FINALLY.
Merlin, 'The Witchfinder': my favourite part was when Gaius made his forced confession to the court, because once Uther sentences Gaius to death, if you look at Arthur--who's only visible for, like, two seconds waaaaaaay in the background of the shot--his full attention is not on his father or Gaius or the witchfinder, but rather completely fixed on Merlin. And the second Merlin starts disrupting the scene, Arthur is out of his throne like a shot, getting Merlin out of the room before he can bring any more damaging attention to himself. Then, when they're alone, he casually and understandingly turns aside Merlin's attempt to punch him, and proceeds to get Merlin into Gaius's cell so the two of them can talk privately.
That is the kind of scene that really makes me believe that Arthur cares about Merlin as a person--as a friend--not just as a servant or a subject or someone who's saved his life and is owed some form of loyalty in repayment. All the grand gestures of s1--Arthur risking his life to get the flower that would save Merlin after Merlin drank the poison meant for Arthur; Arthur making amends for killing the unicorn by drinking the death-juice so Merlin wouldn't have to; Arthur going to help Merlin's home village fend off Doctor Bashir's invading hordes--never really struck me as slashy because, to my eyes, each of those acts was way more about Arthur fulfilling his own sense of noblesse oblige than about him having any emotional connection to Merlin, specifically, motivating him to act. Whereas in this episode, it was made clear that Arthur: a) knows Merlin well enough to expect him to act out when Gaius's life is threatened; b) likes him enough to want to keep him from attracting the attention of shady elements who could get him locked up or killed; c) doesn't take offense when Merlin lashes out at him (although, to be fair, it's not like Merlin presented any kind of real physical threat); and d) sympathises with him enough to want to give him whatever small comfort is available, even if it's just a moment or two to see and speak with his condemned father figure.
Last week did some good work with this, too, when Arthur immediately disbelieved Katrina's assertion that Merlin stole her family crest, and helped Merlin hide from and escape the guards. And as for Merlin's side of the relationship, there was the tag scene, when he assumed he'd be getting a hug along with Arthur's thanks for helping break Katrina's hold on Uther: that moment, played entirely for laughs though it was (Bradley James and Colin Morgan, your comic timing is a thing of beauty and a joy forever!), told us that Merlin has reached a point of such utter familiarity with Arthur--the person, not the prince or the dragon-foretold Other Side Of Merlin's Destiny-Coin--that he'll just wander merrily across normal master-servant lines. Given that he was basically dragooned (heh) into the role of Arthur's secret protector and that of his manservant, I've been disinclined to buy that he feels much actual, personal affection for him--which has gotten in the way of me being able to buy any attraction between them.
The reason I fell so hard and fast and thoroughly for Clark/Lex back in the day was because, after a very brief miniscule period of "the weird rich guy is paying a lot of attention to me!" awkwardness, their relationship was figured as a genuine friendship in which both Clark and Lex cared about and acted for the wellbeing of the other. Up to this point, the relationship between Merlin and Arthur has come across to me as way too professional (for lack of a better word) for me to buy into their slashiness--but if they continue in the vein of the last couple of episodes, they may win me over yet. *g*
That is the kind of scene that really makes me believe that Arthur cares about Merlin as a person--as a friend--not just as a servant or a subject or someone who's saved his life and is owed some form of loyalty in repayment. All the grand gestures of s1--Arthur risking his life to get the flower that would save Merlin after Merlin drank the poison meant for Arthur; Arthur making amends for killing the unicorn by drinking the death-juice so Merlin wouldn't have to; Arthur going to help Merlin's home village fend off Doctor Bashir's invading hordes--never really struck me as slashy because, to my eyes, each of those acts was way more about Arthur fulfilling his own sense of noblesse oblige than about him having any emotional connection to Merlin, specifically, motivating him to act. Whereas in this episode, it was made clear that Arthur: a) knows Merlin well enough to expect him to act out when Gaius's life is threatened; b) likes him enough to want to keep him from attracting the attention of shady elements who could get him locked up or killed; c) doesn't take offense when Merlin lashes out at him (although, to be fair, it's not like Merlin presented any kind of real physical threat); and d) sympathises with him enough to want to give him whatever small comfort is available, even if it's just a moment or two to see and speak with his condemned father figure.
Last week did some good work with this, too, when Arthur immediately disbelieved Katrina's assertion that Merlin stole her family crest, and helped Merlin hide from and escape the guards. And as for Merlin's side of the relationship, there was the tag scene, when he assumed he'd be getting a hug along with Arthur's thanks for helping break Katrina's hold on Uther: that moment, played entirely for laughs though it was (Bradley James and Colin Morgan, your comic timing is a thing of beauty and a joy forever!), told us that Merlin has reached a point of such utter familiarity with Arthur--the person, not the prince or the dragon-foretold Other Side Of Merlin's Destiny-Coin--that he'll just wander merrily across normal master-servant lines. Given that he was basically dragooned (heh) into the role of Arthur's secret protector and that of his manservant, I've been disinclined to buy that he feels much actual, personal affection for him--which has gotten in the way of me being able to buy any attraction between them.
The reason I fell so hard and fast and thoroughly for Clark/Lex back in the day was because, after a very brief miniscule period of "the weird rich guy is paying a lot of attention to me!" awkwardness, their relationship was figured as a genuine friendship in which both Clark and Lex cared about and acted for the wellbeing of the other. Up to this point, the relationship between Merlin and Arthur has come across to me as way too professional (for lack of a better word) for me to buy into their slashiness--but if they continue in the vein of the last couple of episodes, they may win me over yet. *g*