(no subject)
So, I’m totally addicted to this new show where the once and future king of Camelot, currently a hot young prince, and Merlin, the legendary sorcerer, but currently a dorky (but adorable) manservant to said hot young prince, frolic against the backdrop of a gorgeous but rather anachronistic (French) castle.
I’m current to episode 5 (meaning I spent this weekend with it playing on repeat), where...
They meet Lancelot, who is, in stillane ’s words, Inigo Montoya. And lots of stuff happens:
Of the good:
- Arthur is sooo crushing on “Lance-a-lot.” (and he totally gave him the elevator eyes when Lancelot introduced himself)
- Wardrobe, excellent job - please to keep dressing our Heroes in chest-baring lace-up shirts (that they actually don’t lace up).
- Hot fighting scenes between Arthur and Lancelot - Arthur is still the better fighter, getting the better of Lancelot each time. It’s interesting, this is the second ep he’s called himself a killing machine, first in ep1 when he told Merlin that he’d been trained since birth to kill, and this time to Grummond (?), the guy about to get a beat down. It seems like a defining characteristic of how he sees himself - to kill or be killed in the line of duty.
- “On your knees!” - yum! (hm, wonder if Merlin was getting jealous of Arthur saying that to Lancelot?)
- Arthur slinging his arm around Lancelot’s shoulders after the knighting, and then punching him in the arm to emphasize something. Arthur being tactile is all too the good.
- Loved the intimate framing of Arthur and Lancelot in the feast scene, where they were knee to knee on the tabletop.
- “the knights must prevail with steel and sinew alone” - Bradley James has a gorgeous voice, and can really deliver these heroic lines. This and “It’s my duty” in ep 2. He does a great “I will face death with honor” voice.
- Gaius totally knew the way to motivate Merlin is to emphasize Arthur’s peril -- not saving the peasants, or Camelot, but keeping Arthur safe.
- Arthur’s angsty face of devastation when Lancelot bids him farewell. (Though I was imagining Uther afterwards saying, “hey, wait, I hadn’t pardoned him yet. He can’t just ride off like that - throw him in jail!”)
Of the bad:
- Wow, Camelot’s elite, “best in the land” fighting force sucks like whoa, and not in the good way. When your commander and prince is down and about to be mauled by a man-eating beast, you don’t hang back with your shields up, like you’re afraid of getting sprayed by his entrails. It took a castle guardsman to have the brains to toss him a weapon. If this is Camelot’s best of the best, no wonder Arthur was desperate to have Lancelot be a knight.
- Tactically, not a good idea to ride out to kill a monster in the dark of night, when you have no idea of the monster’s capabilities or likely whereabouts - it would just end up exhausting the knights, leaving the town defenseless when the gryphon next attacked (and the attacks all seem to have happened during the daylight hours).
Of the hysterical:
- Dear Grummond, second son of Wessex,, it is clear you would never make knight when you swish your hips while swinging your two swords around. OMG it looked like he was doing the hula!
Of the bwuh?
- Ok, so the basic reasoning of why they know the gryphon is on its way is that it attached two villages in a straight line towards Camelot. So my question is, where the heck was Merlin picking mushrooms in the first scene? Was he two towns away, which would make sense in terms of the direction/ timing of the gryphon’s attack, but would make no sense in terms of why he’d haul Lancelot all the way back to Gaius to get medical help. Was he right outside Camelot, in which case the gryphon attacked them, then went backwards away from the gryphon’s ultimate target in order to attack the little town.
- Sheesh, if Uther suspected Lancelot, why not check with the genealogist first before knighting the guy and having a feast in his honor? It’s not like it’s a difficult research project to pull out the book.
- Why were all those peasants so sooty? Why was the first town attacked burning? I kept wondering when the gryphon was going to start shooting flames from its beak, but, no, it seems like the first town set fire to itself, and all those refugees were just dirty.
- ok, Lancelot, I understand you want to be a protector due to your entire village being destroyed, but why the knights of Camelot in particular? It wasn’t like the village was saved by the knights. That’s never explained, and I really want to know! Do the knights of Camelot have a particularly good reputation? They certainly don’t seem to be all that great at fighting. Also, shouldn’t the First Code of Camelot be more well known?
Other thinky items:
- Nobody figured out Merlin forged the seal? Are there any repercussions to Merlin lying to Arthur about Lancelot being a noble? Arthur’s a bit trusting, and not necessarily good at remembering what people tell him - first Nimueh with her, oh, I got lost, but actually, I really know the caves and can lead you exactly to the flower you need, and now with Merlin being the one to tell him Lancelot is a noble.
Anyway, the short version is that I loved this ep - not as much Arthur/Merlin as in ep 4, but lots of interesting tidbits and world-building. Can’t wait for the next ep!
I’m current to episode 5 (meaning I spent this weekend with it playing on repeat), where...
They meet Lancelot, who is, in stillane ’s words, Inigo Montoya. And lots of stuff happens:
Of the good:
- Arthur is sooo crushing on “Lance-a-lot.” (and he totally gave him the elevator eyes when Lancelot introduced himself)
- Wardrobe, excellent job - please to keep dressing our Heroes in chest-baring lace-up shirts (that they actually don’t lace up).
- Hot fighting scenes between Arthur and Lancelot - Arthur is still the better fighter, getting the better of Lancelot each time. It’s interesting, this is the second ep he’s called himself a killing machine, first in ep1 when he told Merlin that he’d been trained since birth to kill, and this time to Grummond (?), the guy about to get a beat down. It seems like a defining characteristic of how he sees himself - to kill or be killed in the line of duty.
- “On your knees!” - yum! (hm, wonder if Merlin was getting jealous of Arthur saying that to Lancelot?)
- Arthur slinging his arm around Lancelot’s shoulders after the knighting, and then punching him in the arm to emphasize something. Arthur being tactile is all too the good.
- Loved the intimate framing of Arthur and Lancelot in the feast scene, where they were knee to knee on the tabletop.
- “the knights must prevail with steel and sinew alone” - Bradley James has a gorgeous voice, and can really deliver these heroic lines. This and “It’s my duty” in ep 2. He does a great “I will face death with honor” voice.
- Gaius totally knew the way to motivate Merlin is to emphasize Arthur’s peril -- not saving the peasants, or Camelot, but keeping Arthur safe.
- Arthur’s angsty face of devastation when Lancelot bids him farewell. (Though I was imagining Uther afterwards saying, “hey, wait, I hadn’t pardoned him yet. He can’t just ride off like that - throw him in jail!”)
Of the bad:
- Wow, Camelot’s elite, “best in the land” fighting force sucks like whoa, and not in the good way. When your commander and prince is down and about to be mauled by a man-eating beast, you don’t hang back with your shields up, like you’re afraid of getting sprayed by his entrails. It took a castle guardsman to have the brains to toss him a weapon. If this is Camelot’s best of the best, no wonder Arthur was desperate to have Lancelot be a knight.
- Tactically, not a good idea to ride out to kill a monster in the dark of night, when you have no idea of the monster’s capabilities or likely whereabouts - it would just end up exhausting the knights, leaving the town defenseless when the gryphon next attacked (and the attacks all seem to have happened during the daylight hours).
Of the hysterical:
- Dear Grummond, second son of Wessex,, it is clear you would never make knight when you swish your hips while swinging your two swords around. OMG it looked like he was doing the hula!
Of the bwuh?
- Ok, so the basic reasoning of why they know the gryphon is on its way is that it attached two villages in a straight line towards Camelot. So my question is, where the heck was Merlin picking mushrooms in the first scene? Was he two towns away, which would make sense in terms of the direction/ timing of the gryphon’s attack, but would make no sense in terms of why he’d haul Lancelot all the way back to Gaius to get medical help. Was he right outside Camelot, in which case the gryphon attacked them, then went backwards away from the gryphon’s ultimate target in order to attack the little town.
- Sheesh, if Uther suspected Lancelot, why not check with the genealogist first before knighting the guy and having a feast in his honor? It’s not like it’s a difficult research project to pull out the book.
- Why were all those peasants so sooty? Why was the first town attacked burning? I kept wondering when the gryphon was going to start shooting flames from its beak, but, no, it seems like the first town set fire to itself, and all those refugees were just dirty.
- ok, Lancelot, I understand you want to be a protector due to your entire village being destroyed, but why the knights of Camelot in particular? It wasn’t like the village was saved by the knights. That’s never explained, and I really want to know! Do the knights of Camelot have a particularly good reputation? They certainly don’t seem to be all that great at fighting. Also, shouldn’t the First Code of Camelot be more well known?
Other thinky items:
- Nobody figured out Merlin forged the seal? Are there any repercussions to Merlin lying to Arthur about Lancelot being a noble? Arthur’s a bit trusting, and not necessarily good at remembering what people tell him - first Nimueh with her, oh, I got lost, but actually, I really know the caves and can lead you exactly to the flower you need, and now with Merlin being the one to tell him Lancelot is a noble.
Anyway, the short version is that I loved this ep - not as much Arthur/Merlin as in ep 4, but lots of interesting tidbits and world-building. Can’t wait for the next ep!