Epic Merlin Rewatch: S01E11 The Labyrinth of Gedref
I've just made myself finish writing this review because I'm desperate to post about how awesome this weeks episode was and this was already half written in my 'restored draft'...I've finished watching the last few episodes now so hopefully these last reviews will be up by the end of the weekend.
EPIC MERLIN REWATCH OF MERLIN EPICNESS
Season 1 Episode 11 The Labyrinth of Gedref
Quick overall summary: Arthur kills unicorn. Magic is angry. Camelot is cursed. Arthur is tested to save Camelot and fails, gets second chance. Arthur attempts to sacrifice himself for Merlin and for Camelot. Magic guy is a big faker, everyone lives. Hooray!
- Magical woods! This all reminds me of Legend. I wonder if Tim Curry's lurking behind the trees somewhere?
- UNICORN! Merlin automatically knows that its magical and that its a terrible, terrible thing to kill it. Apart from the unicorn bit, it looks like a horse. Why would Arthur kill a horse during hunting? Surely, that's a bit stupid? Arthur has no idea that the unicorn’s death is important. He’s a hunter, to him its just another hunting trip.
- Grain! I’m just excited that the grain store is another set in the world of Camelot. So no grain means that there’s a curfew- to stop looting, I would assume.
- Gwen says that she’s sure Arthur will think of something. Arthur. Why Arthur? Why not the king? Is this a bit of insight into how Gwen thinks of him?
- Arthur issuing order to the guards is very manly and kingly. Impressive :D.
- There’s something odd about the old wizard guy and not in a he’s-an-old-wizard-guy way. I can’t put my finger on it. Maybe its the fact that he looks like he should be, not even in LOTR, but in something like Dune.
- The old man has a magical staff of magic. See, we know he’s magical because Sophia and Alfric had magical staffs and they were magical.
- Arthur having to explain what his military hand signal means. LOL! Merlin can be so dense. I guess he's never seen a war movie before. Hey, Merlin, come around my place one weekend, I can educate you! :D:D:D
- Can I say once again that I love Arthur’s red jacket.
- They’re drinking Merlin’s bath water. Urgh. (although I'm sure some fangirls would jump at the chance :D)
- Arthur (at this point) thinks that all magic is bad. A big part of series is about Arthur learning the good in magic. But he just can’t understand that he was the cause of the famine, of the bad magic stuff happening. Its because he did a bad thing. Its only when he starts to believe that it was his fault, that the weight of what he’s done hits him and he starts to realise that magic is neither good nor bad- it just is. Or maybe I'm reading too much into it. This episode is about Arthur redeeming himself- by allowing the thief not only to leave without charge, but to take the grain home to his family. During test 2 I was shouting “NO NON NONONON ARTHUR! THIS IS THE TEST!” He’s too quick to anger, too irrational. He needs to use his brain. Why is this man baiting him into a fight? Its a test, duh, Arthur. You have shown that you would be willing to kill a man to protect your pride, FAIL, ARTHUR. Arthur learns a big lesson in this episode. When Uther refuses to ask other kingdom’s for help and Uther says “have you no pride?” Arthur replies “I cannot think of my pride when our people go hungry- they are all I can think about” it shows exactly what he's learnt through that episode. And Uther shows how bad a king he is by putting the blame on Arthur for not catching the sorcerer, instead of taking the brunt of it himself, like a leader should.
- I love how Arthur finds Merlin asleep instead of playing lookout. “Don’t you worry about keeping watch Merlin, you just make yourself comfortable.” I adore how Bradley says it, this is exactly why I love Arthur. He's not just one dimensional "I am great king Arthur, noble, just and righteous." He's also snarky and a bit of a clotpole at times :D. Arthur is quite antagonistic towards Merlin in this episode. What makes it not bullying is that Merlin snipes back. Merlin can take it. I have friendships like this. Arthur making Merlin eat the rat stew is hilarious. In a strange way, this episode is full of A/M BBFiness.
- Labyrinth! CGI plant vines tying up Merlin was not very well done. But I love love love when Arthur comes to the end of the labyrinth to find a door looking out onto a beach. I love the two goblets section. Its so classic The Princess Bride fairytale, it feels so right for Arthurian legend (I don’t remember if this resembles some part of Arthurian legend, it might be). Arthur even did the Vizzini “look over there!” bit! Arthur tricking Merlin into letting him take the poison is great because it shows the fundamental difference between Arthur and his father- Uther would never have done that.
- HURRAH! THE UNICORN IS ALIVE!
- I have no closing thoughts except that this episode was really really good, it felt epic, it felt fantastical, and it had character development.
Best lines:
Merlin: I know Arthur’s stubborn, pigheaded and annoying, but he cares about his people, more than he cares about himself. He’ll not forgive himself for making his people suffer.
Arthur: You think this is funny.
Merlin: Moderately.
Arthur: It's rat, isn’t it?
EPIC MERLIN REWATCH OF MERLIN EPICNESS
Season 1 Episode 11 The Labyrinth of Gedref
Quick overall summary: Arthur kills unicorn. Magic is angry. Camelot is cursed. Arthur is tested to save Camelot and fails, gets second chance. Arthur attempts to sacrifice himself for Merlin and for Camelot. Magic guy is a big faker, everyone lives. Hooray!
- Magical woods! This all reminds me of Legend. I wonder if Tim Curry's lurking behind the trees somewhere?
- UNICORN! Merlin automatically knows that its magical and that its a terrible, terrible thing to kill it. Apart from the unicorn bit, it looks like a horse. Why would Arthur kill a horse during hunting? Surely, that's a bit stupid? Arthur has no idea that the unicorn’s death is important. He’s a hunter, to him its just another hunting trip.
- Grain! I’m just excited that the grain store is another set in the world of Camelot. So no grain means that there’s a curfew- to stop looting, I would assume.
- Gwen says that she’s sure Arthur will think of something. Arthur. Why Arthur? Why not the king? Is this a bit of insight into how Gwen thinks of him?
- Arthur issuing order to the guards is very manly and kingly. Impressive :D.
- There’s something odd about the old wizard guy and not in a he’s-an-old-wizard-guy way. I can’t put my finger on it. Maybe its the fact that he looks like he should be, not even in LOTR, but in something like Dune.
- The old man has a magical staff of magic. See, we know he’s magical because Sophia and Alfric had magical staffs and they were magical.
- Arthur having to explain what his military hand signal means. LOL! Merlin can be so dense. I guess he's never seen a war movie before. Hey, Merlin, come around my place one weekend, I can educate you! :D:D:D
- Can I say once again that I love Arthur’s red jacket.
- They’re drinking Merlin’s bath water. Urgh. (although I'm sure some fangirls would jump at the chance :D)
- Arthur (at this point) thinks that all magic is bad. A big part of series is about Arthur learning the good in magic. But he just can’t understand that he was the cause of the famine, of the bad magic stuff happening. Its because he did a bad thing. Its only when he starts to believe that it was his fault, that the weight of what he’s done hits him and he starts to realise that magic is neither good nor bad- it just is. Or maybe I'm reading too much into it. This episode is about Arthur redeeming himself- by allowing the thief not only to leave without charge, but to take the grain home to his family. During test 2 I was shouting “NO NON NONONON ARTHUR! THIS IS THE TEST!” He’s too quick to anger, too irrational. He needs to use his brain. Why is this man baiting him into a fight? Its a test, duh, Arthur. You have shown that you would be willing to kill a man to protect your pride, FAIL, ARTHUR. Arthur learns a big lesson in this episode. When Uther refuses to ask other kingdom’s for help and Uther says “have you no pride?” Arthur replies “I cannot think of my pride when our people go hungry- they are all I can think about” it shows exactly what he's learnt through that episode. And Uther shows how bad a king he is by putting the blame on Arthur for not catching the sorcerer, instead of taking the brunt of it himself, like a leader should.
- I love how Arthur finds Merlin asleep instead of playing lookout. “Don’t you worry about keeping watch Merlin, you just make yourself comfortable.” I adore how Bradley says it, this is exactly why I love Arthur. He's not just one dimensional "I am great king Arthur, noble, just and righteous." He's also snarky and a bit of a clotpole at times :D. Arthur is quite antagonistic towards Merlin in this episode. What makes it not bullying is that Merlin snipes back. Merlin can take it. I have friendships like this. Arthur making Merlin eat the rat stew is hilarious. In a strange way, this episode is full of A/M BBFiness.
- Labyrinth! CGI plant vines tying up Merlin was not very well done. But I love love love when Arthur comes to the end of the labyrinth to find a door looking out onto a beach. I love the two goblets section. Its so classic The Princess Bride fairytale, it feels so right for Arthurian legend (I don’t remember if this resembles some part of Arthurian legend, it might be). Arthur even did the Vizzini “look over there!” bit! Arthur tricking Merlin into letting him take the poison is great because it shows the fundamental difference between Arthur and his father- Uther would never have done that.
- HURRAH! THE UNICORN IS ALIVE!
- I have no closing thoughts except that this episode was really really good, it felt epic, it felt fantastical, and it had character development.
Best lines:
Merlin: I know Arthur’s stubborn, pigheaded and annoying, but he cares about his people, more than he cares about himself. He’ll not forgive himself for making his people suffer.
Arthur: You think this is funny.
Merlin: Moderately.
Arthur: It's rat, isn’t it?