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Merlin rewatch -- S3E5: The Crystal Cave

"I'm the one who gives the order, remember?" "Ready? Let's go."

Merlin was extra sassy this ep (the famous frog prince talk lol), and I really like that Arthur didn’t look affronted or vaguely annoyed by Merlin not following his order, just deeply confused. He noticed Merlin’s unusual quietness and tried to gloat some reaction out of him but failed. Now Arthur really started to worry.

He tried so many ways! Questioning about his arrow wound, admitting he likes Merlin’s prattle, praising Merlin’s work, offering a reward. Nothing works.

He definitely didn’t believe Merlin’s story about the wound (That “Alright” sounded so reluctant), but he let it slide;

And he still mentioned Merlin's credit to Uther even though Merlin didn’t respond him at all <33

Caring Arthur is always nice to see. He needed to learn that sometimes people just need some alone time, but Merlin never told Arthur anything (despite how many “trust me” Arthur uttered in this opening sequence) so I don’t blame him wanting to pry once in a while.

“Why is it you never trust me, Merlin?”

This supposedly comical line sounded pretty ironic thinking about how true it was... (just in the sharing personal information sense. I know Merlin trusted Arthur in a lot of things.) (Although not in leading them out of the pursue of the bandits it seems...) (sigh) (Arthur's competency...)

“It’s a secret.” “Come on, you can tell me.”

Of course, the secret sharing is always one way round.

I love the casualness of the scene and the swift motion of throwing and catching the apple makes me so happy 🍎 Love them being good friends <33 Arthur obviously wanted to talk to someone about his great gift and Merlin knew Arthur trusted him enough to do that.

The raining scene! wasted in this ep. Both of them looked so beautiful. Merlin just had to suffer with his prince in the cold and wet 🥲

While I complained a lot about how Merlin didn't tell Arthur things, I do think the beauty of Arthur and Merlin's relationship was their strong bond and understanding despite all the secrecy. They were the definition of soulmates to me and I love them for it.

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Merlin rewatch -- S3E5: The Crystal Cave

Arthur's choice of gift for Morgana is so perfect. I want one too. Look how much Morgana adored it.

Arthur is usually the one who has a more rigid gender view so it's really nice to see that he considered carefully (by himself) and picked something practical and what Morgana might like, not the typical jewelry like Merlin said or combs/mirrors other lords gifted her.

Love Arthur’s enthusiasm for the gift he chose. Immediately wants to show off to Merlin.

Of course, it could be that Arthur was so bad at choosing gifts for women (seeing that Merlin did all the courting for him) that he just bought something he himself would like. That's nice too. I think Pendragon siblings did have some similarities and they knew it~

Merlin’s opinion wasn't necessarily wrong (I think Morgana did like pretty things) but it's so general and in such a dismissive tone. He was just being snarky because the future he feared didn't come to pass.

But then Arthur took the advice in his own way! Obviously you make the weapon prettier. Awesome. Love his thinking process. And it's very in character. Arthur had shown many times that he was able to reflect/accept criticism even if it's directly opposed to his beliefs. Also he was a pragmatic person and a knight so the dagger stayed on 🗡️

I wish Arthur and Morgana could have more direct interactions in this ep… It’d be beautiful if some residual love and care for Arthur awakened inside Morgana because of this considerate gift…

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Merlin rewatch -- S3E5: The Crystal Cave

Massive hypocrite.

Wonder why Uther didn’t ask that of Gaius when Arthur’s bitten by the questing beast... It's probably because there they wanted to make us like him and here to hate him. It might also be that Arthur's condition stretched out longer which gave a false sense of security. It's definitely fueling my headcanon that Morgana was the favoured kid haha. Good Arthur angst.

Uther had already sent out every soldier in Camelot to search Morgana so... yeah, I think he would risk everything for her. I'm not sure what Gaius meant by "everything" here though. Does he mean that if people learnt about it the kingdom would fall to chaos, or that the magic itself would lead to great risk?

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Merlin rewatch -- S3E5: The Crystal Cave

"I had to stop Morgana killing Uther."

I really, really hope Merlin could consider even just for a second, that perhaps Uther's death wouldn't be such a bad thing. Especially when it's just an assassination, not a full blown war. And Arthur had had a try of his leadership just in this season opener.

The vision was Morgana killing Uther, both people Merlin didn't quite like, why was he so stressed out about it?

I understand it's difficult for Merlin, seeing people he loved (and Uther??) so devastated by what he did. I'm still angry with him. Morgana's death would make everyone sad, but her living might cause their death. She had made it clear how little she cared about those who didn't have magic. Even if she didn't kill them her betrayal would still hurt them, possibly worse than losing her to an accident.

Merlin should really think this through. Especially his solution was to force Kilgharrah to help him.

"Whatever she was about to do I stopped her. There's no need for people to suffer."

Very unconvincing argument. If he was so sure that Morgana was going to kill Uther that first time he saw her in the corridor why didn't he think she would try again once she was healed?? Did he completely forgot about her changing side and thought the vision in the crystal was just a fate-prompted one off incident?

"She's Uther's daughter."

Not sure why Merlin mentioned this to Kilgharrah. Did Merlin want to make Morgana more sympathetic?? What did it matter whose daughter Morgana was? Uther had done worse thing than cheating and Morgana's decision to go to the evil side had nothing to do with her heritage.

Merlin was more and more casual with his power. Controlling other's fate with his magic without much resistance. Tapping into the darkness. He needed a friend...

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Merlin rewatch -- S3E5: The Crystal Cave

So I'm thinking about the reason the ancient (all-knowing looking) sorcerer spirit insisted Merlin to see into the crystal.

He said to use the knowledge for good, implying that the future isn't completely set in stone, which I can sort of get on board since Merlin did stop Morgana from killing Uther at the end. The problem is that Merlin seeing the future is actually the cause of the whole event since if he wasn't that suspicious of Morgana she wouldn't get hurt and wouldn't hear Uther's confession. If he hadn't seen it he didn't need to prevent it at all.

Unless Merlin was wrong and the sorcerer's (or the destiny's) aim was to have Morgana kill Uther.

Or just have her discover the truth of her heritage? It's still pretty lame cause Morgana already had motivation to kill Uther (and had in fact tried several times) why the hell she hadn't done it was a mystery and frankly I still don't get why among all the things Uther had done it was this reveal that prompted her to do it in the most efficient way. But I like this interpretation better just because I was so annoyed by Merlin's insistence to save Uther and Morgana both...

Gaius was painted as the wise old man again this ep, but I think he was just lucky. I think the future could be altered based on the knowledge you got from the crystal, it just depends on how you do it. Merlin's action in the end decided Uther's fate, for example. Before this, Morgana’s vision also served as a warning several times. There was also the crystal where Merlin saw the dragon attack. The key is not to be overconfident of one man's ability, perhaps.

A bit off-topic but why was Gaius so uncaring anyway? I thought he was the one who couldn't let go of Uther. Even if he didn’t think the vision was important Morgana always wanted to kill Uther! It’s hardly news. I'd thought Gaius would be more worried.

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It's just a burning memory

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Give me reasons to believe that you would do the same for me; And I will do it for you.

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Everyone look at this photo of Anthony head and angel coulby

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Flowers for his dollophead.

Done in Autodesk Sketchbook.

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okay but i'm laughing about what the adjustment period for merlin would be like after arthur knows about his magic and can be told the truth

"and where do you think you're going?"

"gaius needs me to-no, sorry. that's a lie. i have to go kill a magical assassin morgana sent. i think i need a special knife, so i need to break into the vaults first. i'll be back...at some point?" *shrug*

"what on earth do you mean you-DON'T JUST WALK OUT THE DOOR AFTER THAT. GET BACK HERE."

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Merthur AU: Arthur loves singing in the morning to wake Merlin up (or maybe just to bother him). Merlin tries to act displeased, but let’s be honest, actually he finds Arthur’s singing very endearing.

“♪ …‘cause you’re amaaaazing,” Arthur continues, pointing dramatically at Merlin. “Arthur, sto—” “… just the way you aaare. ♫”

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Remember when Merlin collapsed in front of everyone and all that Arthur did was roll his eyes and his close friend Gwaine just stared at him and the only one who rushed to check on him was Lancelot? What the hell was that about huh

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Merlin loves Arthur how he needs to be loved. His whole life everyone in his life has love him how they wanted too, on their own terms. But not Merlin.

Where Uther would give him extravagant gifts and parties, Merlin gives him an extra roll with dinner, because he noticed he skipped lunch.

Where Leon and the knights congratulate him on a tournament well fought, Merlin asks if he'd like for him to get the healing balms tonight. He noticed he got hit pretty good in the left shoulder during the match.

Where Gwen, during their brief courting, would steal kisses, Merlin holds his hand, sitting with his back to the head of the bed while Arthur lays his head in his lap, and runs his fingers through his hair.

All his life he's craved the simple act of being known. The simple touches and the little things that mean the most. Without even trying Merlin gives him that and more. Almost like magic ✨

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It’s really annoying when people think that “no offense” or “no hate” is some sort of free pass. If you are mocking something at least own up to it.

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Thanks for voting, folks! Our main boy Merlin won, so here you go! The first in the portrait series of BBC Merlin coloring pages! PDF download here. I hope you're able to get some joy and relaxation from these. Life is stressy, so let's get messy :D And PLEASE show me your colored versions, if you don't mind! I'm dying to see what folks come up with!

As for me, I'll be drawing the next in the series. Which one should I do next?

Oh, and if you missed the first one, check out the coloring page for The Round Table here.

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Well, WOW! That was a close race! Arty-boy won out in the end though, so here he is in all his cloak-flipping glory! I've tried to work in lots of symbolism in these designs. I hope you like it! PDF here.

But Gwen stans, I'VE GOT YOU. She'll be up later tonight. Check back at 8pm EST for the Queen of our hearts 👑 - and the poll for who's next!

Oh, and yeah, I didn't even try to be detailed about the chainmail. Nope. Not interested. Sorry. :P

OH, and if you want to see Merlin's page, check it out here.