Merlin BBC: 2.11 Review
Well that was an amazing episode, but like season 1, Morgana's hate for Uther seemed to happen so quickly. It was a 180 from what their relationship used to be, to something different. She began to look to him as her hero for some reason, and they were on the road to some kind of affair. She still wanted him to prove his love; I can't wait to finish my M/U analysis.
Continuing on: I had read ratings were down this season; and with good reason. There is no consistency in character development or story from season 1, which would have made this a much better season. I am so upset about Morgana, and I am still holding on to her and Uther having another confrontation. Also, how is she allowed to stay in the castle?
I will begin my review by referring back to the third prequel "Revenge of the Sith" of the Star Wars Trilogy. If you haven't seen them, or find this odd, well I may confuse you. I was not a fan of the prequels, but the one moment, at the end of it, when Anakin Skywalker (Darth Vadar), has now been so broken, and manipulated by everyone, except for his mentor, on whom he has been convinced to hate, reminds me so much of Morgana and Uther.
Anyway, Anakin is extremely powerful, he knows it, but the Jedi council will not make him a knight until he is more disciplined. He knows he is amazing, but will not be made a knight until he learns to control his powers--that is where the danger has always lay--his inability to use discipline. Yoda warned Obi Wan and his predecessor, that he would become dangerous, and fall to the darkside, because they found him too late.
Likewise, the dragon has warned Merlin about the danger of Mordred, and the fact Morgana's power should remain untapped, and that she and Mordred, should never become allies. Then we see, as Morgana is used by Avarr (who was btw sexy and charismatic, you could see how easily Morgana fell for it) and Mordred, (who has been working her from Day 1), how easily she is manipulated. Mordred runs to her like she is his mother, and Avarr is one of those men who speaks to u, as if you are the only person in the room, or forest in this case.
Her weakness, is the misconception, that she is alone, and she is not. I mean, what about Gwen? She loves her unconditionally, and I believe that she knows her secret. How quickly Morgana forgets her, when just a few episodes ago she begged Uther to save her from the bandits. Again inconsistency in writing!
She does not trust the love of anyone, especially Uther, who has proved himself time and time again to her. Remember how in season 1 she is always screaming at him that he does not love her enough, that he loves no one, etc.... There is more to her than just being a seer, and this is where she goes wrong. But as w/Anakin, she has convinced herself that w/these people, who represent how magic is used for the wrong reasons, she can be herself. Her sadness and the pain of how lonely she is when she says "I don't want to be brave, I just want to be myself. I don't want to be alone anymore", is what Alvarr uses to maneuver her. Alvarr is masterful how he lures her into his web, seducing her by being understanding, saying she has a gift, even as he sees how she's unsure about destroying Camelot (as well she should, she loves it, even if she never says it). He uses false concern to show how he wants her to be safe, and stay out of harms way, as she has sacrificed so much for them already. The cherry on the sundae, when he does not rat her out to Uther. Well played, well played!
So back to Anakin Skywalker (the future Darth Vadar), who was frustrated by being unable to be a full Jedi Knight as quickly as he wants and he is impatient as he knows how powerful he is. The emperor uses this, feeds on his impatience, to make him believe that the council plots against him, and do not give him the credit he deserves. The visions of Padme (the wife he is not allowed to have), dying also drives his turn towards the Dark Side. Anakin sees her death all the time, and starts using the emperor (he has been asked to spy on him in his disguise as Palpatine, by the council) as confidant, not Obi Wan. So now he was being used by the Council, and the Emperor, and having his weaknesses exploited so he will fall to the other side. The manipulation turns him into a monster, and turns against the only person who trusted and believed in him: Obi Wan. Anakin never had a chance. Thus these words:
" You were the Chosen One! You were supposed to defeat the Sith, not join them!"
Anakin (while burning) yells back "I HATE YOU" to the ONLY person who was not using him.
Obi Wan says back heartbroken "You were my brother Anakin, I loved you!" "
Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, Wikiquote
Sound familiar? The final heartbreaking scene w/Uther, voice breaking, looking straight at Morgana knowing she has betrayed him, and he has lost her forever ( I am not so sure, I have a small bit of hope). We can read between the lines from each of their conversations, that he cannot kill her, that he has loved her, and he would never betray her. He has told her honestly what a difficult man he is, and he cannot be a good king w/out her (ie. I can't live w/out you). We know that he is in love w/her, as I think she is w/him, but is too immature, and selfish to realize it. Thus she is manipulated by those w/magic who are evil, not good; this is what she needed to be told by someone, or this would never have happened.
We discover that we were right all along that Uther could never hurt her; as look how quickly he went from threatening her, and yelling at her, to shock, when she screams at him about how he persecutes those w/magic. But, I believe that she is really angry that she cannot tell him the truth about her magic, which has manifested in a anger woven w/truths, and lack of understanding, about Uther's treatment of those w/magic. This is exactly what happened w/Mordred in round 1. Morgana sees a boy, Uther sees an enemy. (all in the M/U analysis parts I & II). But his threats stop on a dime, when she disowns him, and tells him that he will go to hell. The look on his face, heartbreaking, and in disbelief. I will talk more about that in M/U Part III analysis at the end of the season.
Many may disagree, but if she did not care about Uther, she would not have deliberately gone down to the throne room, alone, proud, after the prisoner has escaped; almost as if to throw it in Uther's face, to say "Tell them what I have done"; daring him to prove he hates magic more than he loves her. But then when he looks at her squarely in the eye, and says, his voice breaking that the traitor will rue the day they were born. We saw the old Morgana for a few minutes, sadness not fear, crosses her eyes, because she is wrong AGAIN about Uther. He has proven he loves her, time and time again, and I believe this is when she realizes that she could have told him the truth all along.
Then when she turns, w/those angry eyes, and they SHOULD HAVE met the dark, angry eyes of Merlin. Finally we saw the the power that we saw in the moment he told Nimhue, that he would make Arthur King, and then kills her. Morgana, should have seen that he was looking at her w/ " I know what you have done, and betrayed us all". which is why I think that final moment would have been more poignant if their eyes had met, because it would also be the moment that she realizes that he has magic (I believe she has had some inkling that he might be magical). I kept waiting for him to confront Morgana, and tell her what a fool she is; and he cannot believe that she believes an evil sorcerer over those who truly love her.
I put the blame for Morgana's manipulation squarely on the shoulders of Gaius, and just a pinch on Merlin. He has done so many things to defy Gaius, both alone and w/Arthur against Uther. You would have thought he would have told her his secret, instead of sending her to the Druids, and subsequently causing the deaths of thousands of innocent people. But I will cut him some slack, he is so torn between the need to keep his magic a secret and the most important thing of all, making Arthur king, and his empathy for Morgana. Gaius has made it clear that he must guard his secret, and protect Arthur at all costs, so Albion will begin when Arthur is king. Merlin is always the monkey in the middle, but as much as he cares for Morgana, his first priority, is making Arthur King, which is why he is always so conflicted. The final shot of Merlin hearing the Dragon, remembering the vision in the crystal implying he has freed the dragon and destroyed Camelot, has scared him, almost to the point he is afraid of himself.
Morgana/Arthur: The most disappointing part of this season, and what I believe is one of the main reasons ratings were down. It would have been so easy to continue their ship: she should have seen the enchantment w/Vivian, he should have been very concerned when seeing her bloody and battered in the woods. Finally, when Morgana, who for the first time sounds unsure w/her words goes to Arthur for help, par usual, and he says that he knows she is concerned, blah, blah, blah, and that he is super stud warrior. WHAT?! He always listened seriously to Morgana, and admired her greatly. How come he never seems to bother w/Morgana? Season 1, she spoke to him as mother and Queen, whenever she and Uther had an audience w/him. But we do see her turn as she runs from the sorcerer's confrontation w/Arthur, as she has always been protective towards him. But as Merlin said, who protects Morgana? Truthfully? Uther, but she needed someone else as well.
Arthur/Merlin: he treated him really badly this episode, and we see once again that Merlin lets him insult and treat him like crap, so he does not know about his powers. Arthur was a real brat this episode, again disappointing from the Morgause episode, where we saw Arthur firmly on the side of his father, simply so he wouldn't break.
I will be writing more about Morgana/Uther at the end of the season, in Part 3 of my M/U analysis. But I think the show has now encountered the problem of trying to remain a family show, when it has clearly moved into the adult category. It needs to be, as I have said many, many times. I think this is one of the reasons the writers have been so inconsistent. I have said all along, it doesn't need to be a TW time slot, but they could show it at the 8:00 one!
That's it, and now we wait for the return of Morgause!
Continuing on: I had read ratings were down this season; and with good reason. There is no consistency in character development or story from season 1, which would have made this a much better season. I am so upset about Morgana, and I am still holding on to her and Uther having another confrontation. Also, how is she allowed to stay in the castle?
I will begin my review by referring back to the third prequel "Revenge of the Sith" of the Star Wars Trilogy. If you haven't seen them, or find this odd, well I may confuse you. I was not a fan of the prequels, but the one moment, at the end of it, when Anakin Skywalker (Darth Vadar), has now been so broken, and manipulated by everyone, except for his mentor, on whom he has been convinced to hate, reminds me so much of Morgana and Uther.
Anyway, Anakin is extremely powerful, he knows it, but the Jedi council will not make him a knight until he is more disciplined. He knows he is amazing, but will not be made a knight until he learns to control his powers--that is where the danger has always lay--his inability to use discipline. Yoda warned Obi Wan and his predecessor, that he would become dangerous, and fall to the darkside, because they found him too late.
Likewise, the dragon has warned Merlin about the danger of Mordred, and the fact Morgana's power should remain untapped, and that she and Mordred, should never become allies. Then we see, as Morgana is used by Avarr (who was btw sexy and charismatic, you could see how easily Morgana fell for it) and Mordred, (who has been working her from Day 1), how easily she is manipulated. Mordred runs to her like she is his mother, and Avarr is one of those men who speaks to u, as if you are the only person in the room, or forest in this case.
Her weakness, is the misconception, that she is alone, and she is not. I mean, what about Gwen? She loves her unconditionally, and I believe that she knows her secret. How quickly Morgana forgets her, when just a few episodes ago she begged Uther to save her from the bandits. Again inconsistency in writing!
She does not trust the love of anyone, especially Uther, who has proved himself time and time again to her. Remember how in season 1 she is always screaming at him that he does not love her enough, that he loves no one, etc.... There is more to her than just being a seer, and this is where she goes wrong. But as w/Anakin, she has convinced herself that w/these people, who represent how magic is used for the wrong reasons, she can be herself. Her sadness and the pain of how lonely she is when she says "I don't want to be brave, I just want to be myself. I don't want to be alone anymore", is what Alvarr uses to maneuver her. Alvarr is masterful how he lures her into his web, seducing her by being understanding, saying she has a gift, even as he sees how she's unsure about destroying Camelot (as well she should, she loves it, even if she never says it). He uses false concern to show how he wants her to be safe, and stay out of harms way, as she has sacrificed so much for them already. The cherry on the sundae, when he does not rat her out to Uther. Well played, well played!
So back to Anakin Skywalker (the future Darth Vadar), who was frustrated by being unable to be a full Jedi Knight as quickly as he wants and he is impatient as he knows how powerful he is. The emperor uses this, feeds on his impatience, to make him believe that the council plots against him, and do not give him the credit he deserves. The visions of Padme (the wife he is not allowed to have), dying also drives his turn towards the Dark Side. Anakin sees her death all the time, and starts using the emperor (he has been asked to spy on him in his disguise as Palpatine, by the council) as confidant, not Obi Wan. So now he was being used by the Council, and the Emperor, and having his weaknesses exploited so he will fall to the other side. The manipulation turns him into a monster, and turns against the only person who trusted and believed in him: Obi Wan. Anakin never had a chance. Thus these words:
" You were the Chosen One! You were supposed to defeat the Sith, not join them!"
Anakin (while burning) yells back "I HATE YOU" to the ONLY person who was not using him.
Obi Wan says back heartbroken "You were my brother Anakin, I loved you!" "
Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, Wikiquote
Sound familiar? The final heartbreaking scene w/Uther, voice breaking, looking straight at Morgana knowing she has betrayed him, and he has lost her forever ( I am not so sure, I have a small bit of hope). We can read between the lines from each of their conversations, that he cannot kill her, that he has loved her, and he would never betray her. He has told her honestly what a difficult man he is, and he cannot be a good king w/out her (ie. I can't live w/out you). We know that he is in love w/her, as I think she is w/him, but is too immature, and selfish to realize it. Thus she is manipulated by those w/magic who are evil, not good; this is what she needed to be told by someone, or this would never have happened.
We discover that we were right all along that Uther could never hurt her; as look how quickly he went from threatening her, and yelling at her, to shock, when she screams at him about how he persecutes those w/magic. But, I believe that she is really angry that she cannot tell him the truth about her magic, which has manifested in a anger woven w/truths, and lack of understanding, about Uther's treatment of those w/magic. This is exactly what happened w/Mordred in round 1. Morgana sees a boy, Uther sees an enemy. (all in the M/U analysis parts I & II). But his threats stop on a dime, when she disowns him, and tells him that he will go to hell. The look on his face, heartbreaking, and in disbelief. I will talk more about that in M/U Part III analysis at the end of the season.
Many may disagree, but if she did not care about Uther, she would not have deliberately gone down to the throne room, alone, proud, after the prisoner has escaped; almost as if to throw it in Uther's face, to say "Tell them what I have done"; daring him to prove he hates magic more than he loves her. But then when he looks at her squarely in the eye, and says, his voice breaking that the traitor will rue the day they were born. We saw the old Morgana for a few minutes, sadness not fear, crosses her eyes, because she is wrong AGAIN about Uther. He has proven he loves her, time and time again, and I believe this is when she realizes that she could have told him the truth all along.
Then when she turns, w/those angry eyes, and they SHOULD HAVE met the dark, angry eyes of Merlin. Finally we saw the the power that we saw in the moment he told Nimhue, that he would make Arthur King, and then kills her. Morgana, should have seen that he was looking at her w/ " I know what you have done, and betrayed us all". which is why I think that final moment would have been more poignant if their eyes had met, because it would also be the moment that she realizes that he has magic (I believe she has had some inkling that he might be magical). I kept waiting for him to confront Morgana, and tell her what a fool she is; and he cannot believe that she believes an evil sorcerer over those who truly love her.
I put the blame for Morgana's manipulation squarely on the shoulders of Gaius, and just a pinch on Merlin. He has done so many things to defy Gaius, both alone and w/Arthur against Uther. You would have thought he would have told her his secret, instead of sending her to the Druids, and subsequently causing the deaths of thousands of innocent people. But I will cut him some slack, he is so torn between the need to keep his magic a secret and the most important thing of all, making Arthur king, and his empathy for Morgana. Gaius has made it clear that he must guard his secret, and protect Arthur at all costs, so Albion will begin when Arthur is king. Merlin is always the monkey in the middle, but as much as he cares for Morgana, his first priority, is making Arthur King, which is why he is always so conflicted. The final shot of Merlin hearing the Dragon, remembering the vision in the crystal implying he has freed the dragon and destroyed Camelot, has scared him, almost to the point he is afraid of himself.
Morgana/Arthur: The most disappointing part of this season, and what I believe is one of the main reasons ratings were down. It would have been so easy to continue their ship: she should have seen the enchantment w/Vivian, he should have been very concerned when seeing her bloody and battered in the woods. Finally, when Morgana, who for the first time sounds unsure w/her words goes to Arthur for help, par usual, and he says that he knows she is concerned, blah, blah, blah, and that he is super stud warrior. WHAT?! He always listened seriously to Morgana, and admired her greatly. How come he never seems to bother w/Morgana? Season 1, she spoke to him as mother and Queen, whenever she and Uther had an audience w/him. But we do see her turn as she runs from the sorcerer's confrontation w/Arthur, as she has always been protective towards him. But as Merlin said, who protects Morgana? Truthfully? Uther, but she needed someone else as well.
Arthur/Merlin: he treated him really badly this episode, and we see once again that Merlin lets him insult and treat him like crap, so he does not know about his powers. Arthur was a real brat this episode, again disappointing from the Morgause episode, where we saw Arthur firmly on the side of his father, simply so he wouldn't break.
I will be writing more about Morgana/Uther at the end of the season, in Part 3 of my M/U analysis. But I think the show has now encountered the problem of trying to remain a family show, when it has clearly moved into the adult category. It needs to be, as I have said many, many times. I think this is one of the reasons the writers have been so inconsistent. I have said all along, it doesn't need to be a TW time slot, but they could show it at the 8:00 one!
That's it, and now we wait for the return of Morgause!