The Gates of Avalon
I am waiting for the gas man to come and restore my gas after disconnecting it so this is even more horrendously long and turgid than usual. Sigh...
Usual disclaimers. All my own fun. Feel free to skip. Spoilers for all of Merlin.
The Gates of Avalon
By Ben Vanstone. Directed by Jeremy Webb.
The episode opens with strange dream-like visuals of Arthur drowning underwater apparently held down by the magical powers of a young woman. There is a sudden cut to Morgana waking up terrified as we were seeing her dream.
For the first time in the series Arthur and Merlin are out hunting, an activity which has been a gift to many a fanfic writer. In fact Arthur is hunting and Merlin is…not helping, though the insults are flying nicely. They come across Aulfric and Sophia under attack from bandits and Arthur nobly steps in to save them. He despatches most of the bandits with sword twirls and vicious use of his elbow and those he doesn’t get Merlin removes with a handily falling branch, a trick he’s going to use again and again and again, so it’s quite interesting that the first time he does it Arthur actually notices and remarks how lucky it was. Aulfric is an elderly man but his daughter Sophia (played by Holliday Grainger aka Lucrezia Borgia) is, as Arthur notices, an attractive young woman. They are rather richly and impractically dressed for travelling and carrying strange staffs.
Attraction or enchantment?
Aulfric introduces himself to Uther as the heir to Tighamor (sp?) and tells him they have been driven from their home by raiders and are on their way to family in Caerleon (first mention I think). Uther invites them to stay in Camelot for a while and snobbishly comments that noble families like theirs are welcome visitors. Merlin spots Arthur looking pleased and back in his room they banter a little about Sophia’s beauty and Arthur’s honourable intentions towards her.
Nudge nudge, wink wink!
Morgana notices Merlin escorting Sophia to her room and recognises Sophia as the young woman from her dream. She rushes to Gaius who greets her affectionately whilst absent-mindedly setting his bench on fire, which might have been a little nod to “The Sword in the Stone” by T.H. White where Merlin sets his beard on fire otherwise I can’t see much point to it. Morgana then tells Gaius the events of her dream and it obviously isn’t the first one that she’s talked to him about. He tries to persuade her that her mind is playing tricks on her but she points out to him that she had the dream before Sophia came to Camelot. Gaius replies “these are just dreams Morgana, nothing more” and asks if she’s taking the sleeping draught he’s made up for her. He tells her she has no need to fear but as she leaves tells her “don’t bother Uther about this. No need to worry him.”
No need to worry, much.
Up until this point there is no reason to think that Aulfric and Sophia are anything other than what they say they are but the only bandit who escaped Arthur is met by Aulfric in the woods. It becomes apparent that the attack was staged as Aulfric kills the bandit using his staff and with his eyes glowing red as he does so.
Morgana dreams of Arthur drowning again and again wakes terrified.
Arthur tells Merlin he’s taking Sophia out riding to show her around and asks Merlin to lie to his father to cover for him. Merlin protests that he’s a terrible liar “I start sweating, my vision blurs, my brain stops working.” Arthur admits he really wants to spend some time with Sophia and employs the puppy eyes trick to get Merlin to agree. They sound exactly like the teenage boys they more or less are here.
Who can resist the puppy eyes?
Gwen, in her only appearance this episode, advises Morgana to tell the King her fears about Sophia but Morgana says she can’t tell him she can see the future as “he hates magic more than he cares for me.” Gwen insists this isn’t true but Morgana won’t put it to the test. She obviously doesn’t accept Gaius’s assurances that her dreams are only dreams but it’s interesting that she’s quite open about it with Gwen at this point.
Merlin is all guileless innocence when telling Uther that Arthur’s absence is his fault, proving that he’s anything but a bad liar, but can’t prevent himself from ending up in the stocks.
What to do with leftovers from your veg box Camelot style.
Arthur is escorting Sophia in the woods when she attempts to cast some kind of spell on him, which is fortuitously interrupted by Camelot guards nearly killing both of them. Arthur is furious but Sophia is very shaken though she quickly masks it.
Gaius is surprised at the sight of Merlin after his time in the stocks and even more surprised that Arthur had asked him to cover for him. He presumes that Arthur must have had something very important to do but Merlin explains he is besotted with Sophia. Gaius ponders this and goes to explore Aulfric’s room. He finds the staff very interesting but is interrupted by an angry Aulfric whose eyes flare red. Gaius gets out…fast.
Sophia and the very smitten Arthur arrive back in Camelot.
Smitten kitten
Sophia runs into Morgana on the stairs and a bitch fest ensues. Sophia’s sweetness slips completely and she accuses Morgana of jealousy. Morgana lets her know that if anything happens to Arthur she’ll find Sophia “however long it takes” and exits leaving Sophia to smirk evilly. As Morgana is later the mistress of evil smirks this is a tad ironic in retrospect.
Bitch!
Sophia tells her father what happened in the woods, that she nearly died a “mortal death” and how it felt to be saved by someone “so weak, so feeble”. She can’t bear to live like this a moment longer (Arwen Evenstar she ain’t) but Aulfric tells her that once Arthur’s heart is theirs the Gates of Avalon will open to them and they can regain their true form. They need to do it quickly as Gaius knows what they are and Sophia tells him that so does Morgana though “she fears her powers”.
I just like these shots.
Morgana tries to warn Arthur about Sophia but he presumes she’s jealous and says it “wouldn’t be the first time”. She tells him she has had a nightmare about it at which point he laughs at her and tells her obnoxiously that she’s very sweet and it’s obvious she likes him. She tells him he’s “intolerable” and flounces out.
Arthur shirks his duties again to be with Sophia. Merlin is taking a quite prurient interest in it all (and obviously has no clue that Arthur is being slowly enchanted) so offers to cover for him. Arthur tells him not to end up in the stocks this time but Merlin finds himself back there again.
Sophia strengthens the enchantment on Arthur and now his eyes start to glow red to match hers.
His and hers eye glow.
Gaius tells Merlin that he shouldn’t have helped Arthur spend time with Sophia (“I’m his servant, I had to.”) and tells him about Morgana’s dream and his fear that she’s a seer. He has been watching Morgana since she was a child and has noticed that some of her dreams come true but Uther can never know this as a seer’s powers are too close to magic. Gaius is worried about what Aulfric and Sophia want with Arthur.
Sophia continues to strengthen the enchantment on Arthur and persuades him they must marry so they can be together “till death do us part”.
Merlin follows Aulfric as he makes a night-time journey to a mysterious lake. He asks to speak to the Sidhe elders and the lake starts to glow with strange flashing lights. Merlin slows time to see the light creatures more clearly and at first is entranced as they take the shape of tiny creatures with wings.
They seem so pretty
Aulfric begs for the chance to return to Avalon and a life of immortality but is told that his punishment for killing a fellow Sidhe is a mortal body and a mortal life. Aulfric pleads that Sophia be allowed to return but is told that in exchange they must give the Sidhe the soul of a mortal prince. Merlin looks on in horror as Aulfric promises the soul of “the greatest prince of all, Arthur Pendragon”.
Mwahahaha…
Back in Camelot Gaius tells Merlin that he must have seen Avalon “the land of eternal youth” but that “mortals are only supposed to glimpse it the moment before death”. Merlin replies “well I’ve seen it and I’m still here.” Merlin is more interested in the fact that Aulfric is going to sacrifice Arthur than what Avalon looks like. Gaius has now managed to identify the writing on Aulfric’s staff as Ogham and can translate what it says as “to hold life and death in your hands”. He knows they are dealing with the Sidhe “masters of enchantment” and that Morgana’s dream is coming true.
Arthur has requested a formal audience with Uther where he declares his love for Sophia and asks Uther’s permission to marry her.
One of the instances when Uther's reaction is actually the right one.
Uther bursts out laughing as he points out that they have only known each other for two days. Arthur insists on their love and that they will marry. Uther threatens Aulfric and Sophia with execution unless Arthur shows him some respect. Arthur appears to back down as Uther tells him that Sophia might be his first love but she won’t be his last and to enjoy himself while he can. Uther’s tactics for ensuring Arthur’s obedience are quite brutal and as he didn’t see the mutinous look on Arthur’s face as he left the room I’m sure he thought they had worked.
Morgana tells Uther he should take the situation more seriously as she doesn’t trust Sophia and the effect she’s having on Arthur. Uther insists Arthur is merely young and foolish and can’t understand what Sophia might have done to cause Morgana’s feelings about her. Morgana says it’s not what she’s done but what she’s going to do. Then there is a pivotal moment for the whole series where Morgana says “I don’t know how to tell you this” and Uther replies “whatever it is you can tell me”. For one very brief moment it almost seems as if she’s going to tell him about her prophetic dream but then she backs down and replies that she just doesn’t want Arthur hurt. Uther tells her Arthur will hurt for a week and it will be a lesson he has to learn for himself. He’s at his most fatherly and benevolent here and again asks her if there’s anything else she wants to say, but Morgana declines. It’s an interesting but unanswerable question to wonder what would have happened if her concern for Arthur had outweighed her fear of Uther’s reaction and she had told him about her dreams.
What if?
Merlin finds Arthur in his rooms packing. He tells him he sympathises but that Uther had a point. Arthur responds with “who are you to tell me what I’m thinking“. Merlin replies “I’m your friend” but Arthur snaps back with “No Merlin, you’re my servant.” This is a theme which will continue throughout the series as the position of servant gives way to a near (so far) acknowledgement of friendship. Merlin is hurt but persists in pointing out as Sophia and Aulfric appear that Arthur is enchanted. Merlin tells Arthur what Aulfric and Sophia are trying to do as Arthur visibly struggles with the enchantment but when he turns towards Merlin, who is still pleading with him to listen, his eyes have turned red. Merlin is horrified, tries to run towards Aulfric but is blasted by his staff.
Morgana sees Arthur, Aulfric and Sophia leaving the castle and rushes to Gaius. Gaius reassures her that he does believe her about her dream but that she mustn’t tell Uther, which she was preparing to do. Gaius tells her clearly that if Uther thinks she is a seer he’ll charge her with witchcraft. Morgana believes she doesn’t have a choice but Gaius begs her to trust him and that he will find someone who can help.
Gaius finds Merlin still slumped where Aulfric had left him. As Merlin revives and prepares to go after Arthur Gaius cautions him to be careful as the Sidhe are a “vicious people”.
Merlin runs desperately through the forest towards the lake where Aulfric is explaining to Sophia that the sacrifice of Arthur will only give her the power to return to Avalon. She had believed it would enable both of them to return but Aulfric tells her she must go through with the ceremony now otherwise the Sidhe elders will take her soul instead of Arthur’s. Sophia bids Aulfric a tearful goodbye and leads the unresisting Arthur into the lake. As Aulfric chants the words of the ceremony (and the music rises) Sophia pushes Arthur under the water. We see the images of Morgana’s dream as Arthur slowly drowns held underwater by Sophia’s power.
The tension of the whole scene is really enhanced by the shots of Merlin desperately running as Arthur floats downwards helplessly.
When Merlin finally arrives on the scene he notices Sophia’s staff lying discarded on the ground and uses it to unhesitatingly blast Aulfric and then Sophia to smithereens. It’s a scary display of raw power and anger.
BAMF!Merlin or “Nobody messes with my boyfriend no matter how much of an entitled prat he is!”
There are still more tense moments as Merlin desperately searches the water for the drowning Arthur but the music swells triumphantly as he finally pulls him from the water.
Merlin and Gaius are sitting by Arthur’s bedside as he slowly wakes up and is completely aghast as he remembers that he asked Sophia to marry him. He doesn’t remember “eloping” with Sophia at all and is persuaded that the memory loss is the result of Merlin knocking him out in order to return him to Camelot. Arthur is horrified at the thought of Merlin overpowering him and insists that no-one should know anything about any of it. I presume this suits Merlin and Gaius perfectly as it avoids awkward questions about everything.
Oh boys!
Arthur, Merlin and Gaius appear before Uther to explain Arthur’s absence that morning. Arthur uses the excuse that he was mending his broken heart after Sophia left by going on a hunt and having fun killing things (much to Morgana’s disgust), but Merlin forgot to pass the message on. Uther wonders if Merlin has a “grave mental” affliction and makes a joke about a food shortage, which Merlin finally realises means he’ll be in the stocks again. His persona as a hapless and helpless servant is fully in place.
Morgana comes to Gaius for more sleeping draught and tells Merlin that Arthur has told her what really happened commenting that Merlin must have hit him really hard and revealing that she doesn’t know that her dream came true. After she leaves Gaius cautions Merlin that she must never know the truth though Merlin asks why not as her dream helped save Arthur’s life. Gaius points out to him that it could have cost her own life if Uther had found out. Merlin wonders if she has magical powers like him, Gaius tries to make a joke of it but eventually responds “for her sake, I hope not”.
The episode ends with Morgana waking from a nightmare again.
Morgana has been rather in the background for the last few episodes but this is the one where her story arc could really be said to begin. Her bad dreams have been mentioned in passing before but this is the first time we see them for the prophecies they truly are and the implications they have for her safety at Uther’s court.
There is a lot of criticism of Gaius for his actions in drugging Morgana and keeping her in the dark about her dreams. I can see the point but I think her safety was originally his paramount concern as he believed that telling Uther would be the equivalent of signing Morgana’s own death warrant. Gaius was not in possession of the crucial piece of information that Morgana was not just Uther’s ward but also his daughter, which might possibly have altered Uther’s attitude to her burgeoning prophetic and later magical powers. Initially she was just as sure as Gaius that telling Uther about her dreams would be dangerous and it was only when the threat to Arthur grew that she considered doing so. I think it was the fact that she might have been hot-headed enough to blurt it out to Uther that made Gaius conceal the fact that the dream had come true from her, hoping to make her doubt that her powers were those of a seer which they had previously been openly discussing. This could only ever be a short-term solution to the problem as the ending of the episode made clear and Morgana’s powers remained a ticking time bomb that neither Gaius or Merlin could defuse.
It’s very sad to see Morgana is willing to risk her own life to save Arthur’s given the situation between them at the end of series 4. Sophia (and Arthur, though possibly under Sophia’s influence) accuse Morgana of jealousy in her hostile reaction to Sophia but Uther appears to see Morgana’s concern for Arthur as sisterly. Sophia’s insinuation is that Morgana had been rejected by Arthur and Arthur patronisingly implies she’s been jealous before. The possibility of a romantic relationship between them is still open at this point, though they obviously don’t really know what they feel about each other and seem more and more like siblings as the show goes on. The fact that Arthur does tell her what he thinks happened with Sophia is a nice sign of trust though it has the unintended consequence of giving Gaius the opportunity to lie to her.
Merlin is also a little confused about his relationship towards Arthur. Is he his servant or is he his friend and is it possible to be both? The witty insults traded between them point at friendship as does Merlin's interest in Arthur's love life, but as Arthur unkindly and firmly reminds him Merlin is a servant and has no choice but to accept punishment in the stocks on Arthur's behalf. Arthur’s entitled attitude isn’t very endearing as Sophia’s enchantments bring out the worst in him.
Merlin’s duty above all is to protect Arthur but he nearly slips up here as he is almost as blindsided as Arthur by Sophia. Merlin hasn’t really known Arthur long enough to realise, as Gaius does, that Arthur’s shirking of his duties is unusual for someone whose watchword is responsibility. It’s only the fact that Gaius takes Morgana and her dreams seriously that actually alerts Merlin to the danger almost too late. This may account for the real fury in the way he despatches Aulfric and Sophia.
The anger Merlin displays towards the Sidhe hasn’t lessened in the next episode we see them in “The Changeling”. Aulfric and Sophia may care about each other but they are inhuman and it shows in the way they treat Arthur as an item to be bartered for their own gain. There is a slight continuity issue with “The Changeling” as Aulfric’s plan to give the Sidhe Elders Arthur’s soul would seem to conflict with their very long-term and over-complicated plan involving Elena, but I presume they didn’t mind sacrificing dodgy long-term benefit for short-term gain! In both episodes the Sidhe are depicted as heartless hostile creatures but the fact they inhabit Avalon brings in an important element of Arthurian mythology.
Throughout the series the dead come back through water but the Lake of Avalon appears to be special and Avalon itself is described as the “land of eternal youth”. It’s touching to think that this seems to be the same lake where Merlin sends both Freya and Lancelot to rest. The fact that Merlin himself can see Avalon is another pointer to the fact he might be immortal as is his surviving Aulfric’s attack. Gaius said his magic protected him, but Gaius might not be entirely truthful about that.
It's an interesting episode which I actually enjoyed more on this rewatch than I have before. The secrets and lies that are starting to surround Morgana are already heart-breaking and it's very interesting to wonder if Gaius would have acted as he did if he'd known she was Uther's daughter. Instead he's deferred the problem of her dreams and possible powers out of fear for her safety, but his attempted reassurance won't last and the whole situation will explode nastily for everyone. In retrospect it's a sad episode.
Screencaps are from disparue.org
Now where's the bloody gas man? I've got to go out soon and I don't want to leave with no gas.
ETA: Gas fitter has finally arrived. Fortunately we don't have to have our gas meter replaced, unlike our next door neighbour!
Usual disclaimers. All my own fun. Feel free to skip. Spoilers for all of Merlin.
The Gates of Avalon
By Ben Vanstone. Directed by Jeremy Webb.
The episode opens with strange dream-like visuals of Arthur drowning underwater apparently held down by the magical powers of a young woman. There is a sudden cut to Morgana waking up terrified as we were seeing her dream.
For the first time in the series Arthur and Merlin are out hunting, an activity which has been a gift to many a fanfic writer. In fact Arthur is hunting and Merlin is…not helping, though the insults are flying nicely. They come across Aulfric and Sophia under attack from bandits and Arthur nobly steps in to save them. He despatches most of the bandits with sword twirls and vicious use of his elbow and those he doesn’t get Merlin removes with a handily falling branch, a trick he’s going to use again and again and again, so it’s quite interesting that the first time he does it Arthur actually notices and remarks how lucky it was. Aulfric is an elderly man but his daughter Sophia (played by Holliday Grainger aka Lucrezia Borgia) is, as Arthur notices, an attractive young woman. They are rather richly and impractically dressed for travelling and carrying strange staffs.
Attraction or enchantment?
Aulfric introduces himself to Uther as the heir to Tighamor (sp?) and tells him they have been driven from their home by raiders and are on their way to family in Caerleon (first mention I think). Uther invites them to stay in Camelot for a while and snobbishly comments that noble families like theirs are welcome visitors. Merlin spots Arthur looking pleased and back in his room they banter a little about Sophia’s beauty and Arthur’s honourable intentions towards her.
Nudge nudge, wink wink!
Morgana notices Merlin escorting Sophia to her room and recognises Sophia as the young woman from her dream. She rushes to Gaius who greets her affectionately whilst absent-mindedly setting his bench on fire, which might have been a little nod to “The Sword in the Stone” by T.H. White where Merlin sets his beard on fire otherwise I can’t see much point to it. Morgana then tells Gaius the events of her dream and it obviously isn’t the first one that she’s talked to him about. He tries to persuade her that her mind is playing tricks on her but she points out to him that she had the dream before Sophia came to Camelot. Gaius replies “these are just dreams Morgana, nothing more” and asks if she’s taking the sleeping draught he’s made up for her. He tells her she has no need to fear but as she leaves tells her “don’t bother Uther about this. No need to worry him.”
No need to worry, much.
Up until this point there is no reason to think that Aulfric and Sophia are anything other than what they say they are but the only bandit who escaped Arthur is met by Aulfric in the woods. It becomes apparent that the attack was staged as Aulfric kills the bandit using his staff and with his eyes glowing red as he does so.
Morgana dreams of Arthur drowning again and again wakes terrified.
Arthur tells Merlin he’s taking Sophia out riding to show her around and asks Merlin to lie to his father to cover for him. Merlin protests that he’s a terrible liar “I start sweating, my vision blurs, my brain stops working.” Arthur admits he really wants to spend some time with Sophia and employs the puppy eyes trick to get Merlin to agree. They sound exactly like the teenage boys they more or less are here.
Who can resist the puppy eyes?
Gwen, in her only appearance this episode, advises Morgana to tell the King her fears about Sophia but Morgana says she can’t tell him she can see the future as “he hates magic more than he cares for me.” Gwen insists this isn’t true but Morgana won’t put it to the test. She obviously doesn’t accept Gaius’s assurances that her dreams are only dreams but it’s interesting that she’s quite open about it with Gwen at this point.
Merlin is all guileless innocence when telling Uther that Arthur’s absence is his fault, proving that he’s anything but a bad liar, but can’t prevent himself from ending up in the stocks.
What to do with leftovers from your veg box Camelot style.
Arthur is escorting Sophia in the woods when she attempts to cast some kind of spell on him, which is fortuitously interrupted by Camelot guards nearly killing both of them. Arthur is furious but Sophia is very shaken though she quickly masks it.
Gaius is surprised at the sight of Merlin after his time in the stocks and even more surprised that Arthur had asked him to cover for him. He presumes that Arthur must have had something very important to do but Merlin explains he is besotted with Sophia. Gaius ponders this and goes to explore Aulfric’s room. He finds the staff very interesting but is interrupted by an angry Aulfric whose eyes flare red. Gaius gets out…fast.
Sophia and the very smitten Arthur arrive back in Camelot.
Smitten kitten
Sophia runs into Morgana on the stairs and a bitch fest ensues. Sophia’s sweetness slips completely and she accuses Morgana of jealousy. Morgana lets her know that if anything happens to Arthur she’ll find Sophia “however long it takes” and exits leaving Sophia to smirk evilly. As Morgana is later the mistress of evil smirks this is a tad ironic in retrospect.
Bitch!
Sophia tells her father what happened in the woods, that she nearly died a “mortal death” and how it felt to be saved by someone “so weak, so feeble”. She can’t bear to live like this a moment longer (Arwen Evenstar she ain’t) but Aulfric tells her that once Arthur’s heart is theirs the Gates of Avalon will open to them and they can regain their true form. They need to do it quickly as Gaius knows what they are and Sophia tells him that so does Morgana though “she fears her powers”.
I just like these shots.
Morgana tries to warn Arthur about Sophia but he presumes she’s jealous and says it “wouldn’t be the first time”. She tells him she has had a nightmare about it at which point he laughs at her and tells her obnoxiously that she’s very sweet and it’s obvious she likes him. She tells him he’s “intolerable” and flounces out.
Arthur shirks his duties again to be with Sophia. Merlin is taking a quite prurient interest in it all (and obviously has no clue that Arthur is being slowly enchanted) so offers to cover for him. Arthur tells him not to end up in the stocks this time but Merlin finds himself back there again.
Sophia strengthens the enchantment on Arthur and now his eyes start to glow red to match hers.
His and hers eye glow.
Gaius tells Merlin that he shouldn’t have helped Arthur spend time with Sophia (“I’m his servant, I had to.”) and tells him about Morgana’s dream and his fear that she’s a seer. He has been watching Morgana since she was a child and has noticed that some of her dreams come true but Uther can never know this as a seer’s powers are too close to magic. Gaius is worried about what Aulfric and Sophia want with Arthur.
Sophia continues to strengthen the enchantment on Arthur and persuades him they must marry so they can be together “till death do us part”.
Merlin follows Aulfric as he makes a night-time journey to a mysterious lake. He asks to speak to the Sidhe elders and the lake starts to glow with strange flashing lights. Merlin slows time to see the light creatures more clearly and at first is entranced as they take the shape of tiny creatures with wings.
They seem so pretty
Aulfric begs for the chance to return to Avalon and a life of immortality but is told that his punishment for killing a fellow Sidhe is a mortal body and a mortal life. Aulfric pleads that Sophia be allowed to return but is told that in exchange they must give the Sidhe the soul of a mortal prince. Merlin looks on in horror as Aulfric promises the soul of “the greatest prince of all, Arthur Pendragon”.
Mwahahaha…
Back in Camelot Gaius tells Merlin that he must have seen Avalon “the land of eternal youth” but that “mortals are only supposed to glimpse it the moment before death”. Merlin replies “well I’ve seen it and I’m still here.” Merlin is more interested in the fact that Aulfric is going to sacrifice Arthur than what Avalon looks like. Gaius has now managed to identify the writing on Aulfric’s staff as Ogham and can translate what it says as “to hold life and death in your hands”. He knows they are dealing with the Sidhe “masters of enchantment” and that Morgana’s dream is coming true.
Arthur has requested a formal audience with Uther where he declares his love for Sophia and asks Uther’s permission to marry her.
One of the instances when Uther's reaction is actually the right one.
Uther bursts out laughing as he points out that they have only known each other for two days. Arthur insists on their love and that they will marry. Uther threatens Aulfric and Sophia with execution unless Arthur shows him some respect. Arthur appears to back down as Uther tells him that Sophia might be his first love but she won’t be his last and to enjoy himself while he can. Uther’s tactics for ensuring Arthur’s obedience are quite brutal and as he didn’t see the mutinous look on Arthur’s face as he left the room I’m sure he thought they had worked.
Morgana tells Uther he should take the situation more seriously as she doesn’t trust Sophia and the effect she’s having on Arthur. Uther insists Arthur is merely young and foolish and can’t understand what Sophia might have done to cause Morgana’s feelings about her. Morgana says it’s not what she’s done but what she’s going to do. Then there is a pivotal moment for the whole series where Morgana says “I don’t know how to tell you this” and Uther replies “whatever it is you can tell me”. For one very brief moment it almost seems as if she’s going to tell him about her prophetic dream but then she backs down and replies that she just doesn’t want Arthur hurt. Uther tells her Arthur will hurt for a week and it will be a lesson he has to learn for himself. He’s at his most fatherly and benevolent here and again asks her if there’s anything else she wants to say, but Morgana declines. It’s an interesting but unanswerable question to wonder what would have happened if her concern for Arthur had outweighed her fear of Uther’s reaction and she had told him about her dreams.
What if?
Merlin finds Arthur in his rooms packing. He tells him he sympathises but that Uther had a point. Arthur responds with “who are you to tell me what I’m thinking“. Merlin replies “I’m your friend” but Arthur snaps back with “No Merlin, you’re my servant.” This is a theme which will continue throughout the series as the position of servant gives way to a near (so far) acknowledgement of friendship. Merlin is hurt but persists in pointing out as Sophia and Aulfric appear that Arthur is enchanted. Merlin tells Arthur what Aulfric and Sophia are trying to do as Arthur visibly struggles with the enchantment but when he turns towards Merlin, who is still pleading with him to listen, his eyes have turned red. Merlin is horrified, tries to run towards Aulfric but is blasted by his staff.
Morgana sees Arthur, Aulfric and Sophia leaving the castle and rushes to Gaius. Gaius reassures her that he does believe her about her dream but that she mustn’t tell Uther, which she was preparing to do. Gaius tells her clearly that if Uther thinks she is a seer he’ll charge her with witchcraft. Morgana believes she doesn’t have a choice but Gaius begs her to trust him and that he will find someone who can help.
Gaius finds Merlin still slumped where Aulfric had left him. As Merlin revives and prepares to go after Arthur Gaius cautions him to be careful as the Sidhe are a “vicious people”.
Merlin runs desperately through the forest towards the lake where Aulfric is explaining to Sophia that the sacrifice of Arthur will only give her the power to return to Avalon. She had believed it would enable both of them to return but Aulfric tells her she must go through with the ceremony now otherwise the Sidhe elders will take her soul instead of Arthur’s. Sophia bids Aulfric a tearful goodbye and leads the unresisting Arthur into the lake. As Aulfric chants the words of the ceremony (and the music rises) Sophia pushes Arthur under the water. We see the images of Morgana’s dream as Arthur slowly drowns held underwater by Sophia’s power.
The tension of the whole scene is really enhanced by the shots of Merlin desperately running as Arthur floats downwards helplessly.
When Merlin finally arrives on the scene he notices Sophia’s staff lying discarded on the ground and uses it to unhesitatingly blast Aulfric and then Sophia to smithereens. It’s a scary display of raw power and anger.
BAMF!Merlin or “Nobody messes with my boyfriend no matter how much of an entitled prat he is!”
There are still more tense moments as Merlin desperately searches the water for the drowning Arthur but the music swells triumphantly as he finally pulls him from the water.
Merlin and Gaius are sitting by Arthur’s bedside as he slowly wakes up and is completely aghast as he remembers that he asked Sophia to marry him. He doesn’t remember “eloping” with Sophia at all and is persuaded that the memory loss is the result of Merlin knocking him out in order to return him to Camelot. Arthur is horrified at the thought of Merlin overpowering him and insists that no-one should know anything about any of it. I presume this suits Merlin and Gaius perfectly as it avoids awkward questions about everything.
Oh boys!
Arthur, Merlin and Gaius appear before Uther to explain Arthur’s absence that morning. Arthur uses the excuse that he was mending his broken heart after Sophia left by going on a hunt and having fun killing things (much to Morgana’s disgust), but Merlin forgot to pass the message on. Uther wonders if Merlin has a “grave mental” affliction and makes a joke about a food shortage, which Merlin finally realises means he’ll be in the stocks again. His persona as a hapless and helpless servant is fully in place.
Morgana comes to Gaius for more sleeping draught and tells Merlin that Arthur has told her what really happened commenting that Merlin must have hit him really hard and revealing that she doesn’t know that her dream came true. After she leaves Gaius cautions Merlin that she must never know the truth though Merlin asks why not as her dream helped save Arthur’s life. Gaius points out to him that it could have cost her own life if Uther had found out. Merlin wonders if she has magical powers like him, Gaius tries to make a joke of it but eventually responds “for her sake, I hope not”.
The episode ends with Morgana waking from a nightmare again.
Morgana has been rather in the background for the last few episodes but this is the one where her story arc could really be said to begin. Her bad dreams have been mentioned in passing before but this is the first time we see them for the prophecies they truly are and the implications they have for her safety at Uther’s court.
There is a lot of criticism of Gaius for his actions in drugging Morgana and keeping her in the dark about her dreams. I can see the point but I think her safety was originally his paramount concern as he believed that telling Uther would be the equivalent of signing Morgana’s own death warrant. Gaius was not in possession of the crucial piece of information that Morgana was not just Uther’s ward but also his daughter, which might possibly have altered Uther’s attitude to her burgeoning prophetic and later magical powers. Initially she was just as sure as Gaius that telling Uther about her dreams would be dangerous and it was only when the threat to Arthur grew that she considered doing so. I think it was the fact that she might have been hot-headed enough to blurt it out to Uther that made Gaius conceal the fact that the dream had come true from her, hoping to make her doubt that her powers were those of a seer which they had previously been openly discussing. This could only ever be a short-term solution to the problem as the ending of the episode made clear and Morgana’s powers remained a ticking time bomb that neither Gaius or Merlin could defuse.
It’s very sad to see Morgana is willing to risk her own life to save Arthur’s given the situation between them at the end of series 4. Sophia (and Arthur, though possibly under Sophia’s influence) accuse Morgana of jealousy in her hostile reaction to Sophia but Uther appears to see Morgana’s concern for Arthur as sisterly. Sophia’s insinuation is that Morgana had been rejected by Arthur and Arthur patronisingly implies she’s been jealous before. The possibility of a romantic relationship between them is still open at this point, though they obviously don’t really know what they feel about each other and seem more and more like siblings as the show goes on. The fact that Arthur does tell her what he thinks happened with Sophia is a nice sign of trust though it has the unintended consequence of giving Gaius the opportunity to lie to her.
Merlin is also a little confused about his relationship towards Arthur. Is he his servant or is he his friend and is it possible to be both? The witty insults traded between them point at friendship as does Merlin's interest in Arthur's love life, but as Arthur unkindly and firmly reminds him Merlin is a servant and has no choice but to accept punishment in the stocks on Arthur's behalf. Arthur’s entitled attitude isn’t very endearing as Sophia’s enchantments bring out the worst in him.
Merlin’s duty above all is to protect Arthur but he nearly slips up here as he is almost as blindsided as Arthur by Sophia. Merlin hasn’t really known Arthur long enough to realise, as Gaius does, that Arthur’s shirking of his duties is unusual for someone whose watchword is responsibility. It’s only the fact that Gaius takes Morgana and her dreams seriously that actually alerts Merlin to the danger almost too late. This may account for the real fury in the way he despatches Aulfric and Sophia.
The anger Merlin displays towards the Sidhe hasn’t lessened in the next episode we see them in “The Changeling”. Aulfric and Sophia may care about each other but they are inhuman and it shows in the way they treat Arthur as an item to be bartered for their own gain. There is a slight continuity issue with “The Changeling” as Aulfric’s plan to give the Sidhe Elders Arthur’s soul would seem to conflict with their very long-term and over-complicated plan involving Elena, but I presume they didn’t mind sacrificing dodgy long-term benefit for short-term gain! In both episodes the Sidhe are depicted as heartless hostile creatures but the fact they inhabit Avalon brings in an important element of Arthurian mythology.
Throughout the series the dead come back through water but the Lake of Avalon appears to be special and Avalon itself is described as the “land of eternal youth”. It’s touching to think that this seems to be the same lake where Merlin sends both Freya and Lancelot to rest. The fact that Merlin himself can see Avalon is another pointer to the fact he might be immortal as is his surviving Aulfric’s attack. Gaius said his magic protected him, but Gaius might not be entirely truthful about that.
It's an interesting episode which I actually enjoyed more on this rewatch than I have before. The secrets and lies that are starting to surround Morgana are already heart-breaking and it's very interesting to wonder if Gaius would have acted as he did if he'd known she was Uther's daughter. Instead he's deferred the problem of her dreams and possible powers out of fear for her safety, but his attempted reassurance won't last and the whole situation will explode nastily for everyone. In retrospect it's a sad episode.
Screencaps are from disparue.org
Now where's the bloody gas man? I've got to go out soon and I don't want to leave with no gas.
ETA: Gas fitter has finally arrived. Fortunately we don't have to have our gas meter replaced, unlike our next door neighbour!