Merlin Episode Review - 304: Gwaine
Pretty! And shiny!
Okay, first off, just how much of its soundtrack is the show planning to plagiarize from Harry Potter? Also, poor Merlin having to ride after Arthur with dead things strapped to his back. They walk into the tavern, and rather stupidly, Arthur is attempting to pretend to be a peasant. Merlin thinks this whole thing is a bad idea, until the barmaid calls him handsome, even over Arthur.
Finally, someone recognizes Merlin’s looks! Someone besides fangirls calling him pretty. (Am I the only one who thinks Arthur’s the pretty one and Merlin’s the handsome one? Or am I just making out a Semantic Mountain out of a molehill?)
Arthur is clearly not happy with the eyes Merlin makes at the barmaid. Complimenting him more outside of bed would go a long way, dearie.
Big Bad walks in and starts threatening people and Arthur starts a fight and Merlin cracks a joke, and then a Big Pretty walks up and punches out Big Bad, and therein we see the start of a hilarious and epic barfight, during which a.) Arthur still looks out for Merlin, b.) no one notices random objects flying around of their own accord as Merlin defends himself, and c.) Big Pretty’s name turns out to be Gwaine, just before he gets badly wounded.
Big Bad ends up in the stocks, and Arthur rides off revealing he is, in fact, the Prince, and if anyone tries to extort the bar again, he’ll send soldiers.
Hidden under the comedy is another small moment of us seeing who he will be, one day. Not only does he stop this guy from extorting this one small tavern (which obviously doesn’t get much traffic, if it’s remote location and the barmaid’s reaction to the Prince’s presence are anything to go by), but he also promises to send help should they need it in the future.
But, I digress - Gwaine is taken back to Camelot where Arthur orders Gaius to give all the help the man needs.
Gwaine wakes up the next morning quite deliciously shirtless, and as he gets up, Merlin walks in with breakfast. Understandably, Gwaine’s first questions isn’t “Where am I?”, but, “What am I doing in this bed?”. Merlin ogling him may or may not have had something to do with that.
Gwaine turns out to have Will’s opinion on nobles. He admits he probably wouldn’t have saved Arthur if he’d known who he was, and doesn’t want Uther’s thanks or potential reward. He’s an adventurer, having joined Merlin and Arthur’s fights because of the shit odds they were in.
An old friend, by Arthur’s smirk, of Arthur comes in for what Merlin calls the tournament of knights riding around hitting each other with blunt weapons so that the last man standing can be called a winner. Not being a knight doesn’t free Merlin from being clobbered around the head as Arthur hits him with a metal...goblet thing. Or something made of metal, can’t tell.
Big Bad is back with a sidekick. Sharp blades that don’t look sharp and crystals that can disguise you...they’re not really subtle with their plots. It’s pretty damn obvious, actually.
Gwaine runs into Gwen and promptly hits on her, calling her a princess in his eyes and offering to carry her basket for her after giving her a flower. Like any other streetwise girl of Los Angeles Camelot, she smiles at this compliments and kindly tells him to fuck off.
Big Bad and Little Bad (Who Isn’t That Little But Someone Else Already Has ‘Big’) kill two knights and use the crystals to disguise themselves to enter the melee. They are greeted by Arthur and Merlin upon entering Camelot with friendly knightly flirting camaraderie, and when Arthur offers Merlin’s full labor for whatever hard work they have for him, they, like any other rich noble, make full use of it. I think Gwaine has a point, but I’ve thought that since long before Will, so I guess I’m a little biased.
(That or they liked all the bending over Merlin was doing to drag around the trunk. Wouldn’t blame them...)
When Merlin complains to Gaius, Gaius mentions Oswald’s always been a nice guy, actually, and to remember that not all masters treat their servants as nicely as Merlin’s. With the way Merlin sprays the soup in his mouth all over Gaius, Merlin clearly has some thoughts on that.
But Gwen comes to fetch him before he can say them.
Gwaine turns out to be a bit of a drunk and a bit of a noble, himself - his father was a knight, but when he was killed and left his mother peniless, the king turned turned her away. Merlin tells him that his own father served the king, but was banished. I wonder if his has been how Merlin has been getting things off his chest, talking about all the details except the magic bits...?
Gwaine can’t pay, Merlin can’t pay, and Arthur won’t pay, so they have to clean the army’s boots, and they continue talking about their daddy issues. All the pretty boys in this show seem to have daddy issues, and all the girls’ mommies are dead. Am I the only one seeing a pattern here? Why is it heroes and stuff can never have a nice, functioning family?
Anyway, Oswald is left-handed and Big Bad is right handed, and he doesn’t fight well left-handed, even when 50 gold coins are on the line from the impromptu bet. But he keeps his money, anyway.
Merlin cuts himself on a dull blade, and with Gwaine’s description of the blades and what Merlin overheard after Big Bad’s fight with Arthur, they figure out the two knights are trying to kill Arthur, but they’re knights so Merlin has to go get the blade. He finds the guy with a crystal showing Big Bad’s face in it.
Gwaine interferes as Big and Little Bads try to interrogate Merlin, and now we get swordfighting that’s not only epic, but shirtless! The show’s creators do love us! ♥
Slight side note - how is it Merlin and Gaius can talk about magic right in front of the guards and they never hear anything? Ever?!
As Gwaine is brought forth and spews his hatred of knights (and still won’t reveal that he’s a knight’s son). As Arthur defends Gwaine, you can see a look on Gwaine’s face asking if Arthur really is a noble, because he’s obviously a good man. Rich people =/= good people, but don’t worry Gwaine, Arthur’s an exception, I promise. Gwaine gets banishment instead of execution, and leaves.
Gwaine and Gwen meet again, with a bit of mirror in their reactions as even Gwaine sees Gwen’s in love with Arthur. Meanwhile, Merlin realizes he’ll have to use his powers in daylight to save Arthur.
The next morning, Uther adds to Arthur’s daddy issues by giving his son his old blade that he won his first melee with and saying he knows Arthur will win. Also, Arthur needs a bit of a shave on his upper lip. Moustaches don’t look good on people that age, stop pretending otherwise! (Why do guys insist on moustaches when the majority of women have already said they don’t like them? Why?) Even Merlin knows talking Arthur out of things is pointless while trying, anyway.
The melee goes on, and Merlin is having trouble finding a way to use his magic without getting himself killed, when a knight-who-is-supposed-to-be-mysterious steps in and saves the day, killing the two Bads and saving Arthur’s life. Uther demands he be seized and plans to execute him - right up until Gaius proves that Gwaine was right, and the knights aren’t knights at all.
Uther still wants Gwaine out of Camelot - likely a pride thing, as the men Gwaine attacked turn out not to be knights. Uther doesn’t like being proven wrong more than he already is. That’s really the only reason I can think of, and seriously, how the hell did Camelot stay standing until know with him as king?
As Arthur says Gwaine would’ve made a good knight - but he never will be, as he’s not Lancelot a nobleman. (And Merlin keeps secrets). Nobility in knighthood is a tradition that always has been and always will be. A moment later, Arthur reveals he has serious jealousy issues (which are, in fact, somewhat canon in traditional legend) as he sees Gwen flirt with Gwaine and acts like an adorably petulant child, and Merlin remarks that Gwen can’t set her sights higher as she can’t consort with noblemen. Arthur’s caught in a serious double-bind here that he’s going to have to figure out how to fix, one day.
Thoughts on Gwaine:
Camelot and Uther’s ideals seems to be built on more hypocrisy than Christianity and the Tea Party platform combined. Even after Gwaine turns out to be right, Uther still banishes him, and even as Arthur had fought for Lancelot being a knight despite being a commoner (and accepted Gwen liking him), he does nothing of the sort for Gwaine.
I’m curious as to how this part of the legends will play out, though. Gwaine is also a Knight of the Round Table, and actually has more legends written about him than Lancelot, even though Lancelot is better known in popular culture, today. Interestingly enough, he also often well known for his courteousness and his embodiment of chivalric attitude, moreso than Lancelot - who, in legend, is considered the embodiment of a knight mostly for his skill as a warrior and defender of the realm, not necessarily his personality. (Though Gwaine’s character is also often subject to odd types of humor throughout the legends, as well). The French started giving him more negative - but more human - characteristics, and Thomas Mallory cast him in quite a bad light. Since then, he’s had quite a mixed character.
Gwaine is also often well noted for his respect of women (rare among men in general, let alone rich men, and then of course that’s before we get to the fact this is medieval times). He once gave a woman sovereignty in his relationship with her - when Gwaine was asked if he wanted his wife to be ugly but loyal, or beautiful but cheating, he let the woman choose for herself, lifting a curse on her that gave her hag-ish appearance. He is considered a “Maiden’s Knight”, championing all women. (And we thought him epic and pretty before all this. :D)
Many of the legends actually attribute him as Mordred’s brother (usually in the ones where that would make them both Morgause’s sons, and Arthur’s nephew, often even a potential heir to Arthur’s throne when Arthur has no children of his own), but not always. In these legends, he is also often attributed to be the son of King Lot - though interestingly enough, during stories with family twists, he is often revealed to being Lot’s nephew. I wonder if this will turn out in the show, as well? It would certainly be a nice emphasis on the twist of Gwaine’s hidden nobility, and how absolutely irrational and stupid Uther’s laws are. Continuing in that vein, whenever Mordred plots Arthur’s downfall via exposing Lancelot and Guinevere’s affair, it’s Gwaine that reveals him in the end.
As a figure of legend, Gwaine is even more unpredictable than Lancelot, and where this leads to, I can’t wait to see! ^+^
Okay, first off, just how much of its soundtrack is the show planning to plagiarize from Harry Potter? Also, poor Merlin having to ride after Arthur with dead things strapped to his back. They walk into the tavern, and rather stupidly, Arthur is attempting to pretend to be a peasant. Merlin thinks this whole thing is a bad idea, until the barmaid calls him handsome, even over Arthur.
Finally, someone recognizes Merlin’s looks! Someone besides fangirls calling him pretty. (Am I the only one who thinks Arthur’s the pretty one and Merlin’s the handsome one? Or am I just making out a Semantic Mountain out of a molehill?)
Arthur is clearly not happy with the eyes Merlin makes at the barmaid. Complimenting him more outside of bed would go a long way, dearie.
Big Bad walks in and starts threatening people and Arthur starts a fight and Merlin cracks a joke, and then a Big Pretty walks up and punches out Big Bad, and therein we see the start of a hilarious and epic barfight, during which a.) Arthur still looks out for Merlin, b.) no one notices random objects flying around of their own accord as Merlin defends himself, and c.) Big Pretty’s name turns out to be Gwaine, just before he gets badly wounded.
Big Bad ends up in the stocks, and Arthur rides off revealing he is, in fact, the Prince, and if anyone tries to extort the bar again, he’ll send soldiers.
Hidden under the comedy is another small moment of us seeing who he will be, one day. Not only does he stop this guy from extorting this one small tavern (which obviously doesn’t get much traffic, if it’s remote location and the barmaid’s reaction to the Prince’s presence are anything to go by), but he also promises to send help should they need it in the future.
But, I digress - Gwaine is taken back to Camelot where Arthur orders Gaius to give all the help the man needs.
Gwaine wakes up the next morning quite deliciously shirtless, and as he gets up, Merlin walks in with breakfast. Understandably, Gwaine’s first questions isn’t “Where am I?”, but, “What am I doing in this bed?”. Merlin ogling him may or may not have had something to do with that.
Gwaine turns out to have Will’s opinion on nobles. He admits he probably wouldn’t have saved Arthur if he’d known who he was, and doesn’t want Uther’s thanks or potential reward. He’s an adventurer, having joined Merlin and Arthur’s fights because of the shit odds they were in.
An old friend, by Arthur’s smirk, of Arthur comes in for what Merlin calls the tournament of knights riding around hitting each other with blunt weapons so that the last man standing can be called a winner. Not being a knight doesn’t free Merlin from being clobbered around the head as Arthur hits him with a metal...goblet thing. Or something made of metal, can’t tell.
Big Bad is back with a sidekick. Sharp blades that don’t look sharp and crystals that can disguise you...they’re not really subtle with their plots. It’s pretty damn obvious, actually.
Gwaine runs into Gwen and promptly hits on her, calling her a princess in his eyes and offering to carry her basket for her after giving her a flower. Like any other streetwise girl of Los Angeles Camelot, she smiles at this compliments and kindly tells him to fuck off.
Big Bad and Little Bad (Who Isn’t That Little But Someone Else Already Has ‘Big’) kill two knights and use the crystals to disguise themselves to enter the melee. They are greeted by Arthur and Merlin upon entering Camelot with friendly knightly flirting camaraderie, and when Arthur offers Merlin’s full labor for whatever hard work they have for him, they, like any other rich noble, make full use of it. I think Gwaine has a point, but I’ve thought that since long before Will, so I guess I’m a little biased.
(That or they liked all the bending over Merlin was doing to drag around the trunk. Wouldn’t blame them...)
When Merlin complains to Gaius, Gaius mentions Oswald’s always been a nice guy, actually, and to remember that not all masters treat their servants as nicely as Merlin’s. With the way Merlin sprays the soup in his mouth all over Gaius, Merlin clearly has some thoughts on that.
But Gwen comes to fetch him before he can say them.
Gwaine turns out to be a bit of a drunk and a bit of a noble, himself - his father was a knight, but when he was killed and left his mother peniless, the king turned turned her away. Merlin tells him that his own father served the king, but was banished. I wonder if his has been how Merlin has been getting things off his chest, talking about all the details except the magic bits...?
Gwaine can’t pay, Merlin can’t pay, and Arthur won’t pay, so they have to clean the army’s boots, and they continue talking about their daddy issues. All the pretty boys in this show seem to have daddy issues, and all the girls’ mommies are dead. Am I the only one seeing a pattern here? Why is it heroes and stuff can never have a nice, functioning family?
Anyway, Oswald is left-handed and Big Bad is right handed, and he doesn’t fight well left-handed, even when 50 gold coins are on the line from the impromptu bet. But he keeps his money, anyway.
Merlin cuts himself on a dull blade, and with Gwaine’s description of the blades and what Merlin overheard after Big Bad’s fight with Arthur, they figure out the two knights are trying to kill Arthur, but they’re knights so Merlin has to go get the blade. He finds the guy with a crystal showing Big Bad’s face in it.
Gwaine interferes as Big and Little Bads try to interrogate Merlin, and now we get swordfighting that’s not only epic, but shirtless! The show’s creators do love us! ♥
Slight side note - how is it Merlin and Gaius can talk about magic right in front of the guards and they never hear anything? Ever?!
As Gwaine is brought forth and spews his hatred of knights (and still won’t reveal that he’s a knight’s son). As Arthur defends Gwaine, you can see a look on Gwaine’s face asking if Arthur really is a noble, because he’s obviously a good man. Rich people =/= good people, but don’t worry Gwaine, Arthur’s an exception, I promise. Gwaine gets banishment instead of execution, and leaves.
Gwaine and Gwen meet again, with a bit of mirror in their reactions as even Gwaine sees Gwen’s in love with Arthur. Meanwhile, Merlin realizes he’ll have to use his powers in daylight to save Arthur.
The next morning, Uther adds to Arthur’s daddy issues by giving his son his old blade that he won his first melee with and saying he knows Arthur will win. Also, Arthur needs a bit of a shave on his upper lip. Moustaches don’t look good on people that age, stop pretending otherwise! (Why do guys insist on moustaches when the majority of women have already said they don’t like them? Why?) Even Merlin knows talking Arthur out of things is pointless while trying, anyway.
The melee goes on, and Merlin is having trouble finding a way to use his magic without getting himself killed, when a knight-who-is-supposed-to-be-mysterious steps in and saves the day, killing the two Bads and saving Arthur’s life. Uther demands he be seized and plans to execute him - right up until Gaius proves that Gwaine was right, and the knights aren’t knights at all.
Uther still wants Gwaine out of Camelot - likely a pride thing, as the men Gwaine attacked turn out not to be knights. Uther doesn’t like being proven wrong more than he already is. That’s really the only reason I can think of, and seriously, how the hell did Camelot stay standing until know with him as king?
As Arthur says Gwaine would’ve made a good knight - but he never will be, as he’s not Lancelot a nobleman. (And Merlin keeps secrets). Nobility in knighthood is a tradition that always has been and always will be. A moment later, Arthur reveals he has serious jealousy issues (which are, in fact, somewhat canon in traditional legend) as he sees Gwen flirt with Gwaine and acts like an adorably petulant child, and Merlin remarks that Gwen can’t set her sights higher as she can’t consort with noblemen. Arthur’s caught in a serious double-bind here that he’s going to have to figure out how to fix, one day.
Thoughts on Gwaine:
Camelot and Uther’s ideals seems to be built on more hypocrisy than Christianity and the Tea Party platform combined. Even after Gwaine turns out to be right, Uther still banishes him, and even as Arthur had fought for Lancelot being a knight despite being a commoner (and accepted Gwen liking him), he does nothing of the sort for Gwaine.
I’m curious as to how this part of the legends will play out, though. Gwaine is also a Knight of the Round Table, and actually has more legends written about him than Lancelot, even though Lancelot is better known in popular culture, today. Interestingly enough, he also often well known for his courteousness and his embodiment of chivalric attitude, moreso than Lancelot - who, in legend, is considered the embodiment of a knight mostly for his skill as a warrior and defender of the realm, not necessarily his personality. (Though Gwaine’s character is also often subject to odd types of humor throughout the legends, as well). The French started giving him more negative - but more human - characteristics, and Thomas Mallory cast him in quite a bad light. Since then, he’s had quite a mixed character.
Gwaine is also often well noted for his respect of women (rare among men in general, let alone rich men, and then of course that’s before we get to the fact this is medieval times). He once gave a woman sovereignty in his relationship with her - when Gwaine was asked if he wanted his wife to be ugly but loyal, or beautiful but cheating, he let the woman choose for herself, lifting a curse on her that gave her hag-ish appearance. He is considered a “Maiden’s Knight”, championing all women. (And we thought him epic and pretty before all this. :D)
Many of the legends actually attribute him as Mordred’s brother (usually in the ones where that would make them both Morgause’s sons, and Arthur’s nephew, often even a potential heir to Arthur’s throne when Arthur has no children of his own), but not always. In these legends, he is also often attributed to be the son of King Lot - though interestingly enough, during stories with family twists, he is often revealed to being Lot’s nephew. I wonder if this will turn out in the show, as well? It would certainly be a nice emphasis on the twist of Gwaine’s hidden nobility, and how absolutely irrational and stupid Uther’s laws are. Continuing in that vein, whenever Mordred plots Arthur’s downfall via exposing Lancelot and Guinevere’s affair, it’s Gwaine that reveals him in the end.
As a figure of legend, Gwaine is even more unpredictable than Lancelot, and where this leads to, I can’t wait to see! ^+^