3.01: The Tears of Uther Pendragon (Part 1)

[ctg]

It has been a year since Lady Morgana disappeared and no trace of her has been found, as the fantasy drama starring Colin Morgan, Bradley James, Anthony Head and Richard Wilson returns for a new series.

Just as it seems all hope is lost, Merlin and Arthur pick up a trail. Set upon by bandits it seems they may perish but Merlin's secret magic saves the day. As the dust settles, a mysterious, bruised and bloodied figure approaches the group: it's Lady Morgana.

Camelot rejoices at her return but Merlin is worried that Morgana will remember the circumstances of their last meeting and tell King Uther that he tried to kill her. The King will not understand that he did it to save Camelot from Morgana's half-sister, sorceress Morgause's deadly enchantment; Merlin would be executed on the spot.

Morgana promises Merlin that she has learnt the error of her ways and repents for the evil things she has done. Morgause no longer has any hold over her and Morgana forgives Merlin and promises to keep his secret.

Uther and Morgana enjoy a tearful reunion. The King is delighted that his ward has returned and immediately announces a banquet in her honour. But is there more to her return than meets the eye?


As the evil magic begins to take hold of Uther's mind, Gaius urges Arthur to take command and Merlin begins to suspect that Morgana's repentance is not all it seems. Can Merlin find out what is really going on before Camelot is cast into the greatest peril it has ever known?


- BBC Press Office

Let the speculation begin.

 

[Dave]

I enjoyed it as usual, and it left me wanting more, but I did have reservations:

I was disappointed at the apparent reset button that made like nothing had happened last Season, but I guess that was necessary to get Morgana back into the castle, and Morgana plotting on the inside is much preferable to her being an outsider.

Emilia Fox is great and we need to see more Morgause.

An attempted Murder on a guard who will be able to positively identify the traitor within the castle when he recovers - but no guards on his hospital bed??? Please!

Arthur is still very, very dumb; why anyone would want him as their King is odd. It was interesting how Uther's magical possession and its effects on those around him was written as a mental illness - almost like he had dementia.

Do the giant Scorpions mean that this world is definitely some fantasy alternative universe? From the first Season I had thought it would be a re-telling of Arthurian legend set in the English past, but the number of fantastic creatures is growing weekly. Then again, Magical warfare and Dragons don't exist today either. If Merlin really existed, I would see him more of a Gaius character - a scientist and alchemist - rather than as a Warlock.

Merlin calling upon the Dragon to help him - I hope that isn't going to happen very often - I see it becoming a 'get out of jail card' much like Doctor Who's sonic screwdriver - and it is a little too easy.

 

[Mouse]

Gah I missed it! Forgot it was on. Not going to read Dave's post yet... I'll have to iPlayer it.

 

[purple_kathryn]

I sort of wish Uther Pendragon would just die, the whole "I've gotta hide my magic" thing is getting abit tiring

Although Merlin seems to be getting more careless about it

 

[Mouse]

So I watched it on the iPlayer. I think the Morgana evil looks were a bit overdone, weren't they?! She's evil, we get it!

Why is she randomly evil, by the way?

I think Arthur was a major bully in this ep!

 

[Pyan]

An attempted Murder on a guard who will be able to positively identify the traitor within the castle when he recovers - but no guards on his hospital bed??? Please!

He had to die, so that there would be a gap in the castle's sentry system for Morgana (wearing a bright green dress), inexpertly followed by Merlin, would be able to just walk straight out of the place into the woods without being challenged in any way...

I'm just surprised he wasn't wearing a red tunic...

 

[Perpetual Man]

I quite enjoyed the episode, and putting the story aside felt that the whole thing had a different feel about it, looked different. Yeah there was a little bit of the reset button being used, but not too much, I thought it was continuing and developing rather than resetting.

The dragon coming when Merlin called just seemed to me to be part of him being the Dragon Lord now, and getting the all new evil lady Morgana into the castle again was all part of the necessary story development. She has been so overly evil I wonder how long she can keep it hidden.

Obviously still a long way to go but I think it is a good starting point for the new series

Why is she randomly evil, by the way?

In (most) Arthurian legend Morgana (Morgan le Fey) has always been an evil character, so it's always been a question of when was she going to go evil rather than a sudden thing happening. In this instance she started to change for the worse about midway through season two, climaxing at the end of the season. (I think)

 

[Pyan]

Why is she randomly evil, by the way?

Traditionally, it could have something to do with Uther killing her father, marrying her mother, betrothing her to a much older man (Urien, Uther's ally), and being expelled from Court by Guinevere...

 

[Ursa major]

...although in this case, she seems to be being foxed.


I quite liked the episode, though I don't think much of the maid service in the King's quarters. (Was the scene with Merlin cleaning the floor of Arthur's chambers a knowing wink at this problem by the writer, or the revenge of their subconscious?)


And yes, the wandering in and out of Camelot is irritating, but as it happens in more than half the episodes, I've learned to put up with it. One might see it as an extreme example of the way servants are meant to ignore the behaviour of their "betters", in which case the guard stopping Morgana on the parapet might have been another (un)conscious comment on the plot by the writer.

 

[Mouse]

Oh yeah, I know Morgana was evil in the actual King Arthur story, but it just seems to be a bit random in the TV series!

 

[Ursa major]

Morgana is in a rather dodgy position. Her guardian loves her as his daughter - to the extent he neglects his kingdom in order to find her - and yet would likely have her killed if he thought she had magical powers. Unlike, say, Merlin, she cannot leave to be forgotten.

Some might see that as a (psychologically) abusive relationship.

 

[Perpetual Man]

Oh yeah, I know Morgana was evil in the actual King Arthur story, but it just seems to be a bit random in the TV series!

Sorry Mouse, I did realise exactly want you meant a bit after I replied!

I presume as far as the series goes, the fall to the dark side, is more to do with her growing magical abilities, and the persecution pf such that she sees going on around her.

Uther is constantly ramming it down everyone's throats that magic is evil and every one with it must be destroyed, and that's the main cause of her fall. I can't say that it is done well, but then with only an finite amount of TV time and few episode compared to most US shows, perhaps the development of sub plots has to be rushed!

 

[Connavar]

I thought it was pretty good ep because finally there are some big changes with Morgana being evil, that will make it sooner so Merlin can fight other people with magic,they know he is more than just a servant. Morguse,Morgana must know who he is soon.

The only thing i dont like,what is get tiring is the fact Merlin is still just a servant to his enemies. How can you be so blind to a servant that is so brave,heroic while he has no martial skills. It should scream magic with all the times he has foiled magic by bad guys.

 

[Ursa major]

And if Arthur really wants Merlin to be brave in battle, some armour and/or mail wouldn't go amiss. (With all those dead soldiers about, there must be a suit available in Merlin's size.)

 

[Pyan]

??

Wizards don't wear armour! I mean...they're wizards...

Squishy Wizard - Television Tropes & Idioms

 

[CBellenis]

I think we're getting hints of changes to come with Merlin being irritated at Arthur after a battle, and almost explaining what he did...
If I'm right then this bodes well.

 

[ctg]

??

Wizards don't wear armour! I mean...they're wizards...

Squishy Wizard - Television Tropes & Idioms

Well, wizards don't wield swords or blunt weapons, because they should rely on staves, spectres ... and, eh... wands. Yet we find Merlin constantly in the battle scene, where he has no other choice but to utilize his powers to do some good. In this particular episode I did find it a silly that he decided to 'magnetise' the aggressor sword to his advantage. I mean, are Arthur men blind or what?

Another minus point comes from using a clan of giant scorpions. How long it takes from them to cross few meters and get the meal? Merlin in his tied down state didn't look too scary to my beady eyes, yet he managed to keep the clan in bay several hours after he got stung and fell on the ground in severe pain. Yeah, we have to remember that scorpions lethality comes in small sizes, where as larger one just hurt like hell.

But what happened at the castle was to my eyes very dramatic. In good way. And as some of us are writers, we have to remember that not all the 'evil' things that we could put in the scripts, cannot get into the flick, can they? Therefore, what happened to the sentry and more so to Uther, was all good. In long term we are going to see Arthur stepping in his father shoes, while Uther withers at the back, and die gradually.

Especially that angle would give me many things that I could personally use to write drama if I would do medieval fantasy. So let's hope that at next episode we are not going to see Uther's miraculous recovery.

 

[Dave]

...there would be a gap in the castle's sentry system... ...to just walk straight out of the place into the woods without being challenged in any way...

Well, that is likely the impact of the deep cuts made to the Camelot law enforcement budget due to Uther's sweeping spending review! Blame the Camelot Money Lenders!

 

[Mouse]

Sorry Mouse, I did realise exactly want you meant a bit after I replied!

I presume as far as the series goes, the fall to the dark side, is more to do with her growing magical abilities, and the persecution pf such that she sees going on around her.

Uther is constantly ramming it down everyone's throats that magic is evil and every one with it must be destroyed, and that's the main cause of her fall. I can't say that it is done well, but then with only an finite amount of TV time and few episode compared to most US shows, perhaps the development of sub plots has to be rushed!

Yeah I guess so. And I suppose they do say that a year has passed since she went missing. It just kinda didn't work for me.

 

[FeedMeTV]

I absolutely agree with everyone's critisicms of this episode. Morgana's evil smile appeared so often that I started laughing everytime she did it and leaving the only witness to a potential murder unguarded was utterly ridiculous and far too convenient. In fact, most things in this episode were far too convenient and the whole thing was a little disappointing. Such a shame as I was eagerly awaiting the return of this show.

The chemistry between Merlin and Arthur though is fantastic and the best scenes are always when the two are interacting. I think the arrogance of Arthur is an interesting plot point and a nice divergence from traditional legend - as well as being entirely believable; he is a prince and his father's only child, a recipe for smugness if ever there was one!

Tomorrow's episode looks much better than this one so fingers crossed for some improvement. To be honest though it would have to get an awful, awful lot worse for me to stop watching.

Edited to add: The people dripping wet from the well were awesome though! I found them really quite scary and reminiscent of the film the Ring? Creepy stuff for an early evening program. Fantastic.