Merlin Episode Review - 305: The Crystal Cave
I think...this might actually be my favorite ep of season 3, so far. \o/
The opening was quite possibly the first time that Arthur and Merlin had dealt with actual bandits on their own (I’m pretty sure the ones attacking Sophia were a set up). Gotta love the boys still being able to banter even as they run for their lives.
Cue creepy giant statues of...old kings? Valley of the Fallen Kings. Also, Arthur, we do trust you, but you’re kind of bad at predicting enemy behavior. Also, creepy facial carvings are creepy!
And poor Arthur, getting shot, though love his last quip just before he passed out. Seriously, I am so damn glad their banter is back in full!
Slight tangent, but gotta love the beautiful moment with Merlin curling protectively around Arthur as he waits for the bandits to pass. And, more medically-knowledgable!Merlin. And him attempting to wake up Arthur by calling him a dollophead, clotpole, and other various names, was ADORABLE. Sorry, have to squee! :D
Poor Merlin, crying as he cleaned Arthur’s blood off his hands. But then Taliesin shows up. Arthur’s not supposed to die yet...and he calls Merlin “Emrys”. And heals Arthur, with flashy gold eyes and everything! God, I hope he turns out to stay a good guy and not turn out evil.
Creepy crystal cave is creepy...but magic began here, apparently? I’m confused, now. But the Crystal of Neahtid came from here, apparently.
Interestingly, Merlin, despite being presented an incredibly opportunity to look into his future, refuses to - having already gone through seeing his future once before, he doesn’t want to do it again. Taliesin talks him into it, anyway.
Poor Merlin, seeing such a horrific and indiscernible future over and over again as he looks into the crystals. He collapses onto the floor, on the verge of crying, or a mental breakdown. But Taliesin vanishes before he can ask what the hell that was about.
Arthur is awake in the next scene, and Merlin calls him a toad, and says maybe one day, Arthur will magically turn into a handsome prince. And, more power struggles. Arthur gives the orders, Merlin, outside of bed remember?
Gaius tells Merlin to be careful and reminds him that crystals are treacherous. And then tells Merlin not to question what’s in their dinner.
The next morning, it turns out Arthur plans to get Morgana a dagger for her birthday - which is too damn coincidental to Merlin seeing Morgana attack Uther with a dagger. But moments later, Merlin also sees another part of his visions come true - Morgana calming a temperamental horse. However menacing it looked in the visions, it’s pretty tame and harmless now.
In the face of all this, Gaius continues to insist that Merlin is overreacting.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again - Gaius is a wildcard. He seems to care for people, while at the same time he would rather let other people get hurt and/or die rather than interfere, or let Merlin do so. Morgana has attempted to kill Uther multiple times, before, and we know she’s against him now, and even if crystals aren’t necessarily truthful, the fact is that Morgana stabbing Uther is an incredibly probably event even without the crystal’s prophetic warning - with it? Seriously?
Anyway, Merlin is initially relieved that the dagger Arthur plans to give Morgana is plain and unlike the ornate one in the vision, even commenting wryly about women liking pretty things (I’ll ignore the sexism in this for now). But Arthur, with the worst timing ever, chooses now to listen to Merlin, and gets her the ornate dagger. Interesting use of self-fulfilling prophecy - it seems to be the theme of the show. Do prophecies dictate reality, or follow reality? Morgana turned evil because Merlin was trying to prevent it, Mordred turned to hatred because Merlin tried to prevent it, and now she gets the pretty dagger because Merlin didn’t want her to.
In many versions of the canonical legend, Merlin has powers of foresight. It appears that while he doesn’t have it in the show, he gets it from others - and ends up causing them to occur himself. Would all of those prophecies have been inevitable? Would they have never happened had Merlin never heard of them? I wonder if this is another reason Merlin doesn’t want to see the crystals’ prophecies.
Anyway, back to the show! (And Gaius still ignoring evidence - I think he’s been spending a little too much time with Uther...) Merlin runs off to hide behind a tapestry. No, I kid you not - at least now we know one tapestry - and very possibly others - have alcoves hidden behind them. Massive security risk, anyone? Especially so close to the royal family?
I gotta say, love the Gwen and Morgana interaction. Morgana is actually quite nice to Gwen, even giving her one of the birthday presents she got. The show has, so far, been failing epically on the women, and female interaction, front (the writers are all male, I believe? I’m not surprised, then...). But this was a nice break from all that. It’s confusing me even more on Morgana, though - did she give that to Gwen as a genuine thank-you and token of affection? Or was it to get rid of her?
Get rid of her, I think - a moment later, she breathes all over a mirror from an unknown king, and a message from Morgause appears in it. Does anyone else think Morgana looks a little lovestruck as she reads that, or is that just me?
More and more of Merlin’s visions are coming true, from Morgana in her kick-ass new red dress (gotta say, red looks good on her), to her walking down the corridor to Uther’s chambers quite menacingly.
Merlin magically snaps some doors shut on Morgana, and lets a torch fall on her head, knocking her down some stairs. Instead of leaving her to die, he gets Arthur and Gwen, and takes her to Gaius to be healed. Her skull is broken - and Merlin storms off to his room to sulk. (Incidentally, when did his rooms get a desk? And since when does Gaius start wearing trousers?)
He accidentally sees Gwen sobbing into Arthur’s chest, while he comforted her, and everyone in the castle is scatter minded and snappish with worry, already grieving. (Medieval times - broken skull = horrible odds). Arthur lets Merlin see a little of his vulnerability, talking about how much of a sister Morgana is to him.
Uther and Gaius talk over Morgana’s unconscious form, and Uther demands Gaius heal her by any means necessary - he doesn’t care what remedy Gaius uses...is he implying magic? He is! \o/
Uther reveals to Gaius (and, unwittingly, Merlin, who is listening in) what he has revealed to no one: Morgana is his daughter. Once, when Gorlois was off at war, he was with Vivien, Morgana’s mother...and they were lonely.
I’m going to be honest - my reaction went something like this:
@_@ >> @o@ >> \o/ >> \O/ >> @_@!!!
Uther’s own child has magic. Morgana is actually trying to kill her father, and...does this mean she and Morguase aren’t sisters? Or are they sisters through Vivien?
...*coughs* But I digress. Again.
This revelation explains everything - and why Merlin can never go against her in court. Merlin would not just be accusing the king’s ward - he could be accusing the king’s daughter.
Merlin delivers something to ease Uther’s mind from Gaius, and Uther starts a bit of a heart-to-heart with Merlin, pouring his heart out, and his thoughts on parenthood and how all any parent wants (even like Gaius for Merlin, who are father and son in all but blood), to Merlin, and even starts crying in front of him. I’ll be honest, the Merlin/Uther shipper in me squeed at this scene even as I felt so sorry for Uther.
Another curiosity of this episode - it appears quite a few Pendragons people find Merlin easy to talk to. Uther prides himself in his strength, just like Arthur, and out of all the people he could trust, it’s Merlin he shows this “weakness”/vulnerability to, Merlin that he pours his heart out to, and Merlin that he just plain talks to. This is a character plot I’m eager to see the play out of.
Cut to Arthur releasing immense amount of fury onto a practice dummy in the rain, with Merlin watching her. Moments later, he listens as Gaius tells Gwen that Morgana will be gone by morning.
That night, Merlin rides out into the forest, and summons the dragon again, who is creepy and unhelpful as ever, encouraging Merlin to let Morgana die - even though he’s known for a long time that Morgana is Uther’s daughter.
Kilgarragh refuses to fight, and Merlin uses his power as a dragonlord to command him to help Merlin cure Morgana - the dragon is clearly furious about this, but ultimately is forced to do so...but not without making sure Merlin knows that any evil that follows will be Merlin’s fault, and Merlin’s fault alone.
Even as Merlin sits by Morgana, he clearly has some doubts - but in the end, he heals here with sexy dragon-ish sounding magic.
The next morning, Gaius returns from the market to see Uther hugging Morgana and the two clutching onto each other. When Uther thanks Gaius, Gaius says he did nothing...and Uther interprets it as Gaius trying to ensure he won’t be persecuted for magic. The one time Uther is willing to overlook magic and not kill someone for it, and even then, Merlin doesn’t get the credit. Poor boy.
Merlin is sitting, shoulders slumped, in the hallway, and he looks old and weary. Without Gaius saying a word, he says he he couldn’t watch everyone grieve. Gaius warns him that he’s playing with things beyond his control...Merlin’s already screwed with fate and destiny once - and something tells me he’s not going to stop there.
Uther goes to talk to Morgana again, and somewhat-badly hides a look of sadness on his face as Morgana calls him a guardian, though one that’s like a father to her. You’ve got to give him credit for keeping this down for over two decades without telling anyone. When he leaves, Morgana has a look of horror over her face.
As it turns out when she meets with Morgause that night, she overheard Uther - she knows full well that she’s Uther’s daughter. Morgause considers this wonderful news, as it means Morgana has a legitimate claim to the throne. (Interesting, as one of Merlin’s visions was her sitting on the throne, with the crown on her head). Morgana, however, is furious with Uther for lying to her all these years and wants to make him pay.
So ultimately, the sisters, while seeking to destroy Uther and - this is somewhat ambiguous, apparently - possibly Arthur, they want Camelot well kept, and perhaps Morgana on the throne. And while initially, Morgana seemed the more calmer one, it’s starting to seem like she is more and more willing to let herself be ruled by her emotions and hatred than Morgause. There are so many legends on this track that I don’t even know where to begin - so I won’t try.
The guard that Morgause killed to get in is found, and Merlin sees wine dripping off his fingers, looking remarkably like the blood he had a vision of - the next image in the crystal, and a sign that he hasn’t stopped anything.
Morgana is sitting in her chambers, looking progressively more crazed by the minute. When Merlin comes in, allegedly at Arthur’s behest, she magically slams him into a wall, where he falls unconscious, wrapped in a tapestry that has been set on fire. As the flames near him, Morgana enters Uther’s chambers, dagger at the ready.
Merlin comes in without either Morgana noticing or Uther waking, and causes the window to burst in, waking Uther.
And Merlin has to stand by and watch as Morgana, subtly kicking the knife under the bed, runs into Uther’s arms, proclaiming that she came after being scared by a fire. Daddy’s little girls, and obviously, Uther falls for it.
Gaius, oddly enough, seems to know Morgana overheard Uther, that he is her father. And that means Arthur has to be careful - if Uther dies, Arthur is all that stands between her and the throne, which would be her rightful claim.
Oh, joy. The episode ends with this realization sinking into Merlin, his reaction just showing on his face before it cuts to the trailer for next week’s episode.
I’m curious: why does Morgana never have visions of Merlin doing magic? Are her powers limited to the imminent present, and Merlin won’t reveal his powers to her until the distant future? That’s the only reason I can think of. Also, if she overheard Uther, how did she not hear Merlin using magic to heal her? (Or does she now know?)
This episode is a huge milestone in the development of the characters. Merlin is getting further ripped apart by everything he has to do in order to protect Arthur and Camelot. How much will he be able to stand before he has a complete mental breakdown?
How will Morgana’s relation to Uther play out? Somehow, one way or another, she’s going to get her hands on the throne - this we’ve already seen. Will it be permanent? Was it all a vision that will never happen? Uther’s own daughter has magic, which means Morgana is actually trying to kill her father, and...does this mean she and Morguase aren’t sisters? Or are they sisters through Vivien? Morgause doesn’t ask about her sisterhood to Morgana, so I assume that though they are connected by the House of Gorlois, they are siblings via their mother. It would help explain the fact Morgause appears to be a bit older than Morgana, though that may also come as just from being more experienced through magic...oh, this could go so many ways. The first half of this episode was surprisingly predictable, and to have this huge of a blow come out from so far in the outfield...I’m always happy when I’m wrong. :D
In legend, Uther is Morgana’s stepfather - Morgana and Arthur are half-siblings...through Ygraine. I actually wouldn’t have been surprised if the show had gone that route. But no - it’s preserving Arthur and Morgana’s half-siblinghood, but through Uther. o.O What next? What will Merlin do with this information in the short and long run? Will anyone else find out? Morgana, Arthur, Morgause? Holy shit, this is a damn boulder in the pond of the plot, and I cannot wait to see every single consequence of this!
This episode was epic, and so far it was probably my favorite one of Season 3. I can’t wait for next week’s episode: Arthur is betrothed, quite obviously against his will, to a clumsy and somewhat ill-mannered but sincere-looking princess, who is apparently chaperoned by some sort of woman/sorceress who is definitely not human and appears to have some troll and some frog characteristics, and who is apparently dealing with the Sidhe. And the magic Sidhe staff is back! Looks like for once the ugly woman trope won’t be used for comedy (it’ll be the pretty one, instead?). Hmm...
The opening was quite possibly the first time that Arthur and Merlin had dealt with actual bandits on their own (I’m pretty sure the ones attacking Sophia were a set up). Gotta love the boys still being able to banter even as they run for their lives.
Cue creepy giant statues of...old kings? Valley of the Fallen Kings. Also, Arthur, we do trust you, but you’re kind of bad at predicting enemy behavior. Also, creepy facial carvings are creepy!
And poor Arthur, getting shot, though love his last quip just before he passed out. Seriously, I am so damn glad their banter is back in full!
Slight tangent, but gotta love the beautiful moment with Merlin curling protectively around Arthur as he waits for the bandits to pass. And, more medically-knowledgable!Merlin. And him attempting to wake up Arthur by calling him a dollophead, clotpole, and other various names, was ADORABLE. Sorry, have to squee! :D
Poor Merlin, crying as he cleaned Arthur’s blood off his hands. But then Taliesin shows up. Arthur’s not supposed to die yet...and he calls Merlin “Emrys”. And heals Arthur, with flashy gold eyes and everything! God, I hope he turns out to stay a good guy and not turn out evil.
Creepy crystal cave is creepy...but magic began here, apparently? I’m confused, now. But the Crystal of Neahtid came from here, apparently.
Interestingly, Merlin, despite being presented an incredibly opportunity to look into his future, refuses to - having already gone through seeing his future once before, he doesn’t want to do it again. Taliesin talks him into it, anyway.
Poor Merlin, seeing such a horrific and indiscernible future over and over again as he looks into the crystals. He collapses onto the floor, on the verge of crying, or a mental breakdown. But Taliesin vanishes before he can ask what the hell that was about.
Arthur is awake in the next scene, and Merlin calls him a toad, and says maybe one day, Arthur will magically turn into a handsome prince. And, more power struggles. Arthur gives the orders, Merlin, outside of bed remember?
Gaius tells Merlin to be careful and reminds him that crystals are treacherous. And then tells Merlin not to question what’s in their dinner.
The next morning, it turns out Arthur plans to get Morgana a dagger for her birthday - which is too damn coincidental to Merlin seeing Morgana attack Uther with a dagger. But moments later, Merlin also sees another part of his visions come true - Morgana calming a temperamental horse. However menacing it looked in the visions, it’s pretty tame and harmless now.
In the face of all this, Gaius continues to insist that Merlin is overreacting.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again - Gaius is a wildcard. He seems to care for people, while at the same time he would rather let other people get hurt and/or die rather than interfere, or let Merlin do so. Morgana has attempted to kill Uther multiple times, before, and we know she’s against him now, and even if crystals aren’t necessarily truthful, the fact is that Morgana stabbing Uther is an incredibly probably event even without the crystal’s prophetic warning - with it? Seriously?
Anyway, Merlin is initially relieved that the dagger Arthur plans to give Morgana is plain and unlike the ornate one in the vision, even commenting wryly about women liking pretty things (I’ll ignore the sexism in this for now). But Arthur, with the worst timing ever, chooses now to listen to Merlin, and gets her the ornate dagger. Interesting use of self-fulfilling prophecy - it seems to be the theme of the show. Do prophecies dictate reality, or follow reality? Morgana turned evil because Merlin was trying to prevent it, Mordred turned to hatred because Merlin tried to prevent it, and now she gets the pretty dagger because Merlin didn’t want her to.
In many versions of the canonical legend, Merlin has powers of foresight. It appears that while he doesn’t have it in the show, he gets it from others - and ends up causing them to occur himself. Would all of those prophecies have been inevitable? Would they have never happened had Merlin never heard of them? I wonder if this is another reason Merlin doesn’t want to see the crystals’ prophecies.
Anyway, back to the show! (And Gaius still ignoring evidence - I think he’s been spending a little too much time with Uther...) Merlin runs off to hide behind a tapestry. No, I kid you not - at least now we know one tapestry - and very possibly others - have alcoves hidden behind them. Massive security risk, anyone? Especially so close to the royal family?
I gotta say, love the Gwen and Morgana interaction. Morgana is actually quite nice to Gwen, even giving her one of the birthday presents she got. The show has, so far, been failing epically on the women, and female interaction, front (the writers are all male, I believe? I’m not surprised, then...). But this was a nice break from all that. It’s confusing me even more on Morgana, though - did she give that to Gwen as a genuine thank-you and token of affection? Or was it to get rid of her?
Get rid of her, I think - a moment later, she breathes all over a mirror from an unknown king, and a message from Morgause appears in it. Does anyone else think Morgana looks a little lovestruck as she reads that, or is that just me?
More and more of Merlin’s visions are coming true, from Morgana in her kick-ass new red dress (gotta say, red looks good on her), to her walking down the corridor to Uther’s chambers quite menacingly.
Merlin magically snaps some doors shut on Morgana, and lets a torch fall on her head, knocking her down some stairs. Instead of leaving her to die, he gets Arthur and Gwen, and takes her to Gaius to be healed. Her skull is broken - and Merlin storms off to his room to sulk. (Incidentally, when did his rooms get a desk? And since when does Gaius start wearing trousers?)
He accidentally sees Gwen sobbing into Arthur’s chest, while he comforted her, and everyone in the castle is scatter minded and snappish with worry, already grieving. (Medieval times - broken skull = horrible odds). Arthur lets Merlin see a little of his vulnerability, talking about how much of a sister Morgana is to him.
Uther and Gaius talk over Morgana’s unconscious form, and Uther demands Gaius heal her by any means necessary - he doesn’t care what remedy Gaius uses...is he implying magic? He is! \o/
Uther reveals to Gaius (and, unwittingly, Merlin, who is listening in) what he has revealed to no one: Morgana is his daughter. Once, when Gorlois was off at war, he was with Vivien, Morgana’s mother...and they were lonely.
I’m going to be honest - my reaction went something like this:
@_@ >> @o@ >> \o/ >> \O/ >> @_@!!!
Uther’s own child has magic. Morgana is actually trying to kill her father, and...does this mean she and Morguase aren’t sisters? Or are they sisters through Vivien?
...*coughs* But I digress. Again.
This revelation explains everything - and why Merlin can never go against her in court. Merlin would not just be accusing the king’s ward - he could be accusing the king’s daughter.
Merlin delivers something to ease Uther’s mind from Gaius, and Uther starts a bit of a heart-to-heart with Merlin, pouring his heart out, and his thoughts on parenthood and how all any parent wants (even like Gaius for Merlin, who are father and son in all but blood), to Merlin, and even starts crying in front of him. I’ll be honest, the Merlin/Uther shipper in me squeed at this scene even as I felt so sorry for Uther.
Another curiosity of this episode - it appears quite a few Pendragons people find Merlin easy to talk to. Uther prides himself in his strength, just like Arthur, and out of all the people he could trust, it’s Merlin he shows this “weakness”/vulnerability to, Merlin that he pours his heart out to, and Merlin that he just plain talks to. This is a character plot I’m eager to see the play out of.
Cut to Arthur releasing immense amount of fury onto a practice dummy in the rain, with Merlin watching her. Moments later, he listens as Gaius tells Gwen that Morgana will be gone by morning.
That night, Merlin rides out into the forest, and summons the dragon again, who is creepy and unhelpful as ever, encouraging Merlin to let Morgana die - even though he’s known for a long time that Morgana is Uther’s daughter.
Kilgarragh refuses to fight, and Merlin uses his power as a dragonlord to command him to help Merlin cure Morgana - the dragon is clearly furious about this, but ultimately is forced to do so...but not without making sure Merlin knows that any evil that follows will be Merlin’s fault, and Merlin’s fault alone.
Even as Merlin sits by Morgana, he clearly has some doubts - but in the end, he heals here with sexy dragon-ish sounding magic.
The next morning, Gaius returns from the market to see Uther hugging Morgana and the two clutching onto each other. When Uther thanks Gaius, Gaius says he did nothing...and Uther interprets it as Gaius trying to ensure he won’t be persecuted for magic. The one time Uther is willing to overlook magic and not kill someone for it, and even then, Merlin doesn’t get the credit. Poor boy.
Merlin is sitting, shoulders slumped, in the hallway, and he looks old and weary. Without Gaius saying a word, he says he he couldn’t watch everyone grieve. Gaius warns him that he’s playing with things beyond his control...Merlin’s already screwed with fate and destiny once - and something tells me he’s not going to stop there.
Uther goes to talk to Morgana again, and somewhat-badly hides a look of sadness on his face as Morgana calls him a guardian, though one that’s like a father to her. You’ve got to give him credit for keeping this down for over two decades without telling anyone. When he leaves, Morgana has a look of horror over her face.
As it turns out when she meets with Morgause that night, she overheard Uther - she knows full well that she’s Uther’s daughter. Morgause considers this wonderful news, as it means Morgana has a legitimate claim to the throne. (Interesting, as one of Merlin’s visions was her sitting on the throne, with the crown on her head). Morgana, however, is furious with Uther for lying to her all these years and wants to make him pay.
So ultimately, the sisters, while seeking to destroy Uther and - this is somewhat ambiguous, apparently - possibly Arthur, they want Camelot well kept, and perhaps Morgana on the throne. And while initially, Morgana seemed the more calmer one, it’s starting to seem like she is more and more willing to let herself be ruled by her emotions and hatred than Morgause. There are so many legends on this track that I don’t even know where to begin - so I won’t try.
The guard that Morgause killed to get in is found, and Merlin sees wine dripping off his fingers, looking remarkably like the blood he had a vision of - the next image in the crystal, and a sign that he hasn’t stopped anything.
Morgana is sitting in her chambers, looking progressively more crazed by the minute. When Merlin comes in, allegedly at Arthur’s behest, she magically slams him into a wall, where he falls unconscious, wrapped in a tapestry that has been set on fire. As the flames near him, Morgana enters Uther’s chambers, dagger at the ready.
Merlin comes in without either Morgana noticing or Uther waking, and causes the window to burst in, waking Uther.
And Merlin has to stand by and watch as Morgana, subtly kicking the knife under the bed, runs into Uther’s arms, proclaiming that she came after being scared by a fire. Daddy’s little girls, and obviously, Uther falls for it.
Gaius, oddly enough, seems to know Morgana overheard Uther, that he is her father. And that means Arthur has to be careful - if Uther dies, Arthur is all that stands between her and the throne, which would be her rightful claim.
Oh, joy. The episode ends with this realization sinking into Merlin, his reaction just showing on his face before it cuts to the trailer for next week’s episode.
I’m curious: why does Morgana never have visions of Merlin doing magic? Are her powers limited to the imminent present, and Merlin won’t reveal his powers to her until the distant future? That’s the only reason I can think of. Also, if she overheard Uther, how did she not hear Merlin using magic to heal her? (Or does she now know?)
This episode is a huge milestone in the development of the characters. Merlin is getting further ripped apart by everything he has to do in order to protect Arthur and Camelot. How much will he be able to stand before he has a complete mental breakdown?
How will Morgana’s relation to Uther play out? Somehow, one way or another, she’s going to get her hands on the throne - this we’ve already seen. Will it be permanent? Was it all a vision that will never happen? Uther’s own daughter has magic, which means Morgana is actually trying to kill her father, and...does this mean she and Morguase aren’t sisters? Or are they sisters through Vivien? Morgause doesn’t ask about her sisterhood to Morgana, so I assume that though they are connected by the House of Gorlois, they are siblings via their mother. It would help explain the fact Morgause appears to be a bit older than Morgana, though that may also come as just from being more experienced through magic...oh, this could go so many ways. The first half of this episode was surprisingly predictable, and to have this huge of a blow come out from so far in the outfield...I’m always happy when I’m wrong. :D
In legend, Uther is Morgana’s stepfather - Morgana and Arthur are half-siblings...through Ygraine. I actually wouldn’t have been surprised if the show had gone that route. But no - it’s preserving Arthur and Morgana’s half-siblinghood, but through Uther. o.O What next? What will Merlin do with this information in the short and long run? Will anyone else find out? Morgana, Arthur, Morgause? Holy shit, this is a damn boulder in the pond of the plot, and I cannot wait to see every single consequence of this!
This episode was epic, and so far it was probably my favorite one of Season 3. I can’t wait for next week’s episode: Arthur is betrothed, quite obviously against his will, to a clumsy and somewhat ill-mannered but sincere-looking princess, who is apparently chaperoned by some sort of woman/sorceress who is definitely not human and appears to have some troll and some frog characteristics, and who is apparently dealing with the Sidhe. And the magic Sidhe staff is back! Looks like for once the ugly woman trope won’t be used for comedy (it’ll be the pretty one, instead?). Hmm...