"There must be another Arthur, because this one's an idiot."

[daibhidc]

Just seen the first episode of BBC 1's Merlin, clearly written with the same care and attention to historic detail as Robin Hood...

Actually, it wasn't bad (but then, I liked Robin Hood). I already knew that Arthur and Merlin were going to be about the same age, but I was a bit thrown by Arthur's first appearance. Obviously, he's the kid (still unaware of his true destiny) being forced to carry a shield about, who Merlin leaps to the defence of, and the swaggering bully throwing knives at it must be Kay. Nope, Prince Arthur's the knife-thrower, the medieval equivilent of a Jerk Jock.

Uther Pendragon is still alive (no kingless decades, but then, no missing heir either), has banned magic on pain of death, and is clearly hoping to match Arthur up with his ward, Morgan. Morgan's maidservent Guenevere, on the other hand, seems to be getting set up for a "will-they won't-they" with Merlin. Morgan isn't interested in Arthur, and so far hasn't met Merlin at all.

And Merlin is getting advice from both the castle herbalist, Gaius (possibly based on Blaise), and a dragon Uther has imprisoned beneath Camelot (almost certainly a twist on the dragons of Dinas Emrys).

I enjoyed it. I've read enough Arthurian literature to know that just about everything is fluid (and if I hadn't, I'm sure scarfman would remind me). The storytelling seems fairly solid, the acting's pretty good (Tony Head's Uther and Richard Wilson's Gaius are a delight, obviously, but the younger main cast isn't bad either) and the difference between the setup here and the standard version mean that I have absolutely no idea where it's going next.

Comments

[daibhid-c.livejournal.com]

I knew some versions did that, but I'd forgotten Sword In The Stone was one of them (must reread).

I'm not sure I ever had a clear idea of how long Uther had been dead in the baseline arc of KAITOS. In the contemporary arc, I assumed he'd died shortly after Arthur was born and that's why Arthur was fostered. And in the space arc, of course, he died shortly after Arthur's birth, but Arthur was 15 thanks to time travel.

In Merlin though, there's no fostering. Arthur is the king's son and everybody knows it. Especially Arthur.

[scarfman]

Actually in AKOTAS Uther dies just before Arthur is of age to ascend to the throne, but before Arthur can get to know him, in the baseline and and space arcs. Start here and read for about a week's worth.

Usually Arthur is fostered less because Uther has died than because his birth is too soon to be quite proper and/or to keep the heir away from the dangers of court.

[daibhid-c.livejournal.com]

Ah, right. Space-arc Merlin goes back in time to get the infant Arthur, and then puts him back in the time period he found him. I must have misunderstood that bit first time round.