Merlin ep 3.10
AKA the one that made my week be okay.
First off, this woman is a goddess
cap by grlmonday .
Goddess I tell you. How can anyone say differently is seriously and honestly beyond me. Also, it just hit me that the fact that she is being crowned queen means she's already made Arthur Mr Guinevere Lastnamenotprovided. I cannot tell you the places my mind went when this hit home, tho you can probably imagine...
Everyone here was on fine, fine form to be sure, though I doubt anybody rocked it as hard and hardcore as Bradley and Angel. They were perfect, the emotional spectrum their characters had to navigate here was reflected kind of exquisitely and I'm so glad they got cast for these parts because I can hardly, nay, cannot imagine any other set of actors doing a better job. All the silly, giddy happiness of the picnic, the ever-increasingly raw emotions following up to their discovery culminating in the KISS OF ETERNAL LOVE (people went all 'aww, Arthur belts it out to Whitney Houston' and I went all 'wheee Arthur rocks The Cure in the shower'. Knowing Arthur probably it probably is Whitney, tho), and then it all sort of percolated into Gwen's resigned hopelessness and Arthur's quiet helplessness. AND THEN THERE WERE SURPRISE RENDEZ-VOUZ IN HALLWAYS BEHIND COLUMNS WHEREIN PROMISES WERE MADE AND HOPES REBORN.
It was all very epic.
But OTP aside (hard to believe, I know) there were other people being awesome as well.
1. Merlin was such a stand-up dude throughout this whole ordeal. So happy for his friends (you know he ships him madly) and then all heartbroken both on behalf of each of them and for the apparent sinking of his threesome hopes the both of them collectively. Stupidiest plan to ever have crossed his mind, but I guess it testifies that he too was at the end of his tether when no amount of cunning could get him out of this one, S1!Merlin would have gone down this path without so much as batting an eyelash, whereas mid!s2 and onwards!Merlin would have sat down and thought of a less exposing way. There was none, and so. Colin did seem to have had OODLES of fun with this, though. OODLES. As well as Bradley, those outtakes must be priceless.
Anyway, the crowning scene had nervous!Gwen, exultant!Arthur and proud!Merlin and it was Merlin's face the one that made me go awwww. The other two just had me EEEEEEEing my way out of coherency.
2. Uther was a right bastard whom backslapped mah gurl when she, in a very queenly fashion, told him off. And he remembers Tom too, but of course, since servants are cattle and possibly grow on trees, this is completely irrelevant. Also, he continues to be a failure at following chains of logic, such as that one time Arthur went off in a hunting trip right after Gwen had been kidnapped instead of Morgana and upon his return, Gwen was suddenly to be seen in the halls again; or that other time when Gwen was kidnapped and ARTHUR EXPLICITLY REQUESTED A SEARCH PARTY BE SENT OUT, or say when Arthur was refusing to marry some random princess and KEPT LOOKING AT GWEN while he argued his case. I mean, SAUCERY was involved, what is this logic thingy you speak of? Also, he cares not for the advice of his most trusted friend underling adviser but will heed every single thing to come out of the mouth of the ward who'd been absent for a whole year and came back acting way too complacent for him not to consider it strange (yes, she did say she would love him and respect him and never ever stand up to him again, but she also said this on previous occasions and every time it was for her own purposes, not out of actual affection and contrition, and Uther, you know this).
And of course Arthur's acting libido is motive of celebratory slaps on the back. Servants are cattle and possibly grow on trees, after all. ::sigh:: Arthur, stop being so earnest when it comes to your father, it will always backfire on you, dude. Though I did appreciate how the moment Arthur actually crosses the line and realizes he's done so is when he grabs Uther's sleeve, I think this really does show the dynamics of this relationship in rather painful ways.
3. Morgana. I choose to think she's all up in arms about this because Gwen is a servant and thus has no business becoming Queen, especially not when Morgana herself has her sights (for as of yet undisclosed reasons) on that very crown. Her complaints to Morgause were exactly along those lines, 'how can that be? she's a servant. Uther would never allow Arthur to marry her' As I commented on another post, I imagine that the very idea of a servant taking over the place she, the king's illegitimate, magic daughter is denied would rankle pretty hard. Besides Morgana was nowhere to be seen on this vision, so I would also assume fear for her own future in her motivations here. Sadly all I can do is that, assume ::glares at writers::
Hasn't it crossed anyone's mind that Uther wouldn't have to approve of this marriage once he is dead and no longer king? Clearly it's only just now dawning on Arthur (ironically, I think Morgana's words may have had some part in that 'you are the future king, you must set your own rules') that once he is king he can marry whomever he well pleases, turning Uther's approval into a moot point. Obviously the problem would be yet another forced marriage, but he doesn't have to accept, necessarily, as has been proven.
What I still can't reconcile is how gleeful she is causing suffering to other people, are we to honestly believe her heart didn't so much as twitch a bit when Arthur and Gwen were being dragged away from each other? JUST ONE LINE, WRITERS, ONE LINE WOULD EXPLAIN ALL THIS TO US, YOUR AUDIENCE. I can understand her desire to torture Uther, her dismissal and weariness of Merlin, maybe even some budding dislike of Arthur in light of his new-found obstacle status. But Gwen? what the hell has she ever done to you? Gwen, the girl who thought it her duty to find Morgana a new maid even though there was a boatload of stuff she had to take care of first. Gwen, the one who would spend nights and nights guarding Morgana's uneasy rest so that she could rush in as soon as her mistress needed the comfort. GWEN. EXPLAIN THIS TO ME WRITERS. Though I suppose that now her stand-offishness and downright ill wishes toward Gwen could be explained by this new prophetic (WHEEEEE!) knowledge... ::moar sighs::
Still, Morgana creeped me out in this ep. On so many levels.
4. Arthur's fumbling with the goblet and his generally distracted air, not to mention his eagerness in that scene with Morgana
ARTHUR: 'Is it really that obvious?'
MORGANA: oh look a button, I'MMA PUSH IT.
ARTHUR: ::leans forward:: she said something?
MORGANA: MAN, BUTTON-PUSHING IS ADDICTIVE.
ARTHUR: what did she say?
I kinda loved this scene because, if you close your eyes and wish upon a shooting star, you'd get some lovely sibling interaction, also he's so darn cute, little puppy in love that he is (didn't even try to deny Morgana's assertions a second time). But I kinda cringe because this is yet another moment of characters taking advantage of Arthur's earnest obliviousness. Also, 'if it's Gwen who you desire, why do you deny yourself?' came across as very, very skeevy, Morgs.
Then he goes off to be all stupidly in love with Gwen, and we they need more moments like this, when they're simply being in love and together and talking about castles in the sky and kissing each other senseless because they do deserve the respite and the hope and the strength that such intimacy provides. I wanted them to hold hands as they spoke, though, but that's my own hands!kink talking.
I was really afraid they'd make his decision to go with Gwen into something awfully out of character, but it wasn't, he was fully planning on coming back (and he is still very naive in many ways, I think), he only forfeited the throne when Gwen's life was on the line. So I am okay with how this was handled. Also, he's all determined to make some changes when he gets that crown (did you see him with The Crown, I squeed almost as loudly as I did when Gwen got her crown) and is in a position to enact them beyond his wishful thinking.
5. GWEN. She was so perfect, too. Her caring for others (Morgana and Arthur) was really touching because of the dire situation in which she found herself. And she TOLD UTHER OFF, like a boss. This is the Future Motherfucking Queen of Camelot, y'all. She easily accepts Merlin's reassurance that they'll figure something out which comes to show that she's finally realized/accepted both her worth to others and their own desire to help her whenever they can, she only has to let them help her. CHARACTER GROWTH, I see you thar.
She asked Merlin to look after Arthur (remember he always loses his keys, Merlin. And make sure he always carries an umbrella whenever it looks like it might rain, you know he catches colds in summer.) when she's gone, this warmed my heart so much because, were she a lesser woman, this could have gone from guilt tripping to blaming Arthur and maybe even Merlin. But that's not our Gwen.
And then she goes on to catch little smirks which go by unnoticed by everyone else who isn't Merlin and come to conclusions. Because she's been thinking about this. Though whereas Arthur was all 'who could have told them?' she was 'I did wonder if it may not have been a coincidence', it strikes me that she was not immediately suspicious of a set up as Arthur seemed to have been, but when one and one equaled two, she was not too self-deluded as to flat-out dismiss the possibility.
And then the hallway scene happened and my heart was all a-flutter because he knows her feelings are real and she knows he'll make changes for her and he knows she'll wait for him and she did not back down BECAUSE IT CANNOT BE, OH DOOM, nope, she held her ground and he held his ground and they are in this together and for the long haul.
6. OT3 OT3 OT3 OT3. You guise, they were so phenomenal here, all three of them in all possible combinations. You know they were soooooo getting busy after that coronation feast. They so were.
Then there was next episode's preview and I'm thinking I'll give this one a chance because show has proven to be able to hold it's own with B-plots and now the airing order falls back in line with the scripted order and we should get some follow up on Gwen's discovery of Morgana's magic. That is if the girls actually are in the episode at all...
::sigh:: one day I'll be able to make one of these and NOT make it into a TESTAMENT. One day.
First off, this woman is a goddess
cap by grlmonday .
Goddess I tell you. How can anyone say differently is seriously and honestly beyond me. Also, it just hit me that the fact that she is being crowned queen means she's already made Arthur Mr Guinevere Lastnamenotprovided. I cannot tell you the places my mind went when this hit home, tho you can probably imagine...
Everyone here was on fine, fine form to be sure, though I doubt anybody rocked it as hard and hardcore as Bradley and Angel. They were perfect, the emotional spectrum their characters had to navigate here was reflected kind of exquisitely and I'm so glad they got cast for these parts because I can hardly, nay, cannot imagine any other set of actors doing a better job. All the silly, giddy happiness of the picnic, the ever-increasingly raw emotions following up to their discovery culminating in the KISS OF ETERNAL LOVE (people went all 'aww, Arthur belts it out to Whitney Houston' and I went all 'wheee Arthur rocks The Cure in the shower'. Knowing Arthur probably it probably is Whitney, tho), and then it all sort of percolated into Gwen's resigned hopelessness and Arthur's quiet helplessness. AND THEN THERE WERE SURPRISE RENDEZ-VOUZ IN HALLWAYS BEHIND COLUMNS WHEREIN PROMISES WERE MADE AND HOPES REBORN.
It was all very epic.
But OTP aside (hard to believe, I know) there were other people being awesome as well.
1. Merlin was such a stand-up dude throughout this whole ordeal. So happy for his friends (you know he ships him madly) and then all heartbroken both on behalf of each of them and for the apparent sinking of his threesome hopes the both of them collectively. Stupidiest plan to ever have crossed his mind, but I guess it testifies that he too was at the end of his tether when no amount of cunning could get him out of this one, S1!Merlin would have gone down this path without so much as batting an eyelash, whereas mid!s2 and onwards!Merlin would have sat down and thought of a less exposing way. There was none, and so. Colin did seem to have had OODLES of fun with this, though. OODLES. As well as Bradley, those outtakes must be priceless.
Anyway, the crowning scene had nervous!Gwen, exultant!Arthur and proud!Merlin and it was Merlin's face the one that made me go awwww. The other two just had me EEEEEEEing my way out of coherency.
2. Uther was a right bastard whom backslapped mah gurl when she, in a very queenly fashion, told him off. And he remembers Tom too, but of course, since servants are cattle and possibly grow on trees, this is completely irrelevant. Also, he continues to be a failure at following chains of logic, such as that one time Arthur went off in a hunting trip right after Gwen had been kidnapped instead of Morgana and upon his return, Gwen was suddenly to be seen in the halls again; or that other time when Gwen was kidnapped and ARTHUR EXPLICITLY REQUESTED A SEARCH PARTY BE SENT OUT, or say when Arthur was refusing to marry some random princess and KEPT LOOKING AT GWEN while he argued his case. I mean, SAUCERY was involved, what is this logic thingy you speak of? Also, he cares not for the advice of his most trusted friend underling adviser but will heed every single thing to come out of the mouth of the ward who'd been absent for a whole year and came back acting way too complacent for him not to consider it strange (yes, she did say she would love him and respect him and never ever stand up to him again, but she also said this on previous occasions and every time it was for her own purposes, not out of actual affection and contrition, and Uther, you know this).
And of course Arthur's acting libido is motive of celebratory slaps on the back. Servants are cattle and possibly grow on trees, after all. ::sigh:: Arthur, stop being so earnest when it comes to your father, it will always backfire on you, dude. Though I did appreciate how the moment Arthur actually crosses the line and realizes he's done so is when he grabs Uther's sleeve, I think this really does show the dynamics of this relationship in rather painful ways.
3. Morgana. I choose to think she's all up in arms about this because Gwen is a servant and thus has no business becoming Queen, especially not when Morgana herself has her sights (for as of yet undisclosed reasons) on that very crown. Her complaints to Morgause were exactly along those lines, 'how can that be? she's a servant. Uther would never allow Arthur to marry her' As I commented on another post, I imagine that the very idea of a servant taking over the place she, the king's illegitimate, magic daughter is denied would rankle pretty hard. Besides Morgana was nowhere to be seen on this vision, so I would also assume fear for her own future in her motivations here. Sadly all I can do is that, assume ::glares at writers::
Hasn't it crossed anyone's mind that Uther wouldn't have to approve of this marriage once he is dead and no longer king? Clearly it's only just now dawning on Arthur (ironically, I think Morgana's words may have had some part in that 'you are the future king, you must set your own rules') that once he is king he can marry whomever he well pleases, turning Uther's approval into a moot point. Obviously the problem would be yet another forced marriage, but he doesn't have to accept, necessarily, as has been proven.
What I still can't reconcile is how gleeful she is causing suffering to other people, are we to honestly believe her heart didn't so much as twitch a bit when Arthur and Gwen were being dragged away from each other? JUST ONE LINE, WRITERS, ONE LINE WOULD EXPLAIN ALL THIS TO US, YOUR AUDIENCE. I can understand her desire to torture Uther, her dismissal and weariness of Merlin, maybe even some budding dislike of Arthur in light of his new-found obstacle status. But Gwen? what the hell has she ever done to you? Gwen, the girl who thought it her duty to find Morgana a new maid even though there was a boatload of stuff she had to take care of first. Gwen, the one who would spend nights and nights guarding Morgana's uneasy rest so that she could rush in as soon as her mistress needed the comfort. GWEN. EXPLAIN THIS TO ME WRITERS. Though I suppose that now her stand-offishness and downright ill wishes toward Gwen could be explained by this new prophetic (WHEEEEE!) knowledge... ::moar sighs::
Still, Morgana creeped me out in this ep. On so many levels.
4. Arthur's fumbling with the goblet and his generally distracted air, not to mention his eagerness in that scene with Morgana
ARTHUR: 'Is it really that obvious?'
MORGANA: oh look a button, I'MMA PUSH IT.
ARTHUR: ::leans forward:: she said something?
MORGANA: MAN, BUTTON-PUSHING IS ADDICTIVE.
ARTHUR: what did she say?
I kinda loved this scene because, if you close your eyes and wish upon a shooting star, you'd get some lovely sibling interaction, also he's so darn cute, little puppy in love that he is (didn't even try to deny Morgana's assertions a second time). But I kinda cringe because this is yet another moment of characters taking advantage of Arthur's earnest obliviousness. Also, 'if it's Gwen who you desire, why do you deny yourself?' came across as very, very skeevy, Morgs.
Then he goes off to be all stupidly in love with Gwen, and we they need more moments like this, when they're simply being in love and together and talking about castles in the sky and kissing each other senseless because they do deserve the respite and the hope and the strength that such intimacy provides. I wanted them to hold hands as they spoke, though, but that's my own hands!kink talking.
I was really afraid they'd make his decision to go with Gwen into something awfully out of character, but it wasn't, he was fully planning on coming back (and he is still very naive in many ways, I think), he only forfeited the throne when Gwen's life was on the line. So I am okay with how this was handled. Also, he's all determined to make some changes when he gets that crown (did you see him with The Crown, I squeed almost as loudly as I did when Gwen got her crown) and is in a position to enact them beyond his wishful thinking.
5. GWEN. She was so perfect, too. Her caring for others (Morgana and Arthur) was really touching because of the dire situation in which she found herself. And she TOLD UTHER OFF, like a boss. This is the Future Motherfucking Queen of Camelot, y'all. She easily accepts Merlin's reassurance that they'll figure something out which comes to show that she's finally realized/accepted both her worth to others and their own desire to help her whenever they can, she only has to let them help her. CHARACTER GROWTH, I see you thar.
She asked Merlin to look after Arthur (remember he always loses his keys, Merlin. And make sure he always carries an umbrella whenever it looks like it might rain, you know he catches colds in summer.) when she's gone, this warmed my heart so much because, were she a lesser woman, this could have gone from guilt tripping to blaming Arthur and maybe even Merlin. But that's not our Gwen.
And then she goes on to catch little smirks which go by unnoticed by everyone else who isn't Merlin and come to conclusions. Because she's been thinking about this. Though whereas Arthur was all 'who could have told them?' she was 'I did wonder if it may not have been a coincidence', it strikes me that she was not immediately suspicious of a set up as Arthur seemed to have been, but when one and one equaled two, she was not too self-deluded as to flat-out dismiss the possibility.
And then the hallway scene happened and my heart was all a-flutter because he knows her feelings are real and she knows he'll make changes for her and he knows she'll wait for him and she did not back down BECAUSE IT CANNOT BE, OH DOOM, nope, she held her ground and he held his ground and they are in this together and for the long haul.
6. OT3 OT3 OT3 OT3. You guise, they were so phenomenal here, all three of them in all possible combinations. You know they were soooooo getting busy after that coronation feast. They so were.
Then there was next episode's preview and I'm thinking I'll give this one a chance because show has proven to be able to hold it's own with B-plots and now the airing order falls back in line with the scripted order and we should get some follow up on Gwen's discovery of Morgana's magic. That is if the girls actually are in the episode at all...
::sigh:: one day I'll be able to make one of these and NOT make it into a TESTAMENT. One day.