The Death Song of Uther Pendragon Review
Review for Merlin 5x03: The Death Song of Uther Pendragon. There are of course spoilers.
Overview
A darker more complex idea, exploring the themes of personal identity and how we are affected by the decisions our parents make and our desire to impress them
It also had ghosts and Anthony Head. EPIC!!
Episode Summary
ARTHUR PENDRAGON IS AN IMBERCIEL!!
Now we don’t know what was the Old Women’s motivation behind giving Arthur the Horn of Cathbad - maybe she was really was grateful for what he had done - but giving him a horn that can summon the dead, was never going to end well.
I’ll do more on Arthur below so here I’d just like to say that I really liked this episode. On top of being creepy as heck in parts, it was also quite thoughtful, focusing on issues of personal identity and how people sometimes allow themselves to be defined by their parents and their parents expectations.
On a mythological note, they didn’t just pull the name Cathbad out of nowhere. While he has nothing to do with raising the spirits of the dead, he is an important character in the Irish mythological cycle. The concept of Arthur not being able to look back also reminded me of the legend of Orpheus and Eurydice where Orpheus was under the same geis.
Merlin
I know I’ve said it before and you’re probably tired of hearing it by now, but Merlin really has come a long way since the first episode, as shown again in this episode.
He is Arthur’s manservant, but he is also his friend, possibly one of his closest - though neither of them will admit it - and here he did his best to advise Arthur, when the latter was shaken by what Uther had said. And when push came to shove, he helped Arthur lay his father’s ghost.
I also loved the scene where he showed Uther that he had magic. The way his voice broke as he said “I was born with it,” spoke volumes. You knew this was something that he had wanted to do for years.
Arthur (and Others)
I’m not sure I can blame Arthur to be honest. I mean yes he’s a blithering idiot to have messed with something so powerful, but I can understand why he did it. If one of my parents was dead and I had the chance to see them again, I defiantly think I would take it.
It’s clear from this episode, that even three years later, Arthur has a lot of doubts about his role as King, especially concerning whether he is matching up to Uther’s legacy. What this episode was about I think, was showing Arthur that while it is okay for him to miss his father, he has to be his own man, how own King and he has to rule the kingdom as he sees fit.
Whether this will change things in future episodes remains to be seen.
The Bad Guy
Uther was back. I like this very much. Or rather I like that Anthony Head was back. The show just isn’t the same without him wearing gloves indoors.
While I know some will disagree with how Uther was portrayed in this episode, I think it was spot on. We’ve always known that Uther had very strong feelings about how the kingdom ought to be run, and he always had an ego on him. Seeing the way that Arthur runs the kingdom must drive him up the wall. Anger plus Ghost Powers equals bad news.
Pity this is probably the last time we’ll see him though.
Conclusion.
Defiantly one of my favourite episodes. 10/10
Next Week: Arthur. What have you got yourself into this time.
Overview
A darker more complex idea, exploring the themes of personal identity and how we are affected by the decisions our parents make and our desire to impress them
It also had ghosts and Anthony Head. EPIC!!
Episode Summary
ARTHUR PENDRAGON IS AN IMBERCIEL!!
Now we don’t know what was the Old Women’s motivation behind giving Arthur the Horn of Cathbad - maybe she was really was grateful for what he had done - but giving him a horn that can summon the dead, was never going to end well.
I’ll do more on Arthur below so here I’d just like to say that I really liked this episode. On top of being creepy as heck in parts, it was also quite thoughtful, focusing on issues of personal identity and how people sometimes allow themselves to be defined by their parents and their parents expectations.
On a mythological note, they didn’t just pull the name Cathbad out of nowhere. While he has nothing to do with raising the spirits of the dead, he is an important character in the Irish mythological cycle. The concept of Arthur not being able to look back also reminded me of the legend of Orpheus and Eurydice where Orpheus was under the same geis.
Merlin
I know I’ve said it before and you’re probably tired of hearing it by now, but Merlin really has come a long way since the first episode, as shown again in this episode.
He is Arthur’s manservant, but he is also his friend, possibly one of his closest - though neither of them will admit it - and here he did his best to advise Arthur, when the latter was shaken by what Uther had said. And when push came to shove, he helped Arthur lay his father’s ghost.
I also loved the scene where he showed Uther that he had magic. The way his voice broke as he said “I was born with it,” spoke volumes. You knew this was something that he had wanted to do for years.
Arthur (and Others)
I’m not sure I can blame Arthur to be honest. I mean yes he’s a blithering idiot to have messed with something so powerful, but I can understand why he did it. If one of my parents was dead and I had the chance to see them again, I defiantly think I would take it.
It’s clear from this episode, that even three years later, Arthur has a lot of doubts about his role as King, especially concerning whether he is matching up to Uther’s legacy. What this episode was about I think, was showing Arthur that while it is okay for him to miss his father, he has to be his own man, how own King and he has to rule the kingdom as he sees fit.
Whether this will change things in future episodes remains to be seen.
The Bad Guy
Uther was back. I like this very much. Or rather I like that Anthony Head was back. The show just isn’t the same without him wearing gloves indoors.
While I know some will disagree with how Uther was portrayed in this episode, I think it was spot on. We’ve always known that Uther had very strong feelings about how the kingdom ought to be run, and he always had an ego on him. Seeing the way that Arthur runs the kingdom must drive him up the wall. Anger plus Ghost Powers equals bad news.
Pity this is probably the last time we’ll see him though.
Conclusion.
Defiantly one of my favourite episodes. 10/10
Next Week: Arthur. What have you got yourself into this time.