The Quest For Camelot Begins: A Foray Into Merlin

I watched the first episode of Merlin when it premiered and was...not impressed. Many people have recommended it to me/told me it's something I would enjoy, but I have...remained dubious. One of my good friends here at school is a huge Merlin fan, and throughout our acquaintance I have consequently been subjected to much enthusing over the show as it progressed through its final season. I grinned over the cute Merther (the Merlin/Arthur ship) gifs she showed me on Tumblr--watched with a bemused expression as she and another friend of ours freaked out over the series finale, whispering in case any of the rest of us ever wanted to watch the show from the beginning--celebrated alongside her as Merther became canon.

My former snootiness over the...questionable quality...of the show has diminished, and I decided to give it a second shot. So, I watched the first two episodes tonight while completing my Linguistics homework. I've decided to blog my way through the series, because I have Thoughts and because I think it will be fun. And make me stick with it, in case, you know, I end up not being that impressed with it after all.

Well, here we go: Season 1, Episodes 1 & 2.

If for no other reason, I would probably stick with the show because boy, are Colin Morgan (Merlin) and Bradley James (Arthur) attractive. And they have accents. Never underestimate the swoon factor of a  British accent. At one point in the first episode Merlin got wounded, and his Mentor set about healing said wounds.

MERLIN'S MENTOR: Take your shirt off.

ME: Yes, please do that.

I can certainly see why people ship them, and why people fawn over them in general. I admit that going into this I am predisposed to ship Merther, having soaked up my friend's enthusiasm, though I probably would have ended up shipping them anyway. There were several moments within the first two episodes where I wanted to yell at the screen "YOU ARE ADORABLE. KISS. KISS NOW". Knowing going in that there is ample support for a Merther relationship, I will doubtless be picking up on those lines/looks/hints more than I normally would have. I certainly did in the first two episodes (in any case it's not that subtle. The Dragon is a Merther fan, I can tell. He's very vocal about it. But I'll get to him in a moment). If I wasn't going to ship Merther, I would probably ship Gwen/Merlin. Though who knows. Within these episodes, there was a lot of sexual tension. This included sexual tension between:

• Morgana/Arthur
• Morgana/Merlin
• Merlin/Arthur
• Gwen/Merlin

I'll just leave that with it's excessive love-triangle potential where it is. 

Also, continuing with my oh-so-scholarly thoughts on characters, I was pleasantly surprised to see that Gwen is black. I leave you with Sarah Rees Brennan's thoughts. 

Moving on to plot-y things! 

The villain of the first episode is a Creepy Old Woman, and, you know, I really really dislike Creepy Old Women. For whatever reason, I find them terrifying. Give me a CGI monster--I cringe and announce how much I Do Not Like This. Give me suspenseful music and unsettling shadows--I squirm and curl up in my chair and am spooked. But give me Creepy Old Women--I was sitting watching those parts of the episode in utter terror. I jumped, literally almost out of my chair, when a door slammed down the hall. There were shivers and skin-prickliness all up and down my back. My only hypotheses on the subject is that it stems from growing up with The Princess Bride. I remember that the old woman in the crowd in Buttercup's dream terrified me when I was little. She doesn't anymore, but maybe that fostered in me some far-reaching fear of malevolent elderly women? 

Creepy Old Woman from The Princess Bride 

Infinitely Creepier Old Woman from Merlin

The other plot-y thing I wanted to make note of, and which is a much longer-term plot element than the villain of one episode (however much it might scar me) is the Dragon. The Dragon was one of the reasons I stopped watching originally. There were many Cliched-Lines and Cliched-Themes in those scenes and I wanted to bang my head against the coffee table. The Dragon likes to make cryptic comments about the future. I will hereafter refer to him as the Dragon of Destiny.

Merlin finds the Dragon of Destiny in a cave under the castle (I sense there are problems involved with keeping a secret dragon under your castle. The show does not choose to dwell on such problems. Such as the fact that Merlin was quite easily able to find the dragon under the castle). The Dragon of Destiny seems to have some kind of telepathic link into Merlin's brain, as throughout the first episode you hear an ominous voice caaaallllliiiiinnng to Merlin in his mind. The episode is, in fact, titled "The Call of the Dragon". I'm guessing he's an important character.

The Dragon of Destiny, Merther fan that he is, makes vague, mysterious, not-at-all-foreshadow-y and assertive comments about Merlin's destiny, and the fact that it is his destiny to be with Arthur. That is his only preferred subject of conversation. Who knows, maybe someone else will stumble upon the not-so-secret dragon and he will make generic, grand-sounding comments all about their future love life destiny! I've got my eye on you, Dragon of Destiny.

Merlin receives love advice from the Dragon of Destiny

The teaser for Episode 3 looks quite intense (as they always do), and seems to feature Gwen more. I believe she was in peril. Oh, lady characters, why do you always have to be in peril when you're heading an episode? We shall see what happens.

--Flannery