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nyxelestiaYou have no idea how embarassed I am about having forgotten to actually post this thing after writing it! Well, here it is now, if only so I have a solid 'chain' of analyses to work with in the long run.
I'm baaaaaack!
And, I must start by saying, YES, this is my favorite episode in the entire damn show, to date! C'mon - who's with me?
Anywho...analysis!
Morgause was just shown doing some kind of spell or enchantment thing, and something which needs to be noted are what she said: "Arthur Pendragon...a great destiny awaits you...the battle for your soul is about to begin." Keep that mind, because I swear I'm going somewhere with that.
Now, we know this episode has a lot to do with honor and the power of your word. It's one of the main key themes in here, and we see it in the way Uther's lecturing the new knights about it in the beginning. They have to keep their word.
And lucky them, the first thing they see as knights is a test to that oath of honor - Arthur takes up a challenge from a stranger, and keeps to it no matter what.
Uther and Arthur are immediately suspicious of her, both as a woman and as a stranger, but because there are no rules to use against her, Arthur has to fight her. Even after he sends Merlin off to her to try and persuade her to change her mind, they ultimately still fight.
On a somewhat seperate note, though - we truly see just how much their trust is back when Arthur sends Merlin off to talk to her. Asking anyone to talk to Morgause about retracting the challenge would require an incredible amount of trust, as things would turn out very badly for Arthur if this were to become public.
Back to the main point: Morgause and Arthur fight. And damn, she is good with a sword. :D (Finally, the show gets a little less feminist!fail - now if they can just bring power!Morgana back, we'd be all good.) Of course, she has every chance to kill Arthur - as is her right as his challenger and expected - but extracts his word to agree to her next challenge, instead. She clearly knows how much his word means to him, for she stands a much better chance of getting him to promise to agree, if she wants to challenge him on a personal basis, than just challenging him outright in private, when his honor could take a hit and he could withdraw should he refuse her challenge or withdraw - especially upon finding out she was a sorceress.
Now, Gaius is suspicious of Morgause almost instantly, and we see something involving her bracelet - which is not helped when Morgana wanders in, and Morgause offers up her bracelet as a healing bracelet to help her sleep. Morgana declines it - probably sensing something's off about it as much as Morgause, herself - and Morgause shows the first signs of knowing something more when she desperately asks Morgana to remember her fondly.
A moment later, we see Morgause casting a spell while Morgana's dreaming, and we see Morgana calm down. Apparently, whatever this bracelet is, it works - Morgana sleeps well.
The next morning, Arthur reverts to his noble raising and, despite his resent, congratulates Morgause on her victory. (We also see the show's return to its feministic tendencies with Arthur trying to treat her well, despite her winnings, and pointing out to the small children viewers that someone's gender doesn't have to effect their place in society, and it's only our reactions that create these paradigms in the first place - yay for the return of the feminism!) Morgause casts on a spell on the horse - and right in front of Arthur, which just goes to show how dim Arthur is.
She calls Arthur a man of honor - which, despite his asshole tendencies, is actually quite true and a foreshadowing to what kind of king he is - and tells him that he inherited that trait from his mother. His instant reaction shows just how much his mother matters to him. Morguase knew her very well, and Arthur tries to get her to wait.
Back in Morgana's chambers, we see that she has slept quite well, and was appropriately creeped out by the bracelet. Knowing of her own magic, she is likely starting to suspect that there's magic afoot concerning this - not to mention she's also probably creeped out by the thought that someone could get into her room at night without her knowing.
Uther and Arthur are then seen arguing about Morgause and his mother. Uther immediately jumps on the excuse that she's lying and probably a sorceress - the universal scapegoat. Arthur, however, says he thinks she's genuine - and we see the signs of him just 'bearing through it' when Uther starts saying she used magic to win. Arthur really cares about his honor and the power of his word when he insists on going to meet her. We also see how he ends up not believing Uther about her lying when he starts saying it just a little too forcefully and has Arthur confined to his chambers for his actions.
And yay for the adventure boys: Merlin catches on quite quickly that they are going to end up going, anyway. This is actually a great show of trust on Arthur's part, along with showing how much these boys are willing to depend on each in the way Arthur already knows Merlin's going to help him. And, yay for the magic roperaping teasing bugging Merlin! (Oh, come on, you know you were thinking that!) And, random: anyone else think the look on Arthur's face was just a little too joyful at seeing Merlin in all that rope? :D
Anyway, cue Merlin wearing leather gloves (yay!), Arthur dubiously trusting Merlin (yay!) and landing in manure (payback for Merlin landing in that manure!). And, we also see how despite all his power, Merlin's still fairly useless when it comes to thinking ahead and having enough foresight to factor in the height of the tower when getting the rope.
But, hey, they manage.
So, we see princely Arthur pretending to know where to go, and hear magic-y background sounds when the horse picks his own direction. Back on the farm, Gaius knows the boys well enough that as soon as Merlin's found missing, his next stop is Arthur.
Continuing on, Merlin is steadily making Arthur nervous with his 'rabbiting on' - and sounding rather adorably like a little kid in the process - and Arthur still intends to go on. Made of steel, that man (and not just his buns!).
Yay for random attack by sloppy knights and Merlin using his magic without Arthur noticing and not getting for the credit. A continued addition to Merlin being overworked and under-appreciated? Who knows.
When Merlin argues against Arthur and says that they should go back, the mention of Arthur's mother is what stops him.
In Camelot, Gaius sees the bracelet and hears how it helped Morgana. He looks suspicious, and Morgana doesn't notice. Oh, dear...
And back to the boys! We get a wonderfully heartbreaking conversation between the boys about their parents. Arthur knows nothing about his mother thanks to Uther, though clearly he still misses her from the wounded-puppy look on his face. The sense that she's a part of him might be hinting at her life being sacrificed for his. We also see the start of a mismatching story - here, Arthur says that Igraine died before he even opened his eyes. Later, she says that the best moments of her life were when he opened his eyes. Is this Uther lying, or Morgause? We also find out Merlin never knew his father - possibly foreshadowing, as there have been some rumors about Merlin's dad showing up later on in the series. Either way, this love of a lost parent is what convinces Merlin to go along with Arthur's insanity.
Back home, we find out Morgause is Morgana's half-sister. All of a sudden, their magic is making sense. Uther's worry concerning his ward is brought into the light, and Morgause's intentions, as well. (Also, apparently Gorlois had a little trouble keeping things in his pants, and was apparently the source of the magic as he's the common parent - all the people who love Merlin being Morgana's illegitimate half-brother, rejoice!) We also see why Morgause might want to kill Uther, for trying to kill her as a baby and separating her from her sissy in the process. Gaius and Uther's relationship is brought back into focus, as well, in how Gaius can't even look at Uther while explaining everything to her.
And switching back to the boys! We see yet more incidence of how Merlin, the common country boy, rides better than the prince he serves.
Cue in foreboding scene with the first thing in Morgause's castle being an axe on a chopping block. She comes in well dressed, again, and seems to almost chop off his head, with Merlin ready to expose his magic to save Arthur. Luckily, she was just testing him. Yippee! She grants Arthur a wish for his honor, though it's rather clear she knows exactly what he'll ask for.
Insert random time elapse, and yay for Sir Leon!
When Merlin worries about this, Arthur invokes Merlin's father to get him to shut up. And, the we see the hope rise right in Merlin's face when Arthur admits to thinking that it might just be possible that not all magic users are evil. Oh, poor boy.
And then, poor Arthur - the look on his face when he sees his mummy is just so heart-warming and -breaking at the same time, and the way he embraces his mother is well done, entirely reminiscent of a young child seeking comfort from their mother when hurt, holding onto their mother tightly and burying their faces in to spare one moment from their troubles.
This is where the mismatching stories come into play: the first thing she remembers about Arthur are his eyes - which means he had, in fact, opened them before she died.
One of the first things Arthur says to her is an apology. Here, we see his grief is dramatically compounded by guilt, as he believes that because she died of childbirth, he killed his mother. It's a hard burden for any kid to bear, thinking they killed their own mothers.
She immediately disabuses him of that notion, for what might possibly be a worse one: his father, the lying hypocrite, used magic and sacrificed his mother's life for him, all for the sake of the Pendragon dynasty.
This is the part where the writers tactfully leave the truth vague - did Igraine simply die not knowing what happened and make her own assumptions in the afterlife? Is this all actually a trick by Morgause? Was Igraine manipulated by Morgause? Either way, Arthur's desperate and heartbroken all at once, and Merlin gets some new light shed on things, if the expression on his face when Igraine said "Nimueh" was anything to go by.
The chat with Igraine ends, and we all get a universal moments of wantingMerlin to give Arthur a damn big hug, because of the heartbroken look on his face.
It doesn't help that Morgause is immediately and rather blatantly twisting her supposedly innocuous words to blame Uther for Igraine's death, complete with calling it an unforgivable betrayal. Arthur's mind is clear as he ignores Merlin's questioning about if he's okay and immediately wants to get home. And, of course, he does, rather sloppily on his part and hilariously smoothly on Merlin's.
Once they get back, Arthur ignores everything and everyone around him as he stalks to his father. Merlin, for his part, seem to immediately be able to sense that whatever's going on, Gaius was a part of it. Arthur stalks right into the council room and doesn't even seem to care that there's a knight there as he starts this fight with Uther.
And man, what a fight it is! Arthur's accusing Uther of hypocrisy, lying, and lacking honor and the power of his word, and of murdering hundreds to ease his own guilt and hunt down an entire "race" of people like animals. The passion and fury and rage and grief and general hurricane of emotions in his voice really gives me a brand-new respect for Bradley James as an actor.
In the next moment, Arthur challenge his own father. As they are royalty, what Arthur is essentially doing is challenging his father for the crown - especially if it's a fight to the death. Uther refuses to pick it up - incidentally, an actually rather severe violation of honor in terms of the Knights' Code - and Arthur is about ready to kill him, anyway.
But Uther isn't ready to die. Cue in epic swordfight, and Merlin running and arriving just in the nick of time as Arthur gets his father in a vulnerable position. His father is the reason his mother is a live, that hundreds of innocent people are dead, and Merlin immediately catches on to Arthur's true grief and emotional state by asking him if he was really willing to lose his last parent.
When Arthur is too caught up in all the wrong doing Merlin breaks his own heart and tells him that Morgause is lying - because she's a sorceress. Here Arthur is put in an incredibly tough position - either Morgause was telling the truth, and his father is a lying hypocrite who killed his mother and hundreds of other people, and Arthur never saw his mother, the one thing he's always wanted...or if Morgause is lying, then Arthur killed his own mother.
Poor boy. Once Uther swears that he loved Igraine - and we all noticed that he didn't swear to not killing her - Arthur chooses to believe he killed his own mother. And as much as we might hate Uther, we see the father in him for just a moment, and how much, regardless of what's done, he still loves his son more than anything else.
Now we get a wonderful snapshot of Arthur brooding by his window - he certainly does this a lot, doesn't he? - and thinks he compliments Merlin by owing him another debt, and saying that magic really was evil - and this time, because of how much it hurt him purposefully, Arthur is starting to believe it, instead of just blindly following his father's orders like before.
And Merlin has to pretend to be happy about this, while knowing that telling Arthur the truth is going to be all that much harder, now that he, himself, was the one to help convince Arthur about magic's evil. The look on his face is heartbreaking. This is really a "cuddle Merlin!" worthy moment.
Uther, himself, comes to thank Merlin in person for what he did - and it says a lot right there, that he's noticing Merlin at all, let alone thanking him. And then, of course, calling him a trusted ally in the fight against magic - oh, dear, poor Merlin. He's being grafted as so against the very thing he is! This is going to make his big reveal one day very interesting, y/y?
Luckily, the episode ends on a much more humorous note, with Merlin being thanked by the entire royal family (as much as we love Morgana, she isn't technically a princess), and Gaius being proud of Merlin...he really does seem quite popular. Yay for the poor boy.
And now, I'm off to write the review for episode 209. Enjoy!
I'm baaaaaack!
And, I must start by saying, YES, this is my favorite episode in the entire damn show, to date! C'mon - who's with me?
Anywho...analysis!
Morgause was just shown doing some kind of spell or enchantment thing, and something which needs to be noted are what she said: "Arthur Pendragon...a great destiny awaits you...the battle for your soul is about to begin." Keep that mind, because I swear I'm going somewhere with that.
Now, we know this episode has a lot to do with honor and the power of your word. It's one of the main key themes in here, and we see it in the way Uther's lecturing the new knights about it in the beginning. They have to keep their word.
And lucky them, the first thing they see as knights is a test to that oath of honor - Arthur takes up a challenge from a stranger, and keeps to it no matter what.
Uther and Arthur are immediately suspicious of her, both as a woman and as a stranger, but because there are no rules to use against her, Arthur has to fight her. Even after he sends Merlin off to her to try and persuade her to change her mind, they ultimately still fight.
On a somewhat seperate note, though - we truly see just how much their trust is back when Arthur sends Merlin off to talk to her. Asking anyone to talk to Morgause about retracting the challenge would require an incredible amount of trust, as things would turn out very badly for Arthur if this were to become public.
Back to the main point: Morgause and Arthur fight. And damn, she is good with a sword. :D (Finally, the show gets a little less feminist!fail - now if they can just bring power!Morgana back, we'd be all good.) Of course, she has every chance to kill Arthur - as is her right as his challenger and expected - but extracts his word to agree to her next challenge, instead. She clearly knows how much his word means to him, for she stands a much better chance of getting him to promise to agree, if she wants to challenge him on a personal basis, than just challenging him outright in private, when his honor could take a hit and he could withdraw should he refuse her challenge or withdraw - especially upon finding out she was a sorceress.
Now, Gaius is suspicious of Morgause almost instantly, and we see something involving her bracelet - which is not helped when Morgana wanders in, and Morgause offers up her bracelet as a healing bracelet to help her sleep. Morgana declines it - probably sensing something's off about it as much as Morgause, herself - and Morgause shows the first signs of knowing something more when she desperately asks Morgana to remember her fondly.
A moment later, we see Morgause casting a spell while Morgana's dreaming, and we see Morgana calm down. Apparently, whatever this bracelet is, it works - Morgana sleeps well.
The next morning, Arthur reverts to his noble raising and, despite his resent, congratulates Morgause on her victory. (We also see the show's return to its feministic tendencies with Arthur trying to treat her well, despite her winnings, and pointing out to the small children viewers that someone's gender doesn't have to effect their place in society, and it's only our reactions that create these paradigms in the first place - yay for the return of the feminism!) Morgause casts on a spell on the horse - and right in front of Arthur, which just goes to show how dim Arthur is.
She calls Arthur a man of honor - which, despite his asshole tendencies, is actually quite true and a foreshadowing to what kind of king he is - and tells him that he inherited that trait from his mother. His instant reaction shows just how much his mother matters to him. Morguase knew her very well, and Arthur tries to get her to wait.
Back in Morgana's chambers, we see that she has slept quite well, and was appropriately creeped out by the bracelet. Knowing of her own magic, she is likely starting to suspect that there's magic afoot concerning this - not to mention she's also probably creeped out by the thought that someone could get into her room at night without her knowing.
Uther and Arthur are then seen arguing about Morgause and his mother. Uther immediately jumps on the excuse that she's lying and probably a sorceress - the universal scapegoat. Arthur, however, says he thinks she's genuine - and we see the signs of him just 'bearing through it' when Uther starts saying she used magic to win. Arthur really cares about his honor and the power of his word when he insists on going to meet her. We also see how he ends up not believing Uther about her lying when he starts saying it just a little too forcefully and has Arthur confined to his chambers for his actions.
And yay for the adventure boys: Merlin catches on quite quickly that they are going to end up going, anyway. This is actually a great show of trust on Arthur's part, along with showing how much these boys are willing to depend on each in the way Arthur already knows Merlin's going to help him. And, yay for the magic rope
Anyway, cue Merlin wearing leather gloves (yay!), Arthur dubiously trusting Merlin (yay!) and landing in manure (payback for Merlin landing in that manure!). And, we also see how despite all his power, Merlin's still fairly useless when it comes to thinking ahead and having enough foresight to factor in the height of the tower when getting the rope.
But, hey, they manage.
So, we see princely Arthur pretending to know where to go, and hear magic-y background sounds when the horse picks his own direction. Back on the farm, Gaius knows the boys well enough that as soon as Merlin's found missing, his next stop is Arthur.
Continuing on, Merlin is steadily making Arthur nervous with his 'rabbiting on' - and sounding rather adorably like a little kid in the process - and Arthur still intends to go on. Made of steel, that man (and not just his buns!).
Yay for random attack by sloppy knights and Merlin using his magic without Arthur noticing and not getting for the credit. A continued addition to Merlin being overworked and under-appreciated? Who knows.
When Merlin argues against Arthur and says that they should go back, the mention of Arthur's mother is what stops him.
In Camelot, Gaius sees the bracelet and hears how it helped Morgana. He looks suspicious, and Morgana doesn't notice. Oh, dear...
And back to the boys! We get a wonderfully heartbreaking conversation between the boys about their parents. Arthur knows nothing about his mother thanks to Uther, though clearly he still misses her from the wounded-puppy look on his face. The sense that she's a part of him might be hinting at her life being sacrificed for his. We also see the start of a mismatching story - here, Arthur says that Igraine died before he even opened his eyes. Later, she says that the best moments of her life were when he opened his eyes. Is this Uther lying, or Morgause? We also find out Merlin never knew his father - possibly foreshadowing, as there have been some rumors about Merlin's dad showing up later on in the series. Either way, this love of a lost parent is what convinces Merlin to go along with Arthur's insanity.
Back home, we find out Morgause is Morgana's half-sister. All of a sudden, their magic is making sense. Uther's worry concerning his ward is brought into the light, and Morgause's intentions, as well. (Also, apparently Gorlois had a little trouble keeping things in his pants, and was apparently the source of the magic as he's the common parent - all the people who love Merlin being Morgana's illegitimate half-brother, rejoice!) We also see why Morgause might want to kill Uther, for trying to kill her as a baby and separating her from her sissy in the process. Gaius and Uther's relationship is brought back into focus, as well, in how Gaius can't even look at Uther while explaining everything to her.
And switching back to the boys! We see yet more incidence of how Merlin, the common country boy, rides better than the prince he serves.
Cue in foreboding scene with the first thing in Morgause's castle being an axe on a chopping block. She comes in well dressed, again, and seems to almost chop off his head, with Merlin ready to expose his magic to save Arthur. Luckily, she was just testing him. Yippee! She grants Arthur a wish for his honor, though it's rather clear she knows exactly what he'll ask for.
Insert random time elapse, and yay for Sir Leon!
When Merlin worries about this, Arthur invokes Merlin's father to get him to shut up. And, the we see the hope rise right in Merlin's face when Arthur admits to thinking that it might just be possible that not all magic users are evil. Oh, poor boy.
And then, poor Arthur - the look on his face when he sees his mummy is just so heart-warming and -breaking at the same time, and the way he embraces his mother is well done, entirely reminiscent of a young child seeking comfort from their mother when hurt, holding onto their mother tightly and burying their faces in to spare one moment from their troubles.
This is where the mismatching stories come into play: the first thing she remembers about Arthur are his eyes - which means he had, in fact, opened them before she died.
One of the first things Arthur says to her is an apology. Here, we see his grief is dramatically compounded by guilt, as he believes that because she died of childbirth, he killed his mother. It's a hard burden for any kid to bear, thinking they killed their own mothers.
She immediately disabuses him of that notion, for what might possibly be a worse one: his father, the lying hypocrite, used magic and sacrificed his mother's life for him, all for the sake of the Pendragon dynasty.
This is the part where the writers tactfully leave the truth vague - did Igraine simply die not knowing what happened and make her own assumptions in the afterlife? Is this all actually a trick by Morgause? Was Igraine manipulated by Morgause? Either way, Arthur's desperate and heartbroken all at once, and Merlin gets some new light shed on things, if the expression on his face when Igraine said "Nimueh" was anything to go by.
The chat with Igraine ends, and we all get a universal moments of wanting
It doesn't help that Morgause is immediately and rather blatantly twisting her supposedly innocuous words to blame Uther for Igraine's death, complete with calling it an unforgivable betrayal. Arthur's mind is clear as he ignores Merlin's questioning about if he's okay and immediately wants to get home. And, of course, he does, rather sloppily on his part and hilariously smoothly on Merlin's.
Once they get back, Arthur ignores everything and everyone around him as he stalks to his father. Merlin, for his part, seem to immediately be able to sense that whatever's going on, Gaius was a part of it. Arthur stalks right into the council room and doesn't even seem to care that there's a knight there as he starts this fight with Uther.
And man, what a fight it is! Arthur's accusing Uther of hypocrisy, lying, and lacking honor and the power of his word, and of murdering hundreds to ease his own guilt and hunt down an entire "race" of people like animals. The passion and fury and rage and grief and general hurricane of emotions in his voice really gives me a brand-new respect for Bradley James as an actor.
In the next moment, Arthur challenge his own father. As they are royalty, what Arthur is essentially doing is challenging his father for the crown - especially if it's a fight to the death. Uther refuses to pick it up - incidentally, an actually rather severe violation of honor in terms of the Knights' Code - and Arthur is about ready to kill him, anyway.
But Uther isn't ready to die. Cue in epic swordfight, and Merlin running and arriving just in the nick of time as Arthur gets his father in a vulnerable position. His father is the reason his mother is a live, that hundreds of innocent people are dead, and Merlin immediately catches on to Arthur's true grief and emotional state by asking him if he was really willing to lose his last parent.
When Arthur is too caught up in all the wrong doing Merlin breaks his own heart and tells him that Morgause is lying - because she's a sorceress. Here Arthur is put in an incredibly tough position - either Morgause was telling the truth, and his father is a lying hypocrite who killed his mother and hundreds of other people, and Arthur never saw his mother, the one thing he's always wanted...or if Morgause is lying, then Arthur killed his own mother.
Poor boy. Once Uther swears that he loved Igraine - and we all noticed that he didn't swear to not killing her - Arthur chooses to believe he killed his own mother. And as much as we might hate Uther, we see the father in him for just a moment, and how much, regardless of what's done, he still loves his son more than anything else.
Now we get a wonderful snapshot of Arthur brooding by his window - he certainly does this a lot, doesn't he? - and thinks he compliments Merlin by owing him another debt, and saying that magic really was evil - and this time, because of how much it hurt him purposefully, Arthur is starting to believe it, instead of just blindly following his father's orders like before.
And Merlin has to pretend to be happy about this, while knowing that telling Arthur the truth is going to be all that much harder, now that he, himself, was the one to help convince Arthur about magic's evil. The look on his face is heartbreaking. This is really a "cuddle Merlin!" worthy moment.
Uther, himself, comes to thank Merlin in person for what he did - and it says a lot right there, that he's noticing Merlin at all, let alone thanking him. And then, of course, calling him a trusted ally in the fight against magic - oh, dear, poor Merlin. He's being grafted as so against the very thing he is! This is going to make his big reveal one day very interesting, y/y?
Luckily, the episode ends on a much more humorous note, with Merlin being thanked by the entire royal family (as much as we love Morgana, she isn't technically a princess), and Gaius being proud of Merlin...he really does seem quite popular. Yay for the poor boy.
And now, I'm off to write the review for episode 209. Enjoy!
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no subject
Date: 2009-11-22 04:51 pm (UTC)SO true and SO tragic. *wails*
no subject
Date: 2009-11-22 05:44 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-11-22 10:20 pm (UTC):D