Arthur's Bane Part Two Review
Review for Merlin 5x02 Arthur's Bane Part Two. Spoilers obviously
Overview
Concluding last week’s episode, this episode didn’t go into an enormous amount of depth, either in terms of plot or character, but it was a solid episode, that cleared up the loose ends from last week.
Plus Mordred came back. That’s got to be interesting right?
Episode Summary
Okay big question. What the heck is that weird alien thing? I mean I get that it’s “The Key to All Knowledge” but what is it. I mean is it a fairy or an actual alien or what? Answers on a post card please.
It was nice to see Aithusa back as well. While I’m not sure why he/she has allied with Morgana - I’m sure there will be some explanation, at some point; it’s also interesting from a mythological standpoint and finally something that this show has got right.
We were told repeatedly throughout this episode that Morgana was working with “Saxons.” In classic welsh mythology the White Dragon represented the Red Dragon of the British (and was eventually defeated) just like here the White Dragon is working with the Saxons against Arthur’s British.
Seeing Mordred back again was interesting too. Older now, and clearly scared by years of hiding his abilities, at this time he sees conflicted, his loyalties divided between the those with magic and the future that Arthur seems to embody. It will be interesting to see how this plays out over the next few episodes.
As for Arthur’s Bane being himself. Heh. Interesting.
Merlin
Am I the only one who thinks that Merlin was a proper little arse this episode?
I mean okay yes. According to the vision that he saw, Mordred is going to be death of Arthur - literally - but how often has Merlin seen the future and then changed it? He should know better than anyone that the future is not set in stone.
Merlin should be willing to give Mordred a chance. He may turn out to be a bad person, but the Merlin I liked has always been willing to give people the benefit of the doubt.
Arthur (and Others)
Not much to be said about Arthur this episode, save that is loyalty to his men is admirable. I’m not sure if in the same circumstances that Uther would have ridden out to try and rescue his men, possibly at the expense of his own life. It shows that for all the similarities between the two men, they are a great deal of differences as well.
Gwen continues to be excellent. Not only is she clearly intelligent and more than capable of running the kingdom in Arthur’s absence - huzzah for a chain of command - she’s also pretty wise and capable of coming up with decent workable plans. Looking forward to seeing more of her in action.
The Bad Guy
Morgana was an interesting study in contrasts this episode. On the one hand she was evil gloating Morgana that we expect to see when she is around Arthur, but on the other hand, at the beginning we got to see a more vulnerable side I hope we will explore more as the series progresses.
Villains are always much more interesting when they are multifaceted.
Conclusion.
Even if there was nothing really new in terms of plot advancement - Mordred aside in this episode - it was still solid and wrapped up the plot threads from last week nicely.
Next Week: Ghosts.
Overview
Concluding last week’s episode, this episode didn’t go into an enormous amount of depth, either in terms of plot or character, but it was a solid episode, that cleared up the loose ends from last week.
Plus Mordred came back. That’s got to be interesting right?
Episode Summary
Okay big question. What the heck is that weird alien thing? I mean I get that it’s “The Key to All Knowledge” but what is it. I mean is it a fairy or an actual alien or what? Answers on a post card please.
It was nice to see Aithusa back as well. While I’m not sure why he/she has allied with Morgana - I’m sure there will be some explanation, at some point; it’s also interesting from a mythological standpoint and finally something that this show has got right.
We were told repeatedly throughout this episode that Morgana was working with “Saxons.” In classic welsh mythology the White Dragon represented the Red Dragon of the British (and was eventually defeated) just like here the White Dragon is working with the Saxons against Arthur’s British.
Seeing Mordred back again was interesting too. Older now, and clearly scared by years of hiding his abilities, at this time he sees conflicted, his loyalties divided between the those with magic and the future that Arthur seems to embody. It will be interesting to see how this plays out over the next few episodes.
As for Arthur’s Bane being himself. Heh. Interesting.
Merlin
Am I the only one who thinks that Merlin was a proper little arse this episode?
I mean okay yes. According to the vision that he saw, Mordred is going to be death of Arthur - literally - but how often has Merlin seen the future and then changed it? He should know better than anyone that the future is not set in stone.
Merlin should be willing to give Mordred a chance. He may turn out to be a bad person, but the Merlin I liked has always been willing to give people the benefit of the doubt.
Arthur (and Others)
Not much to be said about Arthur this episode, save that is loyalty to his men is admirable. I’m not sure if in the same circumstances that Uther would have ridden out to try and rescue his men, possibly at the expense of his own life. It shows that for all the similarities between the two men, they are a great deal of differences as well.
Gwen continues to be excellent. Not only is she clearly intelligent and more than capable of running the kingdom in Arthur’s absence - huzzah for a chain of command - she’s also pretty wise and capable of coming up with decent workable plans. Looking forward to seeing more of her in action.
The Bad Guy
Morgana was an interesting study in contrasts this episode. On the one hand she was evil gloating Morgana that we expect to see when she is around Arthur, but on the other hand, at the beginning we got to see a more vulnerable side I hope we will explore more as the series progresses.
Villains are always much more interesting when they are multifaceted.
Conclusion.
Even if there was nothing really new in terms of plot advancement - Mordred aside in this episode - it was still solid and wrapped up the plot threads from last week nicely.
Next Week: Ghosts.