Merlin 5.06 The Dark Tower
Nov. 14th, 2012 08:21 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
selenakI'm still trying to decide how I feel about this episode.
Unfortunately, someone at facebook posted a picture of Elyan with an exclamation that gave away what happens while I was still on the road, so I was spoiled for that. Grrr, argh. Though maybe I would have guessed anyway, because the episode opens with a scene that at last focuses on Gwen and Elyan being brother and sister, and brings up their dead father, later on we get a brothers-in-law scene with Arthur and Elyan, and Merlin gets the announcement that "one of you will not return". Frankly, if they had intended to kill of Gwaine or Percival, they would have gotten more lines.
What I genuinenly hadn't expected, and wasn't spoiled for, was the other twist. But before I get to that, one obvious nitpick: less vine hacking scenes with Arthur and the knights, more scenes with Gwen and Morgana would have been better, since the later were great and the former felt like killing time. Not all the Arthur-and-knights scenes, mind you: the above mentioned scene between Arthur and Elyan was great, not least because there was an additional unspoken layer to their conversation to the worry about Gwen and Elyan feeling guilty. When Elyan said "you can't know what its like, growing up with your sister" and Arthur just said "I know" in reply, it was impossible for me not to see this as Arthur thinking about Morgana and the fact that it's his sister who took Gwen captive and is now his enemy.
On to the good stuff. At first I was annoyed that it seemed we would get an episode where Gwen was limited to being a helpless damsel while it was the boys to the rescue, instead of at least giving her scenes like Mithian got, escape attempts etc. Then as said scenes went on it dawned on me the point was a very different one, though I didn't ancipate just where we were going until near the end. (More in a minute.) What at first looks like a standard "Morgana lays trap for Arthur & Co., using third party, in this case, Gwen", tale was actually Morgana doing something more clever, devastating and long term. Here I have to congratulate the visuals of the show again, btw, because the Dark Tower's looks made it feel like Mab's words to Merlin about it being a place of the mind being true, the fake Elyan, Merlin and Arthur visions Gwen saw had the same look as Uther's visions had in The Tears of Uther Pendragon, which is good continuity. One mandrake was used on Uther and managed to drive him insane, which, okay, given it was Uther isn't THAT much of a challenge, but still. Gwen was in room filled to the limit with the insanity producing mandrakes, and she held out for several days, but it was an unequal fight, and so I think it's "fair", in-universe speaking, that she lost. Especially since, and here's what genuinenly impressed me, the show let Morgana be actually subtle (of sorts), and use the old relationship between her and Gwen as much as the mandrakes to the breaking. There were also all kind of mythological overtones - Gwen's refusal to eat brought to mind Hades and Persephone (it was the eating of the pomengrate seeds that doomed Persephone to having to stay with her captor forever, well, half of the year of forever). And as the best lies have truths in them, Morgana's tenderness towards Gwen was a twisted version of her old affection, and while "I'm the only one you can trust" has tactical reasons it is also an expression of a constant Morgana trait, the need to come first and later be the only one in the emotions of whoever she cares for, seeing otherwise the emotion as not worth anything. Plus I'm wavering and mostly inclined to believe her about having been captured herself, because the story about being chained for two years, if true, actually makes the opening teaser of Arthur's Bane II, her dream about being imprisoned in a small well with Aithusa, not a vision but a memory, and would also explain Aithusa's state. (Given what happens with Gwen, I had a brief moment of wondering whether the show was retconning Morgana's s2-to-s3 time with Morgause, because the "only you" is certainly something Morgana felt re Morgause post s2, but a) the s2-to-s3 time jump was only one year, not two, and b) it would mean the 5.02 opening dream is not connected to it at all, and that feels like too much of a coincidence. So we're more likely talking about two of the three years between s4 and s5.) If Morgana was imprisoned by a third party, I'm assuming that's going to be a finale revelation.
The mandrake made Uther see his past victims (and Ygraine), accusing him; Gwen sees the (living) people she loves turning against her, taunting her with false promises and mocking her belief in them. As far as respective worst nightmares go, this fits with both their personalities. It also, like the best lies, contains that fatal smidgeon of truth: Elyan wasn't always loyal to Gwen (not returning after their father's death, not going with her into exile), Arthur temporarily broke up with her on Agrivaine's advice, and after the Shade!Lancelot interlude sent her into exile (even if Gwen, courtesy of Morgana's last mindmessing with her, felt guilty, there had to be something in her seeing this as unjust). Merlin never broke faith with her, but he's lyilng to her as much as to everyone else (except for Gaius) on a daily basis. And so the idea that Morgana instead of using a will-taking spell instead goes for the Merlinverse version of breaking and brainwashing (with magical support, but magic here is used as a tool of torment, not as something taking away the freedom of choice) was a good storytelling choice.
However. And there are some big howevers. Firstly, because the episode goes for a shock cliffhanger, we don't actually see the scene where Gwen breaks. We see the lead up, we see her on the brink and wavering, but she still has a hold to a non-Morgana dictated reality when we leave her. (Incidentally, though, the contrast between Gwen-on-the-brink and Gwen in the scene where Elyan finds her was what made me suspect the ending before it came. Gwen when Elyan finds her is too composed. At first I thought she might be Morgana in disguise or a vision, but when neither turned out the case and her distress at Elyan's death was real, I thought, hang on, this could mean... and two scenes later it did.) This to me feels like sacrificing character for a quick shocker. Again, my problem isn't that Gwen breaks at all - the episode certainly and fairly gave her enough reasons to and showed us enough torment to make it believable, and I've never been a fan of the "heroes never break" dogma of tv, which is why I found it so refreshing when TNG gave us Picard actually seeing five lights - but that the moment she does is withheld, and since this is a major development for a crucial character, it doesn't feel right.
The other However: presumably this will lead to more screen time for Gwen, which I'm all for, and good for Angel Colby (playing a bitter and vengeful Gwen is something she didn't get to do before). But after a strong showcase for Gwen-as-queen in the opening two episodes, we haven't seen much of her. Which means Gwen's great outing this season will be as an antagonist, and a junior one at that (mirroring the Morgana and Morgause structure of days past, where Morgause was the dominant one; now it's Morgana). Also, because Gwen isn't under a spell as such, by in-universe-laws she can't be instantly cured, and given there are only two more episodes left (right? Or do we get more this season?), I doubt we'll get what a breaking such as this deserves, enough screen time given to the corresponding healing process. (Though given how much emphasis this episode puts on all the knights holding Gwen dear as their friend and queen, and Merlin's devotion to her as much as Arthur's, I'm holding out hope that the narrative emphasis will not be all on Brainwashed-Gwen-Working-Against-Everyone but will allow Merlin to figure it out early enough for the emphasis to be also on How-to-get-Gwen-Back. Not physically back, but emotionally, natch.)
Lastly: I'm pre-emptively annoyed at all the Gwen bashers who see her as an obstacle of their 'ship of choice anyway and now will jubiliate about her playing an actual negative role, as in a badfic A/M.
P.S. Otoh this episode offers a goldmine for Gwen/Morgana dark fic, mostly because it is Gwen/Morgana dark fic.
Unfortunately, someone at facebook posted a picture of Elyan with an exclamation that gave away what happens while I was still on the road, so I was spoiled for that. Grrr, argh. Though maybe I would have guessed anyway, because the episode opens with a scene that at last focuses on Gwen and Elyan being brother and sister, and brings up their dead father, later on we get a brothers-in-law scene with Arthur and Elyan, and Merlin gets the announcement that "one of you will not return". Frankly, if they had intended to kill of Gwaine or Percival, they would have gotten more lines.
What I genuinenly hadn't expected, and wasn't spoiled for, was the other twist. But before I get to that, one obvious nitpick: less vine hacking scenes with Arthur and the knights, more scenes with Gwen and Morgana would have been better, since the later were great and the former felt like killing time. Not all the Arthur-and-knights scenes, mind you: the above mentioned scene between Arthur and Elyan was great, not least because there was an additional unspoken layer to their conversation to the worry about Gwen and Elyan feeling guilty. When Elyan said "you can't know what its like, growing up with your sister" and Arthur just said "I know" in reply, it was impossible for me not to see this as Arthur thinking about Morgana and the fact that it's his sister who took Gwen captive and is now his enemy.
On to the good stuff. At first I was annoyed that it seemed we would get an episode where Gwen was limited to being a helpless damsel while it was the boys to the rescue, instead of at least giving her scenes like Mithian got, escape attempts etc. Then as said scenes went on it dawned on me the point was a very different one, though I didn't ancipate just where we were going until near the end. (More in a minute.) What at first looks like a standard "Morgana lays trap for Arthur & Co., using third party, in this case, Gwen", tale was actually Morgana doing something more clever, devastating and long term. Here I have to congratulate the visuals of the show again, btw, because the Dark Tower's looks made it feel like Mab's words to Merlin about it being a place of the mind being true, the fake Elyan, Merlin and Arthur visions Gwen saw had the same look as Uther's visions had in The Tears of Uther Pendragon, which is good continuity. One mandrake was used on Uther and managed to drive him insane, which, okay, given it was Uther isn't THAT much of a challenge, but still. Gwen was in room filled to the limit with the insanity producing mandrakes, and she held out for several days, but it was an unequal fight, and so I think it's "fair", in-universe speaking, that she lost. Especially since, and here's what genuinenly impressed me, the show let Morgana be actually subtle (of sorts), and use the old relationship between her and Gwen as much as the mandrakes to the breaking. There were also all kind of mythological overtones - Gwen's refusal to eat brought to mind Hades and Persephone (it was the eating of the pomengrate seeds that doomed Persephone to having to stay with her captor forever, well, half of the year of forever). And as the best lies have truths in them, Morgana's tenderness towards Gwen was a twisted version of her old affection, and while "I'm the only one you can trust" has tactical reasons it is also an expression of a constant Morgana trait, the need to come first and later be the only one in the emotions of whoever she cares for, seeing otherwise the emotion as not worth anything. Plus I'm wavering and mostly inclined to believe her about having been captured herself, because the story about being chained for two years, if true, actually makes the opening teaser of Arthur's Bane II, her dream about being imprisoned in a small well with Aithusa, not a vision but a memory, and would also explain Aithusa's state. (Given what happens with Gwen, I had a brief moment of wondering whether the show was retconning Morgana's s2-to-s3 time with Morgause, because the "only you" is certainly something Morgana felt re Morgause post s2, but a) the s2-to-s3 time jump was only one year, not two, and b) it would mean the 5.02 opening dream is not connected to it at all, and that feels like too much of a coincidence. So we're more likely talking about two of the three years between s4 and s5.) If Morgana was imprisoned by a third party, I'm assuming that's going to be a finale revelation.
The mandrake made Uther see his past victims (and Ygraine), accusing him; Gwen sees the (living) people she loves turning against her, taunting her with false promises and mocking her belief in them. As far as respective worst nightmares go, this fits with both their personalities. It also, like the best lies, contains that fatal smidgeon of truth: Elyan wasn't always loyal to Gwen (not returning after their father's death, not going with her into exile), Arthur temporarily broke up with her on Agrivaine's advice, and after the Shade!Lancelot interlude sent her into exile (even if Gwen, courtesy of Morgana's last mindmessing with her, felt guilty, there had to be something in her seeing this as unjust). Merlin never broke faith with her, but he's lyilng to her as much as to everyone else (except for Gaius) on a daily basis. And so the idea that Morgana instead of using a will-taking spell instead goes for the Merlinverse version of breaking and brainwashing (with magical support, but magic here is used as a tool of torment, not as something taking away the freedom of choice) was a good storytelling choice.
However. And there are some big howevers. Firstly, because the episode goes for a shock cliffhanger, we don't actually see the scene where Gwen breaks. We see the lead up, we see her on the brink and wavering, but she still has a hold to a non-Morgana dictated reality when we leave her. (Incidentally, though, the contrast between Gwen-on-the-brink and Gwen in the scene where Elyan finds her was what made me suspect the ending before it came. Gwen when Elyan finds her is too composed. At first I thought she might be Morgana in disguise or a vision, but when neither turned out the case and her distress at Elyan's death was real, I thought, hang on, this could mean... and two scenes later it did.) This to me feels like sacrificing character for a quick shocker. Again, my problem isn't that Gwen breaks at all - the episode certainly and fairly gave her enough reasons to and showed us enough torment to make it believable, and I've never been a fan of the "heroes never break" dogma of tv, which is why I found it so refreshing when TNG gave us Picard actually seeing five lights - but that the moment she does is withheld, and since this is a major development for a crucial character, it doesn't feel right.
The other However: presumably this will lead to more screen time for Gwen, which I'm all for, and good for Angel Colby (playing a bitter and vengeful Gwen is something she didn't get to do before). But after a strong showcase for Gwen-as-queen in the opening two episodes, we haven't seen much of her. Which means Gwen's great outing this season will be as an antagonist, and a junior one at that (mirroring the Morgana and Morgause structure of days past, where Morgause was the dominant one; now it's Morgana). Also, because Gwen isn't under a spell as such, by in-universe-laws she can't be instantly cured, and given there are only two more episodes left (right? Or do we get more this season?), I doubt we'll get what a breaking such as this deserves, enough screen time given to the corresponding healing process. (Though given how much emphasis this episode puts on all the knights holding Gwen dear as their friend and queen, and Merlin's devotion to her as much as Arthur's, I'm holding out hope that the narrative emphasis will not be all on Brainwashed-Gwen-Working-Against-Everyone but will allow Merlin to figure it out early enough for the emphasis to be also on How-to-get-Gwen-Back. Not physically back, but emotionally, natch.)
Lastly: I'm pre-emptively annoyed at all the Gwen bashers who see her as an obstacle of their 'ship of choice anyway and now will jubiliate about her playing an actual negative role, as in a badfic A/M.
P.S. Otoh this episode offers a goldmine for Gwen/Morgana dark fic, mostly because it is Gwen/Morgana dark fic.
no subject
Date: 2012-11-14 09:31 am (UTC)And I was spoiled too, by a newspaper preview no less, which hinted that Gwen would listen to Morgana at some point, though not to what extent. I think it was probably predictable from the fact that they jumped straight from Elyan's death to the funeral, with no suggestion of any difficulty getting away from Orthanc after all the trauma of getting in - with one
boundsacrificial death they were free? Had to be a pretty big twist to compensate for that.I did have Elyan pegged as the sacrificial victim from the moment Mab mentioned one (character I know nothing about keeps getting significant emotional scenes? Obviously for the chop.) But my guess was that his death was actually part of the turning of Gwen: Morgana knew, possibly by sorcerous methods, that Elyan saw himself as rescuer-in-chief and would rush in ahead of the others, so she told Gwen that Arthur and co would deliberately send him in alone in order to protect themselves. If Gwen were hesitating, that might be the "proof" she needed.
PS Still with the third N I mentioned.
no subject
Date: 2012-11-14 11:55 am (UTC)Until and if we get a flashback, this shall be my headcanon, because it certainly works. Elyan, btw, was introduced in season 3, so he's been around for a while now, as long as Gwaine and Percival, but as I said, neither of them in this episode had many lines, let alone emotionally significant moments, it was clear Elyan was the sacrificial victim.
Merlin's current job: as far as anyone can tell, officially still Arthur's servant, though he participates in all the Round Table and Council meetings, so unofficially councillor as well. The fact that everyone else got promoted (various commoners are knights now, Gwen is queen) with the exception of Merlin is one of the more frustrating things about the show's reluctance to change Merlin the character's status quo.
no subject
Date: 2012-11-14 03:16 pm (UTC)I think your reasoning about the significance of the fake Arthur, Elyan and Merlin figures during Gwen's torture is great, but I also feel that you've interpreted the scenes as better and more interesting than they actually are. What you describe is exactly what I would have wanted -- scenes rooted in character dynamics and emotion, ones that acknowledged the more dubious parts of Gwen's relationships with others. What we actually got felt quite different -- it was more of them just popping up and laughing or saying quite general things.