merlin - arthur's bane part two
Others may catch my eye, sometimes I may stray for a bit in the off-season, but this is still my favourite show. They're going to have to do a lot to get rid of me.
Previously on Merlin, Arthur’s bane is stalking him. Like a ghost. In the night. And we learn that the identity of this nocturnal ghost stalker is Mordred, who grew up quite nicely during all those time skips. Morgana and Ser Davos are still searching for this information in the form of some special key, but that might be a clever ruse to get Percival, Gwaine and hundreds of other hot guys to run around topless for two episodes. It’s hard to tell. Gwaine meets a glowy alien conehead thing? And Merlin and Arthur have good, old-fashioned adventure times.
In a land of myth and a time of magic, the destiny of a great kingdom pretty much happened off screen at this point and I’m not sure what role Merlin’s shoulders really played in it, but at least they’re letting us see the final chapter, right?
I know your nightmare pain, Morgana. I used to dream of a story in which a great king and his bff wizard united all of Albion with their love for each other, and that turned into a whole bunch of darkness and despair as hope died a little with every year. Morgana, however, dreams of being chained up in a well with Aithusa curled around her, a bit like this:
It seems like a flashback, and it wakes Morgana, who calls out for her baby dragon. Aithusa limps his adorable, reptilian way into the room and Morgana pets him and reassures them both that they’re safe and their troubles are in the past. Who chained her up? Kilgharrah, maybe? It’s all a bit vague but that’s okay, because Aithusa rests his head on Morgana’s bed with soft, keening dragon noises and I’m sure Morgana is talking about killing Arthur and taking over Camelot or whatever, but all I can think is that this is the cutest thing ever. Aithusa and his baby blues are even more adorable than Morgana’s pet wolf pack from last week. And we can see here that series one Gwen’s role in Morgana’s life has been replaced by a lizard, except Aithusa probably isn’t very good at doing Morgana’s hair.
Outside, Mordred and the flouncy guy from last week and leading their captured slaves towards Morgana’s castle. Merlin and Arthur play the blame game about their current predicament and for some reason, Flouncy does not appreciate the banter. It’s weird, because he seemed so amused at their shtick earlier. He stops the entire procession just to go back and punch Arthur in the gut for speaking without being spoken to, and it looks like Merlin and Arthur will have to come up with their escape plan non-verbally. Mordred, meanwhile, just glares a lot. Like a slightly more petulant Derek Hale.
Meanwhile, back in Camelot, Sefa watches her noose being prepared in the courtyard outside. Gaius arrives for a little dungeon visit and offers her some kind of potion to ‘make it easier to bear.’ Whatever it is, Sefa refuses and instead asks for an audience with the Queen. She and Gaius seem to know each other pretty well so Gaius sort of agrees to try and help her. I really would have liked to have seen her integration into their lives instead of it being, oh, here’s the girl that everyone knows and likes and SURPRISE SHE’S A TRAITOR.
Darkness has fallen in the north, and while Flouncy, Modred and their men are sitting around a warm fire putting food into their bellies, the slaves are all sleeping in the snow and again not huddling for warmth. This goes against everything I’ve ever read in fic ever. It’s unnatural, is what it is. Granted, Arthur’s chain mail would be freaking freezing and Merlin would probably get his entire body stuck to it like your tongue when lick inside the freezer, but still. Instead of sleeping, Merlin is sitting beside Arthur like the loyal german shepherd he is, eyes fixed on Mordred. Flouncy accuses Merlin of gawping and then proceeds to tease him with food. This makes all the bad guys laugh, except Mordred, who now cares about slave welfare and decent working conditions for all.
Ooh, it’s time to go underground again! And Arthur isn’t the only one with his own personal naptime bodyguard.
The glowy conehead alien creature is sitting over Gwaine’s perfect, sleeping body like a total creeper but let’s all be honest here: who the hell wouldn’t? At the sound of approaching guards, she (I’m going with a female pronoun because I don’t get to use it very much) scampers away and says a few words in some language which I’m assuming translates to an excellent Ryan Seacrest impersonation in glowy conehead alien and she dims the lights so Gwaine stays hidden.
The next morning, all the slaves have miraculously discovered that puppy piles are vital to their survival against the elements. Well, all except Arthur and Merlin, who are sleeping as far away from each other as the rope tying them together will allow. Don’t worry though, Merlin fans, this is purely for plot convenience so Mordred can skulk over and call Merlin ‘Emrys’ and chat about their shared magical secrets without Arthur overhearing. Mordred also sneaks Merlin some bread because he feels he owes Arthur a debt for saving his life back when he was a wee creepy kid. He’s still creepy, just not so wee. Merlin figures that if Mordred is going to be a Chatty Cathy about them both being in the magical closet these days, he may as well try and get some answers out of him, and asks what Morgana is looking for. Mordred explains with the tiniest of smiles for Merlin (that actually makes my heart skip a little, dammit WHY AM I SO WEAK?): In his language it’s the Diamair, translated to mean the key to all knowledge. In our language, it’s Wikipedia.
Morgana, meanwhile, is having a bit of a hissy fit about not being able to find the key yet, and also they don’t know where Arthur is. She wants Davos to get more info from his spy, but he informs her that Sefa has been given the death sentence. Um, how do people always know this information so quickly? Morgana pauses for a brief moment of sympathy, but then it’s all, ‘Cheer up, emo druid’ and spouting crap about the glory of dying for your cause and shit. She tells Davos there is nothing he can do except ensure his daughter didn’t die in vain. Davos seems to think otherwise.
Back to the new season of IRT:
Things are looking grim for our heroes, as Arthur faceplants the ice and holds everyone up. This is what happens when you don’t share body warmth, Arthur. Flouncy decides the best way to help is not with Merlin’s suggested drink of water, but with another kick to the guts. Unsurprisingly, it’s not a magic cure for passing out. Dragging Arthur to his woozy feet, Flouncy laughs in his face for being an admittedly sorry excuse for a warrior, and Merlin gets all gentle and takes Arthur’s weight from him.
As Arthur leans into Merlin’s chest and Flouncy goes back to the front of the line, I’m weirded out by how everyone else seems relatively fine while Arthur is struggling so much, but then Arthur looks up at Merlin with a WINK and the camera moves to a dagger Arthur seems to have procured during his little fake-out, and it all makes sense.
And Arthur isn’t the only royal conducting a bit of fakery in the kingdom, because Gwen is holding her own back in Camelot. Sefa is brought before her to offer apologies and explain that she only wanted to please her father but knows it was wrong and that she has been used. Gwen tells her the sentence still stands, and Sefa is sent back to the dungeons. Harsh. Even Gaius agrees with this assessment, and tells Gwen so once they are alone again. Gwen’s all, ‘PSYCH! I’m totes just messing with the girl so her dad will come to save her and then we can kill HIM.’ Gaius thinks it’s a bit of a risk, and questions if Davos (who they actually now name Ruadan) will even come to the rescue, but Gwen believes in the power of fatherly love. Because she had a great daddy until her husband’s daddy killed him.
It’s pretty impressive that Merlin and Arthur actually have come up with a good escape plan without speaking, such is their intuitive relationship. At Arthur’s nod, Merlin tips a bunch of supplies from the cart in front of them so Flouncy flounces back, this time on horseback, to check it out. When asked who caused the mess, Arthur dobs on Merlin, who tells Flouncy that they need to rest. “You can rest,” Flouncy says, drawing his sword. “FOREVER.” Heh. Then things go slow-mo as Arthur arises to the occasion to save his boyfriend’s pretty neck. Horses rear, weapons fly through the air, and our boys flee after managing to grab a crossbow and axe to arm themselves. Things are looking good until they encounter a major flaw in their plan - a giant and very deep crevasse in the ice. Arthur throws the crossbow over and Merlin is all, OH YOU’VE GOT TO BE SHITTING ME, WE DON’T EVEN HAVE A SKATEBOARD.
Arthur makes it across with a slow-mo leap, and Merlin is so scared, that he doesn’t even make a fat joke when the ice ledge creaks ominously as Arthur lands. After some kind words of encouragement *cough* from Arthur, Merlin goes all slow-mo too. His leap isn’t quite as long as Arthur’s but Arthur is there to pull him over to safety right before the bad guys arrive. As Arthur takes them all out with crossbow bolts to the chest, Merlin uses the axe to chip away at the jutting piece of ledge so nobody else can get across. He sees Modred gaining, so a quick bit of magic while Arthur is busy reloading does the trick. The ledge crumbles, Mordred skids to a halt across from them, and Arthur has the crossbow aimed right at his heart. Merlin silently celebrates the approaching end to the big storyline of the season, but it seems Arthur has learned his lesson from the unicorn, and can’t find it in himself to shoot such a beautiful, magical specimen. He lowers his weapon, and Mordred walks away.
Merlin: “Why did you spare his life?”
Arthur: “He couldn’t come after us.”
Merlin: “HE WAS LEADING US TO OUR DEATHS!”
Arthur: “He showed us kindness.” Also he’s a bit adorable, right? Like a puppy who doesn’t blink.
Merlin: “YOU SHOULD HAVE KILLED HIM.”
Arthur: “What is wrong with you?” One minute it’s all, ‘no Arthur, don’t kill the baby deer. No Arthur, don’t hurt that cute woodland creature. Arthur, what did that fairy ever do to you?’ and pouting for days. Now everything is ‘’KILL KILL BLOOD GRRR’. I can’t keep up.
And again, Arthur seems softer, even in the face of Merlin’s raging bloodlust for a kid he himself tried to save all those years ago. He’s confused, but calm. Merlin tones it down a bit to explain to Arthur that sure, Mordred can’t reach them now, but next time they might not be so lucky. “I love your optimism,” Arthur says, and leads Merlin through the snow. And if you subtract the “r optimism” from that sentence, that’s what Arthur really meant.
Well, good morning, sleepyhead! Gwaine wakes up with a cough and these amazing little noises that I’m sure Creeper McCreeperson Alien has catalogued away somewhere for future use. She tells Gwaine that he has nothing to fear. He’s just lying, semi-naked and injured, in a cave with a fully naked alien creature sitting over him. Nope, nothing to worry about. I love that she’s sitting with one leg raised to hide any hint of an indication of what pronoun I should be using. She tells Gwaine that his wounds haven’t healed yet and Gwaine, ever the gentleman, thanks her for saving him. She says that she knows Gwaine is worthy of her help. The, “Also, you’ve seen you, right? This wasn’t a chore at all, dude,” remains unspoken.
And of course, even when wounded and confused, Gwaine would resort to pick up lines. “I’ve never seen a creature like you before.” Do you beam here often? Is your dad an astronaut? Because he stole the stars from the sky and put them in your eyes. Somebody set their phaser to stunning. How about this time, I probe YOU? Ahem. The creature explains that long ago, her kind were revered by the children of men, but then they were hunted and now she is the last of her kind. Seriously, they need to get some kind of magical ark happening in this kingdom. Maybe a cloning program for species preservation. But before Gwaine can do that, he must rest some more and heal. He falls back asleep with the creature still looking over him.
Doing a bit of creeping of his own, Davos manages to sneak into Camelot, undetected until a lone knight finds him in the corridors. It was nice knowing you, random redcape. A guard is then taken out after distracting him with a coin, and Davos gets his badass slow-mo walk away from the scene of the crime. Finally, he reaches Sefa’s cell. He magics the door open and father and daughter hurry away as someone sounds the alarms. The bells distract Gwen from her evening paperwork, and Leon arrives to protect her, telling her it’s almost certainly Daddy Davos.
Elsewhere in the castle, Elyan and his team find the runaways and have them surrounded. There’s a pause, then swords clang, stuff happens, and Davos ends up wounded. He grabs his daughter and throws up a wall of fire to help their escape. Fleeing isn’t so easy when you have holes in your body, however, and they stop by a well for some water and rest. Sefa wants her father to heal himself but apparently his powers don’t extend to such a feat. All he can do at this point is magic a quick note on a scrap of paper, summon a raven, and get Sefa to hit send on his r-mail. The music is sad, so we know his end is almost upon us, and he uses his last moments to be an actual father, telling Sefa that he will always love her. It’s all very touching, and then Sefa must leave his corpse behind.
Morgana wakes to the cawing ‘you’ve got mail’ notification at her window. Davos’ note tells her that Arthur his on his way but not to despair, because he is sure she will find the key and discover his bane, and destroy the Pendragons once and for all. Or she could just forget about the damn key, have her men surround the castle and kill Arthur as soon as he shows up. Either, or. Probably too late for that, though, because Arthur and Merlin approach through the blizzard.
CSI: Camelot. Gwen oversees Gaius performing the autopsy on Davos. They find a druidic prayer on his person, which Gaius translates as a call for victory over the enemies of the old religion. He explains to Gwen that while the druids are a peaceful people for the most part, some of them are still pissed at Uther and believe that Arthur’s apple hasn’t fallen all that far from the xenophobic tree, given that sorcery is still outlawed after all these years and nothing has really changed for them. YES, THIS NEEDED TO BE SAID. Gaius says there are those who believe that Arthur is destined to die at a Druid’s hand and perhaps Davos thought he was that man. Gwen concludes that he was mistaken, obviously, and then we cut to Mordred, ominously.
Merlin and Arthur watch from a distance as Mordred and the slaves approach the castle. Merlin gets his nag on about telling Arthur he should have killed the guy when he had the chance, which Arthur is still a bit concerned about. Merlin is still being Mr Negative about even getting into the castle, but Arthur remains optimistic and happy to inform Merlin that there’s always a way. And that way happens to be through the…sewers? Garbage chute? Whatever it is, it’s disgusting, if Merlin’s constant gagging is any indication. Arthur is highly amused as they crawl through the tunnel, especially when a large amount of kitchen scraps is dumped on Merlin’s head. Hee. Merlin’s indignant glare back at his king is not very effective because all Arthur can focus on is the bit of carrot in Merlin’s hair. At least, he hopes it’s carrot. Ha! Merlin throws some compost back at Arthur and continues on his way, dry retching. Arthur finds it all terribly amusing, as do I. Because as he explained last week, you have to enjoy every moment as if it’s your carrot-covered last.
Appearing above the mine entrance, the boys see a few slaves with one of the carts. Their carriage awaits, Arthur tells Merlin, and the next thing you know, they’re popping out from under the covers of the cart and into the mine. That whole part where they sneak down and manage to hide in the little cart, limbs folded around each other to fit, is left to our imagination. Also, now Merlin is covered in rotting vegetable matter and dust, so he takes a moment to fix his hair before following Arthur. There are a lot of nice looking, eligible bachelors around, after all and a guy must look his best.
Merlin notes that the place is crawling with Saxons so Arthur decides they’re going to have to blend in. YES! ALSO KNOWN AS THE TIME ARTHUR AND MERLIN TOOK THEIR SHIRTS OFF AND RAN AROUND HALF NAKED FOR THE REST OF THE EPISODE.
Outside Morgana’s castle, Flouncy is flouncing around boasting about how much money he’s going to get for his slaves. Morgana’s eyes skim over him to rest on Mordred, and she runs down to see him.
This is what I was sort of expecting:
But it was not quite at that level of greeting.
Flouncy is all, heeeeeey, Lady Morgana, I am so awesome, check out how awesome I am, and she silences him with a look en route to Mordred. It’s hilarious. And, not gonna lie, the smile on Morgana’s face when she knows it’s really Mordred could light up the entire castle. Mordred’s is of a significantly lesser wattage. It’s still quite heartwarming.
Speaking of reunions, Arthur and Merlin have found Percival. He is happy to see them. More so than I am because WHY ARE THEY BOTH WEARING CLOTHES? Their outfits don’t really match the Saxons because they don’t have the mask things the guards are wearing, and they are far too overdressed to pass as slaves. It makes very little sense to my feeble brain. Anyway, Percival tells Arthur that the others are scattered around but he hasn’t seen Gwaine for a couple of days. Arthur gives Percival his sword and instructs him to use it to try and free the others while he and Merlin go find Gwaine. Percival uses Arthur’s sword to take out a Saxon and now they’ve already doubled their weaponry.
Above them, Morgana sits back and watches Mordred eat. They chat about the dangers of being magical in these dark times. Mordred says that sorcery frightens people, even some of those who claim to support it. He’s had a tough time of it out in the big bad world, trying to avoid being burned at the stake and/or used by other men. Morgana assures him that attitudes will change soon, and Mordred is ridiculously pleased to hear her talk about the old religion reigning once more…right up until she starts speaking about cleansing Arthur and his kind from the earth.
Mordred reveals that they had Arthur but he escaped their clutches, and this gets Morgana all riled up again. Mordred tells Morgana to calm herself and, yes, she’s a bit nuts, but I really don’t like the way all the men around Morgana keep telling her that, especially this week in reality-ville when male politicians and mainstream media in my country are labelling women in power as ‘shrill’ and not suited as leaders, and THIS is my prime minister also getting riled up and making some very valid and passionate points:
So, yeah, quasi medieval fantasy setting and Morgana is the bad guy, and she actually says she wants to put Arthur’s head on a spike and watch as the crows feast on his eyes, so I am most definitely not cheering her on, but still. It doesn’t sit right.
ANYWAY, back in fantasy land, the warning bells sound and Morgana listens in glee. It means her brother is paying her a visit!
Alien Creeper has also heard the bells, and wakes Gwaine up…by leaning over and basically draping herself all over him. Gwaine’s totally cool with it, though. He’s probably woken up to stranger sights, to be honest. As someone approaches, the creature hides around the corner and Gwaine, ever the gentleman, grabs a torch and prepares to protect her. (Note to self: when this is finished, seek out any Gwaine/Conehead Alien fic and READ IT ALL.) He leaps out to face the oncoming danger, and…Arthur grabs the torch in time to avoid being flambéed to death. “Trust you not to be doing any work,” Arthur says, and Gwaine gives him some manly chest patting to convey his pleasure at seeing him. Merlin pushes past to check out the magical creature of mystery, and she locks eyes with him as Gwaine assures her that his rescuers are good friends. After a moment of shared magical staring, she takes her leave. Arthur doesn’t appear quite as accepting of the otherworldly, of course, but Gwaine says he owes it his life, so I’m assuming that’s why they don’t immediately hunt her down for her glowy skin or something.
Elsewhere in the caves, Percival is amassing a pretty decent team of freed men, and gets some nice slow-mo action as he takes down another Saxon. Those tight pants are particularly nice when slowed down a little.
Meanwhile, Merlin has noticed that all the Saxons seem to have disappeared and he grows suspicious. Arthur doesn’t seem to take too much stock in Merlin’s intuition, though, preferring to play the role of nagged life partner a little more. But then things get darker as torches blow out and there’s an ominous noise getting closer. Merlin pushes past Arthur & Gwaine to check it out, but once whatever is making the noise is almost upon them, Arthur, OF COURSE, reaches out and pulls Merlin behind him, then grabs Gwaine and half carries him back the way they came. Oh, Arthur. It’s Aithusa! BB Dragon chases them for a bit, but they manage to lose it by ducking into a little cave. Gwaine can’t quite believe what he saw. “Where did Morgana get a DRAGON from?” Arthur says, slightly like he’s about to throw an epic tantrum. Merlin doesn’t know, which isn’t a lie, exactly. He tells Arthur to take Gwaine back to Percival while he lures the dragon in the opposite direction. Arthur doesn’t think even Merlin is that stupid, and stops him with a hand on the chest.
“No, I really am that stupid. And if you don’t believe me, watch.” And with that, Merlin is off like a bunny at a greyhound race before Arthur can grab him. Arthur pauses for a second, resigned, and then tells Gwaine that he’s going after Merlin. Like he thinks Gwaine might have thought there was any other way that would have played out. It’s sweet, really.
We have a brief interlude to watch more of the slow motion beauty of Percival’s body as he kills some more bad guys, then it’s back to Merlin. He finds his wayward reptilian child but it doesn’t look like Aithusa wants to see him. Merlin’s gentle approach results in a burst of flame, so he has to pull the big guns and go all dragonlord until Aithusa is subdued and cowering in the corner. After a bit of questioning to find out what happened, Merlin realises the dragon can’t speak. Maybe you and Kilgharrah should have shelled out for a private school, Merlin. Their little moment is interrupted by Arthur calling out Merlin’s name, so Merlin shoos Aithusa away. Aithusa shakes his cute little head and won’t leave. I fully expect Merlin to pick up a rock and throw it at him, circa Every Animal Movie Ever, but he uses his dragonlord voice instead.
There doesn’t seem to be as much hurry as Merlin thought, because Arthur is still wandering around the tunnels calling out for his missing manservant and basically alerting everyone to his presence. Unfortunately, everyone includes Morgana and Mordred, who sneak up behind him. Arthur moves to draw his sword, forgetting that he gave it to Percival. “Your bravery is matched only by your stupidity,” Morgana says, and I kind of have to agree in this instance.
Morgana magically raises a dagger in the air and starts turning Arthur into a human pin cushion, completely hands-free. “I’m sorry about what our father did to you,” Arthur says, and Morgana stresses that Uther was never her father. Arthur may concede this point, but says that they are brother and sister. Because they were. Even when they thought they weren’t blood related, they were that. “What happened to you, Morgana? As a child you were so kind, so compassionate.” “I grew up.”
She stabs him again and tells him she is more powerful than he could ever imagine. “And yet with all that, you choose to do nothing but hate,” Arthur says, leaving it wide open for Morgana’s retort: “Uther taught me well.” She says goodbye to her brother and prepares to kill him and then it’s Merlin to the rescue! Well, Merlin’s rescue attempt lasts approximately two seconds and then Morgana sends him flying into the cave wall, which upsets Arthur a lot more than when he thought it was just himself being killed. Arthur tries pleading with Morgana so she knocks him out to shut him up. Now that things are getting interesting, Mordred moves closer as Morgana prepares the final killing spell…and then promptly stabs her in the back. Nice. She falls to the ground, and Merlin manages to watch Mordred drag Arthur away through his blurry vision before passing out.
Mordred delivers Arthur to Percival, Gwaine and the men and everyone just, like, LEAVES MERLIN BEHIND. It looks like Gwaine thinks about going back, or maybe he’s just suspicious of Mordred, I don’t know. But they all leave and Merlin is left alone and unconscious. Thank goodness for creeper alien creatures, huh?
The creature wakes Merlin up with a bit of magical creeping and after a bit of cryptic chatter, Merlin realises that the creature is the Diamair. The key to all knowledge has been snuggled up to Gwaine all this time. Nobody tell Gwaine that. If he knows that the one being with all the knowledge in the world chose him to crush on, nobody would ever hear the end of it. Merlin is all, ‘Whoa, sucks to be you. I can barely cope with the knowledge of my own destiny malarkey, but that’s nothing compared to your metric fuckton of suckery.’ The Diamair asks if there is anything Merlin wishes to ask her. Merlin doesn’t think that’s a good idea, and the Diamair smiles. Can I just say that Colin Morgan’s eyes are so gorgeous in this light and it’s distracting. The Diamair chooses to fangirl Emrys’ wisdom instead, and says that it will live long in the minds of men. Those eyes are going to stick with me for a while, too.
Then Merlin remembers he does actually have one question: “If Mordred is not Arthur’s bane, then who is?” The Diamair doesn’t need long to find that answer in the old brain archives. “Himself.” Oh, that’s not good. Better make sure the idiot doesn’t go and do something really stupid, Merlin…
Cut to Arthur, Excalibur raised, knighting someone in the throne room while Gwen, all the knights and the entire supersized court look on. “Arise, Sir Mordred, Knight of Camelot.” God fucking damnit, Arthur Pendragon.
My reaction is basically all 11 minutes of this:
(Spot Sheriff Stilinski in there.)
The sound of his applause still ringing out, Mordred leaves the court. He begins unfastening his cloak outside in the chamber and we see Merlin lurking against the wall, behind him. Merlin helps undress him, basically an expert at that part of his job by now and he’s all pressed up against Mordred’s back, arms around his shoulders to undo the clasp at the front and OKAY THAT IS HOT AND I AM WEAK AND I WANT TO SEE MORE OF THIS, PLEASE. PREFERABLY WEEKLY. Still helping him undress, Merlin reminds Mordred that if Arthur knew he had magic, things would be very different. He asks Mordred why he saved Arthur’s life and Mordred tells him. “Because Arthur was right. The love that binds us is more important than the power we wield.” He says Morgana had forgotten that, and he looks so sweet and honest and I so very much want to like him. I want to believe that he’s looking for Merlin’s approval and somewhere to belong. I want to hug him and pretend I don’t notice the slight shift in expression when Merlin leaves the room.
Oh, god, this kid is GOOD.
And to conclude the episode, as is proper tradition even after the skipped years, we find Merlin and Gaius sharing a slice of domesticity together. And pudding. Because Gaius has Merlin’s favourite and it actually looks edible for once, which means these must be prosperous timed indeed in Camelot, if Gaius can afford real food.
Merlin is worried about Mordred, even though Gaius tries to reassure him with the fact that people can change. Merlin reminds him that the dragon said a druid would kill Arthur. “I feel that the die is cast, and that for good or ill, Albion’s great trial has begun.” Not to be too dramatic about it, of course.
Oh, hang on, that wasn’t the final scene this time. We cross to Morgana and Aithusa, taking a leisurely limp through the snow, and THEN it’s the end.
NEXT WEEK: Dramatic Arthur. Dramatic Merlin. A horn. An old lady. “It has the power to summon spirits from the dead.” A poltergeist tries to kill Gwen. And then tries to kill Merlin. Yep, that’s gotta be one spirit in particular. Arthur: “I know it’s you, Father.” OMG UNDEAD UTHER PENDRAGON YAY.
Previously on Merlin, Arthur’s bane is stalking him. Like a ghost. In the night. And we learn that the identity of this nocturnal ghost stalker is Mordred, who grew up quite nicely during all those time skips. Morgana and Ser Davos are still searching for this information in the form of some special key, but that might be a clever ruse to get Percival, Gwaine and hundreds of other hot guys to run around topless for two episodes. It’s hard to tell. Gwaine meets a glowy alien conehead thing? And Merlin and Arthur have good, old-fashioned adventure times.
In a land of myth and a time of magic, the destiny of a great kingdom pretty much happened off screen at this point and I’m not sure what role Merlin’s shoulders really played in it, but at least they’re letting us see the final chapter, right?
I know your nightmare pain, Morgana. I used to dream of a story in which a great king and his bff wizard united all of Albion with their love for each other, and that turned into a whole bunch of darkness and despair as hope died a little with every year. Morgana, however, dreams of being chained up in a well with Aithusa curled around her, a bit like this:
Click to viewIt seems like a flashback, and it wakes Morgana, who calls out for her baby dragon. Aithusa limps his adorable, reptilian way into the room and Morgana pets him and reassures them both that they’re safe and their troubles are in the past. Who chained her up? Kilgharrah, maybe? It’s all a bit vague but that’s okay, because Aithusa rests his head on Morgana’s bed with soft, keening dragon noises and I’m sure Morgana is talking about killing Arthur and taking over Camelot or whatever, but all I can think is that this is the cutest thing ever. Aithusa and his baby blues are even more adorable than Morgana’s pet wolf pack from last week. And we can see here that series one Gwen’s role in Morgana’s life has been replaced by a lizard, except Aithusa probably isn’t very good at doing Morgana’s hair.
Outside, Mordred and the flouncy guy from last week and leading their captured slaves towards Morgana’s castle. Merlin and Arthur play the blame game about their current predicament and for some reason, Flouncy does not appreciate the banter. It’s weird, because he seemed so amused at their shtick earlier. He stops the entire procession just to go back and punch Arthur in the gut for speaking without being spoken to, and it looks like Merlin and Arthur will have to come up with their escape plan non-verbally. Mordred, meanwhile, just glares a lot. Like a slightly more petulant Derek Hale.
Meanwhile, back in Camelot, Sefa watches her noose being prepared in the courtyard outside. Gaius arrives for a little dungeon visit and offers her some kind of potion to ‘make it easier to bear.’ Whatever it is, Sefa refuses and instead asks for an audience with the Queen. She and Gaius seem to know each other pretty well so Gaius sort of agrees to try and help her. I really would have liked to have seen her integration into their lives instead of it being, oh, here’s the girl that everyone knows and likes and SURPRISE SHE’S A TRAITOR.
Darkness has fallen in the north, and while Flouncy, Modred and their men are sitting around a warm fire putting food into their bellies, the slaves are all sleeping in the snow and again not huddling for warmth. This goes against everything I’ve ever read in fic ever. It’s unnatural, is what it is. Granted, Arthur’s chain mail would be freaking freezing and Merlin would probably get his entire body stuck to it like your tongue when lick inside the freezer, but still. Instead of sleeping, Merlin is sitting beside Arthur like the loyal german shepherd he is, eyes fixed on Mordred. Flouncy accuses Merlin of gawping and then proceeds to tease him with food. This makes all the bad guys laugh, except Mordred, who now cares about slave welfare and decent working conditions for all.
Ooh, it’s time to go underground again! And Arthur isn’t the only one with his own personal naptime bodyguard.
The glowy conehead alien creature is sitting over Gwaine’s perfect, sleeping body like a total creeper but let’s all be honest here: who the hell wouldn’t? At the sound of approaching guards, she (I’m going with a female pronoun because I don’t get to use it very much) scampers away and says a few words in some language which I’m assuming translates to an excellent Ryan Seacrest impersonation in glowy conehead alien and she dims the lights so Gwaine stays hidden.
The next morning, all the slaves have miraculously discovered that puppy piles are vital to their survival against the elements. Well, all except Arthur and Merlin, who are sleeping as far away from each other as the rope tying them together will allow. Don’t worry though, Merlin fans, this is purely for plot convenience so Mordred can skulk over and call Merlin ‘Emrys’ and chat about their shared magical secrets without Arthur overhearing. Mordred also sneaks Merlin some bread because he feels he owes Arthur a debt for saving his life back when he was a wee creepy kid. He’s still creepy, just not so wee. Merlin figures that if Mordred is going to be a Chatty Cathy about them both being in the magical closet these days, he may as well try and get some answers out of him, and asks what Morgana is looking for. Mordred explains with the tiniest of smiles for Merlin (that actually makes my heart skip a little, dammit WHY AM I SO WEAK?): In his language it’s the Diamair, translated to mean the key to all knowledge. In our language, it’s Wikipedia.
Morgana, meanwhile, is having a bit of a hissy fit about not being able to find the key yet, and also they don’t know where Arthur is. She wants Davos to get more info from his spy, but he informs her that Sefa has been given the death sentence. Um, how do people always know this information so quickly? Morgana pauses for a brief moment of sympathy, but then it’s all, ‘Cheer up, emo druid’ and spouting crap about the glory of dying for your cause and shit. She tells Davos there is nothing he can do except ensure his daughter didn’t die in vain. Davos seems to think otherwise.
Back to the new season of IRT:
Things are looking grim for our heroes, as Arthur faceplants the ice and holds everyone up. This is what happens when you don’t share body warmth, Arthur. Flouncy decides the best way to help is not with Merlin’s suggested drink of water, but with another kick to the guts. Unsurprisingly, it’s not a magic cure for passing out. Dragging Arthur to his woozy feet, Flouncy laughs in his face for being an admittedly sorry excuse for a warrior, and Merlin gets all gentle and takes Arthur’s weight from him.
As Arthur leans into Merlin’s chest and Flouncy goes back to the front of the line, I’m weirded out by how everyone else seems relatively fine while Arthur is struggling so much, but then Arthur looks up at Merlin with a WINK and the camera moves to a dagger Arthur seems to have procured during his little fake-out, and it all makes sense.
And Arthur isn’t the only royal conducting a bit of fakery in the kingdom, because Gwen is holding her own back in Camelot. Sefa is brought before her to offer apologies and explain that she only wanted to please her father but knows it was wrong and that she has been used. Gwen tells her the sentence still stands, and Sefa is sent back to the dungeons. Harsh. Even Gaius agrees with this assessment, and tells Gwen so once they are alone again. Gwen’s all, ‘PSYCH! I’m totes just messing with the girl so her dad will come to save her and then we can kill HIM.’ Gaius thinks it’s a bit of a risk, and questions if Davos (who they actually now name Ruadan) will even come to the rescue, but Gwen believes in the power of fatherly love. Because she had a great daddy until her husband’s daddy killed him.
It’s pretty impressive that Merlin and Arthur actually have come up with a good escape plan without speaking, such is their intuitive relationship. At Arthur’s nod, Merlin tips a bunch of supplies from the cart in front of them so Flouncy flounces back, this time on horseback, to check it out. When asked who caused the mess, Arthur dobs on Merlin, who tells Flouncy that they need to rest. “You can rest,” Flouncy says, drawing his sword. “FOREVER.” Heh. Then things go slow-mo as Arthur arises to the occasion to save his boyfriend’s pretty neck. Horses rear, weapons fly through the air, and our boys flee after managing to grab a crossbow and axe to arm themselves. Things are looking good until they encounter a major flaw in their plan - a giant and very deep crevasse in the ice. Arthur throws the crossbow over and Merlin is all, OH YOU’VE GOT TO BE SHITTING ME, WE DON’T EVEN HAVE A SKATEBOARD.
Arthur makes it across with a slow-mo leap, and Merlin is so scared, that he doesn’t even make a fat joke when the ice ledge creaks ominously as Arthur lands. After some kind words of encouragement *cough* from Arthur, Merlin goes all slow-mo too. His leap isn’t quite as long as Arthur’s but Arthur is there to pull him over to safety right before the bad guys arrive. As Arthur takes them all out with crossbow bolts to the chest, Merlin uses the axe to chip away at the jutting piece of ledge so nobody else can get across. He sees Modred gaining, so a quick bit of magic while Arthur is busy reloading does the trick. The ledge crumbles, Mordred skids to a halt across from them, and Arthur has the crossbow aimed right at his heart. Merlin silently celebrates the approaching end to the big storyline of the season, but it seems Arthur has learned his lesson from the unicorn, and can’t find it in himself to shoot such a beautiful, magical specimen. He lowers his weapon, and Mordred walks away.
Merlin: “Why did you spare his life?”
Arthur: “He couldn’t come after us.”
Merlin: “HE WAS LEADING US TO OUR DEATHS!”
Arthur: “He showed us kindness.” Also he’s a bit adorable, right? Like a puppy who doesn’t blink.
Merlin: “YOU SHOULD HAVE KILLED HIM.”
Arthur: “What is wrong with you?” One minute it’s all, ‘no Arthur, don’t kill the baby deer. No Arthur, don’t hurt that cute woodland creature. Arthur, what did that fairy ever do to you?’ and pouting for days. Now everything is ‘’KILL KILL BLOOD GRRR’. I can’t keep up.
And again, Arthur seems softer, even in the face of Merlin’s raging bloodlust for a kid he himself tried to save all those years ago. He’s confused, but calm. Merlin tones it down a bit to explain to Arthur that sure, Mordred can’t reach them now, but next time they might not be so lucky. “I love your optimism,” Arthur says, and leads Merlin through the snow. And if you subtract the “r optimism” from that sentence, that’s what Arthur really meant.
Well, good morning, sleepyhead! Gwaine wakes up with a cough and these amazing little noises that I’m sure Creeper McCreeperson Alien has catalogued away somewhere for future use. She tells Gwaine that he has nothing to fear. He’s just lying, semi-naked and injured, in a cave with a fully naked alien creature sitting over him. Nope, nothing to worry about. I love that she’s sitting with one leg raised to hide any hint of an indication of what pronoun I should be using. She tells Gwaine that his wounds haven’t healed yet and Gwaine, ever the gentleman, thanks her for saving him. She says that she knows Gwaine is worthy of her help. The, “Also, you’ve seen you, right? This wasn’t a chore at all, dude,” remains unspoken.
And of course, even when wounded and confused, Gwaine would resort to pick up lines. “I’ve never seen a creature like you before.” Do you beam here often? Is your dad an astronaut? Because he stole the stars from the sky and put them in your eyes. Somebody set their phaser to stunning. How about this time, I probe YOU? Ahem. The creature explains that long ago, her kind were revered by the children of men, but then they were hunted and now she is the last of her kind. Seriously, they need to get some kind of magical ark happening in this kingdom. Maybe a cloning program for species preservation. But before Gwaine can do that, he must rest some more and heal. He falls back asleep with the creature still looking over him.
Doing a bit of creeping of his own, Davos manages to sneak into Camelot, undetected until a lone knight finds him in the corridors. It was nice knowing you, random redcape. A guard is then taken out after distracting him with a coin, and Davos gets his badass slow-mo walk away from the scene of the crime. Finally, he reaches Sefa’s cell. He magics the door open and father and daughter hurry away as someone sounds the alarms. The bells distract Gwen from her evening paperwork, and Leon arrives to protect her, telling her it’s almost certainly Daddy Davos.
Elsewhere in the castle, Elyan and his team find the runaways and have them surrounded. There’s a pause, then swords clang, stuff happens, and Davos ends up wounded. He grabs his daughter and throws up a wall of fire to help their escape. Fleeing isn’t so easy when you have holes in your body, however, and they stop by a well for some water and rest. Sefa wants her father to heal himself but apparently his powers don’t extend to such a feat. All he can do at this point is magic a quick note on a scrap of paper, summon a raven, and get Sefa to hit send on his r-mail. The music is sad, so we know his end is almost upon us, and he uses his last moments to be an actual father, telling Sefa that he will always love her. It’s all very touching, and then Sefa must leave his corpse behind.
Morgana wakes to the cawing ‘you’ve got mail’ notification at her window. Davos’ note tells her that Arthur his on his way but not to despair, because he is sure she will find the key and discover his bane, and destroy the Pendragons once and for all. Or she could just forget about the damn key, have her men surround the castle and kill Arthur as soon as he shows up. Either, or. Probably too late for that, though, because Arthur and Merlin approach through the blizzard.
CSI: Camelot. Gwen oversees Gaius performing the autopsy on Davos. They find a druidic prayer on his person, which Gaius translates as a call for victory over the enemies of the old religion. He explains to Gwen that while the druids are a peaceful people for the most part, some of them are still pissed at Uther and believe that Arthur’s apple hasn’t fallen all that far from the xenophobic tree, given that sorcery is still outlawed after all these years and nothing has really changed for them. YES, THIS NEEDED TO BE SAID. Gaius says there are those who believe that Arthur is destined to die at a Druid’s hand and perhaps Davos thought he was that man. Gwen concludes that he was mistaken, obviously, and then we cut to Mordred, ominously.
Merlin and Arthur watch from a distance as Mordred and the slaves approach the castle. Merlin gets his nag on about telling Arthur he should have killed the guy when he had the chance, which Arthur is still a bit concerned about. Merlin is still being Mr Negative about even getting into the castle, but Arthur remains optimistic and happy to inform Merlin that there’s always a way. And that way happens to be through the…sewers? Garbage chute? Whatever it is, it’s disgusting, if Merlin’s constant gagging is any indication. Arthur is highly amused as they crawl through the tunnel, especially when a large amount of kitchen scraps is dumped on Merlin’s head. Hee. Merlin’s indignant glare back at his king is not very effective because all Arthur can focus on is the bit of carrot in Merlin’s hair. At least, he hopes it’s carrot. Ha! Merlin throws some compost back at Arthur and continues on his way, dry retching. Arthur finds it all terribly amusing, as do I. Because as he explained last week, you have to enjoy every moment as if it’s your carrot-covered last.
Appearing above the mine entrance, the boys see a few slaves with one of the carts. Their carriage awaits, Arthur tells Merlin, and the next thing you know, they’re popping out from under the covers of the cart and into the mine. That whole part where they sneak down and manage to hide in the little cart, limbs folded around each other to fit, is left to our imagination. Also, now Merlin is covered in rotting vegetable matter and dust, so he takes a moment to fix his hair before following Arthur. There are a lot of nice looking, eligible bachelors around, after all and a guy must look his best.
Merlin notes that the place is crawling with Saxons so Arthur decides they’re going to have to blend in. YES! ALSO KNOWN AS THE TIME ARTHUR AND MERLIN TOOK THEIR SHIRTS OFF AND RAN AROUND HALF NAKED FOR THE REST OF THE EPISODE.
Outside Morgana’s castle, Flouncy is flouncing around boasting about how much money he’s going to get for his slaves. Morgana’s eyes skim over him to rest on Mordred, and she runs down to see him.
This is what I was sort of expecting:
But it was not quite at that level of greeting.
Flouncy is all, heeeeeey, Lady Morgana, I am so awesome, check out how awesome I am, and she silences him with a look en route to Mordred. It’s hilarious. And, not gonna lie, the smile on Morgana’s face when she knows it’s really Mordred could light up the entire castle. Mordred’s is of a significantly lesser wattage. It’s still quite heartwarming.
Speaking of reunions, Arthur and Merlin have found Percival. He is happy to see them. More so than I am because WHY ARE THEY BOTH WEARING CLOTHES? Their outfits don’t really match the Saxons because they don’t have the mask things the guards are wearing, and they are far too overdressed to pass as slaves. It makes very little sense to my feeble brain. Anyway, Percival tells Arthur that the others are scattered around but he hasn’t seen Gwaine for a couple of days. Arthur gives Percival his sword and instructs him to use it to try and free the others while he and Merlin go find Gwaine. Percival uses Arthur’s sword to take out a Saxon and now they’ve already doubled their weaponry.
Above them, Morgana sits back and watches Mordred eat. They chat about the dangers of being magical in these dark times. Mordred says that sorcery frightens people, even some of those who claim to support it. He’s had a tough time of it out in the big bad world, trying to avoid being burned at the stake and/or used by other men. Morgana assures him that attitudes will change soon, and Mordred is ridiculously pleased to hear her talk about the old religion reigning once more…right up until she starts speaking about cleansing Arthur and his kind from the earth.
Mordred reveals that they had Arthur but he escaped their clutches, and this gets Morgana all riled up again. Mordred tells Morgana to calm herself and, yes, she’s a bit nuts, but I really don’t like the way all the men around Morgana keep telling her that, especially this week in reality-ville when male politicians and mainstream media in my country are labelling women in power as ‘shrill’ and not suited as leaders, and THIS is my prime minister also getting riled up and making some very valid and passionate points:
So, yeah, quasi medieval fantasy setting and Morgana is the bad guy, and she actually says she wants to put Arthur’s head on a spike and watch as the crows feast on his eyes, so I am most definitely not cheering her on, but still. It doesn’t sit right.
ANYWAY, back in fantasy land, the warning bells sound and Morgana listens in glee. It means her brother is paying her a visit!
Alien Creeper has also heard the bells, and wakes Gwaine up…by leaning over and basically draping herself all over him. Gwaine’s totally cool with it, though. He’s probably woken up to stranger sights, to be honest. As someone approaches, the creature hides around the corner and Gwaine, ever the gentleman, grabs a torch and prepares to protect her. (Note to self: when this is finished, seek out any Gwaine/Conehead Alien fic and READ IT ALL.) He leaps out to face the oncoming danger, and…Arthur grabs the torch in time to avoid being flambéed to death. “Trust you not to be doing any work,” Arthur says, and Gwaine gives him some manly chest patting to convey his pleasure at seeing him. Merlin pushes past to check out the magical creature of mystery, and she locks eyes with him as Gwaine assures her that his rescuers are good friends. After a moment of shared magical staring, she takes her leave. Arthur doesn’t appear quite as accepting of the otherworldly, of course, but Gwaine says he owes it his life, so I’m assuming that’s why they don’t immediately hunt her down for her glowy skin or something.
Elsewhere in the caves, Percival is amassing a pretty decent team of freed men, and gets some nice slow-mo action as he takes down another Saxon. Those tight pants are particularly nice when slowed down a little.
Meanwhile, Merlin has noticed that all the Saxons seem to have disappeared and he grows suspicious. Arthur doesn’t seem to take too much stock in Merlin’s intuition, though, preferring to play the role of nagged life partner a little more. But then things get darker as torches blow out and there’s an ominous noise getting closer. Merlin pushes past Arthur & Gwaine to check it out, but once whatever is making the noise is almost upon them, Arthur, OF COURSE, reaches out and pulls Merlin behind him, then grabs Gwaine and half carries him back the way they came. Oh, Arthur. It’s Aithusa! BB Dragon chases them for a bit, but they manage to lose it by ducking into a little cave. Gwaine can’t quite believe what he saw. “Where did Morgana get a DRAGON from?” Arthur says, slightly like he’s about to throw an epic tantrum. Merlin doesn’t know, which isn’t a lie, exactly. He tells Arthur to take Gwaine back to Percival while he lures the dragon in the opposite direction. Arthur doesn’t think even Merlin is that stupid, and stops him with a hand on the chest.
“No, I really am that stupid. And if you don’t believe me, watch.” And with that, Merlin is off like a bunny at a greyhound race before Arthur can grab him. Arthur pauses for a second, resigned, and then tells Gwaine that he’s going after Merlin. Like he thinks Gwaine might have thought there was any other way that would have played out. It’s sweet, really.
We have a brief interlude to watch more of the slow motion beauty of Percival’s body as he kills some more bad guys, then it’s back to Merlin. He finds his wayward reptilian child but it doesn’t look like Aithusa wants to see him. Merlin’s gentle approach results in a burst of flame, so he has to pull the big guns and go all dragonlord until Aithusa is subdued and cowering in the corner. After a bit of questioning to find out what happened, Merlin realises the dragon can’t speak. Maybe you and Kilgharrah should have shelled out for a private school, Merlin. Their little moment is interrupted by Arthur calling out Merlin’s name, so Merlin shoos Aithusa away. Aithusa shakes his cute little head and won’t leave. I fully expect Merlin to pick up a rock and throw it at him, circa Every Animal Movie Ever, but he uses his dragonlord voice instead.
There doesn’t seem to be as much hurry as Merlin thought, because Arthur is still wandering around the tunnels calling out for his missing manservant and basically alerting everyone to his presence. Unfortunately, everyone includes Morgana and Mordred, who sneak up behind him. Arthur moves to draw his sword, forgetting that he gave it to Percival. “Your bravery is matched only by your stupidity,” Morgana says, and I kind of have to agree in this instance.
Morgana magically raises a dagger in the air and starts turning Arthur into a human pin cushion, completely hands-free. “I’m sorry about what our father did to you,” Arthur says, and Morgana stresses that Uther was never her father. Arthur may concede this point, but says that they are brother and sister. Because they were. Even when they thought they weren’t blood related, they were that. “What happened to you, Morgana? As a child you were so kind, so compassionate.” “I grew up.”
She stabs him again and tells him she is more powerful than he could ever imagine. “And yet with all that, you choose to do nothing but hate,” Arthur says, leaving it wide open for Morgana’s retort: “Uther taught me well.” She says goodbye to her brother and prepares to kill him and then it’s Merlin to the rescue! Well, Merlin’s rescue attempt lasts approximately two seconds and then Morgana sends him flying into the cave wall, which upsets Arthur a lot more than when he thought it was just himself being killed. Arthur tries pleading with Morgana so she knocks him out to shut him up. Now that things are getting interesting, Mordred moves closer as Morgana prepares the final killing spell…and then promptly stabs her in the back. Nice. She falls to the ground, and Merlin manages to watch Mordred drag Arthur away through his blurry vision before passing out.
Mordred delivers Arthur to Percival, Gwaine and the men and everyone just, like, LEAVES MERLIN BEHIND. It looks like Gwaine thinks about going back, or maybe he’s just suspicious of Mordred, I don’t know. But they all leave and Merlin is left alone and unconscious. Thank goodness for creeper alien creatures, huh?
The creature wakes Merlin up with a bit of magical creeping and after a bit of cryptic chatter, Merlin realises that the creature is the Diamair. The key to all knowledge has been snuggled up to Gwaine all this time. Nobody tell Gwaine that. If he knows that the one being with all the knowledge in the world chose him to crush on, nobody would ever hear the end of it. Merlin is all, ‘Whoa, sucks to be you. I can barely cope with the knowledge of my own destiny malarkey, but that’s nothing compared to your metric fuckton of suckery.’ The Diamair asks if there is anything Merlin wishes to ask her. Merlin doesn’t think that’s a good idea, and the Diamair smiles. Can I just say that Colin Morgan’s eyes are so gorgeous in this light and it’s distracting. The Diamair chooses to fangirl Emrys’ wisdom instead, and says that it will live long in the minds of men. Those eyes are going to stick with me for a while, too.
Then Merlin remembers he does actually have one question: “If Mordred is not Arthur’s bane, then who is?” The Diamair doesn’t need long to find that answer in the old brain archives. “Himself.” Oh, that’s not good. Better make sure the idiot doesn’t go and do something really stupid, Merlin…
Cut to Arthur, Excalibur raised, knighting someone in the throne room while Gwen, all the knights and the entire supersized court look on. “Arise, Sir Mordred, Knight of Camelot.” God fucking damnit, Arthur Pendragon.
My reaction is basically all 11 minutes of this:
(Spot Sheriff Stilinski in there.)
The sound of his applause still ringing out, Mordred leaves the court. He begins unfastening his cloak outside in the chamber and we see Merlin lurking against the wall, behind him. Merlin helps undress him, basically an expert at that part of his job by now and he’s all pressed up against Mordred’s back, arms around his shoulders to undo the clasp at the front and OKAY THAT IS HOT AND I AM WEAK AND I WANT TO SEE MORE OF THIS, PLEASE. PREFERABLY WEEKLY. Still helping him undress, Merlin reminds Mordred that if Arthur knew he had magic, things would be very different. He asks Mordred why he saved Arthur’s life and Mordred tells him. “Because Arthur was right. The love that binds us is more important than the power we wield.” He says Morgana had forgotten that, and he looks so sweet and honest and I so very much want to like him. I want to believe that he’s looking for Merlin’s approval and somewhere to belong. I want to hug him and pretend I don’t notice the slight shift in expression when Merlin leaves the room.
Oh, god, this kid is GOOD.
And to conclude the episode, as is proper tradition even after the skipped years, we find Merlin and Gaius sharing a slice of domesticity together. And pudding. Because Gaius has Merlin’s favourite and it actually looks edible for once, which means these must be prosperous timed indeed in Camelot, if Gaius can afford real food.
Merlin is worried about Mordred, even though Gaius tries to reassure him with the fact that people can change. Merlin reminds him that the dragon said a druid would kill Arthur. “I feel that the die is cast, and that for good or ill, Albion’s great trial has begun.” Not to be too dramatic about it, of course.
Oh, hang on, that wasn’t the final scene this time. We cross to Morgana and Aithusa, taking a leisurely limp through the snow, and THEN it’s the end.
NEXT WEEK: Dramatic Arthur. Dramatic Merlin. A horn. An old lady. “It has the power to summon spirits from the dead.” A poltergeist tries to kill Gwen. And then tries to kill Merlin. Yep, that’s gotta be one spirit in particular. Arthur: “I know it’s you, Father.” OMG UNDEAD UTHER PENDRAGON YAY.