Camelot 1.8
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I see what you did there re: Uther-Ygraine-Merlin-Morgan-Uther.
I’ll let you know what I think of it after we see how it plays out.
So, basically, this episode was about how Claire Forlani is hot and a fabulous actress, and how the show should be about Morgan and Ygraine.
So, Ygraine? Is awesome. I, uhm, may love her more than Morgan now. Or tied. It's hard to judge in an episode where they're played by the same actress. There are no words for how happy I am that she saved herself instead of having to get rescued. She was TALKING about getting rescued, but by the end, it’s clear that she was just trying every gamble and trick she could think of to get away. Also, I’m really annoyed that the writers made it so that the only way she could get out was to essentially seduce the guard into assaulting, but I’m glad that’s hardcore enough to to stab him about half a dozen times while he was at it.
And Claire Forlani was fabulous at both aping Eva Green’s mannerisms and playing Ygraine while NOT playing Ygraine. And Morgan’s idea of how Ygraine behaves is interesting…half spot on and half…way not. I particularly loved her “WTF?” at how Ygraine is the kind of queen who says hello and smiles at EVERY SINGLE PERSON. (But then, I think the Ygraine we see now is a very different person than the Ygraine with Uther, because Uther’s Ygraine behaved exactly the way he wanted because she saw it as the only way to survive, and I think this episode made it clear that Ygraine will do whatever she has to to stay alive.)
Also, she seemed to think it was…perfectly natural for Ygraine to play toy soldiers with a random orphan? Given that Morgan seems to have expected Ygraine to defend her against Uther and that Ygraine acts like Morgan is punishing her for something she shouldn’t, I wonder if we’ll eventually learn that Uther wanted to kill Morgan, but Ygraine convinced him to send her away instead, but Ygraine doesn’t realize that Morgan doesn’t know it? It would actually fit with the versions where Merlin wants Uther to kill Morgan because she’ll be trouble, and instead Morgan is sent away/escapes.
Then there’s Morgan raping Merlin. I…really really dislike that Morgan is a rapist now. But at the same time, the form of the rape and the fact that the positioning early on mirror’s the flashbacks to Uther raping Ygraine make it pretty obvious that they’re directly referencing it, but at the same time, I don’t know if they’re doing it to say Morgan is as bad as Uther, or if they’re making it a vicious cycle where what he did to Ygraine is done to him by another who suffered because of his actions. Or both. The episode did seem to play up his selective blindness regarding Uther, particularly regarding how Ygraine and Morgan suffered because of him and Merlin’s own role in that, but at the same time, the show doesn’t seem to allot him any responsibility or guilt in that.
And I…am a complete hypocrite, but I am sadly unable to feel too badly for Merlin whole “you finally got up the nerve to go after what you want and take a risk to be with the woman you’ve wanted for years and it’s actually her evil-ish stepdaughter pretending to be her while the real one is locked up in a dungeon” bit. Maybe I would if he hadn’t pined for the good old days when you could execute women on a whim and hadn’t acted like Ygraine wasn’t allowed to be critical of Uther at all because he was her husband.
All that said…I don’t care how much I love Claire Forlani. No more episodes without Eva Green. We’ve had one without each. No more are allowed.
And I wonder if Ygraine and Vivian knew each other? Or if Vivian was a secret Uther kept tucked away.
I'm also worried that they're going to make Mordred be Merlin's son instead of Arthur's. I think I'd rather they skip over Mordred altogether than do that. I mean, ignoring the idea of Merlin having spawn, that basically removes all the drama and conflict surrounding Mordred. Also, with the egalitarian, borderline_Christian POV the show is pushing, the bastard king's bastard nephew would be a far, far more acceptable heir than the product of incest.
Oh, and Arthur was 80% not annoying. I hope he keeps that up, though there’s still no sign that I’ll ever like him.
And I am concerned re: Leontes. I’m going to be SERIOUSLY disappointed if they use his LEGITIMATE ANGER to make him evil to justify Arthur/Guenevere.