Merlin Episode 5: (The Once and Future) Lancelot
There are over one hundred characters in the full-blown Arthurian Legends. In my opinion the most difficult by far to write well is Lancelot. If Arthur and Merlin are the foundation, then Lancelot is the keystone. His strengths and virtues bind together the soaring arch of Arthurian Chivalry, and his weaknesses bring it crashing down. So it is absolutely essential that any retelling establish at Lancelot's introduction his strength, his courage, his valor, his selflessness, his beauty, his kindness, his respect and utter adoration for Arthur, his love of Guenevere, his desperation to do anything to prove himself, and his fatal willingness to let those he cares about talk him into doing things that he knows are bad ideas.
What can I say about Episode 5 other than, "They got him right"? While he's young enough that the form of the great tragic hero is still embryonic, all his requisite virtues and flaws are distinct. I can mentally get from "here" (this episode) to "there" (the familiar Arthurian Legends beginning at the point when Arthur as King), and that is the basis by which I judge this series.
Last episode laid the groundwork for one of the key elements of Arthurian chivalry: everybody is worth fighting for. This episode lays the groundwork for two more: everybody deserves a chance to fight, and there needs to be another basis for the Code of Camelot besides birthright. It's an example of Uther's overwhelming hubris that he believes only the sons of his best fighters could be loyal knights when the show comes flat out and says that he didn't choose his original knights that way. Uther's laws put in place to help select loyal knights are in fact shown to be handicapping Arthur.
I found the portrayal of Lancelot a bit too restrained at first, as a sense of his desperation is crucial to understanding his character, but it grew on me over time. No need to have him start out too desperate.
Kudos for the Geoffrey of Monmouth shout-out; the real life scholar was the first person to write down the tales of Arthur and Merlin. He was a real Merlin fan. He changed the wizard's name from Myrddin to Merlin and wrote three books about him, a book of Merlin's prophecies which was a bestseller for over 300 years, a legendary history of Britain which contains the first recorded reference of King Arthur, and a Latin version of the story of Merlin's life for the international market.
The story did what it was supposed to do in an efficient manner but there was no grace to it, unlike last episode. This is a real shame; if I were a Lancelot fan I would go so far as to call it criminal. The exception was two scenes during the celebration: the Merlin/Gwen scene which I'll talk about in Part 2 and the Lancelot/Arthur scene. The scene where Merlin asks Gwen, "If you had to...Lancelot or Arthur?" is cute and saucy -- and heartbreakingly forboding of the question that will someday destroy her. "If you had to...." It is Guenevere's curse that she gets everything she wants. But someday is not today.
The other really good scene is where Arthur eyes Morgana and Lancelot eyes Gwen, each complimenting the beauty of "the lady" and thinking the other guy is talking about the same girl he's talking about but they aren't. Lancelot looks at Gwen with genuine interest, while Arthur looks at Morgana as if she represents a problem he's not ready to deal with yet. Once again Gwen is completely off Arthur's radar. He sparks more with Merlin and Lancelot than with any of the women, but as delightful as those sparks are to watch they might not be romantic. Arthur doesn't really appear interested in romance with anyone of either gender. He's too busy being the Royal Heir/Champion and mentally re-imaging Camelot.
Whatever his orientation, I don't think Arthur has allowed himself to think about romance much. Arthur is the Master of all Princely Duties, like fighting and giving orders. That list doesn't include "picking your own bride". It has "shutting up and marrying who you are told to marry" instead. I don't think Arthur sees why he has to bother with things like courting when someone else is going to pick for him. The fact that the lady in question (namely Morgana) might like to be courted anyway either hasn't registered or gets dismissed as too deeply ironic for words.
One princely skill we see that he has clearly mastered is the fine art of turning a blind eye when it is in his interest -- Camelot's interest -- for him to do so. It's one of this story's many ironic foreshadowings that we first get a clear picture of it in the episode that introduces Lancelot. I suspect he's already been doing this for Merlin in regards to his magic, but seeing him do it for someone else is a nice bit of circumstantial evidence in that argument's favor. The other bit of circumstantial evidence in this episode is that Arthur and Lancelot are supposed to be equals on the field of battle. If Lancelot can hear Merlin speaking a spell from that far away through a helmet and over thundering hoofbeats, what makes you think Arthur can't hear the same thing when more lightly encumbered?
The scene where Gaius declares how much Merlin means to him falls a bit flat; however it reminds us that Merlin is not, in Gwen's words, one of those "rough, tough, save the world types" that she admires like Arthur and Lancelot.. Merlin is absolutely, utterly terrified at confrontingthe Griffon again, but he"ll do it to save Arthur's life. In one of the many moments of forshadowing in this episode, i couldn't help rembering that in the early versions of the Merlin legends the malady that eventually takes him from Arthur's side matches the description of PTSD.
Merlin isn't interested in being anything more than a friend to Gwen. While he's friends with many people at the moment he (literally) only has eyes for Arthur. (Except for Nimue last episode, but I think that qualified as "getting burned".) So it's nice to see sparks of genuine interest between Gwen and Lancelot in both directions.
Morgana wasn't much used this time. It's getting annoying how the writers can use both boys but only one girl per episode. The other annoyance is how often I find myself thinking, "This was a good episode, but it could have been better."
Yippee! Tonight I get to watch Episode 6!
Episodes 1-3
Episode 4 Review: Innocence at Camelot
Episode 6: (Death Is) A Remedy to Cure All Ills.
Episode 7: Deception for Dummies
Episode 8: Deception for Non-Dummies
Episode 9: What Color is Your Fairy Tale?
Episode 10: The Practical Exam
Episode 11: Today is a Good Day to Die