Season 3 Speculation
So, now that we're half-way through the season, I decided some serious speculation was in order. Mostly rambly incoherence.
WARNING: Spoilers like whoa! I'll be talking a lot about speculation and spoilers mentioned from various sources and press releases, outside of just show trailers and visions from the Crystal Cave. If you don't like them, don't read below.
Looking Into The Crystal: Spoilers
I'll take some more exact guesses as to what will happen for the last parts of Season 3.
Before we get into Speculating Things, let's take stock of what we know:
(links = Sources)
Episode 10 Press Release: Morgana is tormented by dreams of Guinevere becoming Queen of Camelot, as the fantasy drama continues. Encouraged by Morgause, she decides to reveal Arthur and Gwen's courtship to Uther, who will do whatever it takes to stop his son from marrying a serving girl.
When his father banishes Gwen from the kingdom, Arthur makes the ultimate sacrifice and resolves to leave Camelot with her. Determined to stop them, Morgana frames Gwen for the scandalous crime of enchanting the Prince. With destiny at stake, Merlin must risk everything to save her from a gruesome death.
From Merlin's Keep: Season 3 Spoilers Eps. 10-13:
And we also know Merlin is up for a fourth season:
The show, which features stars such as Anthony Head, Richard Wilson and John Hurt, has been commissioned for a fourth run.
The third series has drawn audiences of six million on BBC1 each week, and winds up with an edge-of-the-seat climax on 4 December.
Ben Stephenson, the BBC's controller of drama commissioning, said: "Merlin continues to perform outstandingly well against X Factor.
"I'm pleased to confirm that the magical world of Camelot will be returning next year for a fourth series of this fresh and modern retelling of a classic British legend."
The new ten-part series will start filming in March.
And while there have been many, many spoiler photos, the three key ones I'm interested in are here - the top one, which features a sword (most likely Excalibur) in a stone, and the bottom two which appear to show Gwen in a fancy dress getting a reward of some kind (or being made into a noble/Queen) kneeling before Arthur in the throne room.
So that's what we know. What are we going to do with it?
Speculation
Episode 8 seems quite Arthur centric, and more outwardly Merlin and Gwaine centric. Morgana plays the side role of an additional antagonist, but from the sounds of it, the plot will focus mostly on the boys. Episode 9 seems mostly unrelated to the overall arch - Gaius centric, but with the looming disaster potentially affecting the king and how Morgana will play with this. Episode 10 seems to be a time when things will start coming to a head - Morgana reveals Gwen and Arthur's relationship, Arthur plans to leave Camelot with her...she likely just severed all affection to be potentially had with these two. And that's before she frames Gwen for sorcery!
That part has me confused...Arthur is voluntarily leaving. Why would Morgana want to jeapordize that? The only reason I can think of is that she doesn't want to risk him coming back and reclaiming the throne once she takes it from Uther...but if she can find a way to make his death look natural (or at least not her fault) after she has made sure she is named heir to the throne (or even before! if she can somehow prove or just believably claim she's Uther's daughter, she doesn't need him at all), then Arthur would have no reason to oppose her. He cares for his people, not power, and if she is taking care of the people, i.e. not going on murderous rampages and helping them when they need it, Arthur likely be glad that out of all the potential heirs to have taken the throne besides him, it was Morgana, whom he grew up with and trusts.
But, ah, I see the catch, here - Morgana wants to a.) bring back magic (which Arthur is still against...at least blatant magic being overused), and she will likely utilize Cenred's forces at some point in time - not to mention she will keep Morgause at her side.
Okay, never mind - I can see why Morgana might fear Arthur. That said, I feel like there will be a little more to this story once the episode comes by, because this type of speculation seems a bit too abstract for the show's writers to expect of their general audience.
And, there's the Dark Continent - namely, Episode 11. Why the fuck do we know nothing of Episode 11? Or has there been some news about it that I just didn't find? Help me out, here! From the events we already know of in Ep. 10, I can't help but feel a lot of the arch-plot's action is going to happen in here, because I don't think Gwen or Arthur will be too eager to stay in Camelot after Morgana does this (unless no one knows it was her? Entirely possible, considering her m.o. for the season so far).
Ep. 12 is where things get interesting. Did Morgana take the throne in ep. 11? Or has she already taken it? And how? Because apparently, Uther is alive for it! How, exactly, will she seize the throne? Force seems to be the answer, if the presence of Cenred's forces is anything to go by. Arthur escapes - who else? We don't know where Gwen is...if she somehow stays on and close to Morgana somehow in ep. 10, then is she the person high in Morgana's court that becomes central to her downfall?
She does get rewarded for her duty in a big way. Do the photos above suggest she will be made into a Lady or a Queen? Or were those filmed for Morgana's visions, and Gwen's reward is just the kiss we know is going to happen?
Then again, those are just rumors, and I may be completely wrong altogether.
And another big question - will Arthur find out about Merlin's magic? I can't really see Merlin keeping it a total secret after all this time. Four years, and in this kind of strife - I don't see him keeping it a secret. That said, the producers of the show have really loved the Merlin's Secret trope and may just cling on to it. We know they have another season coming up to play with.
Who is the character that will depart the show? Uther - will he be killed off? Morgana - after she loses the throne? Morgause? Gaius? I don't see anyone else leaving. (Actually, I don't see Morgana leaving, either, but I'm not sure how she would stay in the show, either...? Unless Cenred becomes the King Lot of the story and the one who Morgana/Morgause marries? Hm...well, even if not, one of Morgana's famous apprentices, Niniane, is often regarded as the daughter of a Northumbrian king...Cenred's future daughter?)
If Merlin reveals his magic, and Uther is alive at the end, how is it all going to play out? The producers mentioned Uther 'coming to grips with all he has done' in terms of magic - was that what the first and second episodes were supposed to be? Or will that show up in the last few episodes?
This beyond just playing poker with shades and a few wild cards - this is a deck of wild cards with a few normal ones thrown in! I can't wait.
Feel free to discuss and speculate here. :)
WARNING: Spoilers like whoa! I'll be talking a lot about speculation and spoilers mentioned from various sources and press releases, outside of just show trailers and visions from the Crystal Cave. If you don't like them, don't read below.
Looking Into The Crystal: Spoilers
I'll take some more exact guesses as to what will happen for the last parts of Season 3.
Before we get into Speculating Things, let's take stock of what we know:
(links = Sources)
Episode 10 Press Release: Morgana is tormented by dreams of Guinevere becoming Queen of Camelot, as the fantasy drama continues. Encouraged by Morgause, she decides to reveal Arthur and Gwen's courtship to Uther, who will do whatever it takes to stop his son from marrying a serving girl.
When his father banishes Gwen from the kingdom, Arthur makes the ultimate sacrifice and resolves to leave Camelot with her. Determined to stop them, Morgana frames Gwen for the scandalous crime of enchanting the Prince. With destiny at stake, Merlin must risk everything to save her from a gruesome death.
From Merlin's Keep: Season 3 Spoilers Eps. 10-13:
- Episode 8: "Arthur (Bradley James) embarks on a quest to prove himself a worthy heir to the throne of Camelot by retrieving the Golden Trident from the Fisher King (Donald Sumpter). However, Morgana (Katie McGrath) spots an opportunity to attack the prince outside the safety of the Citadel, and plays a trick that leaves him in mortal peril."
- Episode 9: "Gaius (Richard Wilson) is overjoyed when an old flame (Pauline Collins) arrives in Camelot - but Merlin (Colin Morgan) discovers she has been possessed by an evil creature. However, the physician refuses to heed his young friend's warnings - seemingly putting the king's (Anthony Head) life in peril as a result. "
- Episode 10: The above-mentioned episode
- Merlin will somehow be aged in Episode 10 (and wear one of Gaius's Robes?)
- Episode 12: Morgana will somehow seize the throne
- Gwaine, Morgause, and Geoffrey will all show up at some point in Ep. 12
- Geoffrey will preside over her coronation
- Men dressed like the mercenaries from the first two episodes this season are in the great hall during the coronation.
- At some point a saddened Uther is brought into the great hall and forced to appear before the sisters.
- As Geoffrey places a crown on Morgana’s head, Morgause holds Uther’s crown in her hands.
- Merlin, Arthur and Gwaine are horrified by something they see in the woods.
- Episode 13: Um, Camelot is regained? *shrugs*
- Lancelot, Gwaine, Leon, Elyan, and Morgause will all be in this episode
- Along with someone named Percival, played by Tom Hopper
- The Roundtable will appear. There is a chalice on it in front of Merlin who is standing next to Arthur and Gwen.
- Arthur and his loyalists take refuge at what look to be ruins.
- The loyalists are Merlin, Gwen, Gaius, Gwaine, Lancelot, Elyan, Sir Leon and Percival.
- Arthur gives Gwen a kiss in the courtyard at Camelot while Lancelot, Sir Leon, Elyan, Gwaine, Percival and a stable boy look on.
- Other Season Landmarks of In-Determinate Episode: (these ones are just rumors - from Merlin's Keep: "We received several possible spoilers for the last episodes of Season 3 the first week of October, but have held off posting them because we figured it was just speculation based off the Pierrefonds set pictures from September. After watching The Crystal Cave, we think there might be some validity to these bits and feel a little more comfortable posting them.")
- One of the landmarks of the third series will be retrieving Excalibur and Arthur weilding it.
- Camelot will be kept in the medieval equivalent of a police state by a tyrannical Queen Morgana.
- Arthur and those loyal to him will band together to try and win Camelot back. They will have help from someone high up in the new court who becomes troubled with the queen’s tyranny.
- Gwen will be rewarded for her duty to Camelot in a big way.
- The last few episodes of the third series reshape the show for series four and series five. There’s changes coming and two departures from the main cast are planned. One of the departures will be permanent. The second will likely be back a few times during the rest of the show's run.
And we also know Merlin is up for a fourth season:
The show, which features stars such as Anthony Head, Richard Wilson and John Hurt, has been commissioned for a fourth run.
The third series has drawn audiences of six million on BBC1 each week, and winds up with an edge-of-the-seat climax on 4 December.
Ben Stephenson, the BBC's controller of drama commissioning, said: "Merlin continues to perform outstandingly well against X Factor.
"I'm pleased to confirm that the magical world of Camelot will be returning next year for a fourth series of this fresh and modern retelling of a classic British legend."
The new ten-part series will start filming in March.
And while there have been many, many spoiler photos, the three key ones I'm interested in are here - the top one, which features a sword (most likely Excalibur) in a stone, and the bottom two which appear to show Gwen in a fancy dress getting a reward of some kind (or being made into a noble/Queen) kneeling before Arthur in the throne room.
So that's what we know. What are we going to do with it?
Speculation
Episode 8 seems quite Arthur centric, and more outwardly Merlin and Gwaine centric. Morgana plays the side role of an additional antagonist, but from the sounds of it, the plot will focus mostly on the boys. Episode 9 seems mostly unrelated to the overall arch - Gaius centric, but with the looming disaster potentially affecting the king and how Morgana will play with this. Episode 10 seems to be a time when things will start coming to a head - Morgana reveals Gwen and Arthur's relationship, Arthur plans to leave Camelot with her...she likely just severed all affection to be potentially had with these two. And that's before she frames Gwen for sorcery!
That part has me confused...Arthur is voluntarily leaving. Why would Morgana want to jeapordize that? The only reason I can think of is that she doesn't want to risk him coming back and reclaiming the throne once she takes it from Uther...but if she can find a way to make his death look natural (or at least not her fault) after she has made sure she is named heir to the throne (or even before! if she can somehow prove or just believably claim she's Uther's daughter, she doesn't need him at all), then Arthur would have no reason to oppose her. He cares for his people, not power, and if she is taking care of the people, i.e. not going on murderous rampages and helping them when they need it, Arthur likely be glad that out of all the potential heirs to have taken the throne besides him, it was Morgana, whom he grew up with and trusts.
But, ah, I see the catch, here - Morgana wants to a.) bring back magic (which Arthur is still against...at least blatant magic being overused), and she will likely utilize Cenred's forces at some point in time - not to mention she will keep Morgause at her side.
Okay, never mind - I can see why Morgana might fear Arthur. That said, I feel like there will be a little more to this story once the episode comes by, because this type of speculation seems a bit too abstract for the show's writers to expect of their general audience.
And, there's the Dark Continent - namely, Episode 11. Why the fuck do we know nothing of Episode 11? Or has there been some news about it that I just didn't find? Help me out, here! From the events we already know of in Ep. 10, I can't help but feel a lot of the arch-plot's action is going to happen in here, because I don't think Gwen or Arthur will be too eager to stay in Camelot after Morgana does this (unless no one knows it was her? Entirely possible, considering her m.o. for the season so far).
Ep. 12 is where things get interesting. Did Morgana take the throne in ep. 11? Or has she already taken it? And how? Because apparently, Uther is alive for it! How, exactly, will she seize the throne? Force seems to be the answer, if the presence of Cenred's forces is anything to go by. Arthur escapes - who else? We don't know where Gwen is...if she somehow stays on and close to Morgana somehow in ep. 10, then is she the person high in Morgana's court that becomes central to her downfall?
She does get rewarded for her duty in a big way. Do the photos above suggest she will be made into a Lady or a Queen? Or were those filmed for Morgana's visions, and Gwen's reward is just the kiss we know is going to happen?
Then again, those are just rumors, and I may be completely wrong altogether.
And another big question - will Arthur find out about Merlin's magic? I can't really see Merlin keeping it a total secret after all this time. Four years, and in this kind of strife - I don't see him keeping it a secret. That said, the producers of the show have really loved the Merlin's Secret trope and may just cling on to it. We know they have another season coming up to play with.
Who is the character that will depart the show? Uther - will he be killed off? Morgana - after she loses the throne? Morgause? Gaius? I don't see anyone else leaving. (Actually, I don't see Morgana leaving, either, but I'm not sure how she would stay in the show, either...? Unless Cenred becomes the King Lot of the story and the one who Morgana/Morgause marries? Hm...well, even if not, one of Morgana's famous apprentices, Niniane, is often regarded as the daughter of a Northumbrian king...Cenred's future daughter?)
If Merlin reveals his magic, and Uther is alive at the end, how is it all going to play out? The producers mentioned Uther 'coming to grips with all he has done' in terms of magic - was that what the first and second episodes were supposed to be? Or will that show up in the last few episodes?
This beyond just playing poker with shades and a few wild cards - this is a deck of wild cards with a few normal ones thrown in! I can't wait.
Feel free to discuss and speculate here. :)