#4x02 the darkest hour part 2

[sapphickittykatherine]

a reminder that The Darkest Hour comes just before Merlin Buries Lancelot in the soundtrack. the darkest hour was lancelot's death. it was the moment everything went wrong. it was the moment merlin and gwen and arthur broke irreparably. merlin lost his greatest source of unconditional love, gwen lost her first love, and arthur lost his first and most loyal knight. all of them fought for him and all of them lost him regardless. then everything goes to hell.

[cabbageheadss]

BBC MERLIN | 4x02: The Darkest Hour Part 2

[changeofpace]

The Darkest Hour Part 2 - 4x02

Finally got around to scanning a bunch of sketchbook pages so be prepared for the oncoming dump.

[livvyofthelake]

Planet of Love, Richard Siken // Merlin 5x13 The Diamond of the Day part 2 // 4x02 The Darkest Hour part 2 // 2x08 The Sins of the Father // 1x04 The Poisoned Chalice

[bbcmerlinbracket]

Episode descriptions under the cut (contains spoilers).

1x01 The Dragon’s Call

Merlin arrives in Camelot, meets the Great Dragon, and gets appointed as Arthur’s manservant in payment for saving Arthur’s life.

3x01 The Tears of Uther Pendragon Part 1

After a year of searching, Morgana is finally found, but all is not well. With Uther becoming rapidly untethered from reality, Merlin puts his life on the line to figure out whose side Morgana is on.

4x02 The Darkest Hour Part 2

Merlin and Lancelot hurry to catch up with the knights before Arthur sacrifices himself and Lancelot sacrifices himself instead. Meanwhile, Morgana tries to kill Gwen and sends Agravaine sniffing for information on who Emrys is.

3x06 The Changeling

Arthur gets engaged to a less-than-polite young woman who turns out to be a fairy changeling. Merlin and Gaius step in to battle her inhuman nanny and save Arthur and the changeling before the wedding.

2x07 The Witchfinder

Uther’s witchfinder accuses Merlin of magic, but Gaius takes the fall for him. Merlin has to expose the witchfinder’s false evidence to save Gaius from being burned at the stake.

[merlinoutofcontext]

alice troughton is the Only female director of merlin. she probably met colin when she directed the doctor who episode “Midnight” which was one of colin’s first tv roles (& one of the best doctor who episodes of all time). she the directed a total of 13 episodes of merlin, including 3x09 Love in the TIme of Dragons (an extremely good episode idc what you think), 4x01/4x02 The Darkest Hour Part 1&2, 4x03 Wicked Day, 4x12/4x13 The Sword & the Stone Parts 1&2 just for some of note. she then also directed The Living and the Dead in 2018, another show colin was in and is probably (in my opinion) one of colin’s best performances, and may be my favourite role he’s done. thank u for your time.

alice troughton met colin morgan and said ok motherfucker lets make some good ass fucking tv together and colin said yes ma’am

[pyjamacryptid]

outtakes that are important to me personally

BBC Merlin + live commentary by @gabbaghouls @witchboykit and I from our Merlin re-watch

first | prev | next | all

[lighthouse-on-the-sea]

Sir Lancelot

Hot knights of the thirst table

Arthur // Merlin // Gwen // Morgana

[inalandofmythandmerthur]

I'm looking for a gif from a Merlin episode (4x02) you know the moment when Merlin bows in front of Kilgarrah to thank him for saving him and Lancelot? I've looked everywhere to find it, but with no results, if anyone has it and would like to share it with me I would be very grateful!! 💖

[bennyboybitchell]

Okay, I was always kinda mad with Gwen for telling Lancelot to vow his life to protect Arthur and that is why he sacrificed himself but now that I'm re-watching Merlín, I believe that Lancelot may had sacrificed himself so Merlín could live, Merlín was that something he cared about, he was the something that was more important than anything. Great, now I'm a mess. I still ship Merthur but Lancelot has a special place in me.

[sapphickittykatherine]

ppl are like "why didn't they just shove a criminal slated for execution into the veil to close it?" and they're right. it would be kinda dishonourable, i guess, but you're gonna kill them anyway so . however, this problem could be avoided entirely by canon simply stating that the callieach demands a willing sacrifice, the same way that gwen had to enter the lake of her own accord in 5x09. according to kilgharrah, the veil doesn't ask for anything - the callieach is the one who demands a soul. maybe she'd just take any soul, but she kinda seems like the type who wants to be entertained. she wants to watch people trip over themselves to die, to betray each other and show their 'true faces'. it would work well and patch a plot hole considering arthur, merlin, and lancelot - who set out to sacrifice themselves - were all willing to enter the veil.

[theedorksinlove]

BBC MERLIN ✗ 4x02- ‘the darkest hour: part 2′ 

[sneakyboymerlin]

Do you ever think about how Merlin’s immortality was always implied (and teased) from the start but was never confirmed until the time skip?

1x04 The Poisoned Chalice: Merlin’s heart stops. Gaius and Gwen are already mourning when he wakes up from it. There is some plausible deniability here (a common theme for this arc), but Merlin dies with no resuscitation efforts made. The cure takes effect after he dies.

1x07 The Gates of Avalon: Merlin receives a hit from the Sidhe staff, a magical weapon which kills Aulfric and Sophia upon impact. Gaius claims that Merlin owes it to his powers that he survived, yet the (mortal) fae have great power and still die. Most likely, he died as he did from the Mortaeus poison, but resurrected with some recovery time. Merlin also sees Avalon itself, which is only meant to be visible to mortal humans in death. Merlin was not dead or dying, so he must not be mortal.

1x08 The Beginning of the End: Merlin is first referred to by the name of “Emrys,” which directly translates to “Immortal One.”

1x12 To Kill the King: Merlin hits two men with a staff blast, only for the third to be reflected back at him. The fates of the two men are unknown, but everyone quickly deems the situation resolved, so it’s likely they did not survive, whereas Merlin came back from a second hit.

2x01 The Curse of Cornelius Sigan: Gaius plainly states, “Sigan is immortal and you are not. If you face him, he will destroy you.” However, Merlin survives and defeats Sigan. Plausible deniability aside, Merlin’s immortality has been implied before this, so it’s likely an intentional hint.

3x06 The Changeling: Even the immortal fae can be killed with the Sidhe staff; they may have Merlin’s longevity, but they lack his invulnerability (if it can be called that—he does die, frequently).

3x08 The Eye of the Phoenix: Merlin is paralleled to The Fisher King, who has been confined to an unnatural long life and asks Merlin to aid him in his death. Merlin’s immortality likely has a different function than his, despite the parallel: it’s difficult but not impossible to kill The Fisher King, but if Merlin dies, he simply comes back.

3x13 The Coming of Arthur, Part 2: An ironic piece of dialogue between Lancelot and Merlin:

Lancelot: Aren’t you forgetting something? [The Cup of Life] is guarded by an immortal army.

Merlin: Aren’t you forgetting something? I have magic.

Lancelot: It doesn’t make you immortal.

Merlin: No…

This isn’t evidence of anything except that we were being strung along even during quiet, romantically lit mercelot moments.

4x01 The Darkest Hour, Part 1: Those who are struck by the Dorocha die instantly. Gaius informs Arthur, Merlin, and Agravaine, “No mortal has ever survived their touch.” All of the victims we are shown have died on impact, hence the high body counts with each night that passes. Merlin runs headlong into a Dorocha in order to save Arthur and is shown to have all of the same effects as the other casualties, yet survives.

4x02 The Darkest Hour, Part 2: Merlin is soon healed from his encounter with the Dorocha, but he plans to sacrifice himself to the Veil in Arthur’s place. While it’s uncertain to viewers if it is possible for Merlin to be the offering (it seems possible to the Cailleach, who phrases it not as a death, but a life lost: “Will you give yourself to the spirits to save your prince?”), the Cailleach tells Merlin, “Your time among men is not yet over, Emrys, even if you want it to be.” While this does not strictly indicate his immortality, it does foreshadow that his time among men is lengthy. 1,500 years lengthy and counting. Her words can also be interpreted as “Your time among men is not yet over, Immortal One, even if you want it to be,” which is a strong implication of immortality.

5x12 The Diamond of the Day, Part 1: Balinor tells Merlin, “Believe what your heart knows to be true: that you have always been… and always will be.” This has far-reaching implications. Merlin has always existed, even before his human incarnation. He is magic itself—son of the earth, sea, and sky. He is, essentially, a sentient piece of magic in human form. Just as energy cannot be created or destroyed, only transferred and transformed, you cannot kill Merlin in a way that matters. decay is an extant form of life 🍄 There is still some plausible deniability in Balinor’s insistence that “You will always be, just as I will always be.” Balinor is not immortal as Merlin is, which has the potential to mislead Merlin, but he lives on anyways—as a ghost and in Merlin’s memory.

5x13 The Diamond of the Day, Part 2: Kilgharrah leaves with final words of: “The story you have been a part of will live long in the minds of men.” After Arthur’s funeral and Gwen’s ascension as the sole ruler of Camelot, we cut to a disguised Merlin walking along a roadside, approximately 1,500 years after the events of Camlann, pausing where he laid Arthur to rest, the lake now a grassland. The memory does indeed live long in the minds of men, in Merlin’s mind at least.

Now, there are other events besides the mortaeus flower, the Sidhe staff blasts, and the Dorocha where Merlin may have died but come back, with both the audience and himself unaware of it due to plausible deniability.

The Serket sting in 3x01, which Kilgharrah heals him from

The poisoning in 5x08, which features a moment that is eerily similar to Merlin’s temporary death by poison in 1x04

Merlin’s fall from a cliff in 5x09: Arthur’s own fall is far less drastic. By all rights it should’ve killed Merlin, and it’s entirely possible it did

The arrow to the gut in 5x10; once again, Kilgharrah swoops in to save the day in just the nick of time… or does he?

He’s also left unconscious periodically throughout the series, with some cases deemed more severe, so pick and choose

I’m not the only one messed up by that, right?

[thebookluvrr1816]

What are your top 5 most "Merthur" heavy episodes from Merlin?

ANON!!!! It was so hard to choose, but here you go :

5) A tie between 4x02 ( The Darkest Hour part 02 ) &

4x06 ( A Servant of Two Masters ) -

The spot for number 5 is a tie because both episodes feature an extremely worried arthur and a lovely merthur reunion :)

4) 1x11 ( The Labyrinth of Gedref ) -

Featuring unicorns, true love and merthur arguing over who gets to drink poison. (again).

3) 5x03 ( The Death Song of Uther Pendragon ) -

Mostly because of “poetry” and “horseplay.” and well, our boys working together as a power couple? *chef’s kiss*

2) 1x04 ( The Poisoned Chalice ) -

It’s only the 4th episode and they’re already trying to die for each other :) Probably my favourite merthur episode after 5x13.

1) 5x13 ( The Diamond of the Day - part 02 )

And of course DOTD wins first place because it’s THE merthur episode. 👌 The angst. The pain. The love. Just. It’s literal perfection. The sheer merthur-ness in it is unmatched by any other ep. 👌

some honorary mentions : 

1x10 ( The Moment of Truth )

1x13 ( Le Morte d'Arthur )

2x13 ( The Last Dragonlord )

3x01 and 3x02

4x01 ( The Darkest Hour part 01 )

4x05 ( His Father’s Son )

4x12 and 4x13 ( The Sword in the Stone part 01 and 02 )

5x01 and 5x02 ( Arthur's Bane part 01 and 02 )

5x05 ( The Disir )

5x07 ( A Lesson in Vengeance )

5x12 ( The Diamond of the Day - part 01 )

[camelotsheart]

i have been thinking about this for 12 hours and i am done. i need this out of my mind right now (with breaks. it’s okay i’m a completely functioning human being i’m FINE-)

so. arthur’s birthday.

i’ve come to the conclusion that there are 2 possible options as to the date of arthur’s birthday. BUT. let me lay out some facts first.

1. 1x09 which is arthur’s coming of age ceremony takes place before or during harvest season (september-october), which is referenced in 1x10 and 1x11 because in 1x10 the bandits are trying to steal ealdor’s crops and in 1x11 the crop fields are ripe in camelot.

2. 4x03 which has arthur’s birthday - and a few days after, his coronation - takes place after the events of 4x01 and 4x02, which starts during samhain (oct 31) and ends a few days after it.

3. 4x12 has a beltane celebration (may 1)

4. 5x03 has a feast celebrating arthur’s coronation, which happens a few days after his birthday. it is said by gaius that the horn of cathbadh is usually blown during beltane, but we don’t know if arthur actually went to blow the horns at beltane.

5. as an extra, in 5x01 and 5x02, it is snowing in the northern plains, which could just be because of low temperatures associated with topography, or it could be suggesting that it was winter in that region (note: cornwall, the region camelot is placed in modern day, rarely experiences snowfall, so that’s probably why we never see snow in camelot)

SO. my two options as to arthur’s birthday are:

1. a few days before beltane. this would make sense considering points 1 and 4 (assuming that the horn was blown during beltane). however, this would mean that there was a 6-month jump in between the events of 4x02 and 4x03 (which technically could account for the strikingly different atmosphere of the ending and beginning of the respective episodes - they had their time to grieve).  if it’s true that 5x02 was set during the winter, it would also mean there was a 3-5 month jump in between 5x02 and 5x03. and it would also suggest that there is a 1 year length of time between the events of 4x03 and 4x12. if we take this option, then i would put his birthday somewhere in late April.

2. sometime after samhain, during/after winter. this is a bit more vague and is mostly based on points 2 and 5. i would allow for at least a few weeks after samhain to account for the characters’ cheerful attitude in 4x03. this would mean that the events of s4 takes place over a 6-month time-span since it begins in samhain (oct 31) and ends in beltane (may 1). In this case, I would put arthur’s birthday anywhere between mid november to late february. however, the problem with this option is that it implies there is 6-11 month gap between the events of 1x09 and 1x10, since the latter takes place during harvest season in sep/oct. 

the second point is admittedly (in my view) less supported by evidence, but i like it based on the fact that it gives a clear start and end point to s4 that fits the tag line of the season “the darkest hour comes just before dawn”, with s4 starting on samhain (the start of the darkest part of the year) and ending on next year’s beltane (the start of summer aka “dawn”). 

also, there’s something poetic about arthur being born in winter surrounded by death since his birthday is tainted with the death of his mother, and his coronation which is a few days after is tainted with the death of his father.

[bbcmerlinvault]

Scan of an article about 4x02 The Darkest Hour Part 2 from TV Choice magazine. Found at Emrysdragonlord blogspot. They cite their source as onceandfutures at LiveJournal but I am unable to find that specific post, suggesting it was either privatised for removed.