I’m so bummed I wasn’t able to watch Merlin with Jess and
Jen this week, but I’m in the U.P (The Land of Very Little Reliable Internet)
on a family vacation. But I wrote this out in advance. Yay Netflix!
Season three opens with Morgana having been missing for an
entire year and Arthur, Merlin and the knights tirelessly searching for her.
Uther is beside himself and even though his men are dying left, right and
sideways, he refuses to give up the search, and Gaius’ attempt to talk some
sense in him goes nowhere.
While Merlin and Arthur are searching (and sniping
affectionately at each other) they’re attacked by a band of ruffians. Once the
fighting is over, Morgana emerges from the misty woods, terrified bruised,
confused and in a completely different gown (though still one of her own) than
she was wearing when Morgause magic-ed her out of Camelot during the last
episode of last season. Continuity,
people. Come on.
Uther is relieved at having Morgana home, and Merlin is
freaked the fuck out because he’s terrified that Morgana is going to tell Uther
that Merlin tried to poison her. Gaius is all “whatevs, it was for the good of
the kingdom” and completely dimisses Merlin’s fears.
The next morning, Gaius wakes Merlin to tell him that Arthur
has requested his presence in Morgana’s chambers. He goes to her chambers where
he overhears her telling Arthur how she escaped from the bandits. Morgana gives
him a look over Arthur’s shoulder as she’s hugging him. She tells Arthur she
needs to rest and he leaves. Merlin starts to follow him out, but Morgana tells
him she needs to speak to him. She tells him she knows he tried to poison her,
but she understands and would have done the same. Then she apologizes for
everything she’s done.
Morgana goes to see Uther and he’s overjoyed to see her. There
are tears, people. Tears. And Morgana
gently wipes them away. Also, side note, Morgana has all of her original
jewelry that she left Camelot with. Doesn’t anyone find it odd that she was
with bandits and they didn’t take all her pricey rings and bracelet? She
apologizes for all the wrongs she’s done to him. As she leaves, we see the
first smirk of the season.
That night, Morgana rides out of Camelot – so what? No
guards see/hear her? – to a rocky place somewhere outside Camelot’s walls where
she meets Morgause who continues to wear Miranda Lambert’s castoffs. She tells
her Morgause the everyone believes her story and hands Morgause the handkerchief
she used to wipe away Uther’s tears. Morgause drops it into a cauldron full of
some kind of horrible looking black goo. Next she drops in a mandrake root that
screams as it’s engulfed in the goo. Morgana can hear the screams and Morgause
is positively gleeful about it. Only those with magic can hear the screams.
They’re concocting a spell to make Uther go insane.
Morgana hangs the dripping mandrake root under Uther’s bed.
Later, there’s a feast to welcome Morgana home and Uther makes a toast and
talks about how he loves her best. It’s implied. Whatever. After he hugs
Morgana again (and she grimaces) he leaves the room a little woozy and needing
air, and smirk number two appears.
Uther hallucinates that he sees Ygraine, his dead wife in
the well, and she reaches out and grabs his arm. He. Flips. Shit. and starts
screaming his head off and hyperventilating until the guards come running.
Arthur, Morgana, Gaius and Merlin put an unconscious Uther into his bed, with
Morgana being especially solicitous. As soon as everyone’s gone, her disgust
reappears. As does her smirk.
Arthur demands to know what could have caused his father’s
breakdown. Gaius says he doesn’t know,
but Arthur, unlike his father, knows when Gaius is lying, presses him for more
info. Gaius tells him that Uther was mumbling Ygraine’s name and that he’d seen
her in the well Arthur is worried about rumors spreading.
He’s right to worry, because we next see Morgana gloating to
Morgause about how rumors are spreading that the king is going mad. Morgana
asks about Cenred (the king adjacent) and Morgause tells her that Cenred wishes
only to please her as she readies another mandrake root for Uther.
When Morgana is sneaking back into Camelot, one of the
knights spots her and notices the dripping mandrake root, so she stabs him with
her dagger and pushes him off the parapet. The warning bells ring as Morgana is
hiding the mandrake root in her room.
The next morning, Morgause rides to Cenred’s castle and he
and Morgause have some argue-y magical foreplay. She outlines her plan to take
Camelot and coerces him into participating.
Arthur warns Uther that Cenred is amassing an army, but
unfortunately Uther is too busy seeing a dead druid boy he’d had killed years
ago. He tells the child to leave him alone. No one else sees anything except
Uther freaking out. He flips shit again and Arthur and Sir Leon have to drag
him from the council room. Cue another smirk from Morgana.
The knight Morgana stabbed is found and Gaius has him brought
to his chamber. He goes to see Arthur with the dagger that killed the knight
and tells him that it belonged to the Blood Guard – those who protected the
priestesses of the Old Religion, and that not all of them were wiped out in the
great purge. Gaius also drops the bombshell that the dude Morgana stabbed is
still alive. She races to Gaius’ chamber and poisons him with a big old bottle
of hemlock. Annnnnnnddddd cue smirk.
That night, Merlin brings medicine to Uther who’s sleeping
fitfully. He hears the dripping and discovers the mandrake root under the bed
and has to hide quickly because Morgana has come into the room. She reaches
under the bed without seeing him and grabs the root and leaves.
Merlin follows her into the forest where he sees Morgause
and her guard approach. He overhears them discuss the crazy they’re inflicting
on Uther and that Cenred’s army will ride on Camelot at Morgause’s command.
Morgana also tells her sister that Merlin suspects her. And that he’s there in the woods with them. Merlin
runs away and Morguase’s guards give chase, but he’s captured.
Back at Camelot, Gaius tells Arthur that he needs to assume
control of the kingdom. Arthur refuses because he doesn’t want to give up on
his father.
Morgause questions Merlin who’s now been chained up and when
he doesn’t give her the answers she wants, she magically tightens the chains
around him and walks away. Because, you know, you should always leave your prisoners
unattended. Merlin tries to magically break free, but that only causes the
chains to tighten further. He starts hearing strange noises in the woods and
starts to panic.
Meanwhile Gaius is looking for Merlin and asks Gwen and
Morgana about it. You’ll be unsurprised to know that there was smirking.
Back in the woods, we see what was making the unsettling
noises. The giant scorpions of doom. Tons of them and they’re all coming for
Merlin.
Arthur is keeping vigil by his father’s bed and Morgana
comes to comfort him. She promises to look after Uther. And smirks.
Merlin uses magic to beat back the scorpions, but not before
one stings him. Using his Dragon Lord voice, he summoning the dragon as Cenred’s
army rides toward Camelot. As the scorpions creep forward again, the dragon
swoops in to rescue him.
The next episode opens with Merlin waking in the dragon’s
cave, sick from the scorpion’s poison. Meanwhile, Arthur is all pissed because
Merlin isn’t there and he has to do shit for himself. Gaius worries about
Merlin and Morgana skulks around the castle and creates a diversion to draw the
guards away from Uther’s room so she can get in and change out the mandrake
root while torturing him a bit with it first.
Merlin demands to go back to Camelot because the kingdom is
in danger. And the dragon points out that Merlin’s desire to see good in people
is pretty much his undoing. The dragon also trots out the unfortunate news that
Merlin’s and Morgana’s fates are joined.
Merlin gets his the dragon to fly him back to Camelot.
Before the dragon takes off, he tells Merlin that Arthur’s destiny and the
future of Albion lie in Merlin’s hands. No pressure, man. No pressure. Merlin
sneaks into Camelot and wakes up Gaius. Merlin tells him about Morgana and Morgause
and brings him to Uther’s chambers where they find Uther’s room trashed and
Uther whimpering in a corner in his nightclothes.
Uther’s having hallucinations of Ygraine and a bunch of
drowned children. Merlin grabs the mandrake root and throws it in the fire,
freeing Uther of the spell. Gaius medicates him. Merlin wants to tell Uther
about Morgana’s treason. Gaius refuses to do it because Uther would kill them
both. Meanwhile, Cenred’s army gets closer to Camelot.
The next morning Merlin goes to Arthur’s chamber which is a
sty and Arthur bitches him out for being gone and leaving without his
permission. They argue, Arthur throws shit at Merlin. Later, Morgana spots
Arthur and Merlin walking through the courtyard and she’s all WTF because
Merlin should be dead.
Morgana goes to Uther’s chamber to recharge the mandrake
root and Gaius surprises her while she’s looking under the bed and asks if she’s
lost something. Busted. She claims she’s looking for her earring. Nice save.
Gaius passes on the news that Uther will make a full recovery and Morgana is
not pleased.
Later, waiting in an alcove, she grabs Merlin as he’s
walking by and threatens him not to breathe a word of what he saw or she’ll
make his life short and painful. Morgana, honey, why not just kill him now?
Loose ends, my sweet. Loose ends.
Sir Leon tells Arthur the news that Cenred’s army will be
there soon and they have twice as many men. Arthur decides to prepare the city
for siege. Merlin tries to tell Arthur not to worry. It doesn’t go well. Later,
Gwen tries to tell Arthur the same thing. It goes marginally better.
Morgana watched Camelot prepare for siege and smirks a lot.
Then, she sneaks out to meet with Morgause to tell her that Merlin is alive and
has destroyed the mandrake root. Morgause tells her not to worry, that Cenred’s
army is nearly there and that Morgana must play her part. Morgause gives her a
staff from the High Priestesses of the Isle of the Blessed, and Morgana vows
not to fail her sister.
There’s a big old siege preparation montage punctuated by
longing glances between Arthur and Guinevere. Cenred’s forces will be there in
a matter of hours. Arthur sits vigil a little longer by Uther’s bed until
Merlin tells him it’s time. Before he leaves his unconscious father’s side,
Arthur promises not to let him down. He then goes to ready himself for battle.
Merlin tells Arthur it’s his fate to be the greatest king
Camelot has ever known and to trust in himself. Arthur studies Merlin for a
minute then tells him that he’s wise. Then he goes to meet his troops in the
armory and after a rousing cry of “For the love of Camelot!” they go out to
load up the catapults to aim at Cenred’s army that has massed outside the
castle.
Cenred begins his attack by hurling giant flaming balls of something
at the castle and Uther wakes as they hit the castle walls. All of a sudden
Cenred’s army rushes in. For all the
talk of Camelot being impregnable, they got in pretty damn easily. Uther comes
outside, dressed for battle and fights to defend Camelot.
Inside, Gaius, Gwen and Morgana are tending to the wounded
and Merlin warns Gaius to keep an eye on Morgana before running back to the
fighting to find Arthur. Arthur freaks when he sees Uther fighting and pulls
him away from the battle. Uther takes a
cross bow bolt to the leg and Arthur calls for the knights to retreat as Cenred’s
army swarms the walls. They give chase and Merlin uses his magic to enhance the
fire already burning to give the knights time to escape.
Morgana sneaks out of the hospital ward and runs to her room
to get the staff. Gaius tries to follow her and when he doesn’t see her hiding
behind the damn door, he leaves.
Meanwhile the battle rages on and Arthur pulls the bolt from Uther’s leg
and Merlin helps Uther away from the fighting and into the hospital ward.
Gaius tells Merlin that Morgana has disappeared. Meanwhile
Morgana is down in the crypt and forces the staff through the floor. Merlin
feels the magic and knows where to find her. Morgause feels it, too. In the crypt, the
staff shoots out glowing blue beams and starts raising knights from the dead.
Skeletal knights, but knights nonetheless. Oh, and they have swords.
They attack from within the citadel and are pretty much
unstoppable. Mostly because they’re already dead. Arthur tells Merlin to tell Gaius to seal off
the hospital while he continues to fight. The castle is soon overrun. The
knights are trapped between Cenred’s army and the skeleton army. Things are not
looking good for our heroes.
Merlin finds Morgana in the basement and confronts her and
tries to convince her to use her powers for good. To find another way. But
Morgana isn’t having it. She tells him there’s no other way. Merlin runs for
the staff but Morgana blocks him and holds a sword on him. He grabs a sword and
they fight while outside the battle continues to rage.
She knocks the sword from Merlin’s hand and with some
whispered magic, he knocks in part of the roof and it hits her and knocks her
out. With a spell and his sword, he cuts the rowan staff in half, severing its
power.
The skeletons collapse, Camelot’s
knights rally and they turn the tide of battle against Cenred’s army. Cenred calls off his remaining troops and they
retreat. Morgause is furious.
The next day, Uther addresses his knights and praises
Morgana for destroying the magical staff in the crypt and calls her a hero.
Meanwhile, she and Merlin as having a stare down. Later, in Gaius’ chamber, Merlin
is frustrated because Uther doesn’t see Morgana’s true nature, and Gauis warns Merlin
to be careful of her.
And now...finally...it's time for the questions.
And now, the questions.
1.
If I’d written this episode...I would have made have made it clear why Morgana doesn't just kill Merlin. He knows everything. Keeping him alive without some really clear and understandable reasons seems like a terrible idea.
2. The thing I loved/hated most
about this episode. I'm still pretty bothered about the Merlin is still alive thing. NOT because I want Merlin dead (sheesh, Jess!) but because I want a solid reason why Morgana doesn't just kill him. I'm all still annoyed about how Gaius is all set to lead the Morgana is Evil Parade. He acts like he had no part in driving her down this path.
On the positive side, I think it's really sweet how Merlin's belief in him lifts Arthur's flagging spirits.
3. Something you’ve never noticed about
this episode before. Morgana returned to Camelot in an different dress by with all her jewelry after supposedly being kidnapped by bandits.
4. Favorite Costume. Gotta give it to Morgana's red cloak and dress. I also really like her armor, but I couldn't find a decent picture of it. Besides, I like the Little Red vibe.
5. Here is Proof of some random head canon
I’ve created. I didn't create this, but I concur with it. Morgana and
Morgause are supposed to be half sisters, and again, in this episode, she seem to have a
lot more going on.
6. What Merthur moment did Jess have the
naughtiest thoughts about? It has to be when Arthur asks Merlin if his "little bottom is sore." I feel certain that in Jess' head, the sore bum was for entirely different reasons. And also this.
7. What made Jen lose her shit (in a good or bad
way) in a bad way? And for Jen, I give you all the smirks that have gone unnoticed in these two episodes.
Jess' take on the episode is
here, and Jen's is
here.
