Comments | merlin_network: CultBox article: "Should 'Merlin' be more about Merlin?"

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CultBox article: "Should 'Merlin' be more about Merlin?"

May 11, 2012 09:15

CultBox's Ian McArdell explores the reasons for and against S5 being more about Merlin.

Warning! Contains previously announced casting spoilers

( Article with spoilers under the cut )

media: article, *spoilers for series 5, year: 2012, series: 5

Comments 14

cb_eaglemaniac May 11 2012, 10:40:43 UTC

Camelot is what Morgana covets. She isn’t an enemy of Merlin personally...

Do these people even watch the show? Morgana's held one hell of a grudge against Merlin ever since he poisoned her. Camelot may be her first goal, but I definitely see Merlin as a personal enemy of hers as well.

And of course the damned show should be more about Merlin - the entire thing is called Merlin, and after four years of Merlin's progress being hindered in favour of keeping up facades to prevent Arthur finding out about his magic/getting Arthur through Uther's death+getting his king-legs going+marrying Gwen it's about time we get a story in which Merlin is involved because it is first and foremost a story about him. In all honesty I don't care to see the domestic ups and downs of Gwen-as-wife-and-queen: we all know it'll end happily because these writers are incapable of throwing in any lasting conflict between her and Arthur (or anyone else, really). For God's sake, please give us something that's all about Merlin!

angelqueen04 May 11 2012, 19:34:31 UTC

Morgana's held one hell of a grudge against Merlin ever since he poisoned her. Camelot may be her first goal, but I definitely see Merlin as a personal enemy of hers as well.

Exactly! She blames him for Morgause's demise as well. Morgana may have wielded the dagger that ultimately ended her sister, but she held Merlin (and possibly Gaius, a little) responsible for Morgause's devastating injuries that came about at the end of the third series. I figure her hatred for him will only increase if-when she finds out that Merlin is also Emrys.

tarnisheddesire May 11 2012, 12:30:59 UTC

This makes me kind of happy, since I always thought I was the only one who thought it should center more on Merlin. The whole thing imo has turned into Arthur's adventures becoming a King, whereas when it started it was actually The Adventures of Merlin, and made it seem like it was based on him being a wizard in a magic banned land and all of that. I get that it's mandatory for Merlin to be there to offer advise and save Arthur, but it makes me a bit sad when that's really all gets to do, meanwhile Arthur has all sorts of different plot lines. Merlin's sole purpose is to further along Arthur's journey, so I've sort of seen Arthur as the actual main character lol. In short I am greedy for Colin and offer my firstborn in return for Merlin to have a plot line for himself.

nialla42 May 11 2012, 15:08:06 UTC

We should care about the stories of Arthur and Gwen, the Knights and all because Merlin does and because they all have a part to play. If Merlin develops and becomes too powerful, it will limit the ability to tell involving stories as everything will be resolved by a clash of magic.

Merlin isn't just the magic deus ex machina. He's been used as that by the writers, but they shouldn't be limited by it. Also, I'd love to see more about the Knights but that doesn't mean Merlin has to be completely backburnered to do so. I'd like to see them develop true friendship that doesn't make Merlin the butt of their jokes.

I'm not really caring about Arthur and Gwen's story together, as the writers aren't doing a good job of showing instead of telling. Still would like to see them, but sans violins and such telling us it's Twu Luv.

Camelot is what Morgana covets. She isn’t an enemy of Merlin personally, and indeed they have plenty in common, but rather she is pitted against Arthur who has stolen her birthright and continues their father’s ( ... )

princealia May 11 2012, 18:57:12 UTC

I'd be more for it if I was able to see Merlin outside of roles not dealing with anyone from Camelot, actually. A lot of my favorite Merlin moments are from series 2 because he was dealing with storylines that were a lot more personal to him (Freya, Balinor, etc.). which has been internalized towards making him the character he is today. I know he's a mostly an enigmatic character, but they have more freedom to beef up his background and they haven't taken advantage of that too much, which is disappointing. He can't even get a new outfit, come on.

But I'm mostly against it in part because there are other characters on the show that are equally important to shaping the Arthurian Legend along with Merlin, which is also part of the problem. Merlin has had such a huge (and at times God-like) hand in all their lives that I don't think the show has a choice but to continue as having Merlin being the background man that fixes up all the character's problems because they'd fall to the sideline otherwise (like they already have, in a way). It ( ... )

angelqueen04 May 11 2012, 19:32:02 UTC

That Sword in the Stone moment is one of the biggest mistakes they could have possibly have made on this show. The one time where Arthur could have shown the audience he's had this great power within him all along to do the impossible and put to rest any doubt in anyone's mind (including his own) that he was born to do this....and it's a damn magic trick by Merlin. why did you do that?

Thank you! I agree. This was supposed to be a great, shining moment for Arthur, a sign to all that he is truly meant to do this, to be the Once and Future King who will usher in a beautiful, if heartbreakingly brief, golden age that will be remembered long after it has all gone to dust. Instead, it came about because Merlin spun a fanciful story and released the sword with magic the moment Arthur gave it a good yank. No. Just, no.

princealia May 11 2012, 19:56:35 UTC

I was SO EXCITED for that moment because I've been rooting for Arthur (and thus Bradley) to really come in to their own, and cement all the lovely development he finally received after years of being stunted/downgraded to the comic relief. While last year was definitely Arthur's season, they tripped at the finish line with one of the most pivotal moments for his character in ANY version of the Arthurian Legends EVER. Even more so than him becoming king, this should have been a HUGE step for him and this show, but instead wasn't that big a deal in the end. Nothing was really gained except his confidence back, his supporters supporting him again, and a super magical sword that Merlin will no doubt stress out over anyone else using while Arthur has no idea why ( ... )

princealia May 11 2012, 19:08:36 UTC

And wait wtf: Camelot is what Morgana covets. Is it really? Because so far she's coveted: Uther's death, revenge, equality for people with magic, Camelot, Camelot bowing to her, killing everyone in Camelot, revenge against Camelot, bloodshed from people on Team Camelot, the throne, power, Gwen dead, Arthur dead, everyone dead, etc ( ... )