Merlin 3.11. The Sorceror's Shadow
Nov. 21st, 2010 02:18 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
selenakIn which Dudley Dursley comes to Camelot, and an interesting trend this season continues.
I haven't looked up the names of the character on anything official, so I'm going by how he sounded like - Gilly? Well, Gilly is a fascinating contrast to the s1 and to a more minor extent s2 guest characters who showed up at Camelot with a somewhat justified grudge against Uther but used such vile methods (causing damage to people not Uther) that Merlin ended up killing them; think of Edwin, for example. Meanwhile, Gilly, played by a young actor I've previously only seen in the Harry Potter movies playing Harry's pesky cousin, is flawed but sympathetic, makes arguments the show doesn't immediately shoot down by adding a mad cackle but lets Merlin listen to and considering, and ends up exiting the episode alive and well. This fits with Gwaine as a (non-magical) symapthetic character who is anti-Uther and not willing to serve him, and Alice as a sympathetic magic user making it out of her episode alive and well, too.
You can see from the get go how Gilly is set up as an alter ego/ might have been for Merlin - his introduction via walking on the road, his arrival in Camelot, intervening when he sees a serving boy (this time Merlin is the serving boy) bullied by a knight - it hardly needs the tale of his father. (Though Gilly's father parallels Hunith rather than Balinor, i.e. the parent advising their offspring not to use magic, fearing for them.) The longing for recognition, which Merlin identifies with, the longing for his gift to have a point (can we say "destiny"). At the same time, the show also makes clear there are differences. Gilly reacts to his first kill far stronger than Merlin did, getting the kind of quiet "what have I done?" moment Merlin never did (of course, we don't know whether the fake Lady Helen from the pilot was the first person whom Merlin killed, but he's also blasting people to smithereens without hesitation by mid-season 1 (if he doesn't know them and they're not an eerie child). Gilly's decision to fight the tournament till the end rather than withdraw is a mixture of ego related reasons (all that recognition and approval is great) and the realisation he can finish of Uther who killed so many magic users, which is believable and makes Gilly a far more "real" character than if he had done the comic book thing of suddenly being a bloodthirsty villain after that first death. Simultanously, Merlin prevaricating on what to do really makes character sense as well - Gilly isn't plotting evil mcevildom deeds, he's doing what a large part of Merlin wants to do as well (both the semi-public use of magic and the going up against Uther). I also really appreciate that Merlin and he got that quiet goodbye scene which did include another reminder that Merlin, too, makes a choice and keeps making it when not letting others kill Uther. Oh, and the earlier scene where Merlin outs himself magically (only the second time he did that deliberately, after Freya, right? Lancelot found out by accident, and I don't think Merlin point blank told anyone else) was terrific as well. Colin Morgan has been superb throughout the season, and the writers give him some wonderful character stuff.
Having a soft spot for a certain flying lizard, I was thrilled Kilgarrah was back. Methinks his lack of helpful advice (other than basically saying "tough!") is due to still smarting from Merlin forcing him to cure Morgana the last time they talked, and I'm not surprised he brings that up first thing. That Merlin calls him to talk to him about his dilemma, no matter how they parted the last time - rather than limiting the soul searching conversation to Gaius - is telling in itself. Partly, I guess, because Gaius' advice is always going to be "save Uther" (unless it's Merlin's own life on the line) and Merlin knows that, whereas Kilgarrah is anything but a fan. But I think the "you and I are creatures of magic and only a creature of magic can understand" also means just that; for all of his limited magic use of the past, Gaius simply isn't a magical being to Merlin the same way the Dragon and himself are.
The Pendragon subplot was great as well. I was wondering how they'd make this episode different from the previous tournament episodes instead of just repeating plotlines, and lo, the episode delivered. Morgana goading Uther into participating was entirely ic for both of them (and would have been even in earlier seasons). Note that Arthur at no point genuinenly wonders whether he can beat his father. (He knows he can and found out by practical example a year ago, something I doubt either of them has forgotten, which is probably yet another reason why Uther participates in the tournament.) He's uneasy because he's worried for Uther and because the prospect of throwing the fight to allow Uther save face is a lose-lose scenario, but he's also certain throughout he has to. The real surprise is Uther revealing he figured it out in the final scene, which is Uther in a rare gracious and self-aware mode we haven't seen so far this season. Of course, being Uther, he needed to beat Arthur in public and to think him in private. They really are the definition of dysfunctional in myth-and-magic-land.
I haven't looked up the names of the character on anything official, so I'm going by how he sounded like - Gilly? Well, Gilly is a fascinating contrast to the s1 and to a more minor extent s2 guest characters who showed up at Camelot with a somewhat justified grudge against Uther but used such vile methods (causing damage to people not Uther) that Merlin ended up killing them; think of Edwin, for example. Meanwhile, Gilly, played by a young actor I've previously only seen in the Harry Potter movies playing Harry's pesky cousin, is flawed but sympathetic, makes arguments the show doesn't immediately shoot down by adding a mad cackle but lets Merlin listen to and considering, and ends up exiting the episode alive and well. This fits with Gwaine as a (non-magical) symapthetic character who is anti-Uther and not willing to serve him, and Alice as a sympathetic magic user making it out of her episode alive and well, too.
You can see from the get go how Gilly is set up as an alter ego/ might have been for Merlin - his introduction via walking on the road, his arrival in Camelot, intervening when he sees a serving boy (this time Merlin is the serving boy) bullied by a knight - it hardly needs the tale of his father. (Though Gilly's father parallels Hunith rather than Balinor, i.e. the parent advising their offspring not to use magic, fearing for them.) The longing for recognition, which Merlin identifies with, the longing for his gift to have a point (can we say "destiny"). At the same time, the show also makes clear there are differences. Gilly reacts to his first kill far stronger than Merlin did, getting the kind of quiet "what have I done?" moment Merlin never did (of course, we don't know whether the fake Lady Helen from the pilot was the first person whom Merlin killed, but he's also blasting people to smithereens without hesitation by mid-season 1 (if he doesn't know them and they're not an eerie child). Gilly's decision to fight the tournament till the end rather than withdraw is a mixture of ego related reasons (all that recognition and approval is great) and the realisation he can finish of Uther who killed so many magic users, which is believable and makes Gilly a far more "real" character than if he had done the comic book thing of suddenly being a bloodthirsty villain after that first death. Simultanously, Merlin prevaricating on what to do really makes character sense as well - Gilly isn't plotting evil mcevildom deeds, he's doing what a large part of Merlin wants to do as well (both the semi-public use of magic and the going up against Uther). I also really appreciate that Merlin and he got that quiet goodbye scene which did include another reminder that Merlin, too, makes a choice and keeps making it when not letting others kill Uther. Oh, and the earlier scene where Merlin outs himself magically (only the second time he did that deliberately, after Freya, right? Lancelot found out by accident, and I don't think Merlin point blank told anyone else) was terrific as well. Colin Morgan has been superb throughout the season, and the writers give him some wonderful character stuff.
Having a soft spot for a certain flying lizard, I was thrilled Kilgarrah was back. Methinks his lack of helpful advice (other than basically saying "tough!") is due to still smarting from Merlin forcing him to cure Morgana the last time they talked, and I'm not surprised he brings that up first thing. That Merlin calls him to talk to him about his dilemma, no matter how they parted the last time - rather than limiting the soul searching conversation to Gaius - is telling in itself. Partly, I guess, because Gaius' advice is always going to be "save Uther" (unless it's Merlin's own life on the line) and Merlin knows that, whereas Kilgarrah is anything but a fan. But I think the "you and I are creatures of magic and only a creature of magic can understand" also means just that; for all of his limited magic use of the past, Gaius simply isn't a magical being to Merlin the same way the Dragon and himself are.
The Pendragon subplot was great as well. I was wondering how they'd make this episode different from the previous tournament episodes instead of just repeating plotlines, and lo, the episode delivered. Morgana goading Uther into participating was entirely ic for both of them (and would have been even in earlier seasons). Note that Arthur at no point genuinenly wonders whether he can beat his father. (He knows he can and found out by practical example a year ago, something I doubt either of them has forgotten, which is probably yet another reason why Uther participates in the tournament.) He's uneasy because he's worried for Uther and because the prospect of throwing the fight to allow Uther save face is a lose-lose scenario, but he's also certain throughout he has to. The real surprise is Uther revealing he figured it out in the final scene, which is Uther in a rare gracious and self-aware mode we haven't seen so far this season. Of course, being Uther, he needed to beat Arthur in public and to think him in private. They really are the definition of dysfunctional in myth-and-magic-land.
