Mordred complements Merlin on his physician skills. Merlin tells him he’s watched Gaius…and then done the opposite. I cracked up at this. Key to becoming a skilled physician, aha. XD I'm also a bit intrigued that Mordred seemed to actively seek out/talk to Merlin in this ep. Again, these two are simply delicious. And yep, the breakfast comment. So Married. I blame it for my totally missing the symbolism of Merlin literally has Arthur’s fate in his hands. Nice point. At least I didn't miss the part where Arthur’s been checking his diary and he hasn’t noted Merlin down as smiling in the last three days. That would have been grievous. :P
I like Gaius-Arthur talk for the reasons you mentioned. You also raised good points about the dragon. His tone was the most resembling of S1/S2 after a long time. I don't blame Merlin for letting the dragon influence him still as from Merlin's point of view, the times when he disregarded those 'advice' it led to disastrous enough consequences. Both talks with Gaius and the Dragon present a curious point about the later “What happened to the young boy who came into my chambers, just a few years ago” line. To me, in some capacity Gaius and the Dragon are exactly what happened, pushing Merlin to head-off things to come, encouraging him to abandon Morgana, forbidding the magic reveal etc... Now that I think about it, everything that has happened to Merlin so far, what they all do is break him. Even if he's not consciously aware of it, it's no wonder he's desperate for the status quo with Arthur. It's the only thing he has left, shaky as it is.
I actually think Arthur’s humility shines though a little too. It’s not that he thinks he shouldn’t be judged, it’s that he thinks he should be judged fairly. Yeah I actually think Arthur vs the Babes was quite well done. I was fearing Arthur behaving like mini-Uther at first (there were some false spoilers about how he tricked the Babes into healing Mordred first and then went back against his deal and had the Knights kill them) but his argument here actually sounded as reasonable as the Babes' did not. So yeah, was agreeing with Arthur about that one.
I sometimes think that Merlin is so caught up in how he feels about Arthur, he doesn’t realise that the king is just as close to him. In fact Arthur puts more trust in Merlin than the other way round. There’s a little bit of control there from Merlin. He is the one with all the power in their relationship, Arthur just doesn’t really realise the extent of it. Arthur and Merlin ,you can actually look at in quite a dark way, the complete subjugation to one person. All I can say is that this is incredibly well put. It also makes me think about SPN for some reasons. Must be the Merlin/Castiel parallel thing.
He speaks beautifully about his senses and how he feels nature around him. He asks Arthur if he feels it to. He does not. Merlin looks disappointed. I think it reminded him of a difference between himself and Arthur, that his loyalties lie with someone who is not of his own kind. Again wholly agree. That they could score something so emotional and impactful with just this simple talk. I only hate that it makes me hopeful again. This is almost a talk about not just magic, but Merlin's magic, even if one of them doesn't fully realize it (but at last, he notices). Will there be another as strong as this?
I’ve always said before that Arthur’s best decisions happen instinctively. If he’s given too much time to think, then he questions what his heart is telling him. Merlin’s the opposite, he needs someone to run through every scenario for him. And that's one of my favourite things to hear from you. :P And I really don't have anything to contribute to The Scene. You've said it so well and till the end where it backfired spectacularly on Merlin. Beautiful, heartbreaking episodes. Like you, when presented with these moments, I'm too almost anti-reveal. And yes, this is indeed a game changer. The duck metaphor is absolutely spot on. This may be my favourite ep of this series so far. Now if I could stay positive even in face of the many Gwen-things next week. Hope it's not as removed from 5.05 as it sounds because game changer, right?
Yeah, I love the confusion and dancing around each other that Merlin and Mordred do with one another. It's not only not mentioning 'the elephant in the room', it's like not mentioning a whole zoo shoved in the cupboard under the stairs. I liked the literal image of Merlin having Arthur's fate in his hands. I guess it could be a bit overly obvious, but they didn't dwell to much on it or reference it, so it was actually quite subtle.
I would give anything for more Arthur/Gaius scenes and some discussion of the Purge. That's why this show sometimes frustrates me. Episode 4 was such a wasted opportunity, they've got a load of practically unexplored characters and stories, and last week just felt like a simplistic filler.
Yeah, the dragon was a little s1/s2, wasn't he? He seemed more goading than he has since his release, more manipulative.
Definitely Merlin/Castiel parallels! Someone should write that and compare (if they haven't already). There is such a melancholy beauty to them. They sort of define pathos is a way.
Yeah I liked Arthur with the Babes. He was a little heavy handed at the beginning of the episode, but I believe his apology was genuine. He was honest and truthful with them.
The talk about Merlin and how he was feeling nature around him was brilliant. It opened up Merlin to Arthur. He usually isn't nearly so open around Arthur, but that was something genuine, meaningful and trully from his heart. I liked how Arthur was curious about it, truthful when he said he couldn't feel it, but respectful that Merlin did. He noticed this thing in Merlin and wasn't repulsed or scared or unaccepting of it. I think when the reveal happens, it won't be the magic that Arthur is really bothered about. It'll be the lies.
I think I'm going to pour a large glass of wine during 'Gwen-things' next episode, lie back and think of England! Maybe it won't be as bad as it seems, and hopefully there will still be a few bits here and there that are enjoyable, even if the episode itself isn't great.
I cracked up at this. Key to becoming a skilled physician, aha. XD I'm also a bit intrigued that Mordred seemed to actively seek out/talk to Merlin in this ep. Again, these two are simply delicious. And yep, the breakfast comment. So Married. I blame it for my totally missing the symbolism of Merlin literally has Arthur’s fate in his hands. Nice point. At least I didn't miss the part where Arthur’s been checking his diary and he hasn’t noted Merlin down as smiling in the last three days. That would have been grievous. :P
I like Gaius-Arthur talk for the reasons you mentioned. You also raised good points about the dragon. His tone was the most resembling of S1/S2 after a long time. I don't blame Merlin for letting the dragon influence him still as from Merlin's point of view, the times when he disregarded those 'advice' it led to disastrous enough consequences. Both talks with Gaius and the Dragon present a curious point about the later “What happened to the young boy who came into my chambers, just a few years ago” line. To me, in some capacity Gaius and the Dragon are exactly what happened, pushing Merlin to head-off things to come, encouraging him to abandon Morgana, forbidding the magic reveal etc... Now that I think about it, everything that has happened to Merlin so far, what they all do is break him. Even if he's not consciously aware of it, it's no wonder he's desperate for the status quo with Arthur. It's the only thing he has left, shaky as it is.
I actually think Arthur’s humility shines though a little too. It’s not that he thinks he shouldn’t be judged, it’s that he thinks he should be judged fairly.
Yeah I actually think Arthur vs the Babes was quite well done. I was fearing Arthur behaving like mini-Uther at first (there were some false spoilers about how he tricked the Babes into healing Mordred first and then went back against his deal and had the Knights kill them) but his argument here actually sounded as reasonable as the Babes' did not. So yeah, was agreeing with Arthur about that one.
I sometimes think that Merlin is so caught up in how he feels about Arthur, he doesn’t realise that the king is just as close to him. In fact Arthur puts more trust in Merlin than the other way round.
There’s a little bit of control there from Merlin. He is the one with all the power in their relationship, Arthur just doesn’t really realise the extent of it. Arthur and Merlin ,you can actually look at in quite a dark way, the complete subjugation to one person.
All I can say is that this is incredibly well put. It also makes me think about SPN for some reasons. Must be the Merlin/Castiel parallel thing.
He speaks beautifully about his senses and how he feels nature around him. He asks Arthur if he feels it to. He does not. Merlin looks disappointed. I think it reminded him of a difference between himself and Arthur, that his loyalties lie with someone who is not of his own kind.
Again wholly agree. That they could score something so emotional and impactful with just this simple talk. I only hate that it makes me hopeful again. This is almost a talk about not just magic, but Merlin's magic, even if one of them doesn't fully realize it (but at last, he notices). Will there be another as strong as this?
I’ve always said before that Arthur’s best decisions happen instinctively. If he’s given too much time to think, then he questions what his heart is telling him. Merlin’s the opposite, he needs someone to run through every scenario for him.
And that's one of my favourite things to hear from you. :P And I really don't have anything to contribute to The Scene. You've said it so well and till the end where it backfired spectacularly on Merlin. Beautiful, heartbreaking episodes. Like you, when presented with these moments, I'm too almost anti-reveal. And yes, this is indeed a game changer. The duck metaphor is absolutely spot on. This may be my favourite ep of this series so far. Now if I could stay positive even in face of the many Gwen-things next week. Hope it's not as removed from 5.05 as it sounds because game changer, right?
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I would give anything for more Arthur/Gaius scenes and some discussion of the Purge. That's why this show sometimes frustrates me. Episode 4 was such a wasted opportunity, they've got a load of practically unexplored characters and stories, and last week just felt like a simplistic filler.
Yeah, the dragon was a little s1/s2, wasn't he? He seemed more goading than he has since his release, more manipulative.
Definitely Merlin/Castiel parallels! Someone should write that and compare (if they haven't already). There is such a melancholy beauty to them. They sort of define pathos is a way.
Yeah I liked Arthur with the Babes. He was a little heavy handed at the beginning of the episode, but I believe his apology was genuine. He was honest and truthful with them.
The talk about Merlin and how he was feeling nature around him was brilliant. It opened up Merlin to Arthur. He usually isn't nearly so open around Arthur, but that was something genuine, meaningful and trully from his heart. I liked how Arthur was curious about it, truthful when he said he couldn't feel it, but respectful that Merlin did. He noticed this thing in Merlin and wasn't repulsed or scared or unaccepting of it. I think when the reveal happens, it won't be the magic that Arthur is really bothered about. It'll be the lies.
I think I'm going to pour a large glass of wine during 'Gwen-things' next episode, lie back and think of England! Maybe it won't be as bad as it seems, and hopefully there will still be a few bits here and there that are enjoyable, even if the episode itself isn't great.
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