On a (slightly) happier note than my last post
SPOILERS for the teasers posted for The Diamond of the Day. My thoughts/wishes for the finale.
All I Want For Merlin
1. A reveal between Merlin and Arthur.
- The teasers for Part 2 of the episode include several lines that imply that there is going to be some kind of reveal. The eighth teaser line, “So you’re not an idiot, that was another lie”, sounds like something coming out of Arthur's mouth, so I definitely think that, at the very least, Merlin is going to be caught out on several lies. One hopes this will include a magic reveal. After five years and a decade in-verse, it's well past time Merlin be outed to the most important person in his life.
2. Some serious action involving Excalibur.
- The trailer for Part 1 showed Morgana holding out a sword for Aithusa to burnish, just as Kilgharrah once burnished the sword Gwen's father made, creating Excalibur. I'm guessing that this is supposed to put Mordred on an equal footing with Arthur.
My thought is that there might be some problems with Mordred wielding an anti-Excalibur. Aithusa is still a baby dragon, and seems at least slightly unstable (perhaps to kind of mirror Morgana's own instability). It could possibly be that Mordred is able to wield the anti-Excalibur against an Arthur who is worn out physically and emotionally from the battle and possible reveals about Merlin, but if Merlin arrives in time to see Arthur cut down, I think it's possible that Mordred and Merlin might come to blows. Merlin has shown that he has some measure of control over Excalibur, probably due to him being a Dragonlord and it being burnished by Kilgharrah. Mordred is using his dragon-burnished sword for the first time, and given that he is in no way connected to the Dragonlords, it's possible that his control is nowhere near Merlin's level. If this is true, Merlin could totally chop his head of beautiful but traitorous curls off wipe the floor with him.
I'm probably making this infinitely more complex than it will turn out to be, but hey, one can hope! ;)
3. Gaius' death.
- I don't wish for this out of any hatred for Gaius, but it's a steadfast theme in literature/movies/etc. We've seen it in practically every major body of work - from Lord of the Rings to Star Wars and everything in between. For the hero (in this case, Merlin) to truly come into his own, he must lose his mentor. Frodo lost Gandalf (even if Gandalf eventually returned, but that's besides the point, Frodo thought for months that Gandalf was dead and gone for good), Obi-Wan lost Qui-Gon, and Luke lost Obi-Wan and Yoda. Merlin has relied on Gaius for ten years - now it's time for him to rely solely on himself. Plus, I think that the gut-wrenching scream Merlin emits in the trailer has to do with Gaius being cut down by Mordred and/or Morgana.
4. Redemption for Morgana.
- This one is probably the most farfetched and unlikely to happen. The writers have been writing Morgana as a psychotic nutjob with no redeeming qualities pretty much since the third series. The trailer showed her leaning forward on her throne of evil, shrieking, "I WANT HIM DEAD!", for goodness' sake. No doubt that refers to Arthur or Merlin or even both of them. Still, the legends have always given Morgana a moment of redemption when she appeared in the boat to take Arthur to Avalon after Camlann. It'd be nice to have something for that in the show, but I know that the odds of it happening are virtually nil.
Stuff I Predict Will Happen
1. Gwen as ruler of Camelot.want to happen (since I would totally be thrilled if Arthur's just badly wounded and Merlin saves him and they return to Camelot to live happily ever after and it turns out that the legends got it wrong about Arthur dying). I just think it's a possibility for it happening if Arthur falls at Camlann.
2. Morgana will also be wounded at Camlann, possibly mortally.
- This, I think, is guaranteed to happen, if Morgana's vision from The Darkest Hour anything to go by. She reached up to Emrys, begging him to help her, and she appeared to be lying on the ground amidst the carnage of Camlann. Morgana's visions about hugely important events tend to be right in the bigger picture, if only being a little off in the small details (in her vision of Gwen's coronation, Merlin stood dressed in his usual garb of a servant with Gaius, when in the actual event he was dressed in his gorgeous new coat and standing with Gaius and the knights). I think that she will be wounded somehow (Gwaine gets his own back on her for torturing him on two different occasions, Aithusa or Mordred turns on her for some reason, etc) and Merlin will come upon her as he walks among the dead. I think it's possible, though, that he could find her as his usual self and not as old Merlin. Her visions might very well have shown her Merlin in his Dragoon disguise simply as part of magic and/or the Old Religion protecting his true identity from her for as long as possible.
3. At least one of the knights will probably also die.
- Camlann is the end all, be all battle. I'm guessing that one of the three remaining knights will meet his end. Gwaine is a possibility (perhaps he dies in the process of wounding Morgana), as is Percival (him being on about the same level as Elyan in importance). Leon too is a possibility, but if my first prediction about Gwen comes true, then the writers might leave him alive to be Gwen's support on her new rule.
4. Merlin the Immortal.
- We've almost all written it in fics, where Merlin is immortal and waits for Arthur to one day return. If the spoilers about Colin have any grain of truth to them (him being filmed as Merlin in a modern era), then I think we'll have him wandering the earth while he waits. That could work, provided it doesn't imply that Merlin is moping the entire time. Immortal!Merlin wandering the earth spreading the word about how awesome Arthur and Camelot were and thus creating the legends has a ring of truth. Merlin has always stretched the truth on certain things, so saying that Arthur engineered a golden age when he didn't really isn't that far out of the realm of possibility.
Anyone have any thoughts of their own?
All I Want For Merlin
1. A reveal between Merlin and Arthur.
- The teasers for Part 2 of the episode include several lines that imply that there is going to be some kind of reveal. The eighth teaser line, “So you’re not an idiot, that was another lie”, sounds like something coming out of Arthur's mouth, so I definitely think that, at the very least, Merlin is going to be caught out on several lies. One hopes this will include a magic reveal. After five years and a decade in-verse, it's well past time Merlin be outed to the most important person in his life.
2. Some serious action involving Excalibur.
- The trailer for Part 1 showed Morgana holding out a sword for Aithusa to burnish, just as Kilgharrah once burnished the sword Gwen's father made, creating Excalibur. I'm guessing that this is supposed to put Mordred on an equal footing with Arthur.
My thought is that there might be some problems with Mordred wielding an anti-Excalibur. Aithusa is still a baby dragon, and seems at least slightly unstable (perhaps to kind of mirror Morgana's own instability). It could possibly be that Mordred is able to wield the anti-Excalibur against an Arthur who is worn out physically and emotionally from the battle and possible reveals about Merlin, but if Merlin arrives in time to see Arthur cut down, I think it's possible that Mordred and Merlin might come to blows. Merlin has shown that he has some measure of control over Excalibur, probably due to him being a Dragonlord and it being burnished by Kilgharrah. Mordred is using his dragon-burnished sword for the first time, and given that he is in no way connected to the Dragonlords, it's possible that his control is nowhere near Merlin's level. If this is true, Merlin could totally chop his head of beautiful but traitorous curls off wipe the floor with him.
I'm probably making this infinitely more complex than it will turn out to be, but hey, one can hope! ;)
3. Gaius' death.
- I don't wish for this out of any hatred for Gaius, but it's a steadfast theme in literature/movies/etc. We've seen it in practically every major body of work - from Lord of the Rings to Star Wars and everything in between. For the hero (in this case, Merlin) to truly come into his own, he must lose his mentor. Frodo lost Gandalf (even if Gandalf eventually returned, but that's besides the point, Frodo thought for months that Gandalf was dead and gone for good), Obi-Wan lost Qui-Gon, and Luke lost Obi-Wan and Yoda. Merlin has relied on Gaius for ten years - now it's time for him to rely solely on himself. Plus, I think that the gut-wrenching scream Merlin emits in the trailer has to do with Gaius being cut down by Mordred and/or Morgana.
4. Redemption for Morgana.
- This one is probably the most farfetched and unlikely to happen. The writers have been writing Morgana as a psychotic nutjob with no redeeming qualities pretty much since the third series. The trailer showed her leaning forward on her throne of evil, shrieking, "I WANT HIM DEAD!", for goodness' sake. No doubt that refers to Arthur or Merlin or even both of them. Still, the legends have always given Morgana a moment of redemption when she appeared in the boat to take Arthur to Avalon after Camlann. It'd be nice to have something for that in the show, but I know that the odds of it happening are virtually nil.
Stuff I Predict Will Happen
1. Gwen as ruler of Camelot.want to happen (since I would totally be thrilled if Arthur's just badly wounded and Merlin saves him and they return to Camelot to live happily ever after and it turns out that the legends got it wrong about Arthur dying). I just think it's a possibility for it happening if Arthur falls at Camlann.
2. Morgana will also be wounded at Camlann, possibly mortally.
- This, I think, is guaranteed to happen, if Morgana's vision from The Darkest Hour anything to go by. She reached up to Emrys, begging him to help her, and she appeared to be lying on the ground amidst the carnage of Camlann. Morgana's visions about hugely important events tend to be right in the bigger picture, if only being a little off in the small details (in her vision of Gwen's coronation, Merlin stood dressed in his usual garb of a servant with Gaius, when in the actual event he was dressed in his gorgeous new coat and standing with Gaius and the knights). I think that she will be wounded somehow (Gwaine gets his own back on her for torturing him on two different occasions, Aithusa or Mordred turns on her for some reason, etc) and Merlin will come upon her as he walks among the dead. I think it's possible, though, that he could find her as his usual self and not as old Merlin. Her visions might very well have shown her Merlin in his Dragoon disguise simply as part of magic and/or the Old Religion protecting his true identity from her for as long as possible.
3. At least one of the knights will probably also die.
- Camlann is the end all, be all battle. I'm guessing that one of the three remaining knights will meet his end. Gwaine is a possibility (perhaps he dies in the process of wounding Morgana), as is Percival (him being on about the same level as Elyan in importance). Leon too is a possibility, but if my first prediction about Gwen comes true, then the writers might leave him alive to be Gwen's support on her new rule.
4. Merlin the Immortal.
- We've almost all written it in fics, where Merlin is immortal and waits for Arthur to one day return. If the spoilers about Colin have any grain of truth to them (him being filmed as Merlin in a modern era), then I think we'll have him wandering the earth while he waits. That could work, provided it doesn't imply that Merlin is moping the entire time. Immortal!Merlin wandering the earth spreading the word about how awesome Arthur and Camelot were and thus creating the legends has a ring of truth. Merlin has always stretched the truth on certain things, so saying that Arthur engineered a golden age when he didn't really isn't that far out of the realm of possibility.
Anyone have any thoughts of their own?