After a week of taking a break from her EVIL scheming, Morgana is in a tizzy when she realizes that Arthur is destined to marry Gwen and place her on the throne, that as Uther's secret female spawn, is rightfully hers! She easily manipulates Arthur and Gwen into throwing caution to the wind and taking a romantic picnic in the forest. She then coos and bats her eyelashes at Daddy Uther until he agrees to go riding with her where they conveniently catch an unsuspecting Gwen and Arthur making out among the grass and flowers.
Uther is amused to see his son getting it on with the help, since he has been known to "court" a servant or two in his day, but he quickly becomes angry when he orders Arthur to end whatever is going on between them and Gwen and Arthur balks. Uther realizes that Arthur actually has feelings for this servant girl and banishes her.
Morgana is thrilled until she realizes that Arthur is planning on running away with Gwen and returning with her after Uther croaks, making her his wife and queen. Realizing that she has in fact made her the prophesy come true by causing the banishment, she decides to kill Gwen. She convinces Uther that Arthur is bewitched, something that Uther is all too willing to believe because a) he seems to believe that everything is the work of magic and b) it's the only explanation that he can stomach for his son being in love with a servant.
Gwen is tried, slapped and sentenced to death by Uther in about two minutes as a horrified Arthur looks on. Morgana is pleased that one of her EVIL plans has finally worked, but she tosses out one EVIL smirk too many and Gwen sees it. Gwen being on to her is the least of Morgana's problems, however. Detective Merlin morphs into Merlin the Magician and the warlock comes up with a magical solution that Morgana doesn't see coming.
My shipper heart LOVED this episode. It had everything --- romantic picnics, epic declarations of love, slow mo kissage, life and death drama and Gwen being kick ass. Also, kudos to seeing Merlin actually use his magic in such a focused and calculating way instead of just off the cuff like he usually does.
Once again, these are the episodes when Merlin could benefit from a darker tone and a longer season.
If this arc didn't have to be tied up in a bow by episodes end we could have had the lovers discovered and Uther either banishing Gwen, and we could see how that played out and how it affected his relationship with Arthur, or choosing to accept Gwen, something that he would be loathed to do. We could have really seen the fallout of their outing, how everyone would react, how they would cope. Also, imagine Morgana having to pretend to accept Gwen as an equal, something that would have been hard for her to do even if she weren't EVIL. It would have been much more interesting then this magical quick fix.
Also, those scenes where Uther is talking about his randy past and confronting Gwen and Arthur hinted at terrifying consequences for the duo that are never really actualized. Now, nobody expected Gwen to be executed, but there would have been more suffering. She takes her banishment like she takes everything else --- stoically, and her trial and imprisonment lasts about a nanosecond. What if Uther had her flogged or worse tortured? What if he had Arthur flogged or thrown into the dungeons until he saw reason? What if Gwen was actually saved at the eleventh hour by Elyan and Lancelot? That to me would have made a much better set-up for the The Coming of Arthur. She, Gawain and Lance could form the Banish by Uther Brigaide and come across Arthur in the forest after Morgana's coup.
I just wish that such an important revelation actually lead somewhere. I'm tired of these resets. Yes, by episode's end Gwen now suspects that Morgana is EVIL, and yes Gwen FINALLY agreed to wait for Arthur, sorry Lancelot, but the Arthur/Uther dynamic, something that really fascinates me about this show, doesn't seem to change, despite him wanting to barbecue Gwen. Arthur doesn't seem to hold any of what his father did to them against him, at least not outwardly, and that is a problem for me.
Questions/Comments
Angel Coulby looked absolutely beautiful as Queen Guinevere.
Why was Merlin still dressed as a servant during Gwen's coronation? Surely he would have risen up in rank. At least he got front row seats to the event. And Gauis outlives Uther? Figures.
One thing I can say for Morgana is that she is getting better at this EVIL thing. After one convoluted, DISASTROUS plan after another she finally decides to keep it simple and it almost works.
This is actually one time when I don't mind Morgana trying to kill Gwen because I feel as if it's in character. Nonevil Morgana would never have accepted her servant girl as her Queen, it would be unrealistic to expect her too no matter how much she may have liked Gwen. She would have agreed with the banishment "for both their sakes" or something "noble" like that. EVIL Morgana just took things further.
All the Arthur and Gwen scenes were something out of a romance novel and I thought it was great. The picnic date was lush and beautiful. Also loved the hallway scene at the end where they basically became betrothed. It was good to actually hear Gwen tell Arthur that she was in it for the long haul. It was also
good to hear Gwen say that Camelot comes first because it shows that she understands what she will be getting herself into as Queen. It's not all dresses and jewelry and parties --- being Queen means work and sacrifice. And that scene where Arthur and Gwen kiss and Arthur declares his undying love before they are pulled apart by the guards in slow motion? An instant favorite of mine.
I'm going to give Arthur a pass for not seemingly doing more to rescue Gwen and fanwank that he was feverishly planning to save her up until the very end. Once again since this show is all about Merlin always coming to the rescuse we really don't know what Arthur was up too.
As much as I was not a fan of the magical fix I have to say that Colin was amazing as old Merlin. Simply funny. He has great comedic timing, so does Bradley James by the way who has the thankless role as the straight man for the most part. Also, I appreciate any nod to Arthurian lore.
Kudos to Anthony Head and Angel Coulby who were just amazing in that trial scene. Uther was scary and Gwen managed to keep her dignity in the face of certain death, she even brought up that Uther killed her father. Imagine that.
I'm sorry but I laughed when Gauis tried to plead Gwen's case and Uther basically told him to shut up. You can really tell that when push comes to shove Uther values him and he really made the right decision turning and blind eye to his murderous ways and standing by him all these years. Not! But his own near burning in season one should have taught him that.
Uther really is mad. Seriously, he is crazy. That scene when he takes Arthur's face in his hands and promises him that he will thank him after Gwen is dead is Uther at his scariest and delusional best.
Where is Elyan when his sister is banished and imprisoned? Working overtime at the forge?
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