Derren Brown Would Make A Fabulous Merlin Villain-Of-The-Week.
Once again, Twitter provides the best theories:
[Derren Brown] didn't hypnotise you last night! Rather he stopped time, came round to your house and applied glue to your chair. cad!
Apparently his time-stopping powers did not work for quite long enough for him to get around to me, which was a shame, but at least three people on my flist have fallen victim to Derren's chair-gluing ways.
And now I am going to talk about Merlin!
Merlin is so delightful and I don't know why! (I think what I missed most about Merlin in its absence was Bradley James' ridiculous faces. They are a joy.)
I was very amused that, a mere couple of minutes into the episode, Merlin was going 'HMMM, BETTER INVESTIGATE THIS MYSTERIOUS TOMB AWAY FROM WHICH GROWN MEN WERE JUST RUNNING AWAY IN TERROR'. Merlin, you are such a Gryffindor.
I was also amused by the fact that it took even less time for the episode to have Merlin and Arthur together in Arthur's chambers at night, Arthur shirtless. (This episode had a great deal of gratuitous shirtless Arthur. Merlin is not a story; it is a big pile of fanservice on a plate.)
To return to the running in terror from the tomb, here is a thought: as the sorcerer presumably wants to be released from the glowy blue heart, why did he set up those traps to kill people who disturbed his tomb? NOT REALLY THE BEST PLAN THERE, SIGAN. You may be able to turn day into night and bring gargoyles to life, but I find your powers of logic wanting.
In spite of Sigan's self-sabotage, he managed to be freed, and thus we learnt that Merlin uses black irises to indicate possession! Not quite the completely-black-eyes effect of Supernatural, but close enough to please me. SIGAN HAS RETURNED. CALL IN THE WINCHESTERS.
I thought the scene in which Merlin first sees Cedric post-possession was hilarious. MERLIN FACES THE GREATEST AND MOST TERRIFYING SORCERER EVER. WHAT WILL HAPPEN? If you guessed 'there will be a very silly slap-fight and Merlin will chase the terrifying sorcerer under a bed', you are correct!
I liked that Merlin had the presence of mind to magic himself out of the dungeon. Merlin, you are not a complete idiot! And then, as _afterism points out, nobody wonders how he escaped. But I can forgive Merlin all its plot holes. Merlin is not supposed to be a triumph of storytelling; Merlin is silly and fanservicey and fun, and watching it makes me happy no matter how fragile the thread holding the plot together is.
Speaking of the fragile thread holding the plot together: that ending was not entirely solid. Merlin is possessed OH WAIT NO Sigan's soul is back in the jewel! As far as I can tell, the fact that Merlin was carrying the jewel with him wasn't even indicated beforehand, which would have made it make at least a little more sense. Such a cop-out, Merlin! (I still love you anyway.)
And I see that Merlin is beginning to steer in the direction of Arthur/Gwen. On the one hand, I am sort of intrigued by the pairing. He is the crown prince! She is a handmaiden! On the other hand, I 'ship both Merlin/Arthur and Morgana/Gwen so much that I can't help being a tiny bit sad. (Merlin does seem quite aware of its fanbase, though, so I'm sure the Merlin/Arthur and Morgana/Gwen subtext is here to stay.) If the writers develop Arthur/Gwen properly, I am sure I shall be entirely in favour.
I smirked a little when Arthur said 'You always surprise me' to Gwen during their little bonding moment. Arthur, if memory and Google serve, says 'You never cease to surprise me' to Merlin during 'The Labyrinth of Gedref'. Therefore, Arthur is in love with Merlin. My logic is flawless. (Everything Merlin does is for Arthur! Aww. Awwwwww.)
On the subject of the series trailer (or at least I assume it was a trailer for the entire series, because otherwise next week's episode is going to be an extremely action-packed forty minutes)
Arthur: Nothing can ever happen between us!
Merlin: When you're king, you can change that.
Totally, totally deliberate. Oh, Merlin.
(I still want an episode in which Morgana and Gwen do all the day-saving. Arthur and Merlin are both unconscious due to the latest mysterious ailment besetting the kingdom, and so the episode is all about Morgana and Gwen, being adorable and awesome. It will be great.)
[Derren Brown] didn't hypnotise you last night! Rather he stopped time, came round to your house and applied glue to your chair. cad!
Apparently his time-stopping powers did not work for quite long enough for him to get around to me, which was a shame, but at least three people on my flist have fallen victim to Derren's chair-gluing ways.
And now I am going to talk about Merlin!
Merlin is so delightful and I don't know why! (I think what I missed most about Merlin in its absence was Bradley James' ridiculous faces. They are a joy.)
I was very amused that, a mere couple of minutes into the episode, Merlin was going 'HMMM, BETTER INVESTIGATE THIS MYSTERIOUS TOMB AWAY FROM WHICH GROWN MEN WERE JUST RUNNING AWAY IN TERROR'. Merlin, you are such a Gryffindor.
I was also amused by the fact that it took even less time for the episode to have Merlin and Arthur together in Arthur's chambers at night, Arthur shirtless. (This episode had a great deal of gratuitous shirtless Arthur. Merlin is not a story; it is a big pile of fanservice on a plate.)
To return to the running in terror from the tomb, here is a thought: as the sorcerer presumably wants to be released from the glowy blue heart, why did he set up those traps to kill people who disturbed his tomb? NOT REALLY THE BEST PLAN THERE, SIGAN. You may be able to turn day into night and bring gargoyles to life, but I find your powers of logic wanting.
In spite of Sigan's self-sabotage, he managed to be freed, and thus we learnt that Merlin uses black irises to indicate possession! Not quite the completely-black-eyes effect of Supernatural, but close enough to please me. SIGAN HAS RETURNED. CALL IN THE WINCHESTERS.
I thought the scene in which Merlin first sees Cedric post-possession was hilarious. MERLIN FACES THE GREATEST AND MOST TERRIFYING SORCERER EVER. WHAT WILL HAPPEN? If you guessed 'there will be a very silly slap-fight and Merlin will chase the terrifying sorcerer under a bed', you are correct!
I liked that Merlin had the presence of mind to magic himself out of the dungeon. Merlin, you are not a complete idiot! And then, as _afterism points out, nobody wonders how he escaped. But I can forgive Merlin all its plot holes. Merlin is not supposed to be a triumph of storytelling; Merlin is silly and fanservicey and fun, and watching it makes me happy no matter how fragile the thread holding the plot together is.
Speaking of the fragile thread holding the plot together: that ending was not entirely solid. Merlin is possessed OH WAIT NO Sigan's soul is back in the jewel! As far as I can tell, the fact that Merlin was carrying the jewel with him wasn't even indicated beforehand, which would have made it make at least a little more sense. Such a cop-out, Merlin! (I still love you anyway.)
And I see that Merlin is beginning to steer in the direction of Arthur/Gwen. On the one hand, I am sort of intrigued by the pairing. He is the crown prince! She is a handmaiden! On the other hand, I 'ship both Merlin/Arthur and Morgana/Gwen so much that I can't help being a tiny bit sad. (Merlin does seem quite aware of its fanbase, though, so I'm sure the Merlin/Arthur and Morgana/Gwen subtext is here to stay.) If the writers develop Arthur/Gwen properly, I am sure I shall be entirely in favour.
I smirked a little when Arthur said 'You always surprise me' to Gwen during their little bonding moment. Arthur, if memory and Google serve, says 'You never cease to surprise me' to Merlin during 'The Labyrinth of Gedref'. Therefore, Arthur is in love with Merlin. My logic is flawless. (Everything Merlin does is for Arthur! Aww. Awwwwww.)
On the subject of the series trailer (or at least I assume it was a trailer for the entire series, because otherwise next week's episode is going to be an extremely action-packed forty minutes)
Arthur: Nothing can ever happen between us!
Merlin: When you're king, you can change that.
Totally, totally deliberate. Oh, Merlin.
(I still want an episode in which Morgana and Gwen do all the day-saving. Arthur and Merlin are both unconscious due to the latest mysterious ailment besetting the kingdom, and so the episode is all about Morgana and Gwen, being adorable and awesome. It will be great.)