard of marauders/bad guys/ what-have –you with no explanation to why.
Obviously, it’s a plot device to for Arthur to be shot with an arrow and conveniently
knocked unconscious so Merlin can learn nifty new mystical things and further
the plot of the show.
Merlin has a tender moment with Arthur, calling him dollophead
and clotpole while trying to wake him. He even uses the forbidden magic to try
to heal Arthur, but it doesn’t work. A mysterious, robed man shows up and heals
Arthur then insists that Merlin go with him to the Crystal Cave. He wants
Merlin to look into the crystals and see the future. Merlin wants nothing to do
with it, after his last experience of seeing the future in a crystal. But
Taliesin insists.
Merlin sees horrible images of Morgana sitting on the throne
of Camelot, fighting with her horse, holding an ornate dagger and killing
Uther. He flips shit and goes back to Arthur. Taliesin disappears. Arthur and
Merlin head back to Camelot and Merlin lies to him about what went down. Happily, they’re home in time for Morgana’s
birthday celebration the next day.
Merlin is super freaked and paranoid about Morgana and tells
Gaius about it. In typical Gaius fashion, he dismisses literally everything
that comes out of Merlin’s mouth. I’m not sure if it was to reassure Merlin or
if he really wasn’t buying it. Also, he tells Merlin that Taliesin has been
dead for centuries, so how cool that Merlin saw him. So really? Dead dude shows
up to reveal mystical shit, and you’re not believing it? Whatever, Gaius.
Events that Merlin saw in the Crystal Cave are coming to
pass and he freaks some more. When he tells Gaius about them, Gaius again blows
him off and dismisses Merlin’s fears. Merlin’s paranoia ramps up an extra notch
when Arthur tells him that he got Morgana a dagger for her birthday present.
But Merlin is relieved when he sees it’s not the dagger he saw in the visions.
Then he tells Arthur that he would have thought Arthur would have picked
something else since “girls like pretty things.”
Later, at the feast, Morgana is opening her presents and
when she opens Arthur’s, it’s a dagger. But not the same one he showed Merlin.
It’s the ornate one from the vision. Arthur thanks Merlin for his advice about
pretty things, and Merlin freaks once again.
After the party, Gwen brings more presents sent to Morgana
from other kingdoms. One of them is a mirror that has a message from Morgause
about meeting her in the darkling woods. Morgana sneaks out and Merlin follows
her, magically slamming a door in her face. Startled, Morgana falls down the
stairs and suffers a massive head injury.
She’s brought to Gaius’ room. He stitches up her wound, but
she’s still unconscious and now dying. Everyone is upset, but no one is more fraught
with grief than Uther. He begs Gaius to make her well again, even not-so-subtly
hinting that magic is just fine by him. Well, you know, Uther…as long as you
stand to gain from it, it’s cool.
Uther also confesses that he had an affair with Morgana’s
mother, and Morgana is his daughter. (This, my loves, is where everything goes
to hell in a huge way.) He begs Gaius again to do whatever must be done to save
his child. Never mind that he wasn’t willing to do the same for Arthur when he
was dying. But whatever. I digress.
Merlin calls the dragon for advice. The dragon is super
happy that Morgana is on death’s door and is pretty vocal about it. Merlin
commands the dragon to give him a spell to heal Morgana. The dragon is pissed,
but is compelled to obey because of that whole Dragon Lord issue.
Merlin casts the spell and heals Morgana. Everyone is
overjoyed. Morgana tries to get Uther to admit to her that he’s her father and
public claim her as his child, but Uther sidesteps it all. Morgana is furious
and hurt.
Morgause sneaks into the castle and kills a wine bearer
(like you do) and meets with Morgana wanting to know why Morgana didn’t meet
her the other night. Morgana tells Morgause that she now knows that Uther is
her father. Morgause is thrilled at the news and counsels her not to do
anything rash.
But we all know that rash is what Morgana lives for. So when
Merlin sees the dead wine guy, he knows something is up with Morgana (dead wine
guy was also in the Crystal Cave vision) he goes to find her. She magically knocks
him out and knocks over a candelabra, setting the room on fire then heads out
to murder Uther in his bed.
Merlin wakes up in time to avoid burning to death and races
to Uther’s room where Morgana is holding her birthday dagger over Uther preparing
to stab him. Merlin sneaks in just in time, and unable to stop her by confronting
her (because she’ll frame him for it and Uther will believe her- this is my
interpretation, btw) he magically blows out the window and the blast knocks her
backward into a wall and wakes up Uther. Morgana lies and says that she was
there for comfort because her room caught on fire while discreetly kicking the
dagger under the bed.
Later, Gaius and Merlin are talking and Merlin explains that
he thought he could alter the future, but he ended up causing it. I don’t think
this is necessarily true. However Gaius must because he doesn’t disabuse him of
this notion at all. His attitude is very, yeah, you really did, but done is
done and now we have more important things to worry about like Morgana knowing
that the Uther is her father which means she has a legitimate claim on the
throne and Arthur is in danger.
Okay...now for the questions.
1.
If I’d written this episode...Ugh. So many things. Most importantly, I wouldn't have Uther confessing that Morgana was his daughter. Not after the previous couple seasons where they acted more like lovers than anything else. I'm still furious about this. The writers had so many other options they could have taken and they blew it. Completely blew it. I would have had Gaius take Merlin seriously instead of blowing him off and then basically blaming him for what happened.
2. The thing I loved/hated most
about this episode. Loved Merlin trying to wake Arthur up after he'd been shot. So sweet. Hated Uther's obvious preference of one child over the other.
3. Something you’ve never noticed about
this episode before.That Morgana gave Gwen one of her birthday presents to basically distract her and get rid of her.
4. Favorite Costume. When in doubt, Morgana's jammies.
5. Here is Proof of some random head canon
I’ve created. None for this episode.
6. What Merthur moment did Jess have the
naughtiest thoughts about? I think it was when Merlin was tenderly calling Arthur dollophead and clotpole while trying to wake him. And his fear and sadness when he couldn't.
7. What made Jen lose her shit (in a good or bad
way) in a bad way? Hands down the Uther/Morgana father/daughter storyline which makes the last couple seasons seem super incesty.
3 comments:
I didn't make it past the very first episode so I can't imagine watching the rest of the show (but the hunk and my eleven year old granddaughter lapped it up so that pretty much tells you about the level of writing/acting/etc.)
Where did you find that awesome picture of Morgana in her jammies? I never noticed how detailed they were. It's a shame that the entire series wasn't filmed in HD.
As much as I love this show, this episode pissed me off so, so much.
And LOVE Morgana's jammies. They are glorious.
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