Merlin - Arthur's Bane Part Two
Arthur's Bane Part Two (Season 5, Episode 2)
Nice slashy follow up to the first part. Not quite as epic though, I have to say. Many heart attack inducing moments though.
Is that where Morgana spent the past three years? Trapped in that well/hole/thing with Aithusa? If so, then it would make sense that she and Aithusa are close. Being trapped in a tiny space for so long can have that effect.
Arthur! Baby! I spent a good portion of the episode strangling a pokeball plushie I have. That punch was one of those moments. And look at Merlin's indignant face. Babies. No one messes with Arthur in front of Merlin.
So the fucking creepy alien thing that's the Diamere is still fucking creepy. It will never stop being fucking creepy.
Babies. Why no cuddling? You're in the snow, cold, miserable... it's the perfect time for cuddling! Go cuddle Arthur, Merlin!
"Don't be so quick to judge me."
This line was directed both at Merlin and us, wasn't it? I will be sure to try and not judge. I want him to be allied with Arthur, but... he kills Arthur. Clearly, that alliance doesn't hold. I really don't know what to make of Mordred and that's a very refreshing change. Merlin rarely has people you have to guess about. Their allegiance is usually very clearcut. Mordred seems as though he'll be a puzzle we won't be able to solve for some time.
"I too have learned to hide my gifts."
OMG hearing this come out of Mordred's mouth. The last time we saw him, he was this little adorable kid that was Asa Butterfield. But going from that innocent kid to Alex Vlahos who looks all dark and brooding and who spouts these worldly lines. OMG. It's beautifully jarring.
I nearly had a heart attack here. I was like... "ASKDVNVHHFIEF ARTHUR GET BACK UP!!!" And then... "Wait. Merlin's still fine. Why is Arthur collapsing?"
And then Arthur's WINK. That FUCKING WINK. And I was like... BRADLEY I CAN'T HANDLE YOU.
You know, the other day I was thinking about Merlin having/not having a love interest. Whether Merlin gets a love interest or not doesn't matter too much to me, but I started wondering if Merlin could ever really have the kind of love Arthur (supposedly) has for Gwen. I'm not sure if he can ever have the kind of relationship the writers want Arwen to be. Maybe it's just the way Colin plays Merlin, but honestly, Arthur is Merlin's whole world. I don't know how Merlin would go on without Arthur. Platonic or romantic, Arthur is everything to Merlin, and I don't think Merlin could ever love someone the way he cares for Arthur. Arthur is such a huge part of his life that I'm not sure if Merlin could sustain a romantic relationship with anyone other than Arthur.
Resourceful boys.
No offense, Sefa, but if "I don't want to die" were enough to get criminals a reprieve, THERE WOULD BE NO EXECUTIONS.
If you're going to try and make Gwen this OMGSUPERSEXY queen by making her dresses barely stay on her, can you at least please make sure the close ups include her dress in some form? C'mon. I love Gwen's dresses; I really do. But they'd be equally beautiful (probably even more so) if they actually had a neckline that's higher than her nipples. What happened to "less is more"?
Gwen's plan is clever, yes. And strategic. But... the way she's speaking reminds me a bit of Uther. In a bad way. I always viewed Gwen as a queen that is fair, but also soft-hearted. I would never have imagined she'd be the type of queen to play with people's lives to draw out an enemy. I always imagined she'd be above manipulation. I'm not saying she's a saint, but the writers tend to portray her that way. And again, why is she the only one who can come up with these plans? Why is it that Arthur, and Uther before him, never had plans beyond kill or exile? Clearly, the writers are capable of writing clever plots, so WHY IS IT THAT NO ONE WAS CLEVER BEFORE GWEN??? Are they so desperate to make us fall at Gwen's feet and worship the ground she walks on that SHE MUST BE THE ONLY CLEVER PERSON ON THIS FUCKING SHOW???
These guards are as useless as the Camelot ones. Arthur's sawing at his bindings with a dagger and they don't even notice the hilt protruding from between his hands. Seriously, it's pretty obvious.
Yes, go defend your boyfriend, Arthur. No one points a sword at Merlin in front of Arthur and gets away with it.
Chasm jumping! Yay! I genuinely thought Merlin was going to fall though. Very glad he didn't.
Merlin's become the ruthless one, the one who won't show mercy. It's interesting that Arthur's the one who's too kind now.
"I love your optimism."
You love more than that though, don't you, baby?
My goodness, will Camelot's guards ever get more useless?
Someone tell me these aren't Arthur's rooms. Please. I will be so happy if Gwen and Arthur have separate sleeping quarters.
BABIES. SO PRECIOUS.
Baby, what are you looking so gleeful about? You'll have to crawl through the garbage too. And a little too happy about getting to crawl behind Merlin, sweetie? At the beginning, I was wondering why Arthur didn't go first, and then the garbage fell, and I was like... Ah. That's why.
"Our carriage awaits."
So gay.
OMG huddling in that cart. Must've been very little space. I'm liking this pattern.
OMG, she's so happy! We haven't seen her this happy in ages. THE SHIPPING STARTS NOW.
"I want to put his head on a spike and to watch as the crows feast on his eyes."
Hello crazy bitch. Someone has some serious issues.
*bell sounds*
"What is that?"
The warning bell, Gwaine. Which sounds exactly the same as the one in Camelot.
Just the range of emotions in their faces. Merlin's looking suspicious and a bit awed. Gwaine's just like "oh yeah, that's normal." And Arthur's just like... "The fuck?"
"What was that?"
Thank you for asking the question we've all been dying to have answered, Arthur.
Aw... it's not just Merthur? But seriously, filming this is totally slash fodder. I think we should get bloopers for this scene.
My beautiful OT3.
"MERLIN! ...I'm going after him."
We know, baby. We know. I love that Gwaine doesn't even try to stop him. And Arthur just leaves injured Gwaine alone. Oh babies.
Aithusa, why you so creepy looking now? And I absolutely love dragonlord!Merlin.
"What does that mean?"
Being a dragonlord, aren't you the only person on earth who can tell us what she said?
I kept thinking, "C'mon, Arthur. Come in... NOW. Or... NOW! Or... just come find Merlin and find out he's a dragonlord for fuck's sake!"
Nonchalantly chatting with your mortal enemy while a sword is at your throat. Go Arthur.
Sword at his throat, and all Arthur does is yell "NO!" and try to save Merlin. Babies. The two of them just can't stop sacrificing themselves for each other.
COME ON! GIVE US MAGIC REVEAL! So, so close! Gah. Mordred is like the cockblocker of magic reveals.
Yeah, let's just leave Merlin in the tunnels far, far away from Camelot. Great idea. I can't believe no one asked after Merlin. Not even Gwaine!
"Himself."
Oh Colin. His face barely moves, but his eyes tell an entire story.
So... if Arthur's bane is HIMSELF. Even if Morgana did get her hands on the Diamere, the knowledge of Arthur's bane would be absolutely useless. Nice to know.
And of course, Mordred may not be Arthur's bane, but Arthur's kindness will be his demise. Sigh. Arthur, you really have a knack for keeping trusted advisors of your mortal enemies.
Was this entirely necessary?
"You know, if Arthur knew you had magic, things would be very different."
Wait, Arthur doesn't know? He knows Mordred's a druid. He really doesn't know Mordred has magic?
OKAY. STOP TALKING ABOUT ALBION. ALBION HASN'T BEEN CREATED YET.
UTHER. YES. ANTHONY HEAD. I CAN'T WAIT.
Nice slashy follow up to the first part. Not quite as epic though, I have to say. Many heart attack inducing moments though.
Is that where Morgana spent the past three years? Trapped in that well/hole/thing with Aithusa? If so, then it would make sense that she and Aithusa are close. Being trapped in a tiny space for so long can have that effect.
Arthur! Baby! I spent a good portion of the episode strangling a pokeball plushie I have. That punch was one of those moments. And look at Merlin's indignant face. Babies. No one messes with Arthur in front of Merlin.
So the fucking creepy alien thing that's the Diamere is still fucking creepy. It will never stop being fucking creepy.
Babies. Why no cuddling? You're in the snow, cold, miserable... it's the perfect time for cuddling! Go cuddle Arthur, Merlin!
"Don't be so quick to judge me."
This line was directed both at Merlin and us, wasn't it? I will be sure to try and not judge. I want him to be allied with Arthur, but... he kills Arthur. Clearly, that alliance doesn't hold. I really don't know what to make of Mordred and that's a very refreshing change. Merlin rarely has people you have to guess about. Their allegiance is usually very clearcut. Mordred seems as though he'll be a puzzle we won't be able to solve for some time.
"I too have learned to hide my gifts."
OMG hearing this come out of Mordred's mouth. The last time we saw him, he was this little adorable kid that was Asa Butterfield. But going from that innocent kid to Alex Vlahos who looks all dark and brooding and who spouts these worldly lines. OMG. It's beautifully jarring.
I nearly had a heart attack here. I was like... "ASKDVNVHHFIEF ARTHUR GET BACK UP!!!" And then... "Wait. Merlin's still fine. Why is Arthur collapsing?"
And then Arthur's WINK. That FUCKING WINK. And I was like... BRADLEY I CAN'T HANDLE YOU.
You know, the other day I was thinking about Merlin having/not having a love interest. Whether Merlin gets a love interest or not doesn't matter too much to me, but I started wondering if Merlin could ever really have the kind of love Arthur (supposedly) has for Gwen. I'm not sure if he can ever have the kind of relationship the writers want Arwen to be. Maybe it's just the way Colin plays Merlin, but honestly, Arthur is Merlin's whole world. I don't know how Merlin would go on without Arthur. Platonic or romantic, Arthur is everything to Merlin, and I don't think Merlin could ever love someone the way he cares for Arthur. Arthur is such a huge part of his life that I'm not sure if Merlin could sustain a romantic relationship with anyone other than Arthur.
Resourceful boys.
No offense, Sefa, but if "I don't want to die" were enough to get criminals a reprieve, THERE WOULD BE NO EXECUTIONS.
If you're going to try and make Gwen this OMGSUPERSEXY queen by making her dresses barely stay on her, can you at least please make sure the close ups include her dress in some form? C'mon. I love Gwen's dresses; I really do. But they'd be equally beautiful (probably even more so) if they actually had a neckline that's higher than her nipples. What happened to "less is more"?
Gwen's plan is clever, yes. And strategic. But... the way she's speaking reminds me a bit of Uther. In a bad way. I always viewed Gwen as a queen that is fair, but also soft-hearted. I would never have imagined she'd be the type of queen to play with people's lives to draw out an enemy. I always imagined she'd be above manipulation. I'm not saying she's a saint, but the writers tend to portray her that way. And again, why is she the only one who can come up with these plans? Why is it that Arthur, and Uther before him, never had plans beyond kill or exile? Clearly, the writers are capable of writing clever plots, so WHY IS IT THAT NO ONE WAS CLEVER BEFORE GWEN??? Are they so desperate to make us fall at Gwen's feet and worship the ground she walks on that SHE MUST BE THE ONLY CLEVER PERSON ON THIS FUCKING SHOW???
These guards are as useless as the Camelot ones. Arthur's sawing at his bindings with a dagger and they don't even notice the hilt protruding from between his hands. Seriously, it's pretty obvious.
Yes, go defend your boyfriend, Arthur. No one points a sword at Merlin in front of Arthur and gets away with it.
Chasm jumping! Yay! I genuinely thought Merlin was going to fall though. Very glad he didn't.
Merlin's become the ruthless one, the one who won't show mercy. It's interesting that Arthur's the one who's too kind now.
"I love your optimism."
You love more than that though, don't you, baby?
My goodness, will Camelot's guards ever get more useless?
Someone tell me these aren't Arthur's rooms. Please. I will be so happy if Gwen and Arthur have separate sleeping quarters.
BABIES. SO PRECIOUS.
Baby, what are you looking so gleeful about? You'll have to crawl through the garbage too. And a little too happy about getting to crawl behind Merlin, sweetie? At the beginning, I was wondering why Arthur didn't go first, and then the garbage fell, and I was like... Ah. That's why.
"Our carriage awaits."
So gay.
OMG huddling in that cart. Must've been very little space. I'm liking this pattern.
OMG, she's so happy! We haven't seen her this happy in ages. THE SHIPPING STARTS NOW.
"I want to put his head on a spike and to watch as the crows feast on his eyes."
Hello crazy bitch. Someone has some serious issues.
*bell sounds*
"What is that?"
The warning bell, Gwaine. Which sounds exactly the same as the one in Camelot.
Just the range of emotions in their faces. Merlin's looking suspicious and a bit awed. Gwaine's just like "oh yeah, that's normal." And Arthur's just like... "The fuck?"
"What was that?"
Thank you for asking the question we've all been dying to have answered, Arthur.
Aw... it's not just Merthur? But seriously, filming this is totally slash fodder. I think we should get bloopers for this scene.
My beautiful OT3.
"MERLIN! ...I'm going after him."
We know, baby. We know. I love that Gwaine doesn't even try to stop him. And Arthur just leaves injured Gwaine alone. Oh babies.
Aithusa, why you so creepy looking now? And I absolutely love dragonlord!Merlin.
"What does that mean?"
Being a dragonlord, aren't you the only person on earth who can tell us what she said?
I kept thinking, "C'mon, Arthur. Come in... NOW. Or... NOW! Or... just come find Merlin and find out he's a dragonlord for fuck's sake!"
Nonchalantly chatting with your mortal enemy while a sword is at your throat. Go Arthur.
Sword at his throat, and all Arthur does is yell "NO!" and try to save Merlin. Babies. The two of them just can't stop sacrificing themselves for each other.
COME ON! GIVE US MAGIC REVEAL! So, so close! Gah. Mordred is like the cockblocker of magic reveals.
Yeah, let's just leave Merlin in the tunnels far, far away from Camelot. Great idea. I can't believe no one asked after Merlin. Not even Gwaine!
"Himself."
Oh Colin. His face barely moves, but his eyes tell an entire story.
So... if Arthur's bane is HIMSELF. Even if Morgana did get her hands on the Diamere, the knowledge of Arthur's bane would be absolutely useless. Nice to know.
And of course, Mordred may not be Arthur's bane, but Arthur's kindness will be his demise. Sigh. Arthur, you really have a knack for keeping trusted advisors of your mortal enemies.
Was this entirely necessary?
"You know, if Arthur knew you had magic, things would be very different."
Wait, Arthur doesn't know? He knows Mordred's a druid. He really doesn't know Mordred has magic?
OKAY. STOP TALKING ABOUT ALBION. ALBION HASN'T BEEN CREATED YET.
UTHER. YES. ANTHONY HEAD. I CAN'T WAIT.