Merlin again.
Nov. 14th, 2009 09:17 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
daibhidcInteresting.
I think I said last week that Morguase wouldn't be Morgana's sister, because if she was, she'd have been mentioned before now.
[Checks]
Yes, I did. Shows what I know. Curse you, Merlin writers, you're one step ahead of me again! 8-)
Another thing I've been complaining about recently, with trolls and witchfinders and so forth, is a lack of Arthuriana. Well, this episode delivers that in spades. Not only does it introduce Morguase, sorceress and swordswoman (and apparently Morgana's Half-Sister What Was Handed Over To The Old Religion And Never Mentioned Again[1]), but she gets Arthur to agree to a vow without his knowing what it is (which combined with her castle being behind an enchanted waterfall makes me wonder if in this version, she's the Lady of the Lake), and then asks him to put his head on the block to prove hinself (which is a major Arthurian concept that I'm pretty sure predates Gawain and the Green Knight).
And there's some heavy Merlin-specific continuity stuff as well, because she summons Ygraine's spirit. And Ygraine tells him about Nimueh and the pact that led to his birth. Arthur, who has already begun questioning his father's wisdom since Morguase doesn't seem to be evil, is naturally unhappy about this. He blames Uther for his mother's death, and he realises all the man's ranting about the evils of sorcery is a displacement to blame someone else for what happened to Ygraine. So he challenges his father to a duel to the death.
And then, well, Merlin has to stop Arthur killing Uther, of course, which he does by ... saying Morguase deceived him (which she may have), it wasn't the ghost of his mother (which it probably was), and everything she said was a lie (which it definitely was not)[2]. So Arthur goes back to believing all sorcerers are evil, and everything goes back to normal. (Although the ending strongly suggests Morguase will return.)
[1]We don't get told why. Come to think of it, we also don't get told which parent they share, but I assume it's Gorlois because 1) Morguase has has a braclet with the Gorlois crest and 2) In the absence of the Gorlois-Ygraine-Uther triangle, Morgana, like Red Arrow, "do[es]n't even have a story about having a mother".
[2]Although there's a nice use of Exact Words: Uther swears on his life that he loved Ygraine (true) and would never have done anything to harm her (kind of true; he didn't know the spell would kill her, but he didn't ask a lot of questions either).
I think I said last week that Morguase wouldn't be Morgana's sister, because if she was, she'd have been mentioned before now.
[Checks]
Yes, I did. Shows what I know. Curse you, Merlin writers, you're one step ahead of me again! 8-)
Another thing I've been complaining about recently, with trolls and witchfinders and so forth, is a lack of Arthuriana. Well, this episode delivers that in spades. Not only does it introduce Morguase, sorceress and swordswoman (and apparently Morgana's Half-Sister What Was Handed Over To The Old Religion And Never Mentioned Again[1]), but she gets Arthur to agree to a vow without his knowing what it is (which combined with her castle being behind an enchanted waterfall makes me wonder if in this version, she's the Lady of the Lake), and then asks him to put his head on the block to prove hinself (which is a major Arthurian concept that I'm pretty sure predates Gawain and the Green Knight).
And there's some heavy Merlin-specific continuity stuff as well, because she summons Ygraine's spirit. And Ygraine tells him about Nimueh and the pact that led to his birth. Arthur, who has already begun questioning his father's wisdom since Morguase doesn't seem to be evil, is naturally unhappy about this. He blames Uther for his mother's death, and he realises all the man's ranting about the evils of sorcery is a displacement to blame someone else for what happened to Ygraine. So he challenges his father to a duel to the death.
And then, well, Merlin has to stop Arthur killing Uther, of course, which he does by ... saying Morguase deceived him (which she may have), it wasn't the ghost of his mother (which it probably was), and everything she said was a lie (which it definitely was not)[2]. So Arthur goes back to believing all sorcerers are evil, and everything goes back to normal. (Although the ending strongly suggests Morguase will return.)
[1]We don't get told why. Come to think of it, we also don't get told which parent they share, but I assume it's Gorlois because 1) Morguase has has a braclet with the Gorlois crest and 2) In the absence of the Gorlois-Ygraine-Uther triangle, Morgana, like Red Arrow, "do[es]n't even have a story about having a mother".
[2]Although there's a nice use of Exact Words: Uther swears on his life that he loved Ygraine (true) and would never have done anything to harm her (kind of true; he didn't know the spell would kill her, but he didn't ask a lot of questions either).
