Merlin 5.06
I honestly just don't have a lot of mental energy left right now between all the actual writing I've been doing, so this week I'm just going to liveblog my thoughts about the ep as I watch.
Welp, should have known that Elyan was toast the second they actually showed him being brotherly with Gwen. Yeah, spoiled for that, which I'm kind of sorry about, since I think it's going to lessen the impact of the event.
Aww, love Gwen out riding with the knights, teasing and joking around. That was completely adorable. And of course Arthur never tells you anything, Gwen. He doesn't know that much to begin with, and what he does know, he tells Merlin.
"I told her to get away. She fled." And no one thought to go with her to protect the unarmed Queen? Elyan does not seem particularly concerned at this point. Good thing our poisoned knights are going to make a miraculous overnight recovery! I did love seeing Merlin rushing around being all physician-ly.
Awww, Merlin swearing to bring Guinevere home was so sweet. The little warrior bro-shake was kind of weird, but still.
IT'S NOT YOUR FUCKING CROWN, MORGANA, JFC. Arthur has the crown you want. Gwen's isn't going to do you a damn bit of good. That drives me fucking nuts every damn season. I'm going to chalk it up to adding in an almost imperceptibly subtle hint of the Arthur/Morgana incest from the legends.
Okay, it really is sweet how utterly undone Arthur is by Gwen's abduction.
Don't climb willingly up into the Spire of Evil, Gwen! Sit your ass down on the bottom step and make her carry you to her torture chamber if she wants to torture you that badly.
Yeah, Elyan, you kind of suck. Sorry, dude. Also, Gwen raised him? How old is Gwen supposed to be, anyway? Still, nice to get a tiny scrap of back story.
I love Gwaine so much I could cry, just for breaking through the melodrama here. Cheese that tastes of apple pie. That's all that saved the stupid Dark Tower story for me. It's nice that Merlin figures out Morgana's intentions so quickly, though they are pretty damn obvious. Now, how about a plan other than walking in there and hoping for the best? No? Okay.
"I made you a promise, remember?" *happy sigh* But also, seriously, when has Merlin ever not gone somewhere Arthur was going? I guess it's a sign of just how terrifying this place is supposed to be if Arthur is offering Merlin an exit option.
The Impenetrable Forest. But trust the Knights of Camelot! They can penetrate anything, baby, yeah.
Love Arthur losing his shit when he realizes they've gone in a big circle. Merlin really is his other half, taking over leadership when Arthur just can't pull it together.
Liked Morgana telling Gwen about her imprisonment. It's nice to have an almost genuine moment between them. And I think Katie does a lovely job showing Morgana's vulnerability.
Queen Mab - I just love any magical creature who addresses Merlin as Emrys. And I love that Merlin's first question when she tells him one of them won't return is "which one?" 'Cause if it ain't Arthur, Merlin is not getting involved.
Squeeeeeee! Merlin takes charge! Have a little faith, Arthur, sheesh. I love this use of Merlin's magic - very different from anything we've seen him do before, and a nice tie-in to his speech to Arthur last week about the way he senses nature and the magic in it.
Overall, a little disappointed in Gwen's torture. The random screams and apparitions were nicely creepy and Angel acted the hell out it, but I feel like they lost an opportunity to get deeper into Gwen's character. But I'm going to go ahead and overanalyze it anyway, because I like doing that - so obviously, Gwen still feels a certain insecurity about her origins and her rise to power and fears that everyone is laughing at the silly serving girl who thought she could be Queen.
Now, what's most interesting is her vision of an animalistic Merlin snarling at her. Does she subconsciously sense something dangerous about Merlin? Or does she just understand that his loyalty is 100% to Arthur, and if he ever saw Gwen as any kind of threat to Arthur, he would turn on her in a heartbeat?
Okay, yeah, overanalyzing. Moving on.
However, I do like the bits with Morgana trying to Stockholm Syndrome Gwen. Not sure what the point is, when she's just using Gwen for bait. I hope we get to see whether this is just another part of the torture, or some aspect of Morgana's insanity, or something else.
Poor Elyan. At least you got to be a good brother to Gwen once in your life, even if it was the last thing you did.
Actually, I know I'm being snide about him, but I'm pretty pissed off about Elyan dying. Out of all the knights, he's been the most criminally wasted as a character, in my opinion. Yes, even above Gwaine, who has at least gotten a personality and relationships with his fellow knights. He's Gwen's brother, but until now, has been almost completely absent from any of her few significant storylines. That's always annoyed the crap out of me, and it annoys me even more now that he's gone forever.
Wait, what? How the fuck did they get out of the Tower? Morgana just let them walk out? The Invisible Warrior was only programmed to take out one knight? HUH?
Okay, I thought seeing Arthur and Gwen in bed together would bug me, but it doesn't. It was very sweet, and then Gwen got up and left (AS SHE DOES EVERY NIGHT IN MY CANON).
Oh, huh. WHOA. Okay, this episode just got actually interesting in the last ten seconds. Is Gwen bespelled, or actually brainwashed? I hope the former, because I gave her more credit for mental fortitude than that. Is she just meant to kill Arthur? Was this Morgana's back-up plan? Or does Morgana have something more insidious (and interesting) in mind?
She can't possibly be as entertaining as assassin!Merlin last season, but I'm looking forward to seeing what happens! Good luck trying to convince anyone that Gwen is evil, Merlin. I'm sure that will go really well for you.
Crossposted on Dreamwidth -- http://corilannam.dreamwidth.org/291814.html.
people commented over there.
Welp, should have known that Elyan was toast the second they actually showed him being brotherly with Gwen. Yeah, spoiled for that, which I'm kind of sorry about, since I think it's going to lessen the impact of the event.
Aww, love Gwen out riding with the knights, teasing and joking around. That was completely adorable. And of course Arthur never tells you anything, Gwen. He doesn't know that much to begin with, and what he does know, he tells Merlin.
"I told her to get away. She fled." And no one thought to go with her to protect the unarmed Queen? Elyan does not seem particularly concerned at this point. Good thing our poisoned knights are going to make a miraculous overnight recovery! I did love seeing Merlin rushing around being all physician-ly.
Awww, Merlin swearing to bring Guinevere home was so sweet. The little warrior bro-shake was kind of weird, but still.
IT'S NOT YOUR FUCKING CROWN, MORGANA, JFC. Arthur has the crown you want. Gwen's isn't going to do you a damn bit of good. That drives me fucking nuts every damn season. I'm going to chalk it up to adding in an almost imperceptibly subtle hint of the Arthur/Morgana incest from the legends.
Okay, it really is sweet how utterly undone Arthur is by Gwen's abduction.
Don't climb willingly up into the Spire of Evil, Gwen! Sit your ass down on the bottom step and make her carry you to her torture chamber if she wants to torture you that badly.
Yeah, Elyan, you kind of suck. Sorry, dude. Also, Gwen raised him? How old is Gwen supposed to be, anyway? Still, nice to get a tiny scrap of back story.
I love Gwaine so much I could cry, just for breaking through the melodrama here. Cheese that tastes of apple pie. That's all that saved the stupid Dark Tower story for me. It's nice that Merlin figures out Morgana's intentions so quickly, though they are pretty damn obvious. Now, how about a plan other than walking in there and hoping for the best? No? Okay.
"I made you a promise, remember?" *happy sigh* But also, seriously, when has Merlin ever not gone somewhere Arthur was going? I guess it's a sign of just how terrifying this place is supposed to be if Arthur is offering Merlin an exit option.
The Impenetrable Forest. But trust the Knights of Camelot! They can penetrate anything, baby, yeah.
Love Arthur losing his shit when he realizes they've gone in a big circle. Merlin really is his other half, taking over leadership when Arthur just can't pull it together.
Liked Morgana telling Gwen about her imprisonment. It's nice to have an almost genuine moment between them. And I think Katie does a lovely job showing Morgana's vulnerability.
Queen Mab - I just love any magical creature who addresses Merlin as Emrys. And I love that Merlin's first question when she tells him one of them won't return is "which one?" 'Cause if it ain't Arthur, Merlin is not getting involved.
Squeeeeeee! Merlin takes charge! Have a little faith, Arthur, sheesh. I love this use of Merlin's magic - very different from anything we've seen him do before, and a nice tie-in to his speech to Arthur last week about the way he senses nature and the magic in it.
Overall, a little disappointed in Gwen's torture. The random screams and apparitions were nicely creepy and Angel acted the hell out it, but I feel like they lost an opportunity to get deeper into Gwen's character. But I'm going to go ahead and overanalyze it anyway, because I like doing that - so obviously, Gwen still feels a certain insecurity about her origins and her rise to power and fears that everyone is laughing at the silly serving girl who thought she could be Queen.
Now, what's most interesting is her vision of an animalistic Merlin snarling at her. Does she subconsciously sense something dangerous about Merlin? Or does she just understand that his loyalty is 100% to Arthur, and if he ever saw Gwen as any kind of threat to Arthur, he would turn on her in a heartbeat?
Okay, yeah, overanalyzing. Moving on.
However, I do like the bits with Morgana trying to Stockholm Syndrome Gwen. Not sure what the point is, when she's just using Gwen for bait. I hope we get to see whether this is just another part of the torture, or some aspect of Morgana's insanity, or something else.
Poor Elyan. At least you got to be a good brother to Gwen once in your life, even if it was the last thing you did.
Actually, I know I'm being snide about him, but I'm pretty pissed off about Elyan dying. Out of all the knights, he's been the most criminally wasted as a character, in my opinion. Yes, even above Gwaine, who has at least gotten a personality and relationships with his fellow knights. He's Gwen's brother, but until now, has been almost completely absent from any of her few significant storylines. That's always annoyed the crap out of me, and it annoys me even more now that he's gone forever.
Wait, what? How the fuck did they get out of the Tower? Morgana just let them walk out? The Invisible Warrior was only programmed to take out one knight? HUH?
Okay, I thought seeing Arthur and Gwen in bed together would bug me, but it doesn't. It was very sweet, and then Gwen got up and left (AS SHE DOES EVERY NIGHT IN MY CANON).
Oh, huh. WHOA. Okay, this episode just got actually interesting in the last ten seconds. Is Gwen bespelled, or actually brainwashed? I hope the former, because I gave her more credit for mental fortitude than that. Is she just meant to kill Arthur? Was this Morgana's back-up plan? Or does Morgana have something more insidious (and interesting) in mind?
She can't possibly be as entertaining as assassin!Merlin last season, but I'm looking forward to seeing what happens! Good luck trying to convince anyone that Gwen is evil, Merlin. I'm sure that will go really well for you.
Crossposted on Dreamwidth -- http://corilannam.dreamwidth.org/291814.html.
people commented over there.