BBC Merlin: 4x11 The Hunter's Heart meta/review
So, I found a crack in my no-fandom armor...I've been keeping up with the spoilers. But I'm still determined to avoid the episode discussions for a while. Speaking of which, these are my thoughts on the latest ep.
CONFIDENTIAL NEGOTIATIONS
First of all, I was justified in my nonchalant reaction toward the sneak preview of the intro scene. Gwen didn't come anywhere close to being raped. In fact, she was treated with a great deal of respect. Helios was incredibly charming, even if it was just a ploy to woo her into his bed. Helios was a ruthless warlord, but he seemed to take pride in remaining civilized. He's basically a medieval playboy. I liked him. Is that bad?
I got the impression from both Gwen and Arthur's dialogue that it's been months since she was banished. I wasn't sure if that part of Gwen's cover story was a lie, but Arthur mentioned that he had "many months of confidential negotiations" with Princess Mithian, which I can imagine only started after Gwen was banished since the negotiations obviously led to a marriage proposal. It would make sense because it would take Gwen a while to get out of Camelot and her clothes were in a pretty sorry state by the time we saw her. Merlin thought it was too soon, but then he's biased. If anything, this episode proved that Merlin ships A/G harder than any fangirl. I found his sulky irritation hilariously adorable.
MAWWIAGE
When Morgana was teaching Lancelot du Lac in ep 4x09, she told him that "There are many that have tried to win the hand of King Arthur." Who are these "many" that she's talking about? From Morgana's perspective, Sophia (the fallen Sidhe that tried to kill Arthur), and Lady Vivian (who had to be enchanted to like Arthur) both fell madly in love with Arthur. I just hope the writers don't think that Arthur has had a string of ladies vying for his attention, because we've never met one. That is, until now.
Don't get me wrong, I want A/G to end up together, but I really liked Arthur and Mithian as a couple. If there had been no Guinevere, Mithian would have been a wonderful wife for Arthur. They have similar interests and they obviously enjoy each other's company. And despite Merlin's attempts to ruin them and Arthur's flustered embarrassment, Mithian took everything in stride and helped Arthur to relax and feel comfortable being himself. She even stopped Arthur from tormenting Merlin. I can see her being a supportive, regal, intelligent, and commanding queen. And she was sweet. Even Merlin couldn't help liking her as a person when she made an honest attempt to befriend him.
I liked Arthur's awestruck reaction when Mithian lifted her veil. He agreed to a marriage without any idea of what he might be getting himself into. She could have been an ugly old toad with table manners worse than Princess Elena and social grace worse than Lady Vivian. Instead, she's a gorgeous, kindhearted woman who helps him feel at ease. It's understandable why Arthur would feel attracted her her. It just wasn't enough. The memory of his love for Gwen drowned out everything else. I felt truly bad for Mithian when he turned her down. She hadn't known what she was agreeing to anymore than Arthur did - he could have been a Cenred, or a Helios, or an Uther; *shudder* just imagine. Instead, she thinks she's found a wonderful, kind, witty, intelligent, and handsome man - who she's already engaged to - and he's looking at her with admiration, and everything is going swimmingly when he suddenly dumps her. That had to hurt. I really liked their final scene. After Arthur resolves the official reason for their engagement, Mithian asks for a personal explanation.
PRINCESS MITHIAN
Tell me...who is it that trumps a princess?
KING ARTHUR
No one...And everyone.
In that moment, Mithian sees Arthur's expression and seems to accept that Arthur is actually in love with another woman and she never stood a chance. The rest of Mithian's questions lack that offended tone.
What great family is she from?
Arthur doesn't want to insult her any further, but has to admit that Gwen is a social nobody. At first Mithian is surprised, but then she has to look down to compose herself.
I didn't read it that way the first time, but the way she gives Arthur a long, slightly pained look before walking away shows that she is wounded by the disappointment that he loves another woman that way instead of her.
Like I said, Janet Montgomery is an excellent actress, and I really liked her character.
DANGEROUS LIAISONS
I'm not exactly sure what was going on with Helios and Morgana, and I'm not sure I want to know. Morgana seems to have taken a page out of Morgause's Cenred playbook. As if Agravaine wasn't bad enough *shakes head*. It makes me wonder if Morgana will end up undermining her influence with Agravaine by the way that she interacts with Helios. I see a jealousy monster in her future.
I was slightly disappointed by Gwen and Morgana's confrontation. I had been hoping for something a bit more intense and dramatic. Instead, the only purpose seemed to be to make Arthur face his feelings toward Gwen without actually having to confront her again. Why else would Morgana take Gwen's engagement ring and then suddenly decide to drop it in the forest? It made no sense. I also wish that Merlin would have said "Gwen" when he saw her as a doe in the forest. Then she would've known that he could see through the magic, which would raise questions. And may I just point out that the hunting party spent the entire day searching for a deer and never found any trace of a real one. And the fake one that they did find was a very small doe, but they tried to shoot it anyway. *shakes head* No wonder they never found any real deer.
CONFIDENTIAL NEGOTIATIONS
First of all, I was justified in my nonchalant reaction toward the sneak preview of the intro scene. Gwen didn't come anywhere close to being raped. In fact, she was treated with a great deal of respect. Helios was incredibly charming, even if it was just a ploy to woo her into his bed. Helios was a ruthless warlord, but he seemed to take pride in remaining civilized. He's basically a medieval playboy. I liked him. Is that bad?
I got the impression from both Gwen and Arthur's dialogue that it's been months since she was banished. I wasn't sure if that part of Gwen's cover story was a lie, but Arthur mentioned that he had "many months of confidential negotiations" with Princess Mithian, which I can imagine only started after Gwen was banished since the negotiations obviously led to a marriage proposal. It would make sense because it would take Gwen a while to get out of Camelot and her clothes were in a pretty sorry state by the time we saw her. Merlin thought it was too soon, but then he's biased. If anything, this episode proved that Merlin ships A/G harder than any fangirl. I found his sulky irritation hilariously adorable.
MAWWIAGE
When Morgana was teaching Lancelot du Lac in ep 4x09, she told him that "There are many that have tried to win the hand of King Arthur." Who are these "many" that she's talking about? From Morgana's perspective, Sophia (the fallen Sidhe that tried to kill Arthur), and Lady Vivian (who had to be enchanted to like Arthur) both fell madly in love with Arthur. I just hope the writers don't think that Arthur has had a string of ladies vying for his attention, because we've never met one. That is, until now.
Don't get me wrong, I want A/G to end up together, but I really liked Arthur and Mithian as a couple. If there had been no Guinevere, Mithian would have been a wonderful wife for Arthur. They have similar interests and they obviously enjoy each other's company. And despite Merlin's attempts to ruin them and Arthur's flustered embarrassment, Mithian took everything in stride and helped Arthur to relax and feel comfortable being himself. She even stopped Arthur from tormenting Merlin. I can see her being a supportive, regal, intelligent, and commanding queen. And she was sweet. Even Merlin couldn't help liking her as a person when she made an honest attempt to befriend him.
I liked Arthur's awestruck reaction when Mithian lifted her veil. He agreed to a marriage without any idea of what he might be getting himself into. She could have been an ugly old toad with table manners worse than Princess Elena and social grace worse than Lady Vivian. Instead, she's a gorgeous, kindhearted woman who helps him feel at ease. It's understandable why Arthur would feel attracted her her. It just wasn't enough. The memory of his love for Gwen drowned out everything else. I felt truly bad for Mithian when he turned her down. She hadn't known what she was agreeing to anymore than Arthur did - he could have been a Cenred, or a Helios, or an Uther; *shudder* just imagine. Instead, she thinks she's found a wonderful, kind, witty, intelligent, and handsome man - who she's already engaged to - and he's looking at her with admiration, and everything is going swimmingly when he suddenly dumps her. That had to hurt. I really liked their final scene. After Arthur resolves the official reason for their engagement, Mithian asks for a personal explanation.
PRINCESS MITHIAN
Tell me...who is it that trumps a princess?
KING ARTHUR
No one...And everyone.
In that moment, Mithian sees Arthur's expression and seems to accept that Arthur is actually in love with another woman and she never stood a chance. The rest of Mithian's questions lack that offended tone.
What great family is she from?
Arthur doesn't want to insult her any further, but has to admit that Gwen is a social nobody. At first Mithian is surprised, but then she has to look down to compose herself.
I didn't read it that way the first time, but the way she gives Arthur a long, slightly pained look before walking away shows that she is wounded by the disappointment that he loves another woman that way instead of her.
Like I said, Janet Montgomery is an excellent actress, and I really liked her character.
DANGEROUS LIAISONS
I'm not exactly sure what was going on with Helios and Morgana, and I'm not sure I want to know. Morgana seems to have taken a page out of Morgause's Cenred playbook. As if Agravaine wasn't bad enough *shakes head*. It makes me wonder if Morgana will end up undermining her influence with Agravaine by the way that she interacts with Helios. I see a jealousy monster in her future.
I was slightly disappointed by Gwen and Morgana's confrontation. I had been hoping for something a bit more intense and dramatic. Instead, the only purpose seemed to be to make Arthur face his feelings toward Gwen without actually having to confront her again. Why else would Morgana take Gwen's engagement ring and then suddenly decide to drop it in the forest? It made no sense. I also wish that Merlin would have said "Gwen" when he saw her as a doe in the forest. Then she would've known that he could see through the magic, which would raise questions. And may I just point out that the hunting party spent the entire day searching for a deer and never found any trace of a real one. And the fake one that they did find was a very small doe, but they tried to shoot it anyway. *shakes head* No wonder they never found any real deer.