#Merlin Random Rewatch

[multifandombullshitbabes]

Random Merlin Rewatch: Where a random number generator gives me a season and an episode from BBC Merlin; and then I comment on it as I go.

Today's episode: Season 3 Episode 9 - Love in the Time of Dragons

Before I start, very excited for season 3! Especially this episode! I don't remember all of it, but we're sure gonna get a TON of Gaius on this one. Love ittttt.

And we're back to young boyyy

Alice (?) has such a kind little face.

What the fuck is that thing. What the fuck is that. Ew. Hello???

EWWW THE ANIMATION ON THE FACE IS SO WEIRD, I HATE IT, WHY DID IT MAKE THAT FACE EUGHH

Damn intro music came in early. Not complaining, LET'S GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

I love how, even though magic is being used for good, for performing miracle cures on people who would've otherwise fucking die or something, Uther HAS to see a problem with it. Like. Hello?? I'm very curious to see how Arthur is throughout this episode, seeing that magic here is doing something obviously good.

Merlin judging Uther so hard (as he should).

"I'm not the king, after all." I wonder if Camelot citizens are not as hateful of magic as Uther; fearful of course, and that's valid in my opinion, but the fact that Gaius said that and that's all it took for somebody to basically admit to treason?? Interesting dynamic this kingdom has. An obvious divide I think between the lower classes and the royal one.

Is Gaius smiling?? He's smiling so wide as he's walking out of the inn.

HAHAHAHHAH Gaius lying so clearly to the king and Merlin is the only one who knows, his face!!!! Like, that powder was bright blue and glittery, obvious magic, no denying it.

MERLIN'S FACEEEEEE

GAIUS GASLIGHTING MERLIN?? HELLO? This is hilarious, our poor boy is so confused.

Not Gaius taking away Merlin's meal like. LET MY BOY EAT!!

BABYYYYYYY. Also love that he's reading in bed, in fact fell asleep on it. It's probably a magic book, but it could be literally anything else!! Maybe a book on medicine and stuff, Merlin is Gaius' apprentice.

Merlin looks so handsome in just his sleep shirt, so cute.

BED HAIR!!!!!!!!!

Oh my god, Gaius and Alice are so sweet :(

MERLIN'S FACEEEEEEEEE he's so curious!! But like a happy curious!!!

"You've lost none of your charm." Gaius was a charmer when he was younger, confirmed. Womanizer.

JESUS FUCKING CHRIST!!!! AFTER THAT WHOLESOME SCENE BETWEEN ALICE AND GAIUS, WHAT THE FUCK!!!

Merlin trying to find out about the tea. Also love this role reversal, where the child is the one asking the parent where did they go last night. So fucking silly, love it.

"Do your suppliers normally kiss you?" HAHAHAHHAHA MERLIN!!!! YOU CAN'T JUST SAY THAT!!! GAIUS SCANDALIZED FACE, HELP!!

Merlin acting like Gaius is a silly teenager with a silly little crush is so amusing, I'm in love with this episode (let's ignore the weird creature part for now).

Just when Gaius find a job as the king's physician, she finds Alice. We know from a previous episode that Gaius got this job just when Arthur was born, right? I'm pretty sure. So they met for a little time, before the purge happened. I'm assuming the writers fucked up a bit on the timeline and Gaius was employed before Arthur's birth, which makes more sense to me.

I'm assuming Alice lived in Camelot for longer than Gaius, before he came to Camelot. I think Gaius might have learned his skills as a physician somewhere that's not Ealdor, but I'm assuming he was born there as Hunith is there, etc.

Merlin's like "Fuck yeah. Romance. Go get her, uncle."

Merlin is just straight up getting his shit rocked.

SDFGYHGFDTRESRDTGYUIJOKO

MERLIN IS JUST STRAIGHT FUCKING SUNSHINE WHEN HE MEETS ALICE HE'S SO CUTE

Oh my god, I would KILL Gaius if he just gave my room to somebody else's just right there on the spot. Merlin is better than me, for sure.

Not Merlin sleeping on the fucking floor, jesus christ.

THIS CREATURE MAKES ME SO UNCONFORTABLE WHY IS IT MOANING WHEN IT TAKES OUT VENOM, EWWWW

Oh I wonder how it was like before magic was banned. How people lived and learned all about it.

Ohhh how interesting, the way Gaius is not as scandalized by dark magic as maybe one would normally be. I wonder if it's not as bonkers unless it's taken to an extreme degree. I also wonder how "normalized" it was before the purge. Like how did sorcerers react to it then, and also now.

Of course Gaius doesn't want to admit Alice might be doing something evil, not just because this is their second chance and they haven't seen each other in so long, but also because she's obviously not the kind of person to do so.

Oh wow, we've never seen Gaius so blatantly angry with Merlin before. He's really hurt by Merlin's accusation of Alice.

Who the fuck screams "MORNING." in the library, Merlin. Also, it's just shock-full of cobwebs, someone PLEASE clean this place up, what the fuck.

Okay, so Merlin's still struggling with being a physician. I bet he's learned it since he's technically there to be Gaius' apprentice, but he doesn't like it much. He can take care of some stuff, but he won't like it that's for sure.

"Can I help you?" "No." MERLIN SDFGHJHGFDSEDTFGHJ

So interesting that Geoffery didn't react at all badly at Merlin asking about a magical creature. He even joked about Merlin seeing it or not. I bet he was just happy that somebody was using the fucking books and shit.

Merlin is just such a clumsy little shit, oh my god. Jesus fuck.

Love the face journey that Merlin just did where he landed on "Oh I'm gonna use magic in a silly way."

WHAT A DISNEY-ESQUE SCENE LMAOOOO

I don't think we fully appreciate how well Merlin is able to research things. Sure, it might be a little luck, but he's just elbows deep in a bunch of books, some opened, just researching for whatever he's trying to find. There's skill in research, y'all!

OH NO GAIUS' FEELINGS ARE HURT, NOOOO, GAIUS PLEASE LISTEN TO MERLIN!!!

Seeing Alice just live so naturally in Gaius' chambers really makes me yearn for an AU where Alice stayed with Gaius somehow and Merlin got to be raised by the two of them in Camelot. That would be so sweet :,))

Love how whenever Merlin is obviously upset about something, no matter how "annoyed" Arthur might act, he always asks what's wrong. It's so cute.

Arthur's strategy whenever he fights with his father is to just wait for him to get to his senses?? Arthur, babe, do you know who your father is?

AWWW ARTHUR TRYING TO CHEER MERLIN UP. Too back he's not a jock.

OOP!!! WE GOT A GAIUS AGE!!! A book Alice gifted him on his 50th birthday!! He got it a bit confused with when he became court physician, so maybe he was around that age when he got the job!! That would make him around 70 years old in present canon, which isn't too far fetched in my opinion. He looks older, but honestly being in the medical field, and also having to watch all your friends die right in front of your eyes, probably ages you a tad bit.

Oh the guilt is EATING HER UP inside. Oh Alice. Oh darling.

This is so interesting, it's the second episode where Arthur has found his father, at bed time, in his chambers in some way sick, meaning Arthur must check on Uther every other night? Every night? For what? It's probably matters of state or something, but don't they have all the time during the day to do that? In the start of the episode they're literally sitting side by side looking at documents. I wonder if Arthur just checks on Uther just because. I bet Uther's been the occasional assassination target during the purge. Maybe it's Arthur being paranoid (for good reason, I guess).

Oh Gaius is so deep in denial about Alice, this is just sad.

Wait, all of Uther's food is brought by armed guard up to his chambers? What about those family meal scenes we have. I'm assuming they must not happen every time, maybe. When the king is not too busy, the royal family eats together and any other time his food is brought to his chambers. And all of the food and drinks are tested for poison, of course.

Well. Arthur proving once again that he is smart. Sad it happens selectively. Also, he'd be a great detective.

Gaius implying that he might have taken the blame of Alice's actions, knowing the truth. This is just sad, bro.

I wonder if Merlin's magic truly isn't strong enough to kill a creature of the Old Religion. Sounds plausible, for sure, but I bet he can come VERY close.

THE WAY THE MANTICORE JUST FUCKING LEAPS AT MERLIN STRAIGHT AWAY MY BOY CAN'T GET A BREAK!

LET'S GO GAIUS USING MAGIC!!!!!!!!!!!

Some very stressful few seconds, I must say.

Gaius getting an adrenaline kick of what is just basically a normal Tuesday for Merlin.

It's so sweet that a lot of the characters do try and have open communication. It's very refreshing to see. They admit their fears and insecurities and they talk. It's so nice.

The fact that Merlin jokes about the dungeons being "so secure". 'Cause we all know they suck ass bro.

Why are they eating raw meat?? Y'all gotta cook it babes, what the fuck.

And that is it!!!! What a fun episode. No Gwen or Morgana though, sad :(.

[our-sin]

Sleep deprived rant incoming-

I’m watching merlin for the umpteenth time and there’s something i noticed. In the gayest show to ever gay (and this is compared to so many other shows that i watch) not once have i ever heard talk of these two:

And i don’t mean the two thugs from the tavern pretending to be Sir Ethan and Sir Oswald, i mean them before they were killed.

I will admit i’m not deep into the Merlin fandom, i mainly just follow the merthur tag and like the occasional post. They could have been talked about by someone at some point, I have no clue. All I know is i searched Ao3 and only found seven fics with Oswald in them and nine with Ethan, only one of which had them together and that was for a threesome with Merlin.

Anyway I think it’s pretty darn clear that these two were in a relationship. They were both traveling together -two knights from separate houses given the fact that they both had differing crests- with a single servant accompanying them with one larger tent in the back and two other smaller ones, one which was occupied by the servant that was with them. When they were attacked sir ethan’s first concern was also sir oswald when he was downed.

When Dagger and Ebor arrived in the two knights place they were show to the same room and Merlin brought up a single chest containing both men’s luggage. Given the conversation and what was said i don’t think there was another room set up for Sir Ethan, also the fact that Arthur clearly had no clue who this man was or about his impending arrival in camelot, it made it seem like he was staying in the room but again they had been replaced at this point so who knows. Both swords were kept in the one room. I’m sure Ebor -disguised as Sir Ethan- was in the same room as Dagger considered his unkempt state and the fact that he was there when Dagger was throwing knives at Merlin when it had probably taken a minute for Gwaine to get there even if he was moving as fast as he could (Merlin did say he had to travel up seven flights of stairs to get from the square to Sir Oswald’s room after all).

Now i could be wrong about this. Whenever the room was brought up they called it ‘Sir Oswald’s chambers’. Sir Oswald also clearly held a higher status than Ethan, so maybe it was some sort of protection detail or something but if that was the case why would there have only been Sir Ethan and the one servant at the camp -i would think there would be others there as well if Sir Oswald was in that high of standing that there would be additional knights along the journey for his protection.

Again i could be wrong, my knowledge of hierarchy and knights and stuff isn’t the greatest. But i think in one of the gayest shows to ever exist -and considering how often knights were historically in secret same sex relationships- it is highly likely these two were together.

[hellneedsaruler]

There’s just something about how by the end for Arthur to play the role he needed to play , be the once and future king who would unite Albion and rule justly, he had to learn to be gentle to be softer and kinder and more compassionate .

And he had to learn it from Merlin . The person who in order to become Arthur’s protector had to learn to be Ruthless . He had to be cold blooded , merciless and vicious to keep Arthur safe .

[dinneratgrannys]

ONCE UPON A TIME 5.07, Nimue

[adhd-merlin]

I've ordered a DVD of The Globe's 2013 production of The Tempest off eBay for £3, which is suspiciously cheap. it might or might not get delivered, and if it does it might or might not work. fingers crossed

[lesbicosmos]

just started rewatching merlin again

might start liveblogging abt it bc this is like at least the sixth time ive watched it and i have Thoughts

[grace-below]

There’s something so bittersweet about rewatching Merlin. Seeing the first episode, watching how they interact, and wondering “what would Arthur do if you told him he’d be close to death one day, far younger than he deserved to be, and the only person around was this random peasant boy who talks back and makes a fool of both of them in front of everyone? And what would he do if you told him he knew was going to die, and the only request he had for Merlin, his best friend and the man he’d come to love someday, was that he hold him?”

[sneakyboymerlin]

on my fourth annual rewatch of merlin and i don’t think we as a fandom talk about how merlin absolutely slaughtered the knights up in 4x06. bro had those insults locked in and ready to go. he’d been choreographing how to fuck their shit up for MONTHS. he saw his opportunity to take out every last bit of his frustration in one fell swoop and he took it AND THEN SOME.

I’ve been thinking about this though like. The knights set themselves up when they approached disguised!Merlin all threatening like that. Merlin immediately calls Gwaine a drunk and everything goes to hell from there. Calls Percival by name even though they’ve never met before. They do not even question how this random old man in the woods knows these details about their lives.

That said, we are getting a glimpse at how Merlin thinks he will be treated by the knights if his magic is actually revealed, which is an angst fest of itself. The same thing happens in Lamia, really. Merlin is on the receiving end of a lot of misdirected violence from his friends in s4. But in the case of the Fomorrah, he ends up deflecting this with anger and petty pranks.

It also means we’re not getting enough fics where Merlin is on the run, gets inundated by knights, and leaves them to report back to Arthur with a humiliating defeat. Emphasis on humiliating. This is the blueprint, people. Normal Merlin > Goblin Gaius forever.

[pendragonsclotpole]

rewatching an episode of season one of merlin right now, i have a lot of thoughts (arthur legit looks so young it’s messing with my mind realizing how much the characters grow over the seasons and oh my lordy merlin used to be so pure, so trusting, so naive *ugh*) but one thing that just popped into my head: how small Camelot looks.

this is probably due to budget reasons, but the fact that random people can show up and demand an audience with uther or appear mysteriously and meet with a prince, it just makes me wonder what that must have been like for merlin both during his time in camelot and after

we’re talking a kingdom’s whose golden age was in an era of petty states and kings, a few centuries after the fall of the roman empire. merlin fics sometimes bring up how popular merlin is among the people of camelot. it highlights the unspoken notion that camelot and its nobles and royals aree within degrees of separation.

the world, after arthur’s death, must have gotten so frightfully big for merlin. i just think, what if merlin had served arthur or another such king in a later era when the size of the kingdom was so much larger? remove the feudalistic background, if that is what they were going for in the series, and who is merlin? its for that reason that i love the joke that merlin would lowkey be a monarchist because yeah, merlin lived an early era of kings where royals could be in such close proximity and held to the standards of their people.

[tansyuduri]

Merlin Loregasm Rewatch S1E1

Hi Everyone! Welcome to my rewatch of Merlin focusing on the lore. I am a giant nerd so pretty excited about this. Time for THE DRAGON'S CALL

Okay so by the looks of it Merlin walked all the way to Camalot. Every other person we ever see walking on the roads and many who ride get ambushed by bandits. So it seems Merlin either managed to remarkably avoid trouble once in his life. Or he took down a lot of enemies. Unless he just killed them all you would think someone would have noticed Magic unless he hid it. So it is possible Merlin already had a good deal of practice using sneaky magic in fights BEFORE arriving in Camalot.

It could also just be that the Road from Ealdor to Camalot is VERY safe because later in the season Merlin, Arthur, Gwen, And Morgana get there without incident, AND Gwen gets there fine in season 4. OF course, she might have had the skill to just fight off enemies. Another thing to think about that is funny is the possibility they were safe later partly because Merlin just managed to atract every possible danger and totally destroy it on his way to camalot in Merlin fashion. (And it kept happening if he ever visited home the times we do not see.) I could just be overthinking everything too. That will be a common theme.

OKAY! this is interesting, This is pretty much one of almost no one we see with a last name let alone a middle one. At this time in history last names were HIGHLY uncommon and usually belong to nobles. SO this brings up a question I find really interesting. Is it possible that the Collins family were once nobles? What happened to magic-practicing nobles when Uther took charge? Were they killed and then had their family stripped of their titles? If so it would explain the random last name (And how his mom knows how to move in a fancy dress perfectly later) HOWEVER in To Cure All Ills, Edwin Muirden has a last name. And one would think Uther would recognize it if THEY were a noble family. So this could just be a random fluke thing.

Full line from Uther here is: " When I came to this Land, this kingdom was mired in Chaos. But with the People's help Magic was driven from the realm, So I declare a festival to celebrate 20 years since the great dragon was captured. And camalot freed from the evil of Sorcery."

THIS tells us a ton. First of all, Uther did not grow up in Camalot. It's possible he was either a ward of some other person if he was from an ancient bloodline of Kings of Camalot. OR he became king purely by Right of Conquest! A magic mention just after 'mired in chaos' is interesting because it could imply there was more bad magic than just the death of his wife going on. This is supported by the mention that the people helped! It is also possible it is independent of magic if so WHAT CHAOS? I NEED TO KNOW. But either way, it becomes clear that the people supported enforcing the magic ban big time. Let's move onto 20 years. If the popular headcannon that Arthur turns 21 on his birthday in the first season is true, it means Arthur was born and then Magic was purged in about a year. Or at least the great dragon was captured about a year into the purge. The first seems more possible because of the "And Camelot freed from the evil of sorcery."

Does this look like an OH SHIT I knew this woman. She was a noble! face or not? He also lets her monoluge a while before the "Seize her" and looks kinda haunted.

Okay, Seriously what does it take to do this teleport spell. We only see her and Morgouse do it. MERLIN WHY DID YOU NOT LEARN THIS?

Gaius is very big on Magic must be studied and learned in this episode but later will mention Uther "drowned children for magic they were born with" We also see other people born with magic (Mordred, Morgana) So my thought is that people can be born with magic and sometimes do some random things and have random outbursts. BUT they need to study to learn any big spells or use it purposely. There are also people NOT born with magic who study it and learn. (Gaius seems to hint at this.) (or perhaps they have to be born with the ability too in which case Gaius was born with the ability but had to study a LOT) I'm a strong believer in "Magic is an Allegory for things you are born with that makes you fundamentally different from most people." So I prefer the later version) This hints that like MANY things magic ability is part talent and part study.

This just in! There is an estimated time to get from Ealdor to Camalot by walking. Perhaps Merlin did NOT clean out every possible threat along the way? ALSO RANDOM THOUGHT was Merlin's room once Alices? Or just a bed he let patients lay on? Like Merlin tends to do?

OKAY first mention of religion. The word "God" is used. I will be keeping track of these since its one of the things I wanna figure out with this rewatch.

Morgana: To whom! He practiced some magic. he didn't Hurt Anyone Uther: You were not around 20 years ago. You have no Idea what it was like.

Morgana: How long are you going to keep punishing people for what happened then? Uther: Until they realize there is no room for magic in my kingdom OKAY interesting this seems to possibly hint that once again more than Ygraines's death went on. It also seems to show that the magic ban is not universal "MY Kingdom" Yet Uther doesn't seem like the type to ally with magic-using kingdoms. We'll keep an eye on this

This starts the reflective surfaces reveal Ilusion magic rule. We will be keeping an eye for exceptions to see if I can find any but the rule seems pretty universal (Except for cups at the dinner scene. so puddles and mirrors.)

Okay those are for sure Tomatos which TOTALLY were only in the new world. I love this because it implies some great sorcerer like Sigan was like "you know what we need more crops. I want a more varied breakfast *summons crops from half a world away* PLANT THESE PEASANTS."

Funfact! Gwen's family/ancestor most likely came to Albion with the Romans during their invasion! This is one a reason it's ridiculous when people try to say there were not black people in Britain at this time.

Gaius: The likes of which I've never seen before

Merlin: What do you mean?"

Gaius: Well magic requires incantations, spells; it takes years to study. What I saw you do what elemental Instinctive

EXEPT is does not always require incantations, and we know for a fact that gaius talks about children born with magic later. So I think he means controled magic here.

Gaius: Uther banned all such wrk 20 Years Ago.

Merlin: Why?

Gaius: "People used magic for the wrong end at that time. It threw the natural Order into Chaos. Uther made it his mission to destroy everything from back then, even the dragons. Ok this seems much more likely to just refer to Ygraine. We also get a mention of Uther destroying Dragons. A freind of mine on a discord brought up that they think the dragon lords must have actually helped Uther because HOW ELSE DID HE KILL DRAGONS (let alone get a chain to hold one!)

GAH! No spell was recited here! WHY Merlin WHY! Was this done on accident?

We've got another God Used!

[two-sheep-in-one-wolfs-clothing]

rewatching merlin and 3 thoughts:

my god this really is so gay

gwen and arthur had more chemistry before they got together and back then they literally had none. they were sorta good in the once and future queen but mostly bc gwen was a girlboss in that episode. but like do they expect us to ship gwen and arthur when merlin and arthur are…like that?

the morgana and merlin thing felt so random but also not and they would have been such a power couple. 6/10

[multifandombullshitbabes]

Random Merlin Rewatch: Where a random number generator gives me a season and an episode from BBC Merlin; and then I comment on it as I go.

Today's episode: Season 2 Episode 11 - The Witch's Quickening

First off, before I start. It's got Mordred on the cover, so I'm assuming it's the episode where Merlin tries to kill little baby Mordred? And bby Mordred fucking shows off some of his magic in it as well. Don't remember much else but that, so.

LET'S FUCKING GO INTROOOOOOOOOOO

Oh, it's that ugly ass blonde guy that's gonna manipulate Morgana or whatever it is. Ugh. I don't like him. Glad to see him on the floor, but I know it's all a ruse.

Why is every Camelot knight fucking useless, y'all cannot be serious right now.

Was he. Fucking floating or something??? That looked goofy as shit, brother. Loser.

LET'S GO MUSICCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC

It is a testament that Camelot must have a lot of different knights and guards, 'cause they don't recognize the guy but that's alright. I'm assuming they're so used to seeing each other with the helmets that they just. Forget each other's faces?? I don't know, maybe it's me, but I can recognize a face.

Oop, not Merlin snooping in on some random telepathy convo.

Before that, I wanted to comment. Absolutely bonkers that they're carrying Mordred (? maybe) inside a barrel. At least I'm assuming that's what they're doing.

That must've been so goofy to film, thank god colin just puts his whole pussy into everything he does.

A rare occasion of some guards being useful. Too bad magic's a thing, huh.

Does the druid speak give Merlin headaches?? Poor boy looks like is getting one. Also he looks so comfy.

NOT MORDRED INSIDE THE BARREL, MY GOD. That cannot have been comfy. Also him just. getting out like that. So creepy, I respect it.

Oh the two people just lifting him up like that, he's so smol!!

Why does the blonde guy has such a slutty shirt, wtf.

Why is Morgana sleeping with a big ass bracelet on, girl, take that off!!! You don't need it babe.

Morgana smiling :((((( My love.

OOP ICONIC ARTHUR CHOKING MERLIN UP THE WALL SCENE, LET'S GO

Ohhh the way Arthur just get's so protective when Merlin tells him they're in Morgana's chambers. They love each other so much, I'm SICK.

Ugly ass man, no one asked for you to talk, BITCH. fucking Alvarr or whatever the fuck, he can suck my dick, his vibes are SO OFF.

Morgana is so empathetic, like, she GETS IT!!! Of course she has some degree of privilege by being Uther's ward, but she is so fucking afraid everyday of being found out!! I'm SICK.

NOT MERLIN GETTING ALL GIDDY BY A COMPLIMENT FROM ARTHUR, OUGHHHHH

Hate seeing Morgana get so manipulated, hate it hate it, I'm SICK OF IT, LET MY GIRL LIVE HER FUCKING LIFE

EWWWW GET AWAY FROM HER, EWWWW

AHHHHHHHH MORGANA'S ACTING IS SO GOOD, FUCK I LOVE THIS SCENE, SO GOOFY!!!

She's so gorgeous. But also I love Merlin's little head tilt at Morgana's excuse "Don't you think if there was someone in my room, I'd know about it?" because, frankly, no you wouldn't!! And merlin knows this, but she says it with so much confidence they just take it.

Damn, Arthur getting so sassy n aggressive 'cause he was so scared of finding a horrific scene in Morgana's chambers, and now he's got nothing but Merlin to let out steam to. Damn, damn, boys.

I don't Mordred understands that his role in this mission is nothing more than just ensuring they get the crystal via manipulating Morgana with his existence. Very sick game Alvarr is playing. But Mordred could also be in the know. Hmmm.... we'll see.

Merlin IS very smart, he understands people, but most of all he understands magic users and what they need to do to survive, even if it means sacrificing yourself for others to survive.

Ough, that braid and that green dress. Morgana is just stunning.

"I was looking for Arthur." immediately looks down, guilty as fuck. Morgana is a good liar, but that doesn't mean she likes it all the time. This is Merlin, someone she supposedly trusts. And she is committing a serious crime. Tense.

God, I do love the aesthetics of this show. Love it love it, the fire, the stone walls, everything. And they never played about the clothes.

Merlin can never sleep in peace, and Arthur can never eat in peace.

Well. I do have to say, I was wondering why Arthur's door wasn't locked if he's known to be away. Merlin babe that's kinda on you, you should've locked it :///

Love the difference between Merlin apologising to Arthur n him just walking away, and then Uther being very harsh to Arthur for the same reason. Something something if Arthur can, he'll bear the burden/blame of others since he already feels responsible for a whole kingdom even as a prince, so what's more of that weight on his shoulders right? Technically, the fault is Merlin's but if Arthur can help it, Uther will never know it. He cares so much for Merlin.

Arthur lying through his teeth for Merlin, ohhhhhhhhhhhhh

This damn fucking dragon, fuckkkkkkkkkk

"Because you don't have a choice." OOP MERLIN ATE WITH THAT ONE.

God, the way Kilgarrah talks abt Morgana, I hate it!! UGH

Hm. The fact that Mordred possibly can use the crystal but Morgana can't (KIlgarrah's words). Interesting. So, from least to most poweful: Morgana<Mordred<Merlin.

Gwen just trying to spend as much time with Morgana because I bet they normally chat and stuff.

Oof, the mix of anger/fear/apprehension on Gwen's face with "My Lady." i bet it doesn't happen often when Gwen is reminded that Morgana is a lady and has the power to fucking execute her at will, she's that powerful. It must be so scary when she gets reminded of that. Of course, she knows Morgana would never; but what if?

The difference between Morgana's pristine tall white horse and Merlin's smaller black horse. Love that. Loveeeee it.

Oof. The fact that Morgana balks at Alvarr and his strategy of just. Killing anyone at Uther's side, even innocents. Like, she just cannot understand that, but!! She's at her most vulnerable at this time. Right now, she's not sure what's right or wrong. She doesn't know if what she thinks it's the right thing to do anymore, if it's what's needed for magic to be free, for her to be free of this fear and be herself. Is cruelty the answer? Is she being too merciful? I wonder if these are thoughts that she's having, knowing that what feels right is that she doesn't want to kill civilians, just bring Uther down. But what if her approach is wrong, and they fail, and it makes it all worse? What is there cannot be any "half measures"?

DONT FUCKING TOUCH HER BITCH EW

"I dont want to be alone anymore." THIS!!!! This is what leads to Morgana becoming what she becomes in season 3. Ultimately, she feels so alone. What other friends she has besides Gwen? Arthur? And now those two are poisoned because of her secret. She doesn't know if she can trust them fully anymore. She was already bitter, and full of hatred for Uther, and she was already capable of being ruthless and brave. But this? Being alone? This is what sets her off at her path. Even if she has allies, in the end she will always feel isolated, separated, alone. Even with Morgause. The second she gets into the mindset of "I have nothing of value to lose." She goes down Uther's path. The second she convinces herself that everyone either wants her dead or gone or whatever, she's on Uther's path. And Morgause doesn't count; she helps with this actually. Because Morgause is also very isolated and alone, but still puts herself in a certain distance with Morgana. Yes, they're sisters, they're High Priestesses. But they know their roles are much grander than themselves. Morgause even makes Morgana sacrifice her for their shared goal. The connection she has with Morgause only intensifies this idea that Morgana does not need others, she has a purpose outside of herself, and nothing else matters. This is what leads her down Uther's path. And once you start self-destructing, you realize how easy it is; and how much harder it becomes to put yourself back together again.

EWWWW THEY ALMOST KISSED!!! Another proof that Morgana is just so desperate for connection. First sign she sees of pure acceptance without fear she wants to dive right into that "safety". Ugh. Hate Alvarr and his manipulation.

EWWWWWWWW FUCK I HATE THIS GUY BROOOO

Oop, cult leader esque vibes. Should've known.

Not Gaius straight up telling Merlin "Let's lie to the King." Bet Merlin teases him abt that.

Goddd, I love their sibling banter. Also love how Arthur just cannot seem to tell when someone's hiding something when they're someone he truly deeply loves n trusts. Hope that doesn't bite him in the ass or something.

DON'T FUCKING KISS HER EWWUHHHH

Not Arthur just bullying the fuck out of Merlin. Too bad he's too busy listening to a telepathic convo.

THIS IS SO FUNNY, MERLIN JUST BEING LIKE "There's a footprint!!! (Oh fuck it's not enough, um-) LOOK!! MORE!!!"

"Yes they are" says Merlin prophetically and then somebody get shot with an arrow. Seriously, how did nobody get that Merlin was a sorcerer?? Did they just think he was. very weird???? Actually, that's exactly it.

Not Merlin aiding in the death of a child.

And just like that, another part of the prophecy solidified. Welp!!

Not Merlin seeing what Kilgarrah will do if he releases him and then that's exactly what he does.

OUGH??? MORGANA SENDING AWAY THE GUARDS WITH JUST A FLICK OF HER HAND??? HOT?????

OOP??? I FORGOT HOW HARD SHE WENT IN THIS SCENE HOLY SHIT???? This was, lowkey, Morgana sealing her fate. She was just so done with being passive and just taking the luxury of being Uther's ward. She saw what Alvarr and the druids and anyone with magic has had to do to survive and to end this reign of terror and she got so sick of just being on the side-lines. No wonder it was so easy for her to just betray them past this point. To her, she was already alienated from Uther and Camelot and everything it stands for. Alvarr being sentenced to death, not even telling the whole truth of her aiding him, radicalized her here. The title of this episode makes so much sense, this is Morgana getting more and more cold and ruthless towards Camelot whether before she just hated it and suffered under it. Go off queen.

OUGHHHH NOW THAT BROKE UTHER'S HEART, DAMN!!! She fully just. resigned from this family (I don't think she's fully processed that this means resigning from Arthur as well, she's just so focused on Uther).

OUGH THAT LAST LINE. UTHER'S SHOOK BITCHHHHH

"The future is as yet unshaped." This is why I believe destiny is not set in stone, but!! Once you do a set of actions, one path of the future solidifies and it is basically impossible to erode yourself out of it. But not truly impossible.

Morgana lying to Gwen, separating herself more n more from those she loves but that could hinder her new path. Oof...

Not Morgana bribing the guards with alcohol, jesus they're so stupid.

Fucking HATE ALVARR UGHHHHH

Oh, the way that Uther knows, and Morgana knows he knows, but Uther just cannot bear the thought of the truth, cannot say it out loud. OOOOOHHHH DELICIOUSSSSSSSSS

Damn what a good ass episode bro. This is really where we see Morgana become herself, I guess; or the hateful, ruthless version of her. It is both sad but so freeing to see. But I do think she only really wanted Uther to be gone, her hatred for Arthur and Merlin came later, through Morgause and her manipulation, but also their own actions.

[theroundbartable]

Rewatching Merlin with my gf is making me see the series in a completely new light.

Merlin could have absolutely scheduled the next wild random magic attack in his calender. It's always full moon. ALWAYS!!!!

It's not always highlighted, but it always happens. Each Season has 12-13 episodes, two of them often belonging together. Considering each Season is kind of stretched over a year, we have 12 instances a year, all of which happen at a full moon.

You know how fucking hilarious that is?

[hellneedsaruler]

What was more culturally significant the renaissance or Arthur calling merlin “old friend” right before he goes out to his death ?

[bellamyblakru]

✨merlin rewatch 2023✨

okay, with the way ive planned it, we can get the whole thing done right before the start of @merthurweek2023 !!!

here’s the deal: one episode every five days, unless it’s a two parter, then it’s both episodes within those five days. under the cut is the schedule i made. you can save them if you want to♥️

you can watch with the schedule, you can join for a few random weeks, you can pick and choose which episodes you want to watch or make a creation for—all up to you!!

(you can join my discord server, too, if you want to watch when others do & we can talk about it)

no rules. no stress. just a simple merlin rewatch in the year 2023🫡

the event: you can just watch along with us, or you can participate in this low-stake challenge opportunity that i made. either way is perfectly fine!! i had a few ideas, but these are just a few possibilities. the creative liberty is all yours, and you can do what you want to. just tag it with #merlinwatch2023 so i can see, reblog, and love on it pls

the challenge:

for gifmakers,

a gifset an episode (what i am personally doing. it’s gonna be hard but ill try)

a gifset every few eps posted during our collective watch time

a gifset after we finish a season as an ode to what we watched

for writers,

a coda to the episode during it’s watch time

a divergence au that follows after the episode

a fix-it of what you wished happened during the episode

for watchers,

a post about your feelings/thoughts during the episode

possible meta about what something could’ve meant

a possible fic idea that you want to suggest to the world

for artists and video makers,

for the schedule below, i used color coding for each season! you could explore an idea you had during an episode with the color of the season

any relationship between characters that you wished you saw more of during an ep/season

anything you want to capture in your style from what we’ve watched

[adhd-merlin]

merlin S1 rewatch: episode 11 🦄

hey remember that I started a S1 rewatch? last summer.

just some random thoughts. this is not a coherent or comprehensive commentary in any way.

in fact, let's start from (nearly) the end: why is there a MASSIVE labyrinth in the middle of nowhere? like who made it? who maintains it? what is it for?

and Arthur seemed to know exactly where to find it so its existence isn't even a mystery, apparently. I know there are some random, never-mentioned-again locations in other episodes but this one is possibly the random-est.

anyway. interesting episode to rewatch knowing what's going to happen later. of course, it's very much about Arthur's character (literally), but it's also about Arthur and Uther in a way that lays the groundwork beautifully for ep 5x03 (The Song of Uther Pendragon).

It starts with Arthur seeking his father's praise by presenting him with the unicorn's horn; it ends with him receiving a lukewarm pat on the arm by Uther after saving the day (after he ruined it, I suppose, but still).

Arthur fails the second test when the "grain thief" he confronts in the forest voices his deepest fears – "he doubts you'll make a good king," the man says. "I think he wishes he had another son".

(I've seen people ask "Why did Arthur summon Uther's ghost instead of Ygraine's?" about ep 5x03. Well, here's why. Because Arthur always sought Uther's approval. Because he always looked up to Uther, as a king if not as a man, and who else would he turn to when doubting himself?)

Naturally, Arthur shows himself to be worthy of the throne when he's most unlike Uther – like when he refuses to give out the order to stop distributing food to the people – but he doesn't know it yet. it will take him some more years to realise it.

I love that we see Arthur's fiddling with Ygraine's ring right in the following scene, when he's looking at his people.

I love how subtle the use of this ring is (we are never even explicitly told it belonged to Arthur's mother and it could easily have been mentioned) and how it adds to Arthur's characterisation when you start paying attention to it.

Gwen didn't have a big part in this episode (Morgana even less so) but I loved her "I'm sure Arthur will think of something" to Merlin. She always had faith in him. (see also ep 3x13: "You gave us hope… I saw the king you will become" 🥺)

Merlin drinking poison to save Arthur in ep 4 vs Arthur drinking poison to save Merlin in ep 11. We love symmetry <3

Arthur telling Merlin "I'm glad you're here, Merlin", knowing he's going to die soon, hits different after watching the last episode (also this line makes me think of Frodo's "I am glad you are here with me. Here at the end of all things, Sam")

I quite like the fairytale vibes of this ep – the haughty prince, the curse, the secret test of character, the three trials. All in all an enjoyable self-contained episode.

Also kudos to the horse for its acting.