On this episode of Merlin, King Arthur takes center stage as he tries to rule Camelot by being His Father’s Son, only to realize that he wanted to do this king thing his way.
This week's Merlin begins with barbarians at the gate as Arthur and the knights manage to trap an invasion army by using Merlin as bait. The Warrior King leaps into action, easily leading the knights to victory. Arthur is pleased to discover that they have also captured their King.
While Arthur is deciding what to do next, Uncle Scar slithers by King Arthur like a snake in the Garden of Eden and warns him that this is just the beginning of the rulers of the other kingdoms challenging his kingliness and that he has to make a stand --- either humiliate The King of the Barbarians by forcing him to sign a peace treaty in exchange for his life or execute him. Arthur is hesitant to go down this route because he knows that barbarians are a prideful lot and Caerleon would rather die than subjugate himself. Merlin tries to convince Arthur to really think this through but he’s closed himself off to his friend. He follows Uncle’s Scar advice and has The Barbarian King killed. He then returns to his woman and his kingdom and tries to convince himself and Merlin that he did the right thing. When Merlin once again questions his actions he once again tells a dejected Merlin that he is no longer interested in his advice or friendship and that Merlin “must learn to accept that.”
When The Barbarian Queen receives her husband’s body she goes ballistic when she realizes that he was executed. Annis vows to bring Camelot to its knees. She gets unexpected help from Morgana, who sneaks into the kingdom and begs Annis to help her avenge her father’s Gorlois death at the hands of The Pendragons. Annis, already seething for blood, agrees to align herself with her old friend’s stepdaughter.
While Annis is plotting Arthur’s downfall from without, Uncle Scar continues trying to lead Arthur down a dark roadfrom within by convincing him that King Arthur cannot marry a blacksmith's daughter. Despite years of arguing that this is not the case, he allows Uncle Scar’s words to sink in. After using Merlin as a punching bag to get out his frustrations (don’t worry he was only holding the bag but still...) Arthur dons his “I’m going to Gwen’s” blue cloak and visits the woman he promised to love forever, and who spent the last year wiping the drool of the man who killed her father out of love for him, to tell her that Prince Arthur may have made promises but King Arthur does not find her an “appropriate” mate. Guinevere swallows her pain and manages not to slap Arthur into his next reincarnation by channelling her “Queen Guinevere “ stoicism and telling him to stop being lead around the nose by others and follow his own heart.
But Arthur has more to worry about than a broken heart, Annis has sent an army to invade Camelot and Arthur slowly begins to realize how his actions are having the opposite effect from what he wanted.
King Arthur decides to round up his knights and ride off to meet their aggressors. Arthur’s guilt is only heightened when Elyan, (taking center stage!) and the knights pay him a visit, pledging their loyalty and life to their king.
Arthur, feeling like he has recklessly risked his men’s lives decides to go to The Barbarian Camp to talk to the Queen. Queen Annis greets him with a slapticism and Arthur tells her that he now realizes that he was wrong. He offers her an idea --- his champion will go up against her champion. If he wins the war is over, if he loses she gets half of Camelot. Annis agrees.
Arthur let’s everyone know that he is going to fight this fight himself. Uncle Scar and Morgana decide to hex Arthur’s sword. (That’s the best they can do?) . As Arthur begins to prepare for battle he gives Merlin his mother’s ring and tells him to give it to Gwen if he does not survive. He then goes out to face Darian The Barbarian.
The two men are in mortal combat but Arthur’s hexed sword is making things difficult. Never fear though, with a little help from Merlin’s magic (because we couldn’t have one whole episode where Arthur is capable of getting himself out of his own messes) he wins, gaining the respect of everyone by sparing Darian The Barbarian’s life.
After the battle, Queen Annis tells Arthur that she sees in him “hope for us all.” Later, she confronts Morgana, telling her that she is a bitter black wearing witch and while Arthur may not be his father’s son, she is Uther’s daughter. A disgusted Morgana storms off.
The two men are in mortal combat but Arthur’s hexed sword is making things difficult. Never fear though, with a little help from Merlin’s magic (because we couldn’t have one whole episode where Arthur is capable of getting himself out of his own messes) he wins, gaining the respect of everyone by sparing Darian The Barbarian’s life.
After the battle, Queen Annis tells Arthur that she sees in him “hope for us all.” Later, she confronts Morgana, telling her that she is a bitter black wearing witch and while Arthur may not be his father’s son, she is Uther’s daughter. A disgusted Morgana storms off.
Arthur returns to Camelot amidst cheers and adulation from the people. His win has made him re-evaluate his actions the past few days (weeks?) First up --- reconnecting with Merlin and letting him call him a “Cabbage Head.”
He then summons Gwen to his chambers and offers her some sad flowers that he picked up on the side of the road. Gwen succumbs to his sorry and his smouldering looks and falls into his arms in no time flat as the screen fades to black as all becomes right in King Arthur’s realm.
This episode was very Arthur centric and I loved it. We finally got to see Arthur as a competent leader. Was his actions perfect --- no, but understandable given the stress he was under. I never thought we’d see King Arthur in action. I always felt he’d be crowned in the last episode of the series so I am pleased to be able to see a bit of his early reign. Arthur and Gwen are actually my favorite characters in the series and while we see a lot of Arthur it’s never in a way that we have seen here. This was one of the few episodes not told from Merlin’s point of view. Arthur was driving this story and we really get in to his character and what makes him tick. More Arthur-centric episodes please.
Questions/Comments
I love the fact that Merlin is not afraid to show Arthur as a man who makes mistakes. Arthur’s killing of Caerleon was ill-advised and his treatment of Gwen was quite cruel given the fact that he spent YEARS promising her that when he was King they would be together.
I’ve been dying for them to play up Arthur’s ruthless side ever since he put that sword to the druid’s boy neck last season and I’m glad they show that Arthur has the ability to go dark, but he CHOOSES not to and it is his compassion and fairness that will make him a great king, but as we can see in this episodes it is his human failings that will make him a legend.
A lot has been said about Gwen’s reaction to the dumping and while the twenty-first century girl in me would have smacked him into the middle of next week, it would be OC for Gwen to be offering slapticisms (a method of slapping some sense into somebody) when she has always held back on her feelings and suffered every indignation with a quiet dignity. Gwen knows Arthur very well and understands that he is being manipulated. I think she believed in her heart that he would come around, and if he didn’t, then “he’s not the man she knows” and she wouldn’t want to be with him anyway. I doubt very much Gwen would want Arthur if she thought there was a chance in Hades that he’d become Uther.
As a fan of the Gwen/Arthur relationship I was glad to see where they stood, even if the interaction wasn’t perfect. Would I have liked the rift between them to go on longer, yes for dramatic purposes, I think there is a lot to mine in a breakup, but with only 13 episodes that arc couldn’t be explored properly anyway so it’s better to just move on from it. Don’t forget, in that missing year between Season Two and Season Three Arthur and Gwen were not together, despite them basically declaring their love at the end of Season Two, and the writers choose not to show that angst and leave what happened between them in the unseen year, so they are not trying to go there.
Speaking of Gwen, why is she still a servant? Elyan got knighted for basically the same thing that Gwen did --- helping Arthur regain Camelot, yet the men get a title and I am presuming an income while Gwen gets to continue to scrub floors and empty chamber pots???? Shouldn’t she have gotten a bump in station? Then again, Merlin never gets rewarded for saving Arthur and being the best BFF Bodyguard a Princeling turned King ever had. Even though, they are the people that Arthur are closets too I wonder if on some level he feels that because they are servants they owe him their loyalty?
Speaking of Elyan what is his relationship with Gwen? He ran off with not a word before the series began, he only came back after Arthur made it very comfortable for him to do so; he hid while Gwen was in the castle during last season’s attack and he seems to barely talk to Gwen, let alone provide for her. Is he busy or just self-absorbed?
Was I the only one that found it funny that the invading army was made up of a bunch of long haired, dirty looking, grunting barbarians while Arthur and his men are almost clean and sparkly looking?
So, Cenred is dead; Arthur killed Odin’s son, presumably leaving him without an heir; Arthur killed Caerleon, presumably leaving him without an heir; wow his road to High King just keeps getting easier doesn’t it?
Speaking of Odin, Odin sends an assassin to Camelot and literally kills the king in his own chambers and Arthur doesn’t go after him? Why? That to me would have been a justifiable show of force and a clear message not to mess with him unless you wanted to get dealt with!
