Merlin Episode 9: What Color is Your Fairy Tale?

[crabby_lioness]

This episode packed a lot of punches into a very short time, so this essay has a lot of play-by-play.  Sorry about that.

We begin with Nimue turning a dead knight into a zombie.  Cut to Arthur's 21st birthday party and investiture as Crown Prince, which if I remember correctly means he will no longer have to have a Regent appointed when his father dies but can assume the throne directly.  Why do I feel an inappropriate birthday present coming up?

(Geez hon, most people settle for a bottle of whiskey or a blow-up doll.)
 

And here's Arthur's undead birthday present (just what he always wanted, thanks) riding in, panicking the place, and casting down a gauntlet to be picked up by a young knight for a mortal duel the next morning.  It all looks very Sir Gawain and the Green Knight but not really, because  he's black not green, it's not New Year's Day, and there's no beheading game.  No, evil witches sending lethal birthday presents during state dinners is fairy tale territory (although these days we would call it "terrorism".)  This looks like the second act of Sleeping Beauty.  But that would place the first act around the time of Arthur's birth, when things -- got real interesting, yes.

The episode's only off note comes next, when Morgana challenges Arthur to call off the fight and Arthur explains the Knight's Code to her (and the audience.)  Okay, but Morgana is a knight's daughter who helped her father put on his armor.  She knows this stuff.  Someone else should have served as the audience identification figure here.  We could do with an episode that doesn't have any off notes, writers.

Both Uther and Gaius stared at the Black Knight's shield, which should be unique to one person or al least one house.  Gaius denies recognizing it when Merlin questions him later, then doublechecks with Geoffrey before telling Uther that the crest belongs to Tristan du Bois, a knight dead for 20 years.  Yeah, I know, Uther says.  I killed him.  Gaius wants to talk about that, but Uther tells him flatly that dead men don't return.  Which totally explains why Uther is jumping at shadows in a dark room with a sword at the ready.

Gaius leaves without saying another word.  Nice touch.

Next morning everyone is being nice to Sir Soon-to-be-Dead-Meat, Morgana sending him a token, Arthur lending him Merlin to help him dress and offering last-minute advice.  Surprisingly he gets in a killing shot.  Unsurprisingly it doesn't do any good against Sir Zombie, who hacks down the young knight and throws down his gauntlet in challenge again.  Arthur tries to go for it, but his father restrains him and an older knight picks it up instead.

Oh hey, Sir Zombie twirls his sword just like Arthur does.

(To the people who complain about servant Gwen sitting next to noble Morgana in the stands, a respectable unmarried lady went nowhere without her chaperon.  Gwen fills this role among others.)

Uther and Arther argue about Uther not letting Arthur fight and Sir Pelinore fighting instead.  Uther doesn't know that Sir Pelinore is injured.  Apparently Uther has completely turned the day to day running of the Knights over to Arthur.  Uther says, "It's not my fault."  What, you're King and the buck doesn't stop with you?  Just what isn't your fault, Uther?  I don't think you're talking about Sir Pelinore.

Merlin and Gaius confirm that Tristan's tomb is empty.  Merlin gets half an exposition dump about Tristan being the brother of Uther's wife Ygraine who blamed Uther for her death in childbirth, challenged him to a duel, and swore to return for Uther at his death.  Conveniently missing from this tale is why Tristan blamed Uther.  Gaius identifies Tristan as a wraith, which is basically a superzombie with a mission -- to kill Uther.  Zombie, wraith, leche -- remembering the differences is the point where I zoned out in Dungeons & Dragons so I'm just going to call him Sir Zombie.  But nice Monty Python shout-out, writers.

Okay, so Tristan is Arthur's uncle.  Why doesn't Arthur recognize his uncle's crest?  Surely as concerned with Knights as he is he would know of the ones in his family.  What kind of stories about the royals' extended family do they tell or not tell at Camelot?

And is the sword-twirling thing genetic?

Gaius reads that Sir Zombie can't be killed with a mortal weapon, which Sir Pelinor proves right before getting killed.  Uther reaches out to restrain Arthur, but this time instead of jumping Arthur throws down his own gauntlet to challenge Sir Zombie, to his father's horror.  Arthur is visibly shaking in his boots, but he's never let fear stop him before and he won't let it this time.

Then the people whose job it is to be scared for Arthur come out to have words with him, starting with his father, who wants Arthur to withdraw.  Arthur points out that that is against the rules.  "There can't be one rule for everyone else and another rule for me."  Uther doesn't care about the rules, he want things his way.  Arthur takes this as a slur against himself, but it's not.  Uther Pendragon did not go to all the trouble of carving a kingdom out of sheer and utter chaos to be told what to do.  No sir.  The whole idea behind doing all that work in the first place was that when he became King he would be able to tell other people what to do, and they would have to do it.  But it doesn't work that way.  Even kings are bound by some rules.  Uther doesn't like that one little bit.

Merlin sneaks out to try the death spell Edwin tried on Gaius on Sir Zombie.  It doesn't work.  This episode marks a turning point in Merlin's relationship with Arthur, or more precisely Merlin's relationship with his destiny as Arthur's protector.  Previously when told to do something dangerous, he's held back until reminded that it's for Arthur.  Now he's plunging headfirst into dark and dangerous magic for Arthur's sake, only to be told he's going too far too fast.

We also see for the first time other people, both Gwen and Uther, commenting on Merlin's obvious adoration of Arthur.  But the one person whose opinion on the subject we don't know is Arthur's.  In the fourth episode he saved the life of a man who saved his life even though their were no oaths between them, which is the usual trade of the Dark Ages and the Medieval Period.  Two episodes ago he manipulated Merlin's loyalty while under enchantment.  Last episode he manipulated Merlin's loyalty while not under enchantment.  But what does he really think about it?

Gaius tells Uther his findings, concluding that Arthur deserves to be info-dumped.  (It's funny how in this scene, Uther is basically haunting the dark halls of the castle like a ghost himself.)  Uther objects vehemently and threatens Gaius if he ever tells Arthur.  Uhter is all, "What's the point of being King if people won't do what I tell them?"

And what's to stop Gaius from telling Merlin to tell Arthur?

After failing to kill Sir Zombie with magic, Merlin goes to talk to Arthur.  What happens next shows that Merlin was not brought up among soldiers.  Arthur knows Sir Zombie is almost certainly going to kill him, but he's determined not to let his fear stop him from going through with the fight.  He's tense, jittery, and trying to calm his nerves with a bit of sword practice in his room.  Merlin goes over the same arguments Uther went over, trying to say that pulling out wouldn't be seen as cowardice, to no avail, and with good reason.  There are undoubtedly some who would see it as cowardice.  Arthur knows this better than anyone, because one of those people is Arthur.  Finally Merlin wins the "make Arthur lose it" sweepstakes and gets a sword waved in his face, which is as close to Arthur losing control of himself as we've ever seen Arthur get.  Yes, Arthur should not have done it, but if Merlin is going to hang out around soldiers holding weapons he needs to learn when not to push certain buttons.  Still, it says something about Arthur's opinion of Merlin that he didn't just order Merlin out of the room.  Merlin's criticism of Arthur cut Arthur too deep for mere words to serve in reply, yet Merlin is saying the same thing other people have already said to him.  That's the first hint we've seen that when Merlin says something, it means more to Arthur coming from him.  Merlin's words get under Arthur's skin as much or more than his father's words.  (He can't wave a sword at his father.  That would be treason.)  Like it or not, domestic violence often has a higher than average level of connection involved.  It also forms a parallel to Uther grabbing Morgana's throat last episode.

Back to Uther-the-living-ghost-haunting-Camelot, and isn't this how the Dragon has portrayed him?  As an old evil staining the walls with ancient wrongs and fresh blood?  He in turn is haunted/visited by Nimue and the other half of the info-dump comes out while the two of them play the blame game.  Nimue is the witch/evil fairy/terrorist in this episode, but like most terrorists, Nimue is not acting "just because they're evil and they hate democracy and they hate us for no reason whatsoever other than we're better than them." (Sorry, my 9/11 gag reflex went off there.)  Like most terrorists/freedom fighters, she blames Uther (who is, as the last episode went to some length to establish, a fascist dictator) for massacring her people, and she is justified to blame him.

But what is Uther's justification for the carnage he has wrought?  Magic must be evil because magic killed his wife.  And how did magic kill his wife?  It happened when Nimue was using it to give the barren couple a child at Uther's request.

"Once upon a time there was a king and a queen who had no children, and were desperate for a child....."  Yep, this is fairy tale territory.  Sleeping Beauty is the most famous tale with that opener, but there were dozens of others.  Ooh nice work, writers.  You not only used the fairy-tale bit to explain Arthur's birth, you also laid the groundwork for why Arthur and Guinevere won't try this stunt when their own marriage proves barren.

And Uther asked for this magic.  Even though he loved his wife dearly, he took the risk willingly.  We don't know if he didn't understand the consequences or was blind to them.  Nimue claims that she didn't understand them at the time, so he might not have either.  Either way, Uther's vengeance is for something he sanctioned.  He's committed genocide out of blind rage and guilt.

One reviewer complained this wasn't enough reason for Uther's actions.  I beg to differ.  As someone who has lost a loved one to questionable medical practices, I can completely understand the murderous rage it provokes.  I've been in that headspace before.  He's just got guilt to keep him in that headspace, and the power to lash out from inside it.

Uther admits to Nimue that he'd rather not have tried the procedure.  Nimue asks him if that means he'd rather not have a son.  Uther loves Arthur too much to say that, while Nimue taunts him with Arthur's impending death.  So far Nimue has taken pains not to kill Arthur directly, but she doesn't have a problem with his death as collateral damage.

Merlin enlists Geoffrey's aid to find out that to enchant a sword he needs to have a dragon breathe on it.  (I am totally in favor of any show that teaches children to look things up in the library.)  Then he goes to Gwen to beg of her her father's finest sword for Arthur.  Before he even says why he's there, Gwen promises him, "Anything.  Well, not anything anything, but, you know, anything."  Oh, Gwen.  Don't ever change.  No, really.  It's important.  Trust me on this, okay?  Gwen gives him her father's best blade without his permission and without recompense.  There may be repercussions for this later on.

Warrior's daughter Morgana approaches Arthur at a better time, but is equally unable to convince him to pull out.

After thinking over Nimue's words, Uther decides to save Arthur's life by taking Arthur's place, fighting the wraith, and if necessary letting it kill him.  At this point and for most of the rest of the episode, Uther considers himself a walking dead man.  In a sense he is now a zombie with a mission just as much as Tristan.  He apologizes to Gaius for not listening to him, both now and at Arthur's conception, makes Gaius swear never to tell Arthur the conditions of Arthur's birth, and gets Gaius to drug Arthur and lock him in his room for the match tomorrow.

Merlin goes to get the Dragon to enchant the sword.  As far as the Dragon is concerned, letting the wraith do its job and kill Uther is a win/win situation.  The Dragon is reluctant to create such a powerful weapon as a magic sword, hinting that he has seen the destruction such things have caused in the past and has no wish to revisit those dark times.   (Wow, darker than the Dark Ages.)  He only does so after extracting a promise from Merlin that only Arthur will wield the blade.  Can you see where this is going?

Of course you can.  Uther comes in to the armoury in the morning where Merlin is waiting for Arthur with the sword in plain view and insists on making off with "the finest blade I've ever held".  So much for Merlin getting good at deception.  It also comes out here that Tom the Smith isn't the royal armourer, which makes me wonder if the weapons and armor Gwen gave Lancelot were from the royal armoury or from her father's merchandise.  Fine steel doesn't grow on trees.

Uther commands Merlin to gird him for battle, comments on Merlin's extraordinary loyalty to Arthur, and tells Merlin to look after Arthur.  Some people were surprised by this, but Uther has always reminded me of Piotr Vorkosigan, a pair of old brigands-made-good, who while they can play the politics game to the hilt would rather be sitting by the fire reminiscing over dawn raids and The Winter So Bad We Had to Eat the Horses, and how Young People These Days Just Have No Idea How Good They Have It.  Part and parcel of being a pair of dinosaurs like that (predatory dinosaurs mind you) is that they're still evaluating everything by what was useful back in the days when they lived in the saddle and death was a constant companion.  In that world only the warriors who swore to defend your back mattered and servants barely existed.  But the bone-deep loyalty of those who would do anything for you was a treasure worth more than diamonds.  That's what Uther has come to see that Merlin has for Arthur.

(Shippers, don't get your hopes up.  This is the words of a man on the way to his death.  Whether he feels the same without death breathing down his neck is another story, and we've already scene evidence this episode of Uther having drastic changes of heart before.)

Uther defeats Sir Zombie with the magic sword without apparently realizing it's a magic sword.  (Willful blindness is Uther's forte.)  Afterward he has a heart-to-heart talk with Arthur and confesses his love for his son, which Arthur apparently hadn't realized but thought himself unloved and unworthy.   Uther confesses that he loves his son more than his kingdom and certainly more than his life.  (This may have repercussions further on.)   They bond over play-fighting.

Gaius confronts Merlin about the powerful sword Uther used.  Merlin pretends to know nothing about it, which causes Gaius to tease him about it.  Then the Dragon confronts Merlin about the same sword with a far different opinion.  He's furious over Merlin allowing it to fall into Uther's hands where it could be used for great evil, denounces Merlin for immaturity/stupidity (That's everyone who's done that now, which makes it the only universally held opinion in the show.) and sends Merlin to put it where no mortal can find it.  Merlin chooses to throw it in the lake of Avalon.  Why he didn't cast it in the depths of the Dragon's cave is beyond me.

Note to fanfic writers:  between the end of Episode 4 and the end of Episode 9 we never see Arthur acknowledge his special bond with Merlin in any positive way.  He doesn't acknowledge it at all in Episodes 5 and 6.  In Episodes 7 - 9 he acknowledges it in negative ways, through manipulation and domestic violence, literally use and abuse.This might have something to do with his false perception of his father's low opinion of him, or it might not.
 

ETA from a reply to a comment:  Violence is an extreme form of physical communication, and in both the instances of Arthur with Merlin in this episode and Uther with Morgana last episode violence is being used to emphasize a similar point, to wit, "You've found my last nerve, now back off." While I don't think Arthur had any intention of using it, there's a world of difference between waving a sword in someone's face and punching their arm. One is a threat, the other is not. I've seen similar things done IRL, and in some instances (like these) it's used as a silent plea for help. It's a way of saying, "Please shut up and take me seriously." Not a very good way, mind you, but that is the intent.

I wouldn't say their relationship is physically abusive, no. It's obvious Arthur isn't abusing Merlin in their regular relationship as master and man. But at this point we don't see the special relationship between the two acknowledged by Arthur except through manipulation and threat. That changes in the next episode, and that change might have to do with the talk Arthur and Uther had at the end of this episode.

Episodes 1 - 3

Episode 4 Review: Innocence at Camelot

Episode 5: (The Once and Future) Lancelot

Episode 6: (Death Is) A Remedy to Cure All Ills.

Episode 7:  Deception for Dummies

Episode 8:  Deception for Non-Dummies 

Episode 10:  The Practical Exam
 
Episode 11:  Today is a Good Day to Die 

Comments

[crabby-lioness.livejournal.com]

Sorry, there's a lot going on in this episode. I sat there watching the counter honestly shocked at how much they packed into so little time. Did you get "Uther as ghost/zombie" and "Nimue as terrorist"?

[taversham]

*wanders in*

Only just found your journal, really like the look of these commentaries. I always feel there's a lot I miss in Merlin episodes, or at least things I don't give enough thought to when I'm actually watching and have then forgotten about by afterwards. It's nice to have something written up so comprehensively.

I just wanted to ask about your definition of "domestic violence", in that at what point does something become beyond..."physical communication", I suppose? (If you addressed this at some point in other posts, apologies, I will go and read them.) Because, I wouldn't really see Arthur threatening Merlin with his sword (alright, I'll admit it doesn't sound exactly friendly) as much more than a physical gesture, by someone who just happens to be holding a sword. I mean it doesn't feel like a legitimate threat to me, perhaps because of Merlin's reaction to it being annoyance rather than fear or disbelief. Or maybe I'm just thinking too many Arthur/Merlin thoughts and it's influencing me to naively think that Arthur wouldn't have actually hurt Merlin at that juncture, no matter how pissed off he got. Only to me, comparing that with the Uther/Morgana throat grabbing and his (fairly convincing) death threats feels like comparing my brother punching me in the arm when I get in the way of Guitar Hero with someone punching someone else in the face and breaking their nose. And that seems something of a faulty analogy.

That is to say, I would struggle to see at the end of episode 9 how anyone could describe the on-screen Arthur/Merlin relationship as physically abusive. (Given Merlin is Arthur's servant - perhaps surprisingly so.)

Is it alright if I friend you?

[crabby-lioness.livejournal.com]

Violence is an extreme form of physical communication, and in both the instances of Arthur with Merlin in this episode and Uther with Morgana last episode violence is being used to emphasize a similar point, to wit, "You've found my last nerve, now back off." While I don't think Arthur had any intention of using it, there's a world of difference between waving a sword in someone's face and punching their arm. One is a threat, the other is not. I've seen things like that done IRL, and in many ways it's a silent plea for help. It's a way of saying, "Please shut up and take me seriously." Not a very good way, mind you, but that is the intent.

I wouldn't say their relationship is physically abusive, no. It's obvious Arthur isn't abusing Merlin in their regular relationship as master and man. But at this point we don't see the special relationship between the two acknowledged by Arthur except through manipulation and violence. That changes in the next episode, and that change might have to do with the talk Arthur and Uther had at the end of this episode.

[taversham]

Well, yes, there is a a difference between waving a sword in someone's face and punching there arm. I meant more that there is a a world of difference between waving a sword in someone's face as a warning and having your hands around someone's throat as a definite threat, in the same way that there is a difference between a punch in the arm and a punch in the face. Even though arm!punch and sword!wielding are not similar, nor are face!punch and throat!grab. Perhaps the punching was something of childish example, but I couldn't really think of anything else to convey what I thought was a difference between a milder "I want you to stop" and a more clear "If you don't stop, bad things will happen". The difference between warning and threatening.

"Still, it says something about Arthur's opinion of Merlin that he didn't just order Merlin out of the room."

Isn't that acknowledgement of their relationship to an extent? That Merlin is allowed to speak to his master in such an 'unservient' manner. And that Arthur listens to what he has to say for quite a while, even though he has heard it all before and is a little worried about dying. That he ignores/doesn't even notice Merlin giving him direct orders feels like an admittance of equality, at least on a personal level. A Gaius/Uther conversation would certainly never go like that, although episode 6 implies there should be more trust there. So I don't see how the sword!threat is Arthur acknowledging their relationship through violence, when it's the point at which Arthur starts treating Merlin as he "should" be treated in a master/servant relationship, and dismisses anything deeper. That's ignoring it rather than abusing it.

[taversham]

Gah, that second "there" should be "their", obviously... *headdesk*

[crabby-lioness.livejournal.com]

I was about Arthur and Merlin's age when I realized that the strongest force in the universe was the force of habit. If this is what Arthur has seen and grown up with, it's going to be what he knows to do until someone (Merlin, Gwen, Morgana, et al) convinces him differently.

[crabby-lioness.livejournal.com]

Is it alright if I friend you?

No problem. :)

[antychan.livejournal.com]

Cut to Arthur's 21st birthday party and investiture as Crown Prince, which if I remember correctly means he will no longer have to have a Regent appointed when his father dies but can assume the throne directly.

That's how I understood it; it just leaves you kind "meh" when Arthur wore the crown he gets in 1x02 already. Gah, such inconsistencies drive me wild.

Which totally explains why Uther is jumping at shadows in a dark room with a sword at the ready.

LOL.

[crabby-lioness.livejournal.com]

Crowns cost money, I can see why they would not have had a seperate one made.

[archaeologist-d.livejournal.com]

Well I liked the summary because the thoughts that went along with them made more sense.

This episode was one of my favorites because of all the Nimueh/Uther backstory. It certainly gave more angst/punch/characterization to the whole Uther story and made him a little bit more sympathetic.

Comments: throwing the sword into the Dragon's cave meant that there was a remote possibility that someone could find it whereas throwing it into the lake is more in line with legend. It didn't look like the Avalon lake, though. Weren't there more mountains in this lake? Or maybe I'm not remembering it very well.

Loved that Uther and Arthur had that heart to heart near the end. Gave more punch to their relationship.

I'm confused, though, about what you said about the other episodes and Arthur's bond with Merlin. In Episode 5, he listens to Merlin about giving Lance a chance. They don't intereact much in Ep. 6. In Ep. 7, I'll give you that he treated Merlin badly with asking him for favors but I figured that was typical bad boy spoilt prince friend behavour (not servant and master behavior). In Ep. 8, again there wasn't much interaction.

But I can see the slow buildup of their friendship over these several episodes. I didn't really want it to be fast anyway. That wouldn't make sense. Of course by Ep. 10, it's pretty clear how Arthur feels about Merlin and vice versa. I give the producers and the writers kudos for making the relationship grow slowly over the first season like they have.

[crabby-lioness.livejournal.com]

In Episode 5 Merlin and Arthur only talk once, when Merlin is finding out what Lancelot needs to do to qualify.

[mossylawn.livejournal.com]

the inconsistence of the writers just kills me. honestly, first the crown, then the 25 years of anti-magic terror that apparently happened right after arthur's birth (who turns twenty one, apparently), arthur giving off hints that he knows about the magic (like in the'mark of nimueh') and then acting all oblivious. ooooh.

episode 10 is one of my favs, so i can't wait for your thoughts on it.

[crabby-lioness.livejournal.com]

The crown I can live with. If Arthur's got Druid contacts then he already knows about magic but can't risk Uther finding out. It's the 20/25 year gap that annoys me.

[yellowvalley.livejournal.com]

"And is the sword-twirling thing genetic?"


ROFL. I can tell when you're in a good mood when writing these things. :D

[crabby-lioness.livejournal.com]

LOL I'm cringing actually. That move would tear my wrist tensors to shreds. I can't even knock back my husband's full-size glass flagon one-handed.

[flibbles1989.livejournal.com]

"...sends Merlin to put it where no mortal can find it"

WHen the Dragon says about a mortal man, I just keep thinking "ahh, but what about an immortal woman?". I don't know whether I've read and watched too much Lord of the Rings, but I can't help but smirk in my head at that bit.

[crabby-lioness.livejournal.com]

Psst. "Emrys" means "immortal".

[db-silverdragon.livejournal.com]

I get the feeling that the lake he threw the sword into was the same lake that was the one that acted as a portal to Avalon in a previous episode.