Merlin S5 | Filming news (Wales) + ep 05.01-05.03 news + S6 news

[gealach_ros]

Filming in Wales on Friday, September 7th.
I saw the posts re filming in France. Merlin was still being filmed in Britain on Friday 7th September - at [location spoiler (Wales)]Speech House Lake in the Forest of Dean, so it must be next week in France.
[anon at

Comments

[darlulu]

But, yes, I thought with the nature of the show they'd rather end on the start of Arthur's reign proper.

Me, too. Because of all the time jumps we really haven't gotten to see the golden age of King Arthur's Camelot for any length of time, let alone a proper united Albion so if he dies by the end of S5, it'll feel really premature. Like Arthur and all he was supposed to stand for didn't last long enough to truly matter in the grand scheme of things

A season back I'd thought tptb were going to end the show on a hopeful note with Merlin being publicly acknowledged as Court Sorcerer and Arthur reigning gloriously at the height of his rule when the camera panned out. But that was when I thought the triangle/Mordred would still be dangling off in the future beyond the scope of the show instead of them dealing with the various tragedies within canon itself. Since they dealt with (mangled imo) the triangle storyline in S4, and Mordred looks to be a big focus in S5, I'd bet now we're headed full tilt toward Arthur's death in 513.

I still think there's a chance though that the writers will re-embrace their family entertainment roots and pull back at the last minute, have Merlin irrevocably alter Arthur's destiny to die at Mordred's hand. I could really see them chickening out and fixing it the way they fixed A/G/L so they can all have their HEA and they can be all haha those legends were so melodramatic and unnecessarily tragic 'cause in reality it was all averted since Camelot is a perfect, magical land where goodness always trumps evil (well, at least where Merlin, Arthur, and Gwen are concerned).

Personally, I'm not sure how I'd feel about that sort of 'twist.' I don't want Arthur to die, but I also will feel like this show should've never passed itself off as being based on the Arthurian legends if all they were going to do was be all hahaha JK! and handwave every interesting plot point from the legends that had weight and meaning and emotional resonance.

Without Arthur pulling Excalibur from the stone because of his own destiny instead of Merlin's whispered command, without Gwen betraying Arthur for love of Lancelot, without Arthur dying by Mordred's hand, Merlin is just some generic medieval crap with a little magic thrown in (emphasis on little since Merlin has been seriously underwhelming on the mojo front the past few seasons). *shrugs

[doylefan22]

Frankly if he dies at the end of series 5 I think it makes the whole show a giant waste - Arthur's golden reign, everything Merlin fought and killed for, will have been a grand total of about 4 years. Uther was on the throne for nearer 30. And for the majority of Arthur's time it seems that magic will still be illegal. Remind me again what Kilgharrah said Merlin was supposed to be fighting for? *headesk*

And yes, after mangling the love triangle AND completely erasing the point of Arthur pulling the sword from the stone, I don't hold out much hope of a satisfying ending whether they follow the legend or not. I mean, what are they going to do with Gwen? Her ending is ruined completely now and can't happen - I can't see her running off to a nunnery in this set up! By the time of Arthur's death, he and Morgana have reconciled which is why she takes him to Avalon. I can't see how they've left enough time to do that when it appears that for the majority of this series she's still 'the bad guy'.

There's doing your own version and then there's just taking away everything that's actually interesting...

[darlulu]

And for the majority of Arthur's time it seems that magic will still be illegal. Remind me again what Kilgharrah said Merlin was supposed to be fighting for? *headesk*

Yeah, my mind hadn't even gone there, but you're absolutely right. I was thinking of the golden age of Camelot in more general terms, but the integration of magic was key to Kilgharrah and Merlin's ultimate vision for Albion so having maybe half an episode where Arthur accepts Merlin's magic before dying does make all the talk about destiny and purpose seem rather pointless.

As for Gwen, I'd assumed we'd be in for a pregnancy storyline in S5 that echoed Igraine's tragedy with Gwen not being able to get pregnant and turning to magic (possibly Morgana) to conceive. Of course, I'd thought that in the end that unlike Arthur's mom, Gwen would be spared either because Merlin somehow magically intervened to save her or someone else on the periphery died in her place to balance it all out. In my darker thoughts, it'd even occurred to me that the writers might flip the Uther/Igraine scenario so that this time Gwen is the one who makes the deal, believing she is promising to sacrifice her life for an heir, but in actuality Arthur ends up being the one who pays the price at Mordred's hand. If the writers went that route, Gwen's arc would end with her and her baby (who'd naturally be a son) reigning over Camelot and Arthur dying, presumably at peace with the idea that he gave his life for the future of Camelot, etc. I really, really hope I'm wrong about that because that's actually like the worst case scenario I can imagine for the show's finale.

In any case, I don't see Gwen traipsing off to live in a nunnery. She's actually the character I'm most confident will emerge from the series' run unscathed. Even if she's mourning Arthur in the final moments of the show, she'll stand strong and queenly and look grimly determined to lead the people through this trying time.

[rtms]

[earlyparade]

Actually, by the end of S5 it will have been a total of 10 years - both onscreen and offscreen. There's more years dedicated to a time jump rather than the actual story... =/

[earlyparade]

"I still think there's a chance though that the writers will re-embrace their family entertainment roots and pull back at the last minute, have Merlin irrevocably alter Arthur's destiny to die at Mordred's hand."

Tbh, I don't think they'll try that - and this is from observing the show canon. If anything has been a point of continuity throughout the whole show, it's that knowing your destiny and trying to change it ultimately is what fulfills the destiny. The entire show is made up of self-fulfilling prophecies. If they do, they'd have to admit that Morgana didn't have to be drugged and abused and turned out of Camelot, they'd have to admit that Merlin didn't have to kill Morgana, they'd have to admit that Morgana wouldn't have tried to killed Uther had Merlin make her life worse. They'd also have to admit that Arthur's reign is NOT the Golden Age, in this version - and that Merlin did not in fact help Arthur like that 'two sides of the same coin' bs. (lbr, the S4 finale could have been Arthur admitting his mistakes and trying to fix them rather than Merlin distracting him with a shiny sword.)

Idk, that's just my opinion - but I hate the self-fulfillment trope anyway. It just feels like lazy writing to use it as some of the most important plot points in the show. And it contributed to villifying female characters while the men who are considered "good" escape with sympathy and forgiveness.

[marvelpku]

"Without Arthur pulling Excalibur from the stone because of his own destiny instead of Merlin's whispered command, without Gwen betraying Arthur for love of Lancelot, without Arthur dying by Mordred's hand, Merlin is just some generic medieval crap with a little magic thrown in."
This is the one of the most insightful comments I've ever seen on the website. Tptb just write themselves into a laughable, childish and superficial cornor after S2 (the first part of S2 is also tragedy).

[ella_rose88]

Personally I think Gwen not truly betraying Arthur as she loves Arthur is better and far more interesting that all the other versions. In fact Lancelot didn't exist in the earlier legends and A/G had children.

I think it's rather refreshing that Gwen doesn't have an affair with Lancelot and actually makes a choice. I'm sick of Gwen's character being blamed for the downfall of Camelot.