Moar Merlin
I never root for the Christian British in any adaptation of Merlin. Like all good fantasists, my heart is firmly with the Druids and the magic leaking out of the world. Also, Cooper and I were making jokes about yet another magic system that is based solely on Fancy Latin, and then in one episode we learn the terrible secret about Arthur's parentage: Nimue didn't remember to balance for the 'Law of Equivalent Exchange'.
Proving that everything is a bit better with Fullmetal Alchemist.
So episodes nine and ten were genuinely good. Ten also had Doctor Bashir as an evil warlord and Merlin's gay ex-boyfriend and the girls got to swing swords around.
Unfortunately, episode eleven had unicorns and stuff. Arthur is a dumbass, because he killed it and now the land has gone infertile. As you know, happens when you kill unicorns. It was a big flash back to some of the lamer episodes of the season in which you didn't much care what happened.
Episode twelve was badass because Uther killed Gwen's dad! And then Morgana did a heel-face turn and decided to assassinate him. And then he was able to talk her out of it by swearing she would become his new truthsayer -- and she believed that shit! Aargh. Crazy talk.
Episode thirteen was another episode all about the Law of Equivalent Exchange, because Merlin thought he could trade his life for Arthur and then got all pissy when they took his mother in exchange. Now, Cooper and I predicted really early into the episodes that Gaius would end up giving his life for Merlin in the final episode, but surprisingly, Merlin fights off the forces of life and death. The episode doesn't really say if he really broke Equivalent Exchange to save his mother as well, or if he just decided that Gaius's life was worth more or what.
I still think the show trips on its own shoelaces every time it reintroduces an aspect of the original legend in the show: Mordred appearing was both blindingly obvious and slightly nutsy. But whatever, at least it was good drama in the end.
Proving that everything is a bit better with Fullmetal Alchemist.
So episodes nine and ten were genuinely good. Ten also had Doctor Bashir as an evil warlord and Merlin's gay ex-boyfriend and the girls got to swing swords around.
Unfortunately, episode eleven had unicorns and stuff. Arthur is a dumbass, because he killed it and now the land has gone infertile. As you know, happens when you kill unicorns. It was a big flash back to some of the lamer episodes of the season in which you didn't much care what happened.
Episode twelve was badass because Uther killed Gwen's dad! And then Morgana did a heel-face turn and decided to assassinate him. And then he was able to talk her out of it by swearing she would become his new truthsayer -- and she believed that shit! Aargh. Crazy talk.
Episode thirteen was another episode all about the Law of Equivalent Exchange, because Merlin thought he could trade his life for Arthur and then got all pissy when they took his mother in exchange. Now, Cooper and I predicted really early into the episodes that Gaius would end up giving his life for Merlin in the final episode, but surprisingly, Merlin fights off the forces of life and death. The episode doesn't really say if he really broke Equivalent Exchange to save his mother as well, or if he just decided that Gaius's life was worth more or what.
I still think the show trips on its own shoelaces every time it reintroduces an aspect of the original legend in the show: Mordred appearing was both blindingly obvious and slightly nutsy. But whatever, at least it was good drama in the end.