Missing Mothers (and Sisters): More Thoughts on Female Characters on Merlin

[zahrawithaz]

Since next week's Merlin episode focuses on Morgause, it seemed a good time to post this.

Not long ago I had an idea for a Merlin vid, using a song that’s about parent-child relationships. The chorus uses the words “father” and “mother” fairly often, though, as as I started planning out clips I realized I had a problem.

Merlin puts a lot of

Comments

[elphie_uk]

Yup, I agree with pretty much everything that you've said!

This section an interview with Emilia Fox is interesting though:
"She [Morgause] seems familiar to the elders of the court but no one can quite place her. Morgana seems to know her but doesn’t quite know why she knows her. She comes across all tough and challenging with Arthur and then you see this very gentle side with Morgana so you’re wondering what’s going on? And then you find out she’s accomplished with magic, but is she a sorceress with bad intentions? But that’s for us all to find out…”

To me this suggests that Morgana and Morgause are related. Because the episode centres around Ygraine, it could also suggest that Ygraine and Morgana are related (that could just be wishful thinking though), therefore making Morgana and Arthur related.

I'm definitely looking forward to the introduction of the Lady of the Lake and Vivian in the next few weeks! I don't remember the Lady of the Lake ever being called Freya in the legends though, so that annoys me a little (Unless I'm mistaken, then obviously it won't annoy me at all!).

[eska_rina]

Not the OP, but...

It would be reaaally interesting if it turns out that Morgana and Arthur actually ARE related...

The Lady of the Lake has never been called Freya (The name isn't even used in the Arthurian Legend), and I'm not sure if said character is supposed to be the Lady of the Lake or if they fucked up with the names (The Lady of the Lake has been known as Vivian(ne)) OR WHAT, but it definitely looks iffy to me :/ *is a sad Merlin/Vivianne-shipper*

[zahrawithaz]

I suspect they're keeping the Vivian-as-temptress idea but applying it to Arthur instead of Merlin. I'll be very interested to see how these next three episodes work out.

I am surprised that they haven't picked up on the one aspect of the Lady of the Lake that would seem to fit best with the "before they were famous" premise--that she raises Lancelot.

[zahrawithaz]

Thanks!

That's a very intriguing quote. I love the idea of a Morgause/Morgana connection (esp if it reverses the general trend of less screen time for the female characters whenever there's a female guest star). I very much hope she won't be evil, but I'm worried, because Morgause is the chief villain in most recent retellings, and this show has a well-established evil woman fetish.

I hadn't thought of Freya being the Lady of the Lake, but it's an interesting idea. There's no Freya in the legends; it's the name of a Germanic goddess. To me it suggests another attempt to elide ethnic origins of the story; it's not the first time the show has thrown in a random reference to Anglo-Saxon history, presumably in an attempt to pave over the fact that the original Arthur legend has him defeating the English.

And I had been wondering if they were moving toward Uther being Morgana's real father, based on his conversation with Gaius after her "kidnapping" in 2.03, but making her related to Ygraine could also explain his increasingly "protective" attitude.