the crystal cave
you know, I think my considerable love for the front half of this episode turned what would have otherwise been simple apathy about the back half into a more profound disappointment. I don't have much to say. nothing was a surprise; fandom had already guessed that Morgana was Uther's daughter, so what I took away from that scene was mostly Uther, you bastard. I can at least follow his logic (and his logical disconnects) when it comes to magic and his persecution of those who practise it. we've at least been able to assume that he hasn't knowingly relied on magic since Igraine's death. but I don't imagine this will prevent him from persecuting the next person he catches using magic, even if that person were using it to save their own daughter, and that takes the reprehensible to a whole new level. yet, we see Merlin unquestionably attempting to save Uther's life, knowing all of this.
back when Morgana first wanted to kill Uther (and Merlin was, for the first and only time, conflicted about this), Gaius said one reason not to let it happen was that Arthur wasn't ready. that may have been true, but if anything lately, we've seen Arthur not only ready to rule but actively doing so in the event of Uther's incapacity. he isn't perfect because no one can ever be complete, but Arthur clearly knows the kind of king he wants to be and has the resources, knowledge and experience to be that. I just don't see Camelot falling into chaos if Uther were to die right now; Merlin himself is instrumental in that, as we saw him allowing Arthur to hold Camelot when those who would have the kingdom for themselves tried to use its perceived Uther-less weakness to attack. certainly one could make an argument that if Morgana were revealed as his murderer that sort of disorder in his own house could weaken Arthur's position, especially if she tried to claim the throne for herself, but that's sort of inevitable from here on out, and hey, if Merlin had let her (or anyone else!) kill Uther before now, and not interfered so badly in this episode so as to allow the truth to come out, no one ever would have known! and the show is certainly not making that argument. it hasn't bothered to revise its argument at all since the first season, which has created a major disconnect. we're supposed to support Merlin's actions because he is "good," but they have steadily been causing quite a bit of harm. and I don't think the show understands that. at least not on a grand scale. sure, Merlin caused all of the events in this ep to take place, but I feel the lesson I'm meant to take away from it is more akin to 'time is a funny thing, don't trust those crystals' than 'you shouldn't try to fix everything, Merlin. you are making it worse.'
sigh. dismay, dismay. why do you do this to me, show. WHY DO I LET YOU.
I also guessed pretty much right away that Merlin would cause the events he saw in the crystals by attempting to stop them. it's a trope and they didn't do anything particularly innovative with it. but that wasn't until he actually saw the crystals; before that I thought the old man was MERLIN FROM THE FUTURE, and I cannot textually render my disappointment that he wasn't. I mean, the whole "if I remember correctly" thing and the similar statures and the way the camera really seemed to focus on the blue of the guy's eyes at one point, very similar to Merlin's. and then like. there was no real resolution on him! he just shows up from hundreds of years ago and disappears and the characters don't even theorise why the hell that might be? I was intrigued by the glimpse of old!Merlin in the crystal, though.
among things I did like was, as I said, the front half of the episode. look, there are a lot of places they could have taken this story. it could have gotten very dark and very complex. I don't need that. I just want a little intelligence and a lot of what we got at the beginning here. that was gorgeous, snot and all. a wonderful balance of angst and humour and capitalising on the relationship between Arthur and Merlin - I've said before that I don't need intense scenes between them all the time, every episode. I just need to see them getting something out of each other's company, whether that means teasing and playing or insults and bruising, because there's always that undercurrent of how much they care for each other which then makes Merlin crying over Arthur like that that much more gutting. I loved the continuing thread of Arthur being disturbed when he feels like Merlin isn't right there on the surface for him to enjoy, and being nonplussed by his complete lack of respect for Arthur's position. everything about them in this episode was perfect.
I was also really happy with Morgana's reaction to the father-daughter thing; it was very consistent with analyses I've read of her in the past, which is that she seeks retribution for personal hurts and not violations of any greater ideals she may hold. I thought it was fascinating that her earnestness when speaking to Uther about making their relationship known to the people (and saying he's been a father to her!) did not go away when he turned away from her, which is contrary to the pattern we've otherwise seen 100 percent of the time this season. I also loved Morgause trying to kiss her. uh, for mostly shallow reasons. I do not understand how people are not all over this ship. I am also confused about how they are related now, if they are at all. they both believed themselves to be Gorlois's daughters, correct? but even then they only thought they were half-sisters, so they wouldn't have shared the same mother. are they not actually related?
apparently I had more to say than I thought. :|
This entry was originally posted at http://jeeps.dreamwidth.org/28398.html and currently has
comments. You can reply there with your LJ by using the OpenID option, or get your own Dreamwidth account here.