Merlin 4x12 and 4x13 The Sword in the Stone
More accurately, an attempt to wrap-up some of the themes of Series 4. Which starts off cranky, but does not end there, and also owes an immense debt to conversations with the always brilliant selenak and meri_contrary.
I have very mixed on this two-part finale. There is a lot of truly wonderful stuff in it, but as a conclusion to the often superbly-constructed Series 4, I felt it fell short-nowhere more so than in conclusion to Arthur's arc.
Arthur the Unready. Arthur's story has been the centerpiece of Series 4, and it has unfolded with an unexpected degree of nuance, as the young king makes mistakes and learns from them. And a central part of his arc has been Arthur's flawed response as a king to his advisors, often (though not always) Agravaine. The latter has been such a competent villain all series long largely because of his ability to play Arthur's flaws, whether in his tangled emotions in the wake of his father's death (giving birth to both a misguided desire to imitate his father, and a suspicion of magic-users Agravaine is able to use to trap Gaius), or his emotional devastation after Guinevere's supposed betrayal. Arthur as king is "unready" in the Old English sense, whereby the word means "badly-counselled."
The problem isn't that Arthur doesn't have competent advisors-he chooses Gwen as queen for her "good counsel" and turns to Merlin at a few key points-but that when given differing opinions, Arthur almost always chooses the wrong ones. Even those who adore Arthur see him as so unreasonable in the face of the obvious that they conclude he won't listen to reason where Agravaine is concerned (Gwen, Gaius), or when the only sane plan to to leave Camelot (Gwaine, Merlin, Gaius).
Not all of this can be blamed on Agravaine; Arthur is capable of overriding his objections, as he does when he decides to marry Guinevere the first time. Likewise, Merlin, Gwen, and Gaius are all fanatically loyal to Arthur, but that didn't stop all of them from being mind-controlled into potentially harming him; nor did it stop Gaius from lying out of divided loyalties, or Merlin from delivering the self-interested and ultimately disastrous advice that Arthur use magic to keep his father alive. Getting competent advice is a real challenge, and Arthur in particularly has tended to trust the untrustworthy and turn against those loyal to him.
So Arthur confronting Agravaine's treachery-as he does in the beautifully acted scenes in which Arthur first sees Agravaine with Morgana, and then tearfully acknowledges that Merlin's suspicions were right all along-is a key part of his arc, as is reckoning which his own mistakes, which we've seen in "His Father's Son," "The Herald of a New Age," and other episodes. When Arthur says, "I trusted the wrong people...I misjudged everyone...I should be more discerning, wise...a statesman," and concludes that he's repeated the same mistake he made with Morgana, he's quite right. All the more important, therefore, that he reckon with it.
Unfortunately, Arthur never does, either directly by confronting Agravaine or the illusions that have kept him tied to him, or indirectly through his relationships with Guinevere or Merlin. Instead, the narrative tries to wrench Arthur's touching self-revelation-he's failed at one of the vital skills of kingship, discernment about who to trust-into a plotline about the failure of his self-confidence, the belief that he's not "special" enough to be king.
And while this might work for those invested in Arthur's self-esteem problems, it leaves the Arthur's failures to trust wisely, or differentiate between good advice and bad, dangling. Pulling the sword out of the stone symbolically restores Arthur's faith in his right to be king, but it doesn't actually make him a more competent one-which is particularly frustrating given that he's been shown to learn from his previous mistakes. (At the same time, it also re-inscribes the Chosen One trope, which I don't inherently object to, at its most socially conservative.) So the sword in the stone scene, though beautiful and moving, was not as emotionally resonant for me as it should have been.
You might object that Arthur's difficulties with trust and advice are so clearly wound up in his relationship with Merlin that they can't be properly resolved without the magic reveal, which the show obviously didn't want to do yet. (And shouldn't have; neither Arthur nor Merlin is in the right place.) But these same topics were very wound up in the Arthur/Guinevere angst plot, which they did want to conclude, and previously using Guinevere as metaphoric stand-in for Merlin has worked quite effectively to advance Arthur's character. And Series 4 leaned quite heavily on the Guinevere/Merlin parallels once the mindrape/betrayal got underway.
Unfortunately, that plot too was left unresolved, because Arthur's reconciliation with Guinevere sidesteps entirely the problems that caused it, and the thematic elements that made it so critical to Arthur's character arc. The problem of trust-the fundamental truth that by loving someone you make yourself vulnerable to betrayal-is entirely swept away.
Getting Guinevere to the altar. There was a lot of dissatisfaction with the conclusion of the Guinevere/Arthur rift, even from those who loved the storyline. For my own part, it bothers me both that Arthur never has to confront his own role in their conflict (the banishment went too far) and that Guinevere never finds out she was under a spell, as sidesteps the more troubling issues raised and leaves both of them unable to develop as characters.
But it particularly rankles that their reconciliation doesn't advance the trust plot, and so feels hollow. While I get that on an emotional level, this is often how people solve problems-people with trust issues find someone they love enough to trust anyway-the show didn't make the thematic connection, and that felt like a terribly inadequate end to the plotline.
This clumsy resolution is accomplished through the of fridging Isolde, which is both terribly cliche and yet another problematic element in a show that already has a checkered history with female characters. What bothers me most is that it deprives us of the potential Guinevere/Isolde friendship. I enjoyed seeing someone else counsel Gwen not to give up hope, and I think this show needs both more female characters and an Enid-a female friendship for Guinevere to counterbalance her antagonism with Morgana. (Can't they further develop the woman Percival was flirting with at the feast?)
I love the character of Gwen, and I have particular enjoyed her character arc from someone who cared about the future of Camelot but saw herself only in a subsidiary role in series 1, to someone who grew in confidence enough to take an active role in creating that future in series 2, to someone who started to actively oppose Morgana as she realized the threat posed by her mistress in series 3.
But not entirely surprisingly, Gwen is one of the characters that suffered most from the show's shift of focus between Merlin and Arthur in series 4, and despite her wonderful scene outmaneuvering Agravaine in "The Darkest Day" and her heroism in "Lamia," "The Hunter's Heart," and even "Lancelot du Lac," this marks the first series in which her evolution toward queenliness was largely taken out of her own hands.
Some of this is perhaps inherent in the queen role, which in this particularly fantasy world is ultimately conferred by Arthur. But previous series have made it very clear that Gwen is growing into the role of queen in her own right, so it felt like a loss to me.
Merlin's mistakes. Another shift in this series is its oscillation between the two male leads. I think series 4 dropped Merlin from his central role partway through and focused on Arthur, then tried to re-focus on Merlin for the finale. But this results in not properly resolving Arthur's arc, and muddying Merlin's to the point that it's almost incoherent.
As is, Merlin's arc consists largely of failing at his endeavors. These include being so intent on sacrificing himself to save Arthur that he lets Lancelot die; causing the spectacular backfire of his plans to save Uther and change Arthur's mind about magic; letting Borden use and manipulate him; failing to convince Arthur not to kill King Caerleon; jeopardizing Arthur's attempts at secret negotiations with Queen Annis by following and getting caught; being turned into a mind-controlled assassin by Morgana; failing to convince Arthur that Agravaine is a danger, twice; failing to defeat Lamia; failing to prevent shade!Lancelot from destroying Arthur and Guinevere's relationship; and failing to save Arthur and Elyan from the druid boy's spirit.
Along the way Merlin's had a few triumphs, but almost all double-edged. So he manages to defeat Morgana in a sorcery duel-but arguably that only motivates her to attack Gaius shortly after. Settling Lancelot's shade free is a paltry accomplishment in the wake of the ruin he caused. His one unadulterated victory, saving Aithusa, is revealed by the final scene of the series to be very far from what Merlin thinks it.
In fact, Merlin has only succeeded when he works with others, as when he and Arthur working together win the duel with Annis's magically-enhanced champion, or when he, Guinevere, and Arthur together bring down the Lamia. Likewise, Merlin owes his survival of Morgana in the iron ore caves entirely to Alator (and arguably Gaius)-and would never have been able to save Gaius without Gwaine's help, which he only grudgingly accepted.
(Meanwhile, Morgana and Agravaine accomplish more than either would on their own by working effectively as a team-and are even more successful once they add Helios. And their downfall begins, quite pointedly, when they divide their forces; Merlin is able to kill Agravaine and bind Morgana's magic only when each is deprived of the other's protection and knowledge.)
All of Merlin's defeats come down to a failure to work as part an effective team, and can be grouped in two categories: Merlin being so intent on Arthur's protection that he fails to adequately deal with the larger situation (which happens in "The Darkest Day," "His Father's Son," "A Servant of Two Masters," "Lancelot du Lac," and "The Herald of the New Age-and, if you substitute Arthur's good opinion for Arthur's protection, "The Wicked Day"); and Merlin failing to convince Arthur of the proper course of action. Two very big flaws for the future advisor of Camelot.
Merlin making good. So Merlin's challenge this season is to expand his repertoire-to stop being a solitary magical bodyguard, and to be a true advisor, concerned not only with Arthur, but with the larger kingdom. His critical turning point occurs in "The Hunter's Heart," in the conversation with Gaius, in which Merlin says, "It is Arthur's destiny to marry Gwen....But am I supposed to do anything about it?"
Although Gaius doesn't quite understand, Merlin is for the first time questioning the parameters of his destiny, wondering if perhaps he's meant to do something larger and more meaningful than keep Arthur alive. Marrying Gwen is, after all, not about Arthur being king, but the kind of king he would be. An Arthur married to Queen Mithian would likely be a perfectly good king-but not the Once and Future King Arthur is capable of becoming.
And that same episode gives us the best sign of Merlin's growth as a character so far. While he fails to convince Arthur that Agravaine has betrayed him (possibly because he actually needs Gwen's presence to succeed) he does manage to get Arthur to call off the wedding to Mithian-the very thing he failed to do at the beginning of the episode. And he does so by deliberately waiting for Arthur to ask for advice, and letting Arthur's own emotions serve as a guide. While Arthur has learned several lessons by this point, it's the first time Merlin shows that he too can adapt and change.
So in the finale, Merlin (after the inevitable saving Arthur's life sequence) accomplishes a number of things: He kills Agravaine. He restores Arthur's self-confidence with the sword in the stone. He neutralizes Morgana's magic. And he saves Gwen's life.
Each of these is a pointed reversal of Merlin's failures earlier in the series.
Adieu, Agravaine. I was sorry to see Agravaine go-like Morgause before him, he's a thinly written villain infused with unexpected depth and vividness by a truly talented actor-particularly since it meant we'll never get a fuller explanation for his motivations, which remain murky outside his attraction to Morgana. But it's a phenomenal character scene for Merlin.
On a structural level, it suggests that we should reinterpret the central conflicts of the series, and particularly the advisor problem, as being Merlin's instead of Arthur's. Agravaine is after all the main reason Merlin, who had begun to advise Arthur successfully in series 3, failed to gain ground in series 4. Eliminating Agravaine-now an outright enemy-is a clear solution, though one with a very high moral cost.
And while Merlin claims to simply be creating a distraction (which he already did with the flaming hay-cart in Ealdor), that fact that he's already called Kilgarrah to inflict lethal force that shocks even Helios suggests that his decision to kill Agravaine is not entirely made, but solidified, in the moment he finds himself facing a dead end.
We see him steel himself for the decision, warn Agravaine, and strike quickly, but the most interesting moment is Merlin's dismay when he realizes that the first blow hasn't incapacitated Agravaine, and that he will have to not only kill him but confront someone who knows he is magic.There's a hint of defensiveness in his "I was born with it," which suggests that Merlin may be questioning whether magic is the inevitably corrupting force other character believe it to be, even before Agravaine devastates him by complimenting his treachery and suggesting their kinship. Afterwards, Merlin is clearly unnerved and afraid of what he's become.
Killing Agravaine also builds on the trend of Merlin making a morally questionable decision at the end of each series, but it's treated with a seriousness that his attacks on Nimueh (in the heat of battle), Morgana (ultimately not lethal), and Morgause (both) were not. It's clearly premediated, and made against someone who has no magic, no power to fight back. (Poisoning Morgana is the most analogous, and there the narrative worked very hard to justify Merlin's action and give him the option to ensure her survival.)
Here the camera work, music, and pacing all call our attention to Merlin's moral descent. They are definitely going somewhere with this in series 5.
No I in team. Merlin's other three accomplishments are less sullied, and in fact show him becoming a more effective member of a Camelot that relies on teamwork. For the sword in the stone scene, he not only advises Arthur gently, using storytelling to guide him to a his own conclusion (a bit like the end of "The Hunter's Heart"), but orchestrates, with Kilgarrah's help, that the scene unfolds in public, to provide Arthur with witnesses.
His neutralizing of Morgana's magic is undertaken at Arthur's behest, and contains unexpected subtlety. While the Merlin of "The Wicked Day" or "The Servant of Two Masters" might have opted for a full-on direct attack, Merlin here merely does what he can to even the stakes, allowing Arthur and the others to play their roles as well.
There's also some lovely irony in the chosen spell, which combines ones Morgana has used against the previous rulers of Camelot. The placement under the bed recalls the mandrake she used against Uther, of course, but the spell itself involves a cornhusk doll and fire, which is what Morgana used to drain Arthur's strength in "The Eye of the Phoenix." Which suggests-much like Merlin's inability to fight the dorocha-that for Morgana too, magic is tied to her life force.
Finally, Merlin saves Gwen's life during her duel with Morgana, much as he did during "The Hunter's Heart." The significance here is that when Arthur shouts the command "After her!" to Gwen, Merlin chooses to run after the women, rather than stay to protect Arthur as usual. I would argue that it's a critical turning point for Merlin-the moment at which he puts away his Arthur-centric world-view for one that includes other leaders of Camelot. (And in fact, Isolde dies because Merlin isn't there, and she's taken on his usual role of saving Arthur's life.)
This is also why Merlin's rescue of Gwen is positioned as the climactic moment of the entire finale, the last action scene before the falling action. It's not only that rescuing Guinevere makes possible the triumphant coronation that marks the start of a new Camelot; it's that Guinevere motivates Merlin's transition from Arthur's bodyguard to a guardian of the entire kingdom, beginning with the queen.
Multi-series thoughts. To be fair, the emphasis on teamwork-its absence and importance-goes far beyond Merlin's character or even series 4. The overall arc of the show began with series 1 assembling the OT4 (a construction that had a number of fissures within it from the start, but still worked as a team), followed by series 2, which deliberately broke down the established relationships between characters and created new trajectories.
That happened not only Morgana's isolation from the group and the widening gap between Merlin and Arthur, but the rifts between Merlin and Kilgarrah, Merlin and Mordred, Guinevere and Lancelot, Arthur and Uther, and Gaius and Uther. These separations allowed for new constellations: Gwen and Arthur's romance, Gaius shifting his allegiance from Uther to Arthur, Morgana joining Morgause, Merlin and Freya's brief connection.
Series 3 reversed the trend by bringing characters together in new clusters, with the OT3 opposed to Morgana and her allies, and new characters like Gwaine and Elyan joining Camelot by bonding with the original three heroes. Series 3 is very much about the growth of those connections (and culminates with even outlier characters like Freya and Kilgarrah making common cause) so it makes sense that series 4 would echo series 2 in examining the breakdown of relationships.
Hence the many plotlines involving the isolation of our Camelot characters. In addition to Arthur and Merlin's general inability to function smoothly, we see widening fissures between Merlin and Lancelot ("The Darkest Day"), Merlin and Gwaine ("The Secret Sharer"), Merlin and the knights as a whole ("Aithusa"), and even Merlin and Gaius; Elyan and everyone ("The Herald of a New Age," not to mention the underdevelopment of his relationship with Gwen); the rupture of one of the most intense, if problematic, relationships in the whole show, Morgana and Uther, as well as Arthur and Uther; and Arthur dumping Gwen more than once. Even moments of teamwork and connection ("Lamia") are largely intended to highlight the general dysfunction.
In fact, I suspect one of the reasons Gwen was so thoroughly sidelined in episodes 3-7 is because she's such an intensely connective character, and there was no way to incorporate her without lessening the theme of isolation. As it is, I'd argue that the Merlin/Gwen friendship is the place where the brokenness starts to heal, and yet another reason while Guinevere's coronation makes such an excellent conclusion, heralding what I hope will be a more cohesive Camelot. We'll see.
Further thoughts. There are so many wonderful scenes contained in these final two episodes that in the interest of posting this in time to actually watch the Series 5 premiere, I'm going to be reduce to just listing them:
I have very mixed on this two-part finale. There is a lot of truly wonderful stuff in it, but as a conclusion to the often superbly-constructed Series 4, I felt it fell short-nowhere more so than in conclusion to Arthur's arc.
Arthur the Unready. Arthur's story has been the centerpiece of Series 4, and it has unfolded with an unexpected degree of nuance, as the young king makes mistakes and learns from them. And a central part of his arc has been Arthur's flawed response as a king to his advisors, often (though not always) Agravaine. The latter has been such a competent villain all series long largely because of his ability to play Arthur's flaws, whether in his tangled emotions in the wake of his father's death (giving birth to both a misguided desire to imitate his father, and a suspicion of magic-users Agravaine is able to use to trap Gaius), or his emotional devastation after Guinevere's supposed betrayal. Arthur as king is "unready" in the Old English sense, whereby the word means "badly-counselled."
The problem isn't that Arthur doesn't have competent advisors-he chooses Gwen as queen for her "good counsel" and turns to Merlin at a few key points-but that when given differing opinions, Arthur almost always chooses the wrong ones. Even those who adore Arthur see him as so unreasonable in the face of the obvious that they conclude he won't listen to reason where Agravaine is concerned (Gwen, Gaius), or when the only sane plan to to leave Camelot (Gwaine, Merlin, Gaius).
Not all of this can be blamed on Agravaine; Arthur is capable of overriding his objections, as he does when he decides to marry Guinevere the first time. Likewise, Merlin, Gwen, and Gaius are all fanatically loyal to Arthur, but that didn't stop all of them from being mind-controlled into potentially harming him; nor did it stop Gaius from lying out of divided loyalties, or Merlin from delivering the self-interested and ultimately disastrous advice that Arthur use magic to keep his father alive. Getting competent advice is a real challenge, and Arthur in particularly has tended to trust the untrustworthy and turn against those loyal to him.
So Arthur confronting Agravaine's treachery-as he does in the beautifully acted scenes in which Arthur first sees Agravaine with Morgana, and then tearfully acknowledges that Merlin's suspicions were right all along-is a key part of his arc, as is reckoning which his own mistakes, which we've seen in "His Father's Son," "The Herald of a New Age," and other episodes. When Arthur says, "I trusted the wrong people...I misjudged everyone...I should be more discerning, wise...a statesman," and concludes that he's repeated the same mistake he made with Morgana, he's quite right. All the more important, therefore, that he reckon with it.
Unfortunately, Arthur never does, either directly by confronting Agravaine or the illusions that have kept him tied to him, or indirectly through his relationships with Guinevere or Merlin. Instead, the narrative tries to wrench Arthur's touching self-revelation-he's failed at one of the vital skills of kingship, discernment about who to trust-into a plotline about the failure of his self-confidence, the belief that he's not "special" enough to be king.
And while this might work for those invested in Arthur's self-esteem problems, it leaves the Arthur's failures to trust wisely, or differentiate between good advice and bad, dangling. Pulling the sword out of the stone symbolically restores Arthur's faith in his right to be king, but it doesn't actually make him a more competent one-which is particularly frustrating given that he's been shown to learn from his previous mistakes. (At the same time, it also re-inscribes the Chosen One trope, which I don't inherently object to, at its most socially conservative.) So the sword in the stone scene, though beautiful and moving, was not as emotionally resonant for me as it should have been.
You might object that Arthur's difficulties with trust and advice are so clearly wound up in his relationship with Merlin that they can't be properly resolved without the magic reveal, which the show obviously didn't want to do yet. (And shouldn't have; neither Arthur nor Merlin is in the right place.) But these same topics were very wound up in the Arthur/Guinevere angst plot, which they did want to conclude, and previously using Guinevere as metaphoric stand-in for Merlin has worked quite effectively to advance Arthur's character. And Series 4 leaned quite heavily on the Guinevere/Merlin parallels once the mindrape/betrayal got underway.
Unfortunately, that plot too was left unresolved, because Arthur's reconciliation with Guinevere sidesteps entirely the problems that caused it, and the thematic elements that made it so critical to Arthur's character arc. The problem of trust-the fundamental truth that by loving someone you make yourself vulnerable to betrayal-is entirely swept away.
Getting Guinevere to the altar. There was a lot of dissatisfaction with the conclusion of the Guinevere/Arthur rift, even from those who loved the storyline. For my own part, it bothers me both that Arthur never has to confront his own role in their conflict (the banishment went too far) and that Guinevere never finds out she was under a spell, as sidesteps the more troubling issues raised and leaves both of them unable to develop as characters.
But it particularly rankles that their reconciliation doesn't advance the trust plot, and so feels hollow. While I get that on an emotional level, this is often how people solve problems-people with trust issues find someone they love enough to trust anyway-the show didn't make the thematic connection, and that felt like a terribly inadequate end to the plotline.
This clumsy resolution is accomplished through the of fridging Isolde, which is both terribly cliche and yet another problematic element in a show that already has a checkered history with female characters. What bothers me most is that it deprives us of the potential Guinevere/Isolde friendship. I enjoyed seeing someone else counsel Gwen not to give up hope, and I think this show needs both more female characters and an Enid-a female friendship for Guinevere to counterbalance her antagonism with Morgana. (Can't they further develop the woman Percival was flirting with at the feast?)
I love the character of Gwen, and I have particular enjoyed her character arc from someone who cared about the future of Camelot but saw herself only in a subsidiary role in series 1, to someone who grew in confidence enough to take an active role in creating that future in series 2, to someone who started to actively oppose Morgana as she realized the threat posed by her mistress in series 3.
But not entirely surprisingly, Gwen is one of the characters that suffered most from the show's shift of focus between Merlin and Arthur in series 4, and despite her wonderful scene outmaneuvering Agravaine in "The Darkest Day" and her heroism in "Lamia," "The Hunter's Heart," and even "Lancelot du Lac," this marks the first series in which her evolution toward queenliness was largely taken out of her own hands.
Some of this is perhaps inherent in the queen role, which in this particularly fantasy world is ultimately conferred by Arthur. But previous series have made it very clear that Gwen is growing into the role of queen in her own right, so it felt like a loss to me.
Merlin's mistakes. Another shift in this series is its oscillation between the two male leads. I think series 4 dropped Merlin from his central role partway through and focused on Arthur, then tried to re-focus on Merlin for the finale. But this results in not properly resolving Arthur's arc, and muddying Merlin's to the point that it's almost incoherent.
As is, Merlin's arc consists largely of failing at his endeavors. These include being so intent on sacrificing himself to save Arthur that he lets Lancelot die; causing the spectacular backfire of his plans to save Uther and change Arthur's mind about magic; letting Borden use and manipulate him; failing to convince Arthur not to kill King Caerleon; jeopardizing Arthur's attempts at secret negotiations with Queen Annis by following and getting caught; being turned into a mind-controlled assassin by Morgana; failing to convince Arthur that Agravaine is a danger, twice; failing to defeat Lamia; failing to prevent shade!Lancelot from destroying Arthur and Guinevere's relationship; and failing to save Arthur and Elyan from the druid boy's spirit.
Along the way Merlin's had a few triumphs, but almost all double-edged. So he manages to defeat Morgana in a sorcery duel-but arguably that only motivates her to attack Gaius shortly after. Settling Lancelot's shade free is a paltry accomplishment in the wake of the ruin he caused. His one unadulterated victory, saving Aithusa, is revealed by the final scene of the series to be very far from what Merlin thinks it.
In fact, Merlin has only succeeded when he works with others, as when he and Arthur working together win the duel with Annis's magically-enhanced champion, or when he, Guinevere, and Arthur together bring down the Lamia. Likewise, Merlin owes his survival of Morgana in the iron ore caves entirely to Alator (and arguably Gaius)-and would never have been able to save Gaius without Gwaine's help, which he only grudgingly accepted.
(Meanwhile, Morgana and Agravaine accomplish more than either would on their own by working effectively as a team-and are even more successful once they add Helios. And their downfall begins, quite pointedly, when they divide their forces; Merlin is able to kill Agravaine and bind Morgana's magic only when each is deprived of the other's protection and knowledge.)
All of Merlin's defeats come down to a failure to work as part an effective team, and can be grouped in two categories: Merlin being so intent on Arthur's protection that he fails to adequately deal with the larger situation (which happens in "The Darkest Day," "His Father's Son," "A Servant of Two Masters," "Lancelot du Lac," and "The Herald of the New Age-and, if you substitute Arthur's good opinion for Arthur's protection, "The Wicked Day"); and Merlin failing to convince Arthur of the proper course of action. Two very big flaws for the future advisor of Camelot.
Merlin making good. So Merlin's challenge this season is to expand his repertoire-to stop being a solitary magical bodyguard, and to be a true advisor, concerned not only with Arthur, but with the larger kingdom. His critical turning point occurs in "The Hunter's Heart," in the conversation with Gaius, in which Merlin says, "It is Arthur's destiny to marry Gwen....But am I supposed to do anything about it?"
Although Gaius doesn't quite understand, Merlin is for the first time questioning the parameters of his destiny, wondering if perhaps he's meant to do something larger and more meaningful than keep Arthur alive. Marrying Gwen is, after all, not about Arthur being king, but the kind of king he would be. An Arthur married to Queen Mithian would likely be a perfectly good king-but not the Once and Future King Arthur is capable of becoming.
And that same episode gives us the best sign of Merlin's growth as a character so far. While he fails to convince Arthur that Agravaine has betrayed him (possibly because he actually needs Gwen's presence to succeed) he does manage to get Arthur to call off the wedding to Mithian-the very thing he failed to do at the beginning of the episode. And he does so by deliberately waiting for Arthur to ask for advice, and letting Arthur's own emotions serve as a guide. While Arthur has learned several lessons by this point, it's the first time Merlin shows that he too can adapt and change.
So in the finale, Merlin (after the inevitable saving Arthur's life sequence) accomplishes a number of things: He kills Agravaine. He restores Arthur's self-confidence with the sword in the stone. He neutralizes Morgana's magic. And he saves Gwen's life.
Each of these is a pointed reversal of Merlin's failures earlier in the series.
Adieu, Agravaine. I was sorry to see Agravaine go-like Morgause before him, he's a thinly written villain infused with unexpected depth and vividness by a truly talented actor-particularly since it meant we'll never get a fuller explanation for his motivations, which remain murky outside his attraction to Morgana. But it's a phenomenal character scene for Merlin.
On a structural level, it suggests that we should reinterpret the central conflicts of the series, and particularly the advisor problem, as being Merlin's instead of Arthur's. Agravaine is after all the main reason Merlin, who had begun to advise Arthur successfully in series 3, failed to gain ground in series 4. Eliminating Agravaine-now an outright enemy-is a clear solution, though one with a very high moral cost.
And while Merlin claims to simply be creating a distraction (which he already did with the flaming hay-cart in Ealdor), that fact that he's already called Kilgarrah to inflict lethal force that shocks even Helios suggests that his decision to kill Agravaine is not entirely made, but solidified, in the moment he finds himself facing a dead end.
We see him steel himself for the decision, warn Agravaine, and strike quickly, but the most interesting moment is Merlin's dismay when he realizes that the first blow hasn't incapacitated Agravaine, and that he will have to not only kill him but confront someone who knows he is magic.There's a hint of defensiveness in his "I was born with it," which suggests that Merlin may be questioning whether magic is the inevitably corrupting force other character believe it to be, even before Agravaine devastates him by complimenting his treachery and suggesting their kinship. Afterwards, Merlin is clearly unnerved and afraid of what he's become.
Killing Agravaine also builds on the trend of Merlin making a morally questionable decision at the end of each series, but it's treated with a seriousness that his attacks on Nimueh (in the heat of battle), Morgana (ultimately not lethal), and Morgause (both) were not. It's clearly premediated, and made against someone who has no magic, no power to fight back. (Poisoning Morgana is the most analogous, and there the narrative worked very hard to justify Merlin's action and give him the option to ensure her survival.)
Here the camera work, music, and pacing all call our attention to Merlin's moral descent. They are definitely going somewhere with this in series 5.
No I in team. Merlin's other three accomplishments are less sullied, and in fact show him becoming a more effective member of a Camelot that relies on teamwork. For the sword in the stone scene, he not only advises Arthur gently, using storytelling to guide him to a his own conclusion (a bit like the end of "The Hunter's Heart"), but orchestrates, with Kilgarrah's help, that the scene unfolds in public, to provide Arthur with witnesses.
His neutralizing of Morgana's magic is undertaken at Arthur's behest, and contains unexpected subtlety. While the Merlin of "The Wicked Day" or "The Servant of Two Masters" might have opted for a full-on direct attack, Merlin here merely does what he can to even the stakes, allowing Arthur and the others to play their roles as well.
There's also some lovely irony in the chosen spell, which combines ones Morgana has used against the previous rulers of Camelot. The placement under the bed recalls the mandrake she used against Uther, of course, but the spell itself involves a cornhusk doll and fire, which is what Morgana used to drain Arthur's strength in "The Eye of the Phoenix." Which suggests-much like Merlin's inability to fight the dorocha-that for Morgana too, magic is tied to her life force.
Finally, Merlin saves Gwen's life during her duel with Morgana, much as he did during "The Hunter's Heart." The significance here is that when Arthur shouts the command "After her!" to Gwen, Merlin chooses to run after the women, rather than stay to protect Arthur as usual. I would argue that it's a critical turning point for Merlin-the moment at which he puts away his Arthur-centric world-view for one that includes other leaders of Camelot. (And in fact, Isolde dies because Merlin isn't there, and she's taken on his usual role of saving Arthur's life.)
This is also why Merlin's rescue of Gwen is positioned as the climactic moment of the entire finale, the last action scene before the falling action. It's not only that rescuing Guinevere makes possible the triumphant coronation that marks the start of a new Camelot; it's that Guinevere motivates Merlin's transition from Arthur's bodyguard to a guardian of the entire kingdom, beginning with the queen.
Multi-series thoughts. To be fair, the emphasis on teamwork-its absence and importance-goes far beyond Merlin's character or even series 4. The overall arc of the show began with series 1 assembling the OT4 (a construction that had a number of fissures within it from the start, but still worked as a team), followed by series 2, which deliberately broke down the established relationships between characters and created new trajectories.
That happened not only Morgana's isolation from the group and the widening gap between Merlin and Arthur, but the rifts between Merlin and Kilgarrah, Merlin and Mordred, Guinevere and Lancelot, Arthur and Uther, and Gaius and Uther. These separations allowed for new constellations: Gwen and Arthur's romance, Gaius shifting his allegiance from Uther to Arthur, Morgana joining Morgause, Merlin and Freya's brief connection.
Series 3 reversed the trend by bringing characters together in new clusters, with the OT3 opposed to Morgana and her allies, and new characters like Gwaine and Elyan joining Camelot by bonding with the original three heroes. Series 3 is very much about the growth of those connections (and culminates with even outlier characters like Freya and Kilgarrah making common cause) so it makes sense that series 4 would echo series 2 in examining the breakdown of relationships.
Hence the many plotlines involving the isolation of our Camelot characters. In addition to Arthur and Merlin's general inability to function smoothly, we see widening fissures between Merlin and Lancelot ("The Darkest Day"), Merlin and Gwaine ("The Secret Sharer"), Merlin and the knights as a whole ("Aithusa"), and even Merlin and Gaius; Elyan and everyone ("The Herald of a New Age," not to mention the underdevelopment of his relationship with Gwen); the rupture of one of the most intense, if problematic, relationships in the whole show, Morgana and Uther, as well as Arthur and Uther; and Arthur dumping Gwen more than once. Even moments of teamwork and connection ("Lamia") are largely intended to highlight the general dysfunction.
In fact, I suspect one of the reasons Gwen was so thoroughly sidelined in episodes 3-7 is because she's such an intensely connective character, and there was no way to incorporate her without lessening the theme of isolation. As it is, I'd argue that the Merlin/Gwen friendship is the place where the brokenness starts to heal, and yet another reason while Guinevere's coronation makes such an excellent conclusion, heralding what I hope will be a more cohesive Camelot. We'll see.
Further thoughts. There are so many wonderful scenes contained in these final two episodes that in the interest of posting this in time to actually watch the Series 5 premiere, I'm going to be reduce to just listing them:
- Although the plot similarities between the series 3 and series 4 finales don't always work to the show's credit, the contrast points out just how far the show has come with cinematography. The opening scenes of 4x12 are genuinely chilling and ominous, and the narrative moves between them with great skill to build the effect. Filmically-including the use of lighting and music (the latter not always the show's strength), it's dazzling, and makes me glad they opted for not showing the invasion last year when they couldn't have done it as well.
- I find it suggestive that Elyan is both the first to realize that Agravaine has betrayed them (did Gwen share Merlin's suspicions during "The Secret Sharer"?) and the one whom Morgana tortures worst. Admittedly she has plot reasons, but I wonder if it's partly her animus toward Guinevere leaking through.
- It would be a fool's effort to list every great acting moment in this two episodes, but putting aside the many comic moments during the mind-control spell I'd like to make special mention of Arthur seeing Agravaine at Morgana's side, and his indescribable but subtle expression when he pulls the sword out of the stone.
- And the way Merlin begins utterly unnerved by the effect of his spell on Arthur and then begins to enjoy it, with the two reactions often warring or one chasing the other off his face.
- And Guinevere's terror and determination when she fights Morgana hand-to-hand.
- Agravaine's line when he finds Arthur's abandoned clothes-"What kind of coward would deny who he is?"-works so well, on so many levels of irony-both because Agravaine has denied his true colors for so long, and because the idea for the disguise belongs to Merlin, who perpetually denies who he is. Very nice foreshadowing for the maybe-we-have-more-in-common-than-you-think comment later.
- I've talked before about how the show has used medieval legends to reposition Arthur as Guinevere's one true love, but the use of Tristan and Isolde is another example. Arthur and Guinevere are explicitly paralleled with them, by the show and by the characters themselves. Yet in terms of legend, Tristan and Isolde have a long, long history of be equated with Lancelot and Guinevere, with Arthur and Mark being obvious equivalent roles. The fact that Arthur is yet again in the Lancelot-equivalent role and that Tristan and Isolde are presented with no love triangle drive home yet again how far Arthur is presented as having no serious rival.
- The fact that Arthur effectively seeks shelter by traveling with them is a neat reversal of the idea that Tristan seeks shelter at Arthur's court when his uncle is persecuting him for his affair with Isolde.
- Among many beautifully shot scenes, I have to mention the fabulous parallel ones in which Arthur and then Morgana fight fiercely with only a sword and mystical powers of slow-motion, only to both be wounded in the side (right for Arthur, left for Morgana) and fell their attacker with a blow. In both cases, their cause and Camelot is effectively already lost, but they truly are Uther's children, and you feel it in those moments.
- Relatedly, Arthur and Morgana's long-awaited confrontation was truly dazzling, and a sad and more adult version of their childish banter from years before. Even now, neither lets the other get the upper hand. I love that Arthur begins by showing her Excalibur-his right to rule-and then sheathing it, and that Arthur's relationship with Uther has evolved to the point where he can squarely face the ugly parallels between him and Morgana. And the acting on both parts is amazing.
- I also loved the fact that Merlin had arranged for Gwen to find shelter with Hunith in Ealdor, which suggests that even during his frantic flight from Camelot with a mind-controlled Arthur he was scheming about reuniting his favorite couple. Moreover, the idea of Guinevere and Hunith, both heartbroken by a combination of magic and Pendragons' emotional excess over heartbreak, is a lovely one. Hunith's line, "It takes time to heal a broken heart," is a lovely call-back to her relationship with Balinor, and I like the thought of her using her hard-won wisdom to help Gwen. The fact that Merlin still has a mom worrying over him is quite cute.
- Also, I am very interest in the idea that Lot has taken over from Cenred and rules Ealdor now.
- The triumphant coronation felt like such a good ending for many reasons, but I liked that it was so similar and yet subtly different (no necklace for Gwen, the kiss, etc.) from Morgana's original vision. These changes no doubt came from filming practicalities, but I like the idea that Morgana's effects managed to subtly affect the future without undoing what was destined.
- The final scene, in which Aithusa heals a dying Morgana, was one of the brilliant things I have ever seen. I had originally panicked when I saw that the baby dragon was white at the end of "Aithusa," but let the cuteness of that happy ending soothe me; this is a such a clever way to play on the legends. I love the visual echo of Morgana collapsing alone in the woods after the serkets attacked in "The Nightmare Begins," and the look of utter wonder on her face. I think the creators are already on record somewhere about Aithusa being evil, but I love the idea of a dragon being a wild card character, on no side. Either way, I am dying to see what happens next!