Merlin S5 Ep 4
The fourth episode of the final season of Merlin aired tonight in the US. Following last week's episode involving Uther's ghost, this one also touched on Uther's death, bringing Odin (the man who killed Uther) back into Arthur's sphere. The big question of the episode: do the writers allow Arthur to wreak vengeance on Odin, or do they have Arthur take the higher ground when the chance is afforded him? And what does that decision say about the way the character has progressed since the series started? In deference to folks who haven't seen the episode yet, my thoughts are of course behind this cut:
I thought this episode had a few nice tense moments in it. The scene with Mithian escaping from her room while Morgana sleeps, but leaving the door unlatched so the breeze wakes Morgana up. I felt like there was some real "will she make it to Arthur or not" tension, and that at that point the episode could have gone either way. It went the more predictable route, which was probably necessary given where they are in the season (not yet ready for a real knock-down battle of magic between Merlin and Morgana within the walls of Camelot), and yet that predictable route wasn't disappointing at all. The focus of the episode, after all, was on Arthur finally confronting Odin.
And after several fake-out moments, the two do finally confront each other. They have a pretty decent sword-fight, which Odin finally loses (as we knew he must). He is at Arthur's mercy. Arthur is ready to slice his head off right there. And we finally get to see one of those moments (rare on this show) where Merlin acts as the advisor he is in more traditional interpretations of the myth. "Arthur, stop," he says commandingly, then tells his King to think about the ramifications of killing Odin. "You always say you want to bring this land together. How will this help accomplish that?" The scene is important for two reasons. First, for the second time this episode Merlin gives Arthur advice, and Arthur takes it. Second, Arthur takes the step Uther never would have: he brokers a truce between Camelot and whatever land Odin rules. If episode 3 beat us over the head with the ways Arthur is different from his father, episode 4 reiterates the point more subtly. Yes, Arthur foolishly charges into a trap because he wants revenge for his father's death ... but at the key moment he also realizes Merlin is right and there's already been 'an eye for an eye,' and that perpetuating the cycle will only make things worse. He realizes that what he said earlier about his own knights when the positions were reversed ("they will hunt you down") is true of Odin's knights as well. He makes, basically, a strong decision that the headstrong Arthur of season one would not have been able to contemplate.
There were also several good moments with Morgana, being able to maintain an aging spell far longer than Merlin has ever been capable of, showing the weakness of using too much magic for too long. No sign of her injured white dragon this time, curiously. Then again, there was also no sign of Mordred (who might, perhaps, have recognized the aged Morgana for who she was more readily than the otherwise distracted Merlin and Gaius). And there was also, I fear, a bit of foreshadowing: Gaius uses magic to bring an injured Merlin back to consciousness, and says "Don't make me do that again, I don't think my heart can take it." He's talking about more than worrying that Merlin might die -- he's talking about the price of magic on his aged, unpracticed body. I suspect of all the remaining headline cast, Gaius is the one who might not make it to the end of the season alive (if anyone at all does).
This episode, as I suspect every episode this season must, propels character arcs forward in a more obvious way than in previous seasons.
I thought this episode had a few nice tense moments in it. The scene with Mithian escaping from her room while Morgana sleeps, but leaving the door unlatched so the breeze wakes Morgana up. I felt like there was some real "will she make it to Arthur or not" tension, and that at that point the episode could have gone either way. It went the more predictable route, which was probably necessary given where they are in the season (not yet ready for a real knock-down battle of magic between Merlin and Morgana within the walls of Camelot), and yet that predictable route wasn't disappointing at all. The focus of the episode, after all, was on Arthur finally confronting Odin.
And after several fake-out moments, the two do finally confront each other. They have a pretty decent sword-fight, which Odin finally loses (as we knew he must). He is at Arthur's mercy. Arthur is ready to slice his head off right there. And we finally get to see one of those moments (rare on this show) where Merlin acts as the advisor he is in more traditional interpretations of the myth. "Arthur, stop," he says commandingly, then tells his King to think about the ramifications of killing Odin. "You always say you want to bring this land together. How will this help accomplish that?" The scene is important for two reasons. First, for the second time this episode Merlin gives Arthur advice, and Arthur takes it. Second, Arthur takes the step Uther never would have: he brokers a truce between Camelot and whatever land Odin rules. If episode 3 beat us over the head with the ways Arthur is different from his father, episode 4 reiterates the point more subtly. Yes, Arthur foolishly charges into a trap because he wants revenge for his father's death ... but at the key moment he also realizes Merlin is right and there's already been 'an eye for an eye,' and that perpetuating the cycle will only make things worse. He realizes that what he said earlier about his own knights when the positions were reversed ("they will hunt you down") is true of Odin's knights as well. He makes, basically, a strong decision that the headstrong Arthur of season one would not have been able to contemplate.
There were also several good moments with Morgana, being able to maintain an aging spell far longer than Merlin has ever been capable of, showing the weakness of using too much magic for too long. No sign of her injured white dragon this time, curiously. Then again, there was also no sign of Mordred (who might, perhaps, have recognized the aged Morgana for who she was more readily than the otherwise distracted Merlin and Gaius). And there was also, I fear, a bit of foreshadowing: Gaius uses magic to bring an injured Merlin back to consciousness, and says "Don't make me do that again, I don't think my heart can take it." He's talking about more than worrying that Merlin might die -- he's talking about the price of magic on his aged, unpracticed body. I suspect of all the remaining headline cast, Gaius is the one who might not make it to the end of the season alive (if anyone at all does).
This episode, as I suspect every episode this season must, propels character arcs forward in a more obvious way than in previous seasons.