It seemed to me that the deaths were the result of uncontrolled forces, emotions running amuck and so forth. Merlin is focused on what he believes he must do to bring about a unified country so he sets forth. The Smith is not used to being at anyone's beck and call and Merlin dislikes anyone getting in between him and his agenda. Chaos ensues. We see the foreshadowing of that when the fire burns too high early on in the episode. This is exactly what Merlin fears and what has damaged him so.
What else has he done that was an "accident?"
The death of the girl is again force out of control, I thought. She is wild with anger and grief and wants to thwart Merlin's plans. He just wants to get the sword, he never intended to kill her, either. He was merely trying to stop her and again, his magick went awry.
Gwaine is now a mentor for Arthur, too. I like that.
What else can Morgan do? Well, I am sure it won't be too good for Merlin. She clearly learned a lot in the convent. And she is more then willing to pay the price.
> And he punishes himself when it gets out of control. That was interesting, he feels a great deal of guilt yet he continues on this path.
Yes, I like the writing here.
> Arthur will have to earn Gwain's respect, I think.
Here is the thing. Do you think the writers want this Arthur to become closer to the legendary King? Maybe he will continue to be this flawed character. My problem with this Arthur is that he is a kid. Things are handed to him. He becomes King because of Merlin although he wants to deny it.
But I always find morally-ambiguous characters more interesting to watch than characters like Leontes. In my opinion, "GOOD" characters don't always make good stories. I agree and that's the reason I usually love characters as Mordred, Agravain and Kay in the legends. But Arthur, in my opinion, is more "bratty" than "interesting". Instead I really find Merlin very interesting.
The only character I like in this espisode is perhaps Gawain. He is a charismatic character, but not because he has good hair. I am looking forward to his interaction with Kay. I couldn't say it better.
That was a nice review ! Thanks for posting :) I think so far this was the best episode of the series . We really got some character development and overall it was more epic. I`m already a bit tired of Arthur and Guinevere . They`re cute but this whole pining thing can just get a little annoying especially since we barely know anything about the characters especially Guinevere. I mean what makes her so special at this point? Nothing has been explained. Anyway Merlin`s subtle use of magic at this point was the highlight. Overall I think the show is starting to pick up and I agree - Gwaine was awesome! I`m quite enjoying his character. Eva Green as Morgan still owns this show so far though!
I think the writers were struggling to capture a wider audience, so they threw this teenage drama about A/G/L - the weakest stroyline on the show. But I am content with Morgan and Merlin and a few nice supporting characters. Overall, it's a quite enjoyable show.
Just watched episode 4. I agree with what you said about rather watching morally ambiguous characters like Merlin than clean-cut ones like Leontes, although Merlin's actions horrified me. Morgan is delightfully evil as always. But I hate watching Arthur. He does not exude moral ambiguous-ness like Merlin; instead, he is in a state of petulance for the whole episode, which is annoying, not interesting, to watch.
I re-read my review and realise I didn't make myself clear. I found Merlin is interesting, but not Arthur. However, does every teenager always go through an annoying stage? I think people are expecting to see a better Arthur, an Arthur who will grow, but I am not sure when can we see that on this show.
I think every teenager goes through an annoying stage. The problem is that Arthur is already 20 (because Igraine said he was taken from her 20 years ago). He's not some angry teen anymore. I think he's like that because his adoptive parents spoiled him so.
I'm still reading the rest of your review, but didn't Merlin have a vision right before he woke during the scene in which the blacksmith dies? In that vision he sees Arthur being killed by the very sword the blacksmith made; and if you remember, the blacksmith says he wanted to give it to Arthur personally. I'm not totally sure why the blacksmith would want to kill Arthur, but he does often remark on enjoying/missing the smell of blood. He reminds me of a retired assassin. He may just want the feel of victory, the rush that comes with killing for him. I think that is why Merlin had to kill him. Excalibur is sadly, an unfortunate accident. That he tried to save her is quite telling of Merlin's moral and emotional bent that
Yes, Merlin had a vision of Arthur being killed. But did they show who killed him with the sword? Anyway, Merlin's action is not moral, esp. according to today's standard.
I think it was implied by the circumstances rather than directly stated. But yeah, still not totally justifiable - guilty of a crime before it's been committed and all. In fact, there's so much immoral behavior on this show, I wouldn't know where to begin :D
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What else has he done that was an "accident?"
The death of the girl is again force out of control, I thought. She is wild with anger and grief and wants to thwart Merlin's plans. He just wants to get the sword, he never intended to kill her, either. He was merely trying to stop her and again, his magick went awry.
Gwaine is now a mentor for Arthur, too. I like that.
What else can Morgan do? Well, I am sure it won't be too good for Merlin. She clearly learned a lot in the convent. And she is more then willing to pay the price.
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I like Gawain. It seems at this moment he chooses to stay in Camelot because he likes Kay and Leontes.
The actor who plays Gawain mentioned something in his twitter. He implied that at one point, Morgan might take shape of Gawain as well.
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Arthur will have to earn Gwain's respect, I think.
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Yes, I like the writing here.
> Arthur will have to earn Gwain's respect, I think.
Here is the thing. Do you think the writers want this Arthur to become closer to the legendary King? Maybe he will continue to be this flawed character. My problem with this Arthur is that he is a kid. Things are handed to him. He becomes King because of Merlin although he wants to deny it.
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I agree and that's the reason I usually love characters as Mordred, Agravain and Kay in the legends. But Arthur, in my opinion, is more "bratty" than "interesting".
Instead I really find Merlin very interesting.
The only character I like in this espisode is perhaps Gawain. He is a charismatic character, but not because he has good hair. I am looking forward to his interaction with Kay.
I couldn't say it better.
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