His Father's Son...again
Just me rambling really.
After last week's episode was All About Merlin I was partly expecting this one to be All About Arthur, but in a way it's more All About Uther and the long shadow he casts over his children. Arthur loved and admired his father and spent most (if not all) of his life wanting his father to be proud of him; by the end of Uther's life Morgana loathed and detested him and wanted to reject everything he stood for. By the end of the episode it's obvious, as if it wasn't already, that Arthur may have inherited some characteristics from Uther but really none of his mindset, but Morgana has turned herself into Uther in female form.
It's not just his children that are affected by Uther. Annis automatically thinks that Arthur resembles Uther and only allies herself with Morgana when Morgana reminds her that she may have been Uther's daughter but she was brought up by Gorlois. Agravaine uses Arthur's need to prove himself as the king his father would have wanted him to be to manipulate Arthur. Even Merlin is a little bit afraid that Arthur could turn in to Uther Mk II.
I really like the fact that we're being shown Arthur making mistakes. Even though he's spent a year as regent in his father's name he'd spent many years before that as a prince with no power who we've seen thrown in prison, humiliated and even disinherited for going against his father's orders. Suddenly having full power and the ability to wield it as he wishes is going to take some getting used to. Following his father's model of kingship obviously means he sees himself as entirely alone. There are several moments that show how he's trying to distance himself from everybody most notably when he's standing inside the tent watching the knights and Merlin laughing and joking outside, but there's another scene when Agravaine goes to speak to him in the Council Chamber and he's sitting on his own at the end of the table just as Uther used to do. It's still a long way from here to the Round Table.
One of the ways in which Agravaine works as a subtle villain is that his advice to Arthur isn't necessarily wrong. Caerleon has, to all intents and purposes invaded, and shows no sign of backing down from his position. It's no wonder that Agravaine manages to convince Arthur to kill Caerleon as he plays on what Uther has always been telling Arthur, that he must be strong.
Merlin is a little bit subdued this episode. Arthur's in a position where magic will not help until the end and Merlin can only offer advice which Arthur doesn't accept. I thought it was interesting that Merlin may have disapproved of Arthur's decision but he knew it wasn't one he'd come to lightly so he doesn't openly disagree with it after his initial advice had been rejected. Their interaction feels more adult than it has up until this point as I think they are both trying to adjust to the fact that Arthur is now king. Even at the end when Merlin is cheerfully insulting Arthur again he does glance behind him briefly to see how close anyone else is before calling Arthur a "cabbage head". I love the way that they are much more open now about calling each other friend, there was always a qualifier before from both of them, but with Uther's death that's changed. Arthur is making small steps towards being the king he wants to be even by calling his servant his friend.
I really liked the fact that Arthur's offer to Annis of a single combat between champions is entirely his own idea. There may be a few more hiccups along the way thanks to Agravaine but Arthur has proved to everyone, and maybe himself most of all, that he doesn't need to be Uther Mk II to be strong and gain peace.
I've already said how much I enjoyed Lindsay Duncan's performance as Annis and how nice it is to see a middle-aged woman portrayed as someone intelligent, rational and probably with the potential to be a better ruler than her husband (who appeared somewhat rash and lacking in forethought to me). Her character arc parallels Arthur's in that they were both being swayed by biased advice and both overcome it. Her final comments to Morgana show what an excellent judge of character she is. Morgana's obsessive nature and blinkered mindset has shown again and again how like Uther she is, but I'm not sure she's ever been told that before and obviously didn't like what she heard.
I get the feeling that Agravaine's campaign against Gwen will continue despite having failed this time. Again he's very subtle as he doesn't just use what Uther would have done but also comes up with an almost more telling argument that the people of Camelot would not approve of Arthur and a blacksmith's daughter. If there's one thing Arthur cares about more than Uther's opinion it's that of the people of Camelot. Although Gwen is justifiably angry I loved the dignified way she behaved (beautifully done by Angel Coulby) but in many ways she can't counter Arthur's arguments because she's used them herself. She did let him off lightly in the final scene but when confronted by a bare footed Arthur holding up some wilted flowers who could resist :)
Speaking of not being able to resist I think all actors should demand to be filmed in 35mm. The Merlin cast has always been great to look at but this season they're just stunning. Rewatching the episode again on my computer screen it was really hard to avoid drooling all over the keyboard.
Good strong story with some excellent performances, particularly by Lindsay Duncan and Bradley James who is finally being given more material to really stretch him.
Now I just need to hunt down my missing icon muse and make some icons from this series.
After last week's episode was All About Merlin I was partly expecting this one to be All About Arthur, but in a way it's more All About Uther and the long shadow he casts over his children. Arthur loved and admired his father and spent most (if not all) of his life wanting his father to be proud of him; by the end of Uther's life Morgana loathed and detested him and wanted to reject everything he stood for. By the end of the episode it's obvious, as if it wasn't already, that Arthur may have inherited some characteristics from Uther but really none of his mindset, but Morgana has turned herself into Uther in female form.
It's not just his children that are affected by Uther. Annis automatically thinks that Arthur resembles Uther and only allies herself with Morgana when Morgana reminds her that she may have been Uther's daughter but she was brought up by Gorlois. Agravaine uses Arthur's need to prove himself as the king his father would have wanted him to be to manipulate Arthur. Even Merlin is a little bit afraid that Arthur could turn in to Uther Mk II.
I really like the fact that we're being shown Arthur making mistakes. Even though he's spent a year as regent in his father's name he'd spent many years before that as a prince with no power who we've seen thrown in prison, humiliated and even disinherited for going against his father's orders. Suddenly having full power and the ability to wield it as he wishes is going to take some getting used to. Following his father's model of kingship obviously means he sees himself as entirely alone. There are several moments that show how he's trying to distance himself from everybody most notably when he's standing inside the tent watching the knights and Merlin laughing and joking outside, but there's another scene when Agravaine goes to speak to him in the Council Chamber and he's sitting on his own at the end of the table just as Uther used to do. It's still a long way from here to the Round Table.
One of the ways in which Agravaine works as a subtle villain is that his advice to Arthur isn't necessarily wrong. Caerleon has, to all intents and purposes invaded, and shows no sign of backing down from his position. It's no wonder that Agravaine manages to convince Arthur to kill Caerleon as he plays on what Uther has always been telling Arthur, that he must be strong.
Merlin is a little bit subdued this episode. Arthur's in a position where magic will not help until the end and Merlin can only offer advice which Arthur doesn't accept. I thought it was interesting that Merlin may have disapproved of Arthur's decision but he knew it wasn't one he'd come to lightly so he doesn't openly disagree with it after his initial advice had been rejected. Their interaction feels more adult than it has up until this point as I think they are both trying to adjust to the fact that Arthur is now king. Even at the end when Merlin is cheerfully insulting Arthur again he does glance behind him briefly to see how close anyone else is before calling Arthur a "cabbage head". I love the way that they are much more open now about calling each other friend, there was always a qualifier before from both of them, but with Uther's death that's changed. Arthur is making small steps towards being the king he wants to be even by calling his servant his friend.
I really liked the fact that Arthur's offer to Annis of a single combat between champions is entirely his own idea. There may be a few more hiccups along the way thanks to Agravaine but Arthur has proved to everyone, and maybe himself most of all, that he doesn't need to be Uther Mk II to be strong and gain peace.
I've already said how much I enjoyed Lindsay Duncan's performance as Annis and how nice it is to see a middle-aged woman portrayed as someone intelligent, rational and probably with the potential to be a better ruler than her husband (who appeared somewhat rash and lacking in forethought to me). Her character arc parallels Arthur's in that they were both being swayed by biased advice and both overcome it. Her final comments to Morgana show what an excellent judge of character she is. Morgana's obsessive nature and blinkered mindset has shown again and again how like Uther she is, but I'm not sure she's ever been told that before and obviously didn't like what she heard.
I get the feeling that Agravaine's campaign against Gwen will continue despite having failed this time. Again he's very subtle as he doesn't just use what Uther would have done but also comes up with an almost more telling argument that the people of Camelot would not approve of Arthur and a blacksmith's daughter. If there's one thing Arthur cares about more than Uther's opinion it's that of the people of Camelot. Although Gwen is justifiably angry I loved the dignified way she behaved (beautifully done by Angel Coulby) but in many ways she can't counter Arthur's arguments because she's used them herself. She did let him off lightly in the final scene but when confronted by a bare footed Arthur holding up some wilted flowers who could resist :)
Speaking of not being able to resist I think all actors should demand to be filmed in 35mm. The Merlin cast has always been great to look at but this season they're just stunning. Rewatching the episode again on my computer screen it was really hard to avoid drooling all over the keyboard.
Good strong story with some excellent performances, particularly by Lindsay Duncan and Bradley James who is finally being given more material to really stretch him.
Now I just need to hunt down my missing icon muse and make some icons from this series.