Merlin: "Another's Sorrow"
Sigh. I knew it was too much to hope for.
Two sympathetic females in an episode together, each with a history with Arthur that could have led to some juicy scenes of awkwardness and insecurity and curiosity and eventually friendship? Nah, that sounds way too interesting.
Princess Mithian
Here’s the thing. I was pretty fascinated by Princess Mithian the first time around - not so much the character, but the role she played in the narrative. I wrote an embarrassingly long meta on the subject, but to cut a long story short: I was intrigued by the fact that she was cast as the quintessential embodiment of a perfect fairytale princess...and yet was still ejected from the show. I still find it quite hard to articulate what exactly I found so appealing about that scenario and the way the character both played straight and subverted several aspects of the Princess Classic trope - I only knew that any interaction between Guinevere (who does her own share of subverting expectations) and Mithian would be rife with possibilities. So I couldn’t believe it when I heard that Mithian would be returning to the show. It was the most exciting Merlin-related news I'd heard in a long time.
Mithian’s most important scene in The Hunter’s Heart was at the very end, in which she confronts Arthur about the reasons behind the dissolution of their engagement, discovers that he has feelings for someone else, and displays a sense of awe at his sense of devotion to this mystery woman. The continuation of her story would seem to run along an obvious route: to return to Camelot and sate her curiosity as to who precisely “trumps a princess”, and why exactly this “blacksmith’s daughter” is Arthur’s queen and beloved. Yet the construct of the plot nips this in the bud.
“Oh so, that’s the girl I got rejected for? Sorry, don’t care - my father’s life is in jeopardy and my nursemaid is threatening to kill me.”
I suppose I should be grateful that a) she didn’t end up dead, and b) she and Gwen at least got to exchange a grand total of two lines with each other, neither of which had anything to do with the events that took place in The Hunter’s Heart. I suppose I should also be grateful that neither one felt the need to be catty or territorial with the other, but honestly - the complete lack of any scenes portraying Arthur and Gwen’s married life and Mithian’s total preoccupation with Morgana made this a non-factor anyway.
Here’s the thing: when you think about it, Princess Mithian could have been anyone. Mithian and Rodor could have been Elena and Godwyn. Heck, they could have been Vivian and Olaf! She could have been a brand new character altogether. There was nothing here that reflected Mithian’s history, not least because there was no mention of her engagement to Arthur or her familiarity with Camelot (beyond recognising Sir Leon, I suppose). She didn’t go to Camelot for help due to her history with Arthur - she did so because Morgana forced her to. And for all we know, Morgana never knew anything about the Arthur/Mithian engagement in the first place.
I suppose I’m not totally surprised that the writers didn’t want to reference The Hunter’s Heart. To do that would be to bring up the whole messy and totally unresolved Guinevere/Lancelot debacle and the writers clearly want to forget that that ever happened (raising the question of why they even bothered doing it in the first place). Were the subject of Arthur and Mithian’s engagement to come up, you’d probably have to devote a lot of time to dealing with the ramifications of everything that happened between 4x09 and 4x11.
So of course, as always, interesting characterization is obliterated in favour of plot. The same old plot with a few new trappings.
This time, the price of the plot was Mithian herself, to the point where she could have been any old princess. Her character served a specific purpose in the narrative last time (to be the last romantic hurdle before Arthur/Guinevere married) but something of a miracle occurred in that the writers - or Janet Montgomery - managed to portray a stock character as a three-dimensional woman, with an agenda and a personality and a life of her own. Unlike other guest stars, many of whom veer more towards “plot-points” than actual human beings, it was easy to image that Princess Mithian had an existence outside the constraints of the plot.
Here? Not so much. Her purpose isn’t that of False Bride but of Distressed Damsel. Unlike last time, she isn’t allowed to grow or exist outside of that purpose. Quite literally in fact: for most of the episode she’s totally in thrall to Morgana’s power. Her best scenes were obviously when she grappled for some agency and tried to warn Merlin without Morgana knowing about it; it was only then we got a sense of her personality and inner conflict. But for most of the episode she was just there to push the plot along. Mithian could have been any Damsel in Distress, any Victim of Enchantment, any Devoted Daughter, and we would have gotten the exact same story.
How the mighty have fallen. Literally.
Unlike Mithian’s confidence and proactivity in The Hunter’s Heart (which granted, was undermined completely by Arthur at the end - but that’s what was so interesting about it) she is now rendered a pawn in a much larger game, spending the entire episode exhausted, tearful, frightened and helpless. There was one brief sequence, which ended up being my favourite part of the episode, in which Mithian convinces Morgana that she only wishes to wash, and then finagles Merlin into fetching water from the river where she’s scratched “Morgana” onto a rock - but for the most part she’s a leaf caught in the current.
It feels as though what should have been Mithian’s story - a chance for her to encounter Guinevere on her own terms and get some closure on Arthur - was superseded and replaced with Morgana’s agenda. She’s left with no agency, no choices, no chance to interact with Guinevere and learn more about her.
Queen Guinevere
Despite their lack of meaningful interaction, it was at least mildly interesting to see just how profoundly Guinevere and Mithian’s roles have changed since the events of The Hunter’s Heart. Guinevere is now Queen of the most powerful kingdom in the land with a husband who leaves her in charge while he’s away; Mithian sits before her: pale, sickly, traumatized, and begging for help. Last time it was Mithian who breezed into Camelot, impressed everyone with her beauty, integrated herself effortlessly, and confidently went hunting in the woods. Meanwhile, Gwen was busy keeping a rapist at bay, running through the woods in a harem outfit, getting hunted by Morgana, being changed into a freaking DEER (still not over that) and shot with an arrow - an arrow shot by Mithian, no less!
But it’s more than that. In The Hunter’s Heart, Mithian was very much characterized as the perfect love interest: attractive, witty, charming and so on. She had a clear goal in mind: to find a good man to marry and a kingdom to rule. Another’s Sorrow takes place three years later - and she’s still a princess in search of a husband and kingdom. Now, I hope my track record will attest that I’m NOT someone that thinks every single female character HAS to get hooked up with a man in order to be happy in life, but much like meeting Guinevere, it felt as though this was a natural continuation of Mithian’s story: to find the love she longs for and become the queen she’s supposed to be.
In the three years since she’s last been seen, she’s remained totally static: still a princess, still a single woman. Not only that, but the presence of her (previously unmentioned) father served to infantilize her a little bit. When you look at Arthur’s Rejected Princesses of the past, a father/daughter theme emerges: Morgana/Uther, Sophia/Aulfric, Vivian/Olaf, Elena/Godwyn - each girl was totally in the power of her father, whether it be Sophia following her father’s plans, Vivian being violently overprotected by hers, or Elena obediently going through with the arranged marriage that’s been organised for her. Yet Princess Mithian arrived in Camelot all by herself, commanding soldiers, making a political alliance, pursuing Arthur, with no mention whatsoever of any parents at all.
Here, her importance to the narrative hinges on the fact that she is King Rodor’s daughter. Here’s a thought - why not have had Rodor be her husband instead of her father? (Obviously not played by James Fox, but a young actor like Harry Lloyd or Tom Riley). It wouldn’t have changed the plot in any way, and it would have given Mithian a sense of maturity that was strangely lacking in this episode. As it was, it was a shame to see her not “reduced” exactly, but so far flung from how she first appeared that she may as well been a completely different character.
There was only one time in which I felt a sense of resonance, and I credit it entirely to Janet Montgomery’s performance. In the final scene between Mithian and Team Camelot, Arthur enters the room and hears Mithian’s apologies as to her complicity in Morgana’s scheme. There is a lovely moment in which Mithian tells him “Camelot is lucky to have a king like you,” to which Arthur responds by giving her a friendly pat on the arm. For a brief moment, there is a look of wistfulness on Mithian’s face as he leaves with his wife. It’s the only remnant of The Hunter’s Hunt and a bittersweet reminder of Mithian’s line: “I would give up my own kingdom to be so loved.”
Awww.
Other Bits and Pieces
Wow, that was quite a cleavage window Mithian had going at the beginning of this episode. But will this lead to the usual pearl-clutching and salt-smelling from those in the audience who possess such terribly delicate sensibilities when it comes to women’s breasts? Somehow I think not.
The children! THINK OF THE CHILDREN!!!
Nemeth was beautiful, particularly the throne room. When Arthur kicks the bucket, Guinevere should seriously consider combining her queendom with Mithian’s.
I’m grudgingly impressed by the fact that they not only dredged up the Odin subplot after so long, but roped in the original actor (who hasn’t been seen since early series 2) and resolved the whole thing in a reasonably satisfactory - if not predictable - way. It would have been nice if we’d had a bit more information on what exactly happened when Odin’s son died, and it didn’t really make much sense that Arthur would be all gung-ho about getting vengeance for Uther’s death at this point, but it was good that they wrapped this up after so long. It does really make you wonder though, as to how the writers can remember characterization that was established forty-one episodes ago, and lose all memory of that which occurred only six episodes ago.
I thought Katie did a nice job as Hilda. Her green eyes were a dead giveaway, but I actually think she did a better job disguising her voice than Colin usually does as Dragoon. If I hadn’t known that particular plot-point was coming, I may well have been fooled for at least five seconds.
I’m sure Mithian was totally comfortable talking about a recent traumatic event WHILE SURROUNDED BY THE WHOLE OF CAMELOT’S COURT.
Guinevere looked gorgeous in that nightdress, but I can’t fathom why Arthur was wearing chainmail. Whose weird idea was that?
Last week Uther criticized Arthur for letting people question and challenge him. I’m not sure why - it’s not like Arthur ever listens to any of them.
I enjoyed this litany of questions from the SFX review (with a few of my own):
Why does Morgana need to physically coerce Princess Mithian when she already holds her father as leverage? Knowing this, and therefore acquiescing up to a point, why does Mithian try to escape every now and again? If this is so important to Morgana, why does she fall asleep while supposedly guarding Mithian - with the key clasped on the table in front of her? Why didn’t Mithian shut the door behind her? Why does the king ride out personally to try and rendezvous with Mithian’s father? Couldn’t his knights just go and rescue him from the border? Since Mithian is following orders because her father is hostage and since she has a magical binding on her wrist and since the plan is to draw Arthur out of Camelot to kill him, why does Morgana need to personally infiltrate the castle too? But given that she does successfully gain access to the palace in her (frankly not that convincing) disguise… why not just use the opportunity to kill Arthur herself? And come to think of it, if Odin just wants war with Camelot, he doesn’t really need Morgana’s help either; why are they working together? When Mithian’s bracelet starting burning, why didn’t she just take it off? Why was Gaius of all people pish-poshing Merlin’s insistence that something was wrong? When Morgana was using the Force to choke Merlin, why she doesn’t she actually just kill him? And why didn’t Merlin use magic to fight back? And why on earth was Gaius taken on a covert rescue mission that relied on stealth and speed? For that matter, why was Hilda allowed to go? Why were Odin's men stomping all over the forest? Wasn't the idea to lure Arthur into the tomb without rousing suspicion? If Arthur had actually listened to Leon's advice when he reported all the enemy soldiers in the area, Odin and Morgana's plan would have totally failed. Whew.
As usual, Merlin isn’t listened to and Arthur wanders straight into an obvious trap. Though I did laugh when Arthur yelled at Mithian: "What wrong have I done you?" Really, Arthur? You can’t think of the obvious answer to that one? Okay, I’ll cut him some slack since the story didn’t end up touching on that particular motivation, but still.
Ouch, Richard Wilson’s eye looked painful in that final scene. I hope he’s okay.
How I Would Have Done It
There were two key guest stars in this episode that drove the plot: King Odin and Princess Mithian. Since there really seemed to be no real reason for Mithian and Morgana to go with the rescue party (heck if Rodor was “hiding” in such an obvious place, shouldn’t that have been a dead giveaway that the whole thing was a trap?) then the two of them should have stayed behind in Camelot. As far as Morgana is concerned, Odin can lie in wait and deal with Arthur, and she won’t have the added headache of trying to keep Mithian under control during the entire journey there.
Thus Mithian and Guinevere are left alone together - under “Hilda’s” ever-watchful eye. Gwen can obviously see that Mithian is uncomfortable, and assumes it’s because of the broken engagement. Not wanting to bring up the subject, Gwen is mildly awkward around her, but Mithian gets a chance to see the queen’s day-to-day running of the kingdom, as well as being the recipient of her kindness.
It’s at this point that Mithian starts trying to sneak away in the night to warn somebody. At this point, Mithian figures, she might be able to get a message to Gwen to send a rescue party after Arthur without Morgana catching on. Morgana shuts her down at every turn, but because Guinevere isn’t stupid, she can tell that something is seriously wrong with Mithian.
The “writing on the rock/send Merlin down to the river” ploy is adapted for in the castle, with Mithian leaving a message somewhere and directing Guinevere toward it. Guinevere sees it and acts immediately, sending out further knights (this could have included Gwaine, who fulfils the role he did in this episode in shooting Odin’s men and facilitating the other’s escape). Having realized what’s happened, Morgana is in swift pursuit.
Running concurrently to this plot, Arthur and Merlin do pretty much what they did in the actual episode: Merlin has a bad feeling, Arthur tries to reason with him, they walk into Odin’s trap, Morgana makes her appearance, they rescue Rodor, Merlin creates the earthquake, they run through the forest and Arthur brokers a peace with Odin after a brief swordfight. Having done this, he returns home to the terrifying sight of his wife and ex-fiancé chatting at the dinner table like the best of friends.
As they farewell, Mithian tells Arthur that she understands why she was passed over for Guinevere: just a quiet, sweet, wistful moment that reinforces Gwen’s value in the eyes of others. The end.
So I guess this is the last we’ll see of Princess Mithian. Much like Uther’s return last episode, it all felt mildly pointless. At least we got to see her again.
Also, I don’t think my reviews will be quite as involved from now on. I was looking forward to this episode for a long time, and now that it’s over and done with, I feel rather deflated. Yet oddly, it comes as something of a relief. For me, there’s nothing much left to look forward to, so I can drift back into relaxing apathy without desperately hoping that we’ll see anything worthwhile from the girls. Because let's face it - we won't.
Two sympathetic females in an episode together, each with a history with Arthur that could have led to some juicy scenes of awkwardness and insecurity and curiosity and eventually friendship? Nah, that sounds way too interesting.
Princess Mithian
Here’s the thing. I was pretty fascinated by Princess Mithian the first time around - not so much the character, but the role she played in the narrative. I wrote an embarrassingly long meta on the subject, but to cut a long story short: I was intrigued by the fact that she was cast as the quintessential embodiment of a perfect fairytale princess...and yet was still ejected from the show. I still find it quite hard to articulate what exactly I found so appealing about that scenario and the way the character both played straight and subverted several aspects of the Princess Classic trope - I only knew that any interaction between Guinevere (who does her own share of subverting expectations) and Mithian would be rife with possibilities. So I couldn’t believe it when I heard that Mithian would be returning to the show. It was the most exciting Merlin-related news I'd heard in a long time.
Mithian’s most important scene in The Hunter’s Heart was at the very end, in which she confronts Arthur about the reasons behind the dissolution of their engagement, discovers that he has feelings for someone else, and displays a sense of awe at his sense of devotion to this mystery woman. The continuation of her story would seem to run along an obvious route: to return to Camelot and sate her curiosity as to who precisely “trumps a princess”, and why exactly this “blacksmith’s daughter” is Arthur’s queen and beloved. Yet the construct of the plot nips this in the bud.
“Oh so, that’s the girl I got rejected for? Sorry, don’t care - my father’s life is in jeopardy and my nursemaid is threatening to kill me.”
I suppose I should be grateful that a) she didn’t end up dead, and b) she and Gwen at least got to exchange a grand total of two lines with each other, neither of which had anything to do with the events that took place in The Hunter’s Heart. I suppose I should also be grateful that neither one felt the need to be catty or territorial with the other, but honestly - the complete lack of any scenes portraying Arthur and Gwen’s married life and Mithian’s total preoccupation with Morgana made this a non-factor anyway.
Here’s the thing: when you think about it, Princess Mithian could have been anyone. Mithian and Rodor could have been Elena and Godwyn. Heck, they could have been Vivian and Olaf! She could have been a brand new character altogether. There was nothing here that reflected Mithian’s history, not least because there was no mention of her engagement to Arthur or her familiarity with Camelot (beyond recognising Sir Leon, I suppose). She didn’t go to Camelot for help due to her history with Arthur - she did so because Morgana forced her to. And for all we know, Morgana never knew anything about the Arthur/Mithian engagement in the first place.
I suppose I’m not totally surprised that the writers didn’t want to reference The Hunter’s Heart. To do that would be to bring up the whole messy and totally unresolved Guinevere/Lancelot debacle and the writers clearly want to forget that that ever happened (raising the question of why they even bothered doing it in the first place). Were the subject of Arthur and Mithian’s engagement to come up, you’d probably have to devote a lot of time to dealing with the ramifications of everything that happened between 4x09 and 4x11.
So of course, as always, interesting characterization is obliterated in favour of plot. The same old plot with a few new trappings.
This time, the price of the plot was Mithian herself, to the point where she could have been any old princess. Her character served a specific purpose in the narrative last time (to be the last romantic hurdle before Arthur/Guinevere married) but something of a miracle occurred in that the writers - or Janet Montgomery - managed to portray a stock character as a three-dimensional woman, with an agenda and a personality and a life of her own. Unlike other guest stars, many of whom veer more towards “plot-points” than actual human beings, it was easy to image that Princess Mithian had an existence outside the constraints of the plot.
Here? Not so much. Her purpose isn’t that of False Bride but of Distressed Damsel. Unlike last time, she isn’t allowed to grow or exist outside of that purpose. Quite literally in fact: for most of the episode she’s totally in thrall to Morgana’s power. Her best scenes were obviously when she grappled for some agency and tried to warn Merlin without Morgana knowing about it; it was only then we got a sense of her personality and inner conflict. But for most of the episode she was just there to push the plot along. Mithian could have been any Damsel in Distress, any Victim of Enchantment, any Devoted Daughter, and we would have gotten the exact same story.
How the mighty have fallen. Literally.
Unlike Mithian’s confidence and proactivity in The Hunter’s Heart (which granted, was undermined completely by Arthur at the end - but that’s what was so interesting about it) she is now rendered a pawn in a much larger game, spending the entire episode exhausted, tearful, frightened and helpless. There was one brief sequence, which ended up being my favourite part of the episode, in which Mithian convinces Morgana that she only wishes to wash, and then finagles Merlin into fetching water from the river where she’s scratched “Morgana” onto a rock - but for the most part she’s a leaf caught in the current.
It feels as though what should have been Mithian’s story - a chance for her to encounter Guinevere on her own terms and get some closure on Arthur - was superseded and replaced with Morgana’s agenda. She’s left with no agency, no choices, no chance to interact with Guinevere and learn more about her.
Queen Guinevere
Despite their lack of meaningful interaction, it was at least mildly interesting to see just how profoundly Guinevere and Mithian’s roles have changed since the events of The Hunter’s Heart. Guinevere is now Queen of the most powerful kingdom in the land with a husband who leaves her in charge while he’s away; Mithian sits before her: pale, sickly, traumatized, and begging for help. Last time it was Mithian who breezed into Camelot, impressed everyone with her beauty, integrated herself effortlessly, and confidently went hunting in the woods. Meanwhile, Gwen was busy keeping a rapist at bay, running through the woods in a harem outfit, getting hunted by Morgana, being changed into a freaking DEER (still not over that) and shot with an arrow - an arrow shot by Mithian, no less!
But it’s more than that. In The Hunter’s Heart, Mithian was very much characterized as the perfect love interest: attractive, witty, charming and so on. She had a clear goal in mind: to find a good man to marry and a kingdom to rule. Another’s Sorrow takes place three years later - and she’s still a princess in search of a husband and kingdom. Now, I hope my track record will attest that I’m NOT someone that thinks every single female character HAS to get hooked up with a man in order to be happy in life, but much like meeting Guinevere, it felt as though this was a natural continuation of Mithian’s story: to find the love she longs for and become the queen she’s supposed to be.
In the three years since she’s last been seen, she’s remained totally static: still a princess, still a single woman. Not only that, but the presence of her (previously unmentioned) father served to infantilize her a little bit. When you look at Arthur’s Rejected Princesses of the past, a father/daughter theme emerges: Morgana/Uther, Sophia/Aulfric, Vivian/Olaf, Elena/Godwyn - each girl was totally in the power of her father, whether it be Sophia following her father’s plans, Vivian being violently overprotected by hers, or Elena obediently going through with the arranged marriage that’s been organised for her. Yet Princess Mithian arrived in Camelot all by herself, commanding soldiers, making a political alliance, pursuing Arthur, with no mention whatsoever of any parents at all.
Here, her importance to the narrative hinges on the fact that she is King Rodor’s daughter. Here’s a thought - why not have had Rodor be her husband instead of her father? (Obviously not played by James Fox, but a young actor like Harry Lloyd or Tom Riley). It wouldn’t have changed the plot in any way, and it would have given Mithian a sense of maturity that was strangely lacking in this episode. As it was, it was a shame to see her not “reduced” exactly, but so far flung from how she first appeared that she may as well been a completely different character.
There was only one time in which I felt a sense of resonance, and I credit it entirely to Janet Montgomery’s performance. In the final scene between Mithian and Team Camelot, Arthur enters the room and hears Mithian’s apologies as to her complicity in Morgana’s scheme. There is a lovely moment in which Mithian tells him “Camelot is lucky to have a king like you,” to which Arthur responds by giving her a friendly pat on the arm. For a brief moment, there is a look of wistfulness on Mithian’s face as he leaves with his wife. It’s the only remnant of The Hunter’s Hunt and a bittersweet reminder of Mithian’s line: “I would give up my own kingdom to be so loved.”
Click to viewAwww.
Other Bits and Pieces
Wow, that was quite a cleavage window Mithian had going at the beginning of this episode. But will this lead to the usual pearl-clutching and salt-smelling from those in the audience who possess such terribly delicate sensibilities when it comes to women’s breasts? Somehow I think not.
The children! THINK OF THE CHILDREN!!!
Nemeth was beautiful, particularly the throne room. When Arthur kicks the bucket, Guinevere should seriously consider combining her queendom with Mithian’s.
I’m grudgingly impressed by the fact that they not only dredged up the Odin subplot after so long, but roped in the original actor (who hasn’t been seen since early series 2) and resolved the whole thing in a reasonably satisfactory - if not predictable - way. It would have been nice if we’d had a bit more information on what exactly happened when Odin’s son died, and it didn’t really make much sense that Arthur would be all gung-ho about getting vengeance for Uther’s death at this point, but it was good that they wrapped this up after so long. It does really make you wonder though, as to how the writers can remember characterization that was established forty-one episodes ago, and lose all memory of that which occurred only six episodes ago.
I thought Katie did a nice job as Hilda. Her green eyes were a dead giveaway, but I actually think she did a better job disguising her voice than Colin usually does as Dragoon. If I hadn’t known that particular plot-point was coming, I may well have been fooled for at least five seconds.
I’m sure Mithian was totally comfortable talking about a recent traumatic event WHILE SURROUNDED BY THE WHOLE OF CAMELOT’S COURT.
Guinevere looked gorgeous in that nightdress, but I can’t fathom why Arthur was wearing chainmail. Whose weird idea was that?
Last week Uther criticized Arthur for letting people question and challenge him. I’m not sure why - it’s not like Arthur ever listens to any of them.
I enjoyed this litany of questions from the SFX review (with a few of my own):
Why does Morgana need to physically coerce Princess Mithian when she already holds her father as leverage? Knowing this, and therefore acquiescing up to a point, why does Mithian try to escape every now and again? If this is so important to Morgana, why does she fall asleep while supposedly guarding Mithian - with the key clasped on the table in front of her? Why didn’t Mithian shut the door behind her? Why does the king ride out personally to try and rendezvous with Mithian’s father? Couldn’t his knights just go and rescue him from the border? Since Mithian is following orders because her father is hostage and since she has a magical binding on her wrist and since the plan is to draw Arthur out of Camelot to kill him, why does Morgana need to personally infiltrate the castle too? But given that she does successfully gain access to the palace in her (frankly not that convincing) disguise… why not just use the opportunity to kill Arthur herself? And come to think of it, if Odin just wants war with Camelot, he doesn’t really need Morgana’s help either; why are they working together? When Mithian’s bracelet starting burning, why didn’t she just take it off? Why was Gaius of all people pish-poshing Merlin’s insistence that something was wrong? When Morgana was using the Force to choke Merlin, why she doesn’t she actually just kill him? And why didn’t Merlin use magic to fight back? And why on earth was Gaius taken on a covert rescue mission that relied on stealth and speed? For that matter, why was Hilda allowed to go? Why were Odin's men stomping all over the forest? Wasn't the idea to lure Arthur into the tomb without rousing suspicion? If Arthur had actually listened to Leon's advice when he reported all the enemy soldiers in the area, Odin and Morgana's plan would have totally failed. Whew.
As usual, Merlin isn’t listened to and Arthur wanders straight into an obvious trap. Though I did laugh when Arthur yelled at Mithian: "What wrong have I done you?" Really, Arthur? You can’t think of the obvious answer to that one? Okay, I’ll cut him some slack since the story didn’t end up touching on that particular motivation, but still.
Ouch, Richard Wilson’s eye looked painful in that final scene. I hope he’s okay.
How I Would Have Done It
There were two key guest stars in this episode that drove the plot: King Odin and Princess Mithian. Since there really seemed to be no real reason for Mithian and Morgana to go with the rescue party (heck if Rodor was “hiding” in such an obvious place, shouldn’t that have been a dead giveaway that the whole thing was a trap?) then the two of them should have stayed behind in Camelot. As far as Morgana is concerned, Odin can lie in wait and deal with Arthur, and she won’t have the added headache of trying to keep Mithian under control during the entire journey there.
Thus Mithian and Guinevere are left alone together - under “Hilda’s” ever-watchful eye. Gwen can obviously see that Mithian is uncomfortable, and assumes it’s because of the broken engagement. Not wanting to bring up the subject, Gwen is mildly awkward around her, but Mithian gets a chance to see the queen’s day-to-day running of the kingdom, as well as being the recipient of her kindness.
It’s at this point that Mithian starts trying to sneak away in the night to warn somebody. At this point, Mithian figures, she might be able to get a message to Gwen to send a rescue party after Arthur without Morgana catching on. Morgana shuts her down at every turn, but because Guinevere isn’t stupid, she can tell that something is seriously wrong with Mithian.
The “writing on the rock/send Merlin down to the river” ploy is adapted for in the castle, with Mithian leaving a message somewhere and directing Guinevere toward it. Guinevere sees it and acts immediately, sending out further knights (this could have included Gwaine, who fulfils the role he did in this episode in shooting Odin’s men and facilitating the other’s escape). Having realized what’s happened, Morgana is in swift pursuit.
Running concurrently to this plot, Arthur and Merlin do pretty much what they did in the actual episode: Merlin has a bad feeling, Arthur tries to reason with him, they walk into Odin’s trap, Morgana makes her appearance, they rescue Rodor, Merlin creates the earthquake, they run through the forest and Arthur brokers a peace with Odin after a brief swordfight. Having done this, he returns home to the terrifying sight of his wife and ex-fiancé chatting at the dinner table like the best of friends.
As they farewell, Mithian tells Arthur that she understands why she was passed over for Guinevere: just a quiet, sweet, wistful moment that reinforces Gwen’s value in the eyes of others. The end.
So I guess this is the last we’ll see of Princess Mithian. Much like Uther’s return last episode, it all felt mildly pointless. At least we got to see her again.
Also, I don’t think my reviews will be quite as involved from now on. I was looking forward to this episode for a long time, and now that it’s over and done with, I feel rather deflated. Yet oddly, it comes as something of a relief. For me, there’s nothing much left to look forward to, so I can drift back into relaxing apathy without desperately hoping that we’ll see anything worthwhile from the girls. Because let's face it - we won't.