Merlin 4.02
Oct. 9th, 2011 11:29 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
selenakOh show, I am currently so in love with you that I want to draw sparkly hearts around your name. Seriously, this s4 opening two parter has all your strengths and none of your weaknesses, and we never had that at the start of a season before.
Firstly, I continue to be impressed by how the Knights of the Table Round are handled. The knights in previous seasons were basically red cloaks, undistinguishable from each other and with barely a line or two to speak; Sir Leon had rare moments of personality but not many. (And of course Lancelot and then Gwaine had plenty, but they weren't knights yet.) Also, we had zero idea of how they related to each other and to Arthur. Whereas in season 4 so far, we keep getting interaction and dialogue showing each knight's personality; both in light hearted ways (Gwaine's "I didn't know you cared" to Perceval on top of him after the later saved his life) and in serious ways. It feels right that Leon, as the most senior knight and the one who knows Arthur longest, has the "saving Merlin isn't as important as saving the entire rest of your people" conversation with Arthur, whereas Elyan, younger and very much Gwen's brother, has the "we're all in this together" conversation with him.
Also: loved that the show while making it clear that Arthur very much wants to save Merlin and feels horrible about not being able to right then has him accepting Leon's argument that saving everyone else's lives has to take priority without presenting this as the wrong option. Very ic for everyone involved and very good to see after a certain other show's recent finale.
One ongoing pleasure of Merlin the show was watching Gwen grow into her future queenship and be instrumental for creating the Camelot of legend, and this episode had another great scene emphasizing this. Gwen speaking up for the people to Agrivaine can be connected directly to the Gwen who talked to Arthur in the woods in season 1 , and yet younger Gwen wouldn't have done it (though thought and felt it), much as younger Arthur would never have been able (or cared to) talk to the village girl as current Arthur did in the previous episode. There is also a good contrast to Gaius, who thinks pretty much the same thing but accepts Agrivaine's verdict because he's used to defering to authority (read: Uther) for all his life, and while doing things against authority in secret wouldn't dream of doing it in the open as Gwen does here. To me, this connects directly to Gwen being a member of the newly founded Round Table last season's finale, and visually treated as one of the knights upon their return to Camelot as well; she is a knight, the campion of the people.
Mind you, Gwen isn't perfect, and the show after giving her this glorious scene also shows the potential flaw resulting from Gwen's grown confidence, in her second scene with Agrivaine, when he tricks her by using subtle flattery (if he'd complimented her about her looks she'd have realised what he was doing immediately, but his spiel is all about her integrity and royalty's need to hear the truth). What Agrivaine tells Gwen in that second scene isn't that different from what Arthur has told her in the past (with the difference that Arthur meant it), and she believes him because by now she does think of herself as having a good judgment and being able to offer counsel.
Given the way this episode ends, I also wonder whether the tremendous guilt Gwen now feels - because Lancelot sacrificed himself for Arthur upon her request - will be how the show will justify the seeds of the triangle. Because once Lancelot returns from the dead, as he inevitably will, she'll feel enormous pressure to make it up to him.
I was delighted to see Kilgarrah again. And so was Merlin, for that matter, despite having called him; Colin Morgan played that beautifully. Back in s1 I'd never have thought I'd dig the relationship between Merlin and the dragon so much. Also, was v. amused that Lancelot's reaction was somewhat between "what the hell?" and "well, if you say so". Speaking of Lancelot, he read the hero's rules which must as exist as surely as the evil overlord's rules and thus as opposed to Arthur and Merlin did not admit his sacrificial intentions ahead of time, and thus was able to pull it off with quiet dignity. The conversation he had with Merlin about believing in something greater was nicely ambiguous - you couldn't tell whether right now for Lancelot this was still the knightly ideal or Guinevere, which of course is and will be his problem. And yet, despite Lancelot being enormously sympathetic in this episode I was also reminded of which part of him makes me wish Gwen would have slapped him at least once. "He (Arthur) loves her and - she deserves to be happy." Flashback to "Tell her some things aren't meant to be", aka Lancelot's stunt of leaving Gwen For Her Own Good And Because Arthur Loves Her in the second season without bothering at least once to ask her how the hell she feels about this matter. Though you could argue in this instant Lancelot has a very good reason to assume Gwen returns Arthur's feelings (her request to him), which he didn't in Lancelot and Guinevere.
Morgana will be Morgana: she's grown in power but that hardly lessened her egocentricity. As a commenter said to me re: the last episode, Morgana sees a vision of Camlann, nothing but corpses, herself dying, and what does she take from this? She's seen the mysterious Emrys (aka old Merlin). In this episode, she's thwarted and it doesn't occur to her it could be anyone but Emrys. Why? Because of the Cailleach's prophecy that Emrys is her destiny and her doom, and clearly it's all about her and only an arch nemesis could foil her. That it could have been done by someone without the slightest interest in whether Morgana lives or dies (i.e. Lancelot) for entirely Morgana-unrelated reasons is just not possible for her.
Thank you, writers: for not falling into the same trap as in previous season openers to set back the Merlin/Arthur relationship and including unfunny slapstick. Their scenes together continue to build on all that went before, and were great, be it Arthur's farewell to half frozen Merlin or their conversation in the night before they reach the Island of the Blessed.
Lastly: Gaius concluding Agrivaine must be in contact with Morgana because of his "ever heard of Emrys?" question isn't logical at all, because the name has been used by the druids and Mordred as well, and Morgana only found out about it very recently (plus there is no way Gaius would know she has). It would have been better to make Gaius suspicious of Agrivaine because of Gwen's near death, but Agrivaine pulled off that one rather smoothly (far better than previous villains) in a way that makes it impossible to blame him.
Firstly, I continue to be impressed by how the Knights of the Table Round are handled. The knights in previous seasons were basically red cloaks, undistinguishable from each other and with barely a line or two to speak; Sir Leon had rare moments of personality but not many. (And of course Lancelot and then Gwaine had plenty, but they weren't knights yet.) Also, we had zero idea of how they related to each other and to Arthur. Whereas in season 4 so far, we keep getting interaction and dialogue showing each knight's personality; both in light hearted ways (Gwaine's "I didn't know you cared" to Perceval on top of him after the later saved his life) and in serious ways. It feels right that Leon, as the most senior knight and the one who knows Arthur longest, has the "saving Merlin isn't as important as saving the entire rest of your people" conversation with Arthur, whereas Elyan, younger and very much Gwen's brother, has the "we're all in this together" conversation with him.
Also: loved that the show while making it clear that Arthur very much wants to save Merlin and feels horrible about not being able to right then has him accepting Leon's argument that saving everyone else's lives has to take priority without presenting this as the wrong option. Very ic for everyone involved and very good to see after a certain other show's recent finale.
One ongoing pleasure of Merlin the show was watching Gwen grow into her future queenship and be instrumental for creating the Camelot of legend, and this episode had another great scene emphasizing this. Gwen speaking up for the people to Agrivaine can be connected directly to the Gwen who talked to Arthur in the woods in season 1 , and yet younger Gwen wouldn't have done it (though thought and felt it), much as younger Arthur would never have been able (or cared to) talk to the village girl as current Arthur did in the previous episode. There is also a good contrast to Gaius, who thinks pretty much the same thing but accepts Agrivaine's verdict because he's used to defering to authority (read: Uther) for all his life, and while doing things against authority in secret wouldn't dream of doing it in the open as Gwen does here. To me, this connects directly to Gwen being a member of the newly founded Round Table last season's finale, and visually treated as one of the knights upon their return to Camelot as well; she is a knight, the campion of the people.
Mind you, Gwen isn't perfect, and the show after giving her this glorious scene also shows the potential flaw resulting from Gwen's grown confidence, in her second scene with Agrivaine, when he tricks her by using subtle flattery (if he'd complimented her about her looks she'd have realised what he was doing immediately, but his spiel is all about her integrity and royalty's need to hear the truth). What Agrivaine tells Gwen in that second scene isn't that different from what Arthur has told her in the past (with the difference that Arthur meant it), and she believes him because by now she does think of herself as having a good judgment and being able to offer counsel.
Given the way this episode ends, I also wonder whether the tremendous guilt Gwen now feels - because Lancelot sacrificed himself for Arthur upon her request - will be how the show will justify the seeds of the triangle. Because once Lancelot returns from the dead, as he inevitably will, she'll feel enormous pressure to make it up to him.
I was delighted to see Kilgarrah again. And so was Merlin, for that matter, despite having called him; Colin Morgan played that beautifully. Back in s1 I'd never have thought I'd dig the relationship between Merlin and the dragon so much. Also, was v. amused that Lancelot's reaction was somewhat between "what the hell?" and "well, if you say so". Speaking of Lancelot, he read the hero's rules which must as exist as surely as the evil overlord's rules and thus as opposed to Arthur and Merlin did not admit his sacrificial intentions ahead of time, and thus was able to pull it off with quiet dignity. The conversation he had with Merlin about believing in something greater was nicely ambiguous - you couldn't tell whether right now for Lancelot this was still the knightly ideal or Guinevere, which of course is and will be his problem. And yet, despite Lancelot being enormously sympathetic in this episode I was also reminded of which part of him makes me wish Gwen would have slapped him at least once. "He (Arthur) loves her and - she deserves to be happy." Flashback to "Tell her some things aren't meant to be", aka Lancelot's stunt of leaving Gwen For Her Own Good And Because Arthur Loves Her in the second season without bothering at least once to ask her how the hell she feels about this matter. Though you could argue in this instant Lancelot has a very good reason to assume Gwen returns Arthur's feelings (her request to him), which he didn't in Lancelot and Guinevere.
Morgana will be Morgana: she's grown in power but that hardly lessened her egocentricity. As a commenter said to me re: the last episode, Morgana sees a vision of Camlann, nothing but corpses, herself dying, and what does she take from this? She's seen the mysterious Emrys (aka old Merlin). In this episode, she's thwarted and it doesn't occur to her it could be anyone but Emrys. Why? Because of the Cailleach's prophecy that Emrys is her destiny and her doom, and clearly it's all about her and only an arch nemesis could foil her. That it could have been done by someone without the slightest interest in whether Morgana lives or dies (i.e. Lancelot) for entirely Morgana-unrelated reasons is just not possible for her.
Thank you, writers: for not falling into the same trap as in previous season openers to set back the Merlin/Arthur relationship and including unfunny slapstick. Their scenes together continue to build on all that went before, and were great, be it Arthur's farewell to half frozen Merlin or their conversation in the night before they reach the Island of the Blessed.
Lastly: Gaius concluding Agrivaine must be in contact with Morgana because of his "ever heard of Emrys?" question isn't logical at all, because the name has been used by the druids and Mordred as well, and Morgana only found out about it very recently (plus there is no way Gaius would know she has). It would have been better to make Gaius suspicious of Agrivaine because of Gwen's near death, but Agrivaine pulled off that one rather smoothly (far better than previous villains) in a way that makes it impossible to blame him.
no subject
Date: 2011-10-10 06:17 pm (UTC)The points you make about Gwen feeling bad/guilty/responsible about his sacrifice when Lancelot returns and Lancelot starting to blur the lines between "knightly duty" and "doing it for Gwen" as the real seeds of their romantic triangle tragedy are well made. I hadn't thought of them while watching but I can see the writer's starting to head there.
no subject
Date: 2011-10-11 09:37 am (UTC)