Merlin 5x13: Condensed angst
It's well known that BBC's idea of Christmas is to kill someone off and watch gleefully as fan wail heartbrokenly over the Internet (nothing will convince me BBC executives don't do that). Merlin has never induced any quality FEELS! in me. I've loved this show for a long time despite its annoying Smallville-esque dragging out of the reveal (and I still find it the worst idea ever to place the reveal in the finale when they could have given Arthur at least a few eps to deal with it) and I think I might have teared up a couple of times but that's mostly due to Colin Morgan's acting because he's out of this world. This time? Well, let's say I still see all the plotholes and I think that the actual plot kind of suffered, having been sacrificed to the FEELS!, but, well... Basically this:
1. How badass was Old Merlin with his lightning and his throwing all the Saxons around and just standing their in his epic robe? Badass factor aside, I don't know why he couldn't have done the same thing while still looking young and hot. Probably because he wanted to tell Arthur his secret in private? XD Also, if we remember Arthur's personal history with Merlin's old incarnation, I guess he was really wtf-ed if he realized what sorcerer it was who helped him. XD
2. Gaius, let me love you! I love how proud and fatherly he looked when he saw epic badass old Merlin. He's the Bobby to Merlin's Sam and Dean. I guess I have a thing for stories about a cool mentor figure who is lonely and makes a better father for the character than his actual father. (That said, Balinor's appearance in the previous episode was sweet but a little too sweet for me. I liked Balinor better when he was rude and unimpressed with anything.)
3. Arthur vs Mordred was... anti-climatic. Tbh I'm still very annoyed that Mordred went bonkers over a girl. And it's not like Arthur just murdered an innocent girl in cold blood: she said time and again that she wished Arthur death. With all the propaganda of Arthur as this wonderful, righteous king, for once we do get to see that he's got no choice and he's doing what's right for the kingdom: her fault isn't ambiguous, she is guilty and she is an enemy of Camelot. I think the writers did an interesting thing with Mordred at the start of this season: when we last saw him as a boy, he said he'd never forgive Merlin, but when he returned as a young man, he was gentle and kind and even rejected Morgana who clearly always viewed him as a friend and wanted to be seen that way by him too. It was interesting to see that he had chosen his ground and he really dreamed of one day being accepted by Arthur despite of his own magic. If you make Mordred a good guy, I think it's dumb to have him turn on all his principles just because Arthur had his girl killed.
The fight itself was epically short and blegh. Bye, Mordred, never much cared for you anyway.
(c) amaranthine-dreams
(c) pinkchickenscratch
4. Merlin's confession! Oh my God, Colin, how are you even real!? How do you act like this, with the eyes and the hitching voice and the tears and the... YOUR GODDAMN FACE, SIR! *wipes tears*
(c)221baconstreet
And Arthur's reaction, oh my GOD! Bradley is as much of a life ruiner as Colin is. I'm really happy how the reveal was handled emotionally. Not over the top, it had some bittersweet moments, some cute moments and some "rip your heart out moments".
Also, the little fire dragon demonstration. I love how Merlin demonstrates his epic skillz by doing little tricks with fire when he's revealing himself to someone he doesn't want to fight. XD
5. Arthur to Gaius: "He's a sorcerer!" Gotta love Gaius's stare. Like: well, duh, I live with him, do you honestly believe I may not have noticed?
(c) the-tardis-in-westeros
Also:
(c) pinkchickenscratch
6. Arthur's distrust of Merlin is gorgeous. Damn Bradley and his perfect acting. With the limited time, the evolution of Arthur's attitude towards Merlin's magic was a challenge to portray accurately, but you can just see the growing acceptance. It's clear that it's not Merlin's magic that hurts him, but the fact that he lied. And yet, Arthur can't deny the lies may have been necessary.
7. The do it with magic part was funny. "Feels strange." XDDD
8. A: Why did you never tell me?
M: You would have chopped my head off.
A: I don’t know what I would have done.
M: I didn’t want to put you in that position.
A: That’s what worried you?
The big AWWWW! moment. Along with all the "you're my friend", "I was born to serve you", "I use my magic for you", etc. Even if I didn't ship these two, I'd have started after this. XD But shipping aside, this is stunning. This epic loyalty, love and friendship are just brilliant.
8. Morgana's even more nuts than before. Nothing new. But can smb explain to me what happened to Aithusa after she died? I'd like to think Merlin maybe took care of him b/c the poor little dragon is as unstable as Morgana herself...
Morgana mourning Mordred = T_T. Though I don't think he was ever as hateful as she liked to believe. I kind of wish their relationship had been more explored. But at least they didn't make him into her love interest.
(c) amaranthine-dreams
9. Gwaine and Percival trying to be big damn heroes (read = morons) and take Morgana down by themselves. And of course Gwaine's hurt by a girl. Well, at least she didn't fall in love with him and renounce her traitorous way at the very end. (Speaking of, it was Nance from Being Human series 3, wasn't it? Her death on BH was more spectacular. XD)
10. And of course Gwaine dies. Never much cared for him either, though he was fun and he was a real help to Merlin (esp. where Arthur was an absolute ass). And look, forehead-touching! Did someone take a peek at my Christmas wishlist? ;)))
(c) dumbledoreisabamf
11. Gwen figuring out Merlin's identity all on her own. Not sure how I feel about it. Kind of a logic leap - which looks like this: "Sure, who else would even want to save Arthur? Nice lightning bolts btw." XDDD
12. THIS:
(c)221baconstreet
Along with Arthur finally piecing all the pieces of the puzzle together and remembering all the times Merlin was there. From the shock when he sees Merlin fling the Saxons aside to the observation about the leaves. T_T
13. Morgana's death. I kind of always wanted a magic duel between her and Merlin (esp. now that she knows who Emrys is; see, Arthur, she had no problem believing it XD), but I guess I'll have to make do with her epic fight vs Old Merlin in the previous season. I also wanted Morgana to be at least partially redeemed but it looks like the authors decided she was too far gone. T_T Merlin's: "I blamed myself for what happened to you, but this has to end" was heartbreaking.
(c) pinkchickenscratch
14. Arthur's death. FUCK YOU BBC! Just... My glass case of emotions isn't thick enough to withstand the flood.
(c) pinkchickenscratch
It's impossible to express how much this means to Merlin as well as his fans. T_T And the "just hold me" and Merlin's tears and forehead-touching again because YES!
(c) wholove
15. Kilgarrah is still alive! Yay! I was worried after his last appearance. That said, it's a pity Arthur has missed the flight. Esp. since Merlin let him believe he'd killed this dragon. XD Also, I love Merlin's dragon lord voice.
On the other hand, why the hell did Merlin not even try to protest when Kilgarrah said nothing could be done to save Arthur? They had made it all the way to Avalon, they were like, one step away, literally, from the water! He could have at least tried or he could have at least argued! Promises of reincarnation are all nice and sweet, but how about trying to avoid taking the longer road for once? BBC does love to make people wait though, doesn't it?
(c) rtylering
Merlin's face. Just his face. His eyes. Colin, you have no right to exist. Please continue.
16. Tbh all the talk of Arthur being the Once and Future King kind of irked me. It always had done, but it was even weirder this time. Technically, Arthur hasn't done anything special. They had some years of peace before Morgana started once again taking active action against Camelot, but then, they didn't have major wars during Uther's late reign either. Magic is still outlawed (unless Arthur changes it just by dying and Gwen lifts the ban because Merlin helped Arthur or smth). Basically, given that Gwen becomes the ruler of Camelot (which is so against the legends it's not even funny), Arthur's role was just to usher in her glorious reign. Kilgarrah says that Arthur will rise again when Albion's need is great. The thing is, it didn't seem so great before. But it's always been the main flaw of Merlin's writing: they tell something far too many times and not show it well enough (like the non-existent chemistry between Arthur and Gwen or Arthur's epic destiny). The only thing they basically succeed in is showing the bond between Arthur and Merlin, which is actually fine by me. ;))))
17. I'd heard jokes about the show ending in modern times. I just never thought they were true. XDDD And yet:
(c)221baconstreet
I squee'd. Loudly. XD I wish they'd shown Arthur too but apparently the "need" is not "great" yet. XD I'd like to believe that when Arthur rises, Merlin will magic himself back into his younger version (like in the mini-series) and they'll have epic adventures together. Do the writers seriously read fanfics or what? XD
All in all, yes, it was quite squee-worthy. As for the issues I have with this episode, they're nothing and can be overlooked because this:
Thank you, BBC, for being perfectly cruel as always. ;)
1. How badass was Old Merlin with his lightning and his throwing all the Saxons around and just standing their in his epic robe? Badass factor aside, I don't know why he couldn't have done the same thing while still looking young and hot. Probably because he wanted to tell Arthur his secret in private? XD Also, if we remember Arthur's personal history with Merlin's old incarnation, I guess he was really wtf-ed if he realized what sorcerer it was who helped him. XD
2. Gaius, let me love you! I love how proud and fatherly he looked when he saw epic badass old Merlin. He's the Bobby to Merlin's Sam and Dean. I guess I have a thing for stories about a cool mentor figure who is lonely and makes a better father for the character than his actual father. (That said, Balinor's appearance in the previous episode was sweet but a little too sweet for me. I liked Balinor better when he was rude and unimpressed with anything.)
3. Arthur vs Mordred was... anti-climatic. Tbh I'm still very annoyed that Mordred went bonkers over a girl. And it's not like Arthur just murdered an innocent girl in cold blood: she said time and again that she wished Arthur death. With all the propaganda of Arthur as this wonderful, righteous king, for once we do get to see that he's got no choice and he's doing what's right for the kingdom: her fault isn't ambiguous, she is guilty and she is an enemy of Camelot. I think the writers did an interesting thing with Mordred at the start of this season: when we last saw him as a boy, he said he'd never forgive Merlin, but when he returned as a young man, he was gentle and kind and even rejected Morgana who clearly always viewed him as a friend and wanted to be seen that way by him too. It was interesting to see that he had chosen his ground and he really dreamed of one day being accepted by Arthur despite of his own magic. If you make Mordred a good guy, I think it's dumb to have him turn on all his principles just because Arthur had his girl killed.
The fight itself was epically short and blegh. Bye, Mordred, never much cared for you anyway.
(c) amaranthine-dreams
(c) pinkchickenscratch
4. Merlin's confession! Oh my God, Colin, how are you even real!? How do you act like this, with the eyes and the hitching voice and the tears and the... YOUR GODDAMN FACE, SIR! *wipes tears*
(c)221baconstreet
And Arthur's reaction, oh my GOD! Bradley is as much of a life ruiner as Colin is. I'm really happy how the reveal was handled emotionally. Not over the top, it had some bittersweet moments, some cute moments and some "rip your heart out moments".
Also, the little fire dragon demonstration. I love how Merlin demonstrates his epic skillz by doing little tricks with fire when he's revealing himself to someone he doesn't want to fight. XD
5. Arthur to Gaius: "He's a sorcerer!" Gotta love Gaius's stare. Like: well, duh, I live with him, do you honestly believe I may not have noticed?
(c) the-tardis-in-westeros
Also:
(c) pinkchickenscratch
6. Arthur's distrust of Merlin is gorgeous. Damn Bradley and his perfect acting. With the limited time, the evolution of Arthur's attitude towards Merlin's magic was a challenge to portray accurately, but you can just see the growing acceptance. It's clear that it's not Merlin's magic that hurts him, but the fact that he lied. And yet, Arthur can't deny the lies may have been necessary.
7. The do it with magic part was funny. "Feels strange." XDDD
8. A: Why did you never tell me?
M: You would have chopped my head off.
A: I don’t know what I would have done.
M: I didn’t want to put you in that position.
A: That’s what worried you?
The big AWWWW! moment. Along with all the "you're my friend", "I was born to serve you", "I use my magic for you", etc. Even if I didn't ship these two, I'd have started after this. XD But shipping aside, this is stunning. This epic loyalty, love and friendship are just brilliant.
8. Morgana's even more nuts than before. Nothing new. But can smb explain to me what happened to Aithusa after she died? I'd like to think Merlin maybe took care of him b/c the poor little dragon is as unstable as Morgana herself...
Morgana mourning Mordred = T_T. Though I don't think he was ever as hateful as she liked to believe. I kind of wish their relationship had been more explored. But at least they didn't make him into her love interest.
(c) amaranthine-dreams
9. Gwaine and Percival trying to be big damn heroes (read = morons) and take Morgana down by themselves. And of course Gwaine's hurt by a girl. Well, at least she didn't fall in love with him and renounce her traitorous way at the very end. (Speaking of, it was Nance from Being Human series 3, wasn't it? Her death on BH was more spectacular. XD)
10. And of course Gwaine dies. Never much cared for him either, though he was fun and he was a real help to Merlin (esp. where Arthur was an absolute ass). And look, forehead-touching! Did someone take a peek at my Christmas wishlist? ;)))
(c) dumbledoreisabamf
11. Gwen figuring out Merlin's identity all on her own. Not sure how I feel about it. Kind of a logic leap - which looks like this: "Sure, who else would even want to save Arthur? Nice lightning bolts btw." XDDD
12. THIS:
(c)221baconstreet
Along with Arthur finally piecing all the pieces of the puzzle together and remembering all the times Merlin was there. From the shock when he sees Merlin fling the Saxons aside to the observation about the leaves. T_T
13. Morgana's death. I kind of always wanted a magic duel between her and Merlin (esp. now that she knows who Emrys is; see, Arthur, she had no problem believing it XD), but I guess I'll have to make do with her epic fight vs Old Merlin in the previous season. I also wanted Morgana to be at least partially redeemed but it looks like the authors decided she was too far gone. T_T Merlin's: "I blamed myself for what happened to you, but this has to end" was heartbreaking.
(c) pinkchickenscratch
14. Arthur's death. FUCK YOU BBC! Just... My glass case of emotions isn't thick enough to withstand the flood.
(c) pinkchickenscratch
It's impossible to express how much this means to Merlin as well as his fans. T_T And the "just hold me" and Merlin's tears and forehead-touching again because YES!
(c) wholove
15. Kilgarrah is still alive! Yay! I was worried after his last appearance. That said, it's a pity Arthur has missed the flight. Esp. since Merlin let him believe he'd killed this dragon. XD Also, I love Merlin's dragon lord voice.
On the other hand, why the hell did Merlin not even try to protest when Kilgarrah said nothing could be done to save Arthur? They had made it all the way to Avalon, they were like, one step away, literally, from the water! He could have at least tried or he could have at least argued! Promises of reincarnation are all nice and sweet, but how about trying to avoid taking the longer road for once? BBC does love to make people wait though, doesn't it?
(c) rtylering
Merlin's face. Just his face. His eyes. Colin, you have no right to exist. Please continue.
16. Tbh all the talk of Arthur being the Once and Future King kind of irked me. It always had done, but it was even weirder this time. Technically, Arthur hasn't done anything special. They had some years of peace before Morgana started once again taking active action against Camelot, but then, they didn't have major wars during Uther's late reign either. Magic is still outlawed (unless Arthur changes it just by dying and Gwen lifts the ban because Merlin helped Arthur or smth). Basically, given that Gwen becomes the ruler of Camelot (which is so against the legends it's not even funny), Arthur's role was just to usher in her glorious reign. Kilgarrah says that Arthur will rise again when Albion's need is great. The thing is, it didn't seem so great before. But it's always been the main flaw of Merlin's writing: they tell something far too many times and not show it well enough (like the non-existent chemistry between Arthur and Gwen or Arthur's epic destiny). The only thing they basically succeed in is showing the bond between Arthur and Merlin, which is actually fine by me. ;))))
17. I'd heard jokes about the show ending in modern times. I just never thought they were true. XDDD And yet:
(c)221baconstreet
I squee'd. Loudly. XD I wish they'd shown Arthur too but apparently the "need" is not "great" yet. XD I'd like to believe that when Arthur rises, Merlin will magic himself back into his younger version (like in the mini-series) and they'll have epic adventures together. Do the writers seriously read fanfics or what? XD
All in all, yes, it was quite squee-worthy. As for the issues I have with this episode, they're nothing and can be overlooked because this:
Thank you, BBC, for being perfectly cruel as always. ;)