MERLIN ep. 4x06 (A Servant of Two Masters) - Review post (my first!)

[i_m_sidhwen]

Beware, squee and some flailing ahead! - as well as major abuse of emoticons... ;)
Also, my Merthur love is showing; plus theories about Merlin's shirt (IDEK)...
I have a few complaints directed at the writers... but overall:
This was a great ep! \o/

Comments

[distractionpie]

Haha, all very accurate comments. Especially re: Agravaine. The thing about only showing the hug onesided because only Athur would remember it was clever, I hadn't thought of that but it makes a lot of sense.

Btw, you've put the http/ in you hug gif twice, so it doesn't come up until you copy and paste it without that. :)

[i_m_sidhwen]

Hee, thank you! :)
Oh thanks for spotting that and letting me know, I'll go correct it right away!

And btw, if you've actually read all of that (then wow, and thanks LOL), I have just put in a few more lines that I somehow forgot to copy in!
(Look for this "headline" (the second): And... we’re back at Camelot -> the 3 bullet points below that! ^^ )

[nefreed]

Nice recap! nice gifs!

I think Merlin was rude and not using his magic because the Fomorah was supposed to suck out everything that was Merlin out of his body. So I am guessing his personality was gone and maybe he did not even realize he could use magic?

Also I agree about Merlin and Gauis not telling Arthur anything. Arthur already has his suspicions about Agravaine. I am sure if Merlin told him about everything that happened this episode including seeing Agravaine walking out of Morgana's hut, then he could confirm his suspicions.

Also why does Merlin not tell anyone where Morgana's hovel is? I am sure Arthur will be interested to know it's location.

[i_m_sidhwen]

That's a good theory! I'll go with that :)

You're so right! They basically have PROOF of Agravaine's treason now, PLUS they could tell the King where his ARCHNEMESIS is hiding... oO
And it's really not the first time thatI wanted to scream at Merlin/Gaius: "Tell Arthur about your suspicions!!"
- like when it was Morgana's magic that killed Uther, and not Dragoon's: Why the hell didn't Gaius tell Arthur about the pendant he'd found??
I guess all these things would just make it too easy for the characters, and the writers think/hope that we won't notice these things not making sense :/

Okay I'm ranting again, sorry ^^

[cronbachs_alpha]

LOL. Love your gifs.

Actually I like the theory best where Merlin washes his blue and red shirts together and gets violet ones ...

And the knocking out?
Maybe the writers are getting even. I mean, Merlin has a lot to catch up if he wants to reach Arthur's quota of loosing consciousness.
Oh, it doesn't bode too well for Albion when both her head figures are suffering von sever brain damage later in life...

Also:
I'm still expecting some kind of background story with Agravaine. Could prove to be interesting...

[i_m_sidhwen]

Thanks! :)

Would be fitting, wouldn't it? I can totally see Merlin messing up his washing ^^ And then I liked it and left it that way - since he could change it back with magic... Huh, that gave me a new idea: he was bored of always wearing the same colours and magicked it differently ;) )

Oooh you're right, if the knock-outs continue, I fear for Albion's future too...!

Yes that would interest me too. Actually it would make a lot of sense to at least explain how he came to be in league with Morgana in the first place.

[bluebeeangel]

Arthur's look when he saw Merlin had been injured was awful. They both have this thought that they should always be there to protect the other and Arthur looked so guilty that he had failed.

Merlin uses very blatant open magic in that scene. It's felt to me that he's taking more and more risks with it. Like when he tried to cure Uther or last week when Arthur was fighting The Giant. It's like he can't keep it under control as much now things have become more fraught for Camelot.

Oh Morgana is stark raving mad now. You can't blame her though. Over the past few years everyone has either betrayed or or died and she's living in a shack by herself. It's pretty clear why she's a couple of heads short of a gommorah.

I guess it's all in Colin's deliverance though!)
It was totally in the delievery. It was perfect and so blatant.

BTW: Have you noticed Merlin seemingly having a new shirt?? Yes, I saw it in the first episode of this season, because I thought the colour setting on my tv had screwed up! I think it is quite strange about why it

[i_m_sidhwen]

I agree with the points you made!

What is your opinion on the significance of red and blue on the show? My take would be: Red is obviously Arthur's (Camelot's) colour. I always saw blue as Merlin dominant colour - so mixing them could signify the change in their relationship: Merlin becoming more of an adviser and being more on equal grounds with him? The intertwined destiny?

Oh I realized because of your quote... it has to say "Colin's *delivery*", right? I already went and changed that just now ^^
(I wrote the review during the night - and had already spotted a few errors before posting it, but obviously not all of them.)

Happy Birthday, belatedly! :)
(I hope you're not already feeling the effects of "old" age? ;) )

[bluebeeangel]

That's a really good point point about what red/blue mean on the show. Mine's a bit similar. I find that red is the dominant colour for Merlin and Arthur. Blueish shades I've found always to be used on darker character, so with respect to Arthur/Merlin is could almost symbolise their darkness and flaws.

I do like your interpretation of one representing Merlin and one Arthur and mixing them to intertwine their destiny! That's the thing about trying to read things like colours and themes in a text; there's not really a right answer, it's all based on opinion and examples as it's not usually especially blatant or prominant within the text. That's proper subtext.

Thank you! Luckily old age hasn't quite fully overtaken me yet. I'm on the lookout for it though!

[llandorian]

So this is why you stayed up so long and refused to get up when I brought you a cup of coffee just now?? Ts ts ts, llandorian disapproves (that is of the late/early hour, not the review) ^_^
Although I'm not a Merlin/Arthur shipper (what's the ship name by the way? Merthur? Arthlin? Pan-Merlins-last-name?), the review is really good and very funny at some points.

The shirt-washing theory had me laughing. Actually, I can see an intern at the set washing them together. And then one producer/director/writer says to another: "Shouldn't we explain why Merlin now only has violet shirts?" And the other just responds: "Na, why bother? Some fan will come up with an explanation." Hm, makes me think that's their policy for every plot-hole

[llandorian]

Uh, I forgot two things.

First: Agravaine and Morgana? Eewwww! He's more like a little puppy, waiting for approval from its Mistress.

And the other thing: When Merlin changed into old!Merlin for the first time I thought it was just the appearance and Merlin only pretended the weak-kneed walking. (Like that old council-man in Game of Thrones.)
Now I think it was Colin overacting to be old. But by now he got a hang of it and portraits Old!Merlin quite convincingly.

[i_m_sidhwen]

First of all, thanks for the lengthy comment even though you're not in the fandom