Merlin: Finally seen the finale

[daibhidc]

That was pretty impressive. Whatever else this season's done, it's certainly shaken up the Season 1 status quo.

Merlin and Arthur search for the last Dragonlord, the only person who can talk the dragon out of attacking Camelot, who turns out to be Merlin's father (for anyone wondering, this is new; Geoffey of Monmouth didn't go into detail regarding Merlin's parentage, and later writers made him the son of the Devil). He is, understandably unwilling to help Uther (who considers the Dragonlord powers to be sorcery), but Merlin convinces him to help the ordinary people of Camelot. Then he sacrifices himself to save Merlin from enemy soldiers. Helpfully, his death triggers Merlin inheriting his powers, and he's able to make the dragon leave. The dragon thanks him for his mercy, and says they'll meet again.

And Arthur, of course, misses all of this owing to being unconscious, and believes he killed the dragon.

So, by the end of this season, we've had the secondary female lead undergo a Heel Face Turn, and the Trickster Mentor become the villain of the finale and then leave. It's safe to say neither of them will be regulars next year.

So, whither Season 3? My guess: Morguase gets established as the Big Bad, replacing Nimueh. The dragon appears in two midseason episodes, largely to keep insisting Morgana needs to die. Morgana herself is conflicted, but eventually aligns herself completely with Morguase (or else there's a conflict between Morguase and Mordred, and Morgana finds herself betraying her sister as well). And, given the series's fondness for shaking up the status quo, I'm going to go out on a limb and predict the finale will involve either Uther's death, Arthur learning Merlin's secret, or both.

Comments

[rhiannon-s.livejournal.com]

I always thought merlin was the son of an incubus rather than the devil, but I guess a lot of ye olde time writers didn't bother with such finicky details.

[silly-swordsman.livejournal.com]

In some high medieval stories, Merlin is the offspring of a (rather than the) demon/devil/incubus raping a nun. The holiness and innocence of the mother ensured the child was born with a soul, and thus given the ability to choose between right and wrong.