daibhidc | Merlin - A Herald of a New Age

Okay, so this is what, the fourth Not Himself plot we've had since this season started? Mind-controlled Merlin, enthralled knights. came-back-wrong Lancelot, and now possessed Elyan.

Actually, the interesting bit is that the other knights believe it's perfectly understandable for Elyan to want to kill Arthur. I think this is the first story focusing on him, and naturally it comes straight after his sister was banished. Meanwhile Arthur is moping about for much the same reason.

The twist at the end was nicely done. Merlin, and the audience, assume that the ghost wants revenge on "the king" for something Uther's done, and doesn't care who it is. But it turns out that he specifically wants revenge on Arthur. And Auther's genuine penance for his actions is enough to free it.

...And then there's a Mood Whiplash jump to the requisite Arthur-insulting-Merlin ending. Ah, well.

Mythwatch: The "druidic shrine" appears very similar to a clootie well, although the only similarity in effect is that it contains a spirit, and the cloots are there for "healing"; in this case of the land rather than the supplicant.

Gwaine refers to having a sister who's "a toad". In the legends he has a sister called Cundrie, about whom I know precisely nothing except that she's not the Cundrie in Percival's story.