#Morgana-9

[perianth-nixie]

More fancy pose

🥀

[gabriels-golden-kazoo]

However deep you think you are into a fandom, there always seems to be something else.

[sword-wielding-sapphic]

BBC Merlin costume designers had necklaces from H&M, bobby pins, and a vision

[littlezane06]

TikTok

welp... TikTok is officially gone, I was in the middle of fucking saving my fucking videos. every edit from different fandoms that I was in; 9-1-1, Merlin, Brooklyn 99, Lucifer, Batman, etc.

[raviraaa]

#9 of random merlin prompts:

s04e09: Lancelot du Lac AU

Morgana/Gwen or… Morgana/Gwen/Lancelot

When Morgana resurrects Lancelot, things don‘t go according to plan. The plan was to have Lancelot seduce Gwen. The plan she is currently adjusting to is seducing Gwen herself while trapped in Lancelots body. Added bonus is the sufferingly noble knight plaguing her with his thoughts and feelings for Gwen and trying to stop her plan while battling for control over his/their(?) body. It would be much easier if he wasn’t as privy to Morgana‘s thoughts, feelings and deepest desires as she was to his.

[makmakgoose]

Next to You (It’s the Rule)

Arthur and Merlin have a special relationship. They always have, even when they were prince and servant. While many question it when first noticing, eventually it becomes an understanding in Camelot—and even among some other countries—that where there is Arthur, there is Merlin. And, where there is Merlin, there is Arthur.

LINK

[overlyspecific]

I NEED a merlin fic where Merlin gets exposed as a warlock while Uther is still king and has to flee (maybe with Arthur’s help) but he doesn’t want to go far (so he can protect Arthur) so he just lives in the woods outside of the castle and becomes a robin hood type character.

If this happened soon enough i think the knights that Merlin gets to serve Camelot would just be apart of his forest gang instead. they could fight bandits but also steal from obnoxious nobles that treat people badly. they could also break innocent magic users and druids out of the dungeons.

Arthur would become a kind of Maid Marian character where his dad tells him to track Merlin down but whenever he goes Merlin just stops him with his magic and flirts with him before letting him go when they are far enough away. (Arthur gets trapped often because he misses and wants to see Merlin but he will never admit it)

Morgana, Gwen and Gauis would also probably sneak information to Merlin often or just let him into the castle whenever something comes up. Merlin always visits Arthur when he sneaks in the castle so it goes something like this:

Merlin: *siting with his feet on Arthur’s desk, reading highly confidential court documents while eating Arthur’s dinner*

Arthur: *comes into his chambers to relax after a council meeting and sees Merlin* 😧 You can’t be in here! What are you doing? Stop reading those!

Merlin: I thought you’d be happy to see me ☹️

Arthur: Maybe I would be if the entire castle wasn’t looking for you and you weren’t eating my dinner, you clotpole

Merlin: You did miss me! 😊 Also thats my word.

Arthur: I still have to arrest you…

Merlin: Can I finish the bread first?

and then Merlin proceeds to get away by dramatically jumping out the window and disappearing with magic and Arthur pretends to be mad but is smiling to himself

Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8, Part 9, Part 10, Part 11, Part 12

[perianth-nixie]

Morgana's robes.

Old ones + new ones

[shanastoryteller]

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!!! Lord De Bois merlin please?

a continuation of 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

"Do you always have to antagonize her?" Merlin asks, watching Morgana sink magic into the earth again and again. Elyan is hanging close now after she'd sent him away, because when Arthur had told to her take a break she'd said some words that he couldn't repeat in polite company. She's going to work herself to collapse at this rate, and Arthur had said that Elyan could actually catch her while Merlin would barely break her fall.

Rude, but probably true.

Arthur shrugs, a smirk hovering around his lips. "Yes. She rises to a challenge."

She rises to a challenge so much they're going to have to tie her to her horse on the way back, the way she's going.

[katsona-the-katsequel]

Persona Fun Facts

These are all taken from the fanbooks and novels.

So far in the series, the protagonists have managed to avert between seven and eleven "Ends of the World".

Nanako does notice her flan is missing, but assumes she ate it earlier and forgot.

Yukki has at least three younger siblings.

Dr. Nicholai, the guy who helped create the Deva System, is jewish.

Sae practices kickboxing as a hobby.

Nyarlathotep also made deals with King Solomon, Napoleon, and the actual Hitler.

The project that saw the kidnapping of 100 children to create Persona Users was called the "Artificial Persona Users Research Project"... not very original.

Theodore once adopted a shadow and named it Mochi. This shadow became so powerful it adopted the name of "Near Death".

In the Persona timeline, Tatsuzou Sudou replaced Yōhei Kōno as the Minister of Foreign Affairs, though he wouldn't be able to complete his term.

The Demon Painter first entered the Velvet Room by painting a blue door in his canvas. It is probable he finally managed to paint the Fool Arcana before P3 and left the Velvet Room, having nothing left to learn there.

The saleslady of Anima Mundi has the hots for Tatsuya.

Masataka, Maya's father, died in the Soviet-Afghan War when she was eight.

Ken has stated he wishes he had a Death Note.

Mark drew those marks under his eyes himself.

Minato sometimes muttered in his sleep about how "the end is coming". Mitsuru noticed and it worried her.

Katsuya began baking because it made baby Tatsuya happy.

Sojiro wanted to give Morgana the name of a foreign actor or singer he liked.

Ann doesn't cook because she always makes too much and its always just how she likes it, which causes her to overeat.

Shinjiro doesn't remember his Awakening.

Reiji is such a momma's boy his favorite food is listed as "Mom's home cooking".

Katsuya wakes up at 5:30. He always tries to wake Tatsuya at 7:30, but Tatsuya doesn't get up until 9.

Ken's mom once met and saved one of the kids who was part of the Artificial Persona Users Research Project.

Kubo was given a suspension from Morooka for a week, which hurt Kubo's pride so much he transferred.

If Innocent Sin and Eternal Punishment are considered one long game, then their events did take place over the course of a year like the newer games, from May~ of 1999 to February of 2000.

All of this happened in the same year: Labrys and later Aigis were built, the events of P2:IS took place, Ryuji and Ann were born, the Dark Hour was created, and construction of Gekkoukan High School began.

[vashtijoy]

Quick snippet from 10/26. In case you ever wondered whether Akechi knows Mona talks all along... watch him here, and listen to him. At first he's on script—entirely in control even when he talks about how he was supposedly nearly murdered by himself. It's the same tone he uses on the news. He's gone over this speech a dozen times.

Then Morgana talks, and while Akechi does react, he's still acting. He's still on script, prepared and practiced. The portrait looks shocked, but the model is just standing there, playing detective....

... until Ann steps in with "our friend who taught us about the Metaverse":

He jumps back so fast I didn't have time to load the textbox, lol. "What do you MEAN you had a MAGIC CAT GUIDE, the FUCK??"

Of course he knew Mona talks. How does he expose himself, right away on 6/9?—he hears Mona talking about pancakes. He had to be close enough to hear Mona, the cat. So it's not Mona talking that shocks him, but the revelation that Joker and the rest had help, had a guide from the very beginning, when he did not.

And you can hear his voice change register at that moment. That careful, controlled, rehearsed tone goes out of the window. He talks faster, he pitches up, he's breathless, without a script. He is, in short, more real. And he immediately asks Mona a question:

He really hasn't solved that mystery; he really wants to know. In fact, he has to know—about the difference in their methods and his own, which he just can't figure out....

There's a little of that high-pitched breathiness when he talks about his awakening, too. I'd say that's pretty much how it happened way back when, and he's adapted the story a little. "I can't die here... I need to determine the truth"—of course he did. The same truth that his "sole interest is uncovering"—the truth about Shido and himself.

What about that image of the killer, standing in the entrance to Okumura's Palace? Well, sometimes people think this is a photo, but it's not—Akechi doesn't produce any more photos, he just continues with his story. So this is presumably what Akechi pictures in his mind at that moment. This is his self-image, God help him:

Lastly, here's an incredulous Akechi with a bonus Futaba glaring at him. Don't neglect the models—they really repay close examination, and the face animation is often incredibly detailed. And as for whether Akechi is lying or not at any given moment—it's often easier to tell than you think.

revision history

Click here for the latest version.

v1.0 (2024/04/18)—first posted.

[larluce]

Arthur and Merlin travel back in time without knowing the other is from the future too AU

Tagging @aceauthorcatqueen , @fallenxjas , @smileytrinity ,@lucifertookmyshoe , @an-entity-i-think , @thecornerofbelu , @griffonskies , @odinjm , @cinnabon-sweetroll-tiramisu , @thelady-mary , @bennedict , @nightninjaboy , @st8-of-grace , @star-rie , @error-username-not-available , @dogberryrowan , @jamieweasley13 , @tansyuduri , @tercais , @robynnemrys , @evadne01 , @serasvictoria02 , @hairdryerducks , @hopeaha , @curiously-lazy , @ harriettesthings , @andrealux16 , @wacko-weirdo , @greatdonutenemy , @yougottobekittenme , @anxiousosaurus Thank you for all your beautiful comments, it keeps me going ♥️♥️

LINKS TO THE OTHER PARTS OF THIS AU HERE: PART 1 , PART 2 , PART 3 , PART 4 , PART 5 , PART 6 , PART 7 , PART 8 , PART 9 , PART 10 , PART 11 , PART 12 , PART 13 , PART 14 , PART 15 , PART 16 , PART 17 , PART 18 , PART 19 , PART 20 (You're here) , PART 21

At the castle's doors.

Sophia: (walks outside, enraged)

Echanted Arthur: (close behind, running) My love! Wait!

Sophia: (turns to him) What? Haven't you humiliated me enough?

Echanted Arthur: Please! Whatever quarrel you have with Merlin, we can solve it!

Sophia: He hit me and humilliated me! 😡

Echanted Arthur: I know it looks bad. But I'm sure he must have his reasons.

Sophia: ...What?

Echanted Arthur: I know him, he wouldn't just... This is not like him! Maybe there was a misunderstanding. So please forgive him, my love. I beg you. Forgive him and come back to the castle, please.

Sophia: (in disbelief) It's incredible. I used the strongest love spell there was and put all my power in it. I knew I had to be quick as soon as we saw your heart was compromised. But even now you're fighting it. You still prioritize him.

Echanted Arthur: ...Is that a methaphor?

Sophia: (gets back to her offended fiancee rol) I'll never forgive you, Arthur Pendragon. (Thinking) Oh, how much I'm going to enjoy killing you. (Turns her back at him and leaves as dignified as she can)

Echanted Arthur: (makes a gesture to go after her, but sees some guards walking nearby so he aproaches them) You! Make sure my father doesn't kill Merlin while I'm gone. (goes after Sophia)

Guard 1: But, sire! What if the king orders his execution? Sire! (turns to guard 2) What do we do?

Guard 2: If we go against the King's orders, he'll kill us.

Guard 1: But if we go against the prince's orders, he'll kill us.

Guards: (stay thinking and thinking what to do like winnie pooh)

Meanwhile, at the entrance of the dungeons.

Lancelot: (arrives carring a plate of food, rehearsing his lines in a whisper to himself) I came to bring food to the prisoner, I came to bring food to the prisoner... (stands up before the guard, determinated) I came to bring food to the...! (sees the guard is knocked out) prisoner?

Merlin: (gets out of a shadow) You're late 😒.

Lancelot: (jumps out of his skin, screaming) Aaaah! What the- How did you-

Merlin: Magic. (Takes the knocked out guard's sword and starts going up the stairs to the exit)

Lancelot: Right. (Follows him and they walk side by side) Morgana saw Arthur and Sophia leave the castle, so Gaius sent me for you.

Merlin: (sighs) Figured as much. Where there any horses in your escape plan?

Lancelot: Yes, actually.

Merlin: Good. We're going to need them.

Back with the guards at the entrance of the castle.

Guard 1: (with a coin in hand) Face we die by the king.

Guard 2: Seal we die by the prince.

Guard 1: (Flips the coin)

Guard 2: (looks the result) We die by the king.

Guard 1: (sighs) To sneak the servant out of the dungeons it is. (About to leave)

Guard 2: Wait! Look! (Points something in the distance)

Guard 1: (looks) Isn't that the prince's manservant?

Guard 2: And he's escaping! 😨 And with the horses! 😱

Guard 1: Who's that with him?

Guard 2: We have to tell the King inmediatly! (About to go inside)

Guard 1: Wait! Don't you see? This is perfect!

Guard 2: (confused) What?

Guard 1: We don't have to go against the King's orders now! 😃

Guard 2: You're right! 😃 We're save! 😄

Guards: (celebrate)

Guard 1: We still have to tell the King the prisoner escaped though. It would be suspicious if we don't.

Guard 2: We will, we will. Just... give him a head start.

Guards: (wait)

Meanwhile, in the woods. Lancelot and Merlin riding side by side.

Merlin: (stops) It's here. (Gets off his horse)

Lancelot: (gets off too) Do you know how to break the love echantment?

Merlin: Killing Sophia. (Starts echanting the sword)

Lancelot: Not that I don't support that, but maybe in a way that doesn't involve killing? Just to have options.

Merlin: (ends echanting the sword) This is sidhe magic, it's almost imposible to undo. (Gives sword to Lancelot) Here, you can defend yourself with this. (Starts running in direction of the lake)

Lancelot: Wait! (Stops Merlin by the arm) Merlin, we need a plan.

Merlin: (impacient and desperate) There's no time! Arthur could be dying as we speak!

Lamcelot: You said "almost imposible to undo", so there is a way.

Merlin: It doesn't matter!

Lancelot: As the only no magic user here who is going to confront two powerful magical creatures, it matters a lot to me! What if she puts a spell on me too and turns me against you? I need to know!

Merlin: (sighs, exasperated) Fine! As far as I know, I great act of true love can break any love echantment. The more efective ones would be a true love kiss or the loss of someone you love. But Arthur isn't in love with anyone and Sophia will be too busy trying to drown him in the lake to echant you, so you don't have to worry about that. Can we go now?

Lancelot: Sure. (Thinking while they go to the lake) To think everything could have been avoided with a kiss 🤦‍♂️. But now I get why she didn't try to kill Merlin when she had the chance. The loss of Merlin would break Arthur for sure.

At the lake. Sophia in the lake with Arthur while Aulfric is at the lakeside.

Aulfric: (echanting) Ia bend dǽdon níwe. Cúðon gare íewe deahl sǽ áre. Sé áre. Ig bæþ deahl sǽ néah. Déaþ ór cwylþ óga him. An wén.

Echanted Arthur: (holding hands with Sophia, between confused and mesmerised by her) I... what is happening?

Sophia: (sweetly) It's our wedding, silly.

Echanted Arthur: (smiles brightly) Really? Am I doing it correctly?

Sophia: (Nods and caresses his face) You are doing just fine. Just look at me. (Her eyes glow red) Look at me.

Merlin: (hiding behind a bush, whispers a spell to make Aulfric staff go to him) Onbregdan.

Aulfric: (feeling his staff move, holds it tigher, stops echanting and turns to Merlin) You think we didn't know you were coming? (Points the staff to Merlin) Na þing biþ! (A lighting gets out of the staff to hit Merlin)

Merlin: (stands up) Scildan! (Blocks the attack with a magic shield)

Sophia: (from the lake, shouts worried) father!

Aulfric: I got this! Don't break the eye contact!

Sophia: (brings her attention back to Arthur)

Merlin: Swilte, gold beorþ! (Throws a lighting at him too)

Aulfric: (blocks it easily with his staff without conjuring a spell, laughs) Is that all you got?

Merlin: Actually, I can conjure earthquakes, lightings and fires that could burn an entire forest.

Aulfric: (laughs again) And why haven't you done that?

Merlin: (smiles) Because now I'm just a distraction.

Aulfric: (confused) What...?

Lancelot: (stabs him from behind with the sword)

Aulfric: (drops dead on the ground)

Sophia: (screams horrified) NO! FATHER!

Merlin: (picks up Aulfric's staff and is about to use it to kill Sophia)

Sophia: (Puts Arthur infront of her, a hand on his neck, eyes glowing red with fury) Try anything and he dies!

Echanted Arthur: (eyes blank and no emotion on his face, basically being handled like a puppet)

Merlin: (scared, but tries not to show it) You won't kill him. You need him to go to Avalon.

Sophia: I don't care about that enymore! (Tears of anguish and anger run down her eyes) My father is dead! This was our dream and he worked so hard for me to have it... and he suffered a pathetic mortal death because of you! (To Arthur) Gewseorc, hine beclyppe!

Echanted Arthur: (starts to choke, like he's being strangled)

Merlin: (shouts in panic) Arthur! (About to go into the lake)

Sophia: Stop right there or I'll soffocate him to death!

Merlin: (stops, fearing for Arthur's life)

Sophia: This is what is going to happen. (Gets closer to the lakeside holding Arthur hostage) We will go back to the castle. You (points at Lancelot) will be arrested and executed for killing a Lord (turns to Merlin) and I will continue the wedding to make sure to make your life a living hell!

Lancelot: (suddenly holds Merlin from behind and puts the sword at Merlin's throat)

Merlin: (more than confused) What are you doing?

Lancelot: (whispers) Trust me. (Raises his voice again) I'm sorry, Merlin. But I won't die for you! (Shouts to Sophia) I'll kill him myself, my lady! Please let me live! I'm too young to die!

Sophia: You think I'm going to forgive you that easily!

Echanted Arthur: (blinks like waking up from a dream and mumbles quietly) Merlin?

Lancelot: I'll do it right now! (Pretends he's about to cut Merlin's throat)

Echanted Arthur: (opens his eye wide and shouts, frantic) MERLIN! (runs forward to stop Lancelot, freeing himself from Sophia)

Lancelot: (lets go of Merlin to hold Arthur and shouts) Merlin, now!

Merlin: (uses the staff to break the chain around Sophia's neck with magic)

Sophia: NO! (Looks frantic for the necklace that fell in the water)

Merlin: (takes Lancelot's sword, goes to Sophia and stabs her several times, while screaming furiously)

Echanted Arthur: (crying, while trying to free himself from Lancelot) NOOOO! SOPHIA!

Lancelot: (still holding Arthur, looking at Merlin disturbed) That... was unecessary. 😰

Merlin: (leaves Sophia's corpse floating, gets out of the lake all cover in blood and drops the sword)

Arthur: (coming back to his senses) So...phia? (Stops struggling) Wha... Where am I? (wipes his tears, confused) Why am I crying?

Lancelot: (lets go of Arthur, happy) Your Highness! You are back!

Arthur: (looks Merlin is all covered in blood and panics) Merlin! 😨 (Runs to him and checks him, anxiously) What happened to you?! Where are your injuries?! (Tries to take off his clothes)

Merlin: (Stops him) The blood is not mine, I'm fine. (Holds his face, to check closer his neck and eyes with concern) Can you breath correctly?

Arthur: (blushing at the sudden closeness) Yes, I think I do.

Merlin: Are you lucid? You don't... you don't love Sophia anymore?

Arthur: (frowns, confused) Who is Sophia?

Merlin: (sighs in relief) You are fine.... (Pushes him away from him abruptly in poorly hidden anger) There's nothing wrong with you, my lord. I'm so glad.

Arthur: Hey! You can't just push your prince like that! 😡

Merlin: (composes himself) You are right. Forgive me, sire. It won't happen again.

Arthur: ...

Arthur: Merlin, are you alright?

Merlin: (too politely) Of course, sire. Forgive my impertinence, sire. I just didn't want to stain your royal clothes with mine (stresses the word) sire.

Arthur: ... Okay? (Looks around) Uhm... Can someone explain to me why there are two dead bodies here? What on earth happened?

Lancelot: You don't remember anything, sire?

Arthur: Not really, the last thing I remember is being with Merlin in the woods fighting some bandits and... No, wait... (starts remembering) There was a girl, I think... she- (open his eyes wide and pales, shouting) I GOT ENGAGED! 😱 How could my father consent that? 😡

Lancelot: Well you asked him to let you marry Sophia quite nicely, sire.

Arthur: I did what?! 😨

Merlin: (crosses his arms, looking to the side) Yes, you were pretty entusiastic about it, my lord.

Arthur: But I would never! I was... echanted! Yes, I remember now! (Turns to Merlin) You told me Sophia was echanting me! And Morgana, she tried to warn me about her too. But I- (opens his eyes wide as another memory assults him, suddenly furious) YOU ATTACKED A NOBEL LADY PUBLICLY?! 😡 WHAT WHERE YOU THINKING?!

Merlin: Oh, I'm sorry for not worrying about property when I was trying to save your ungrateful royal ass! 😡 (composes himself and adds) My lord.

Arthur: I am grateful. But my father could have killed you for that!

Lancelot: Well, he did send Merlin to the dungeons.

Arthur: WHAT?! 😨

Lancelot: But I sneaked him out from there before the king decided a sentence for him and we went after you.

Arthur: You sneaked a prisoner out of the dungeons...

Lancelot: Yes.

Arthur: So Merlin now is a fugitive and you are an accomplice.

Merlin: We didn't exactly have a choice, my lord.

Arthur: I know, I know, I just... (brings a hand to his forehead, thinking distressed) How the hell I'm going to get Merlin out of this!

Lancelot: Do you remember anything else, sire?

Arthur: Yes, uhm... Sophia and her father brought me here. They were doing some kind of ritual.

Merlin: They were sidhes, creatures of magic, my lord. They were trying to sacrifice your life so they could go to Avalon, apparently. Why they chose you especificilly completely baffles me.

Lancelot: (worried) Anything else, sire?

Merlin: (pales, thinking) Fuck, I forgot he saw me using magic!

Arthur: I... (remembers Lancelot and Merlin arriving, Merlin using magic and killing Sophia) Uh... No, that's all I remember.

Merlin and Lancelot: (sigh in relief)

Arthur: So... (points the corpses again) I'm assuming these are the sidhes. How did you defeat them?

Merlin: Well-

Lancelot: It was me, sire! I slayed them both with my sword. (Thinking) Merlin is in enough trouble as it is to have muder on his list of crimes too.

Arthur: You slayed two powerful creatures of magic all on your own. 🤨

Lancelot: Yes sire, Merlin helped of course. Acting as...uhm...

Merlin: A distraction.

Lancelot: Exactly! It was team effort.

Arthur: Not that I don't believe your word, Lancelot, but then why is my manservant the only one covered in blood?

Lancelot: ...

Merlín: ...

Lancelot: I also have blood. (Points the only little stain he has) Here.

Merlin: Yeah, it's just that... I kind of got in the way... when he was... slaying them.

Arthur: (thinking) Do they believe me this stupid? Really? (Says) Alright, we'll talk about the details later. Now we need to hide the bodies.

Merlin: Why?

Arthur: Well, I don't know. Maybe because you were seen attacking Sophia and you textually said you would kill her in front of the king? So when they find out you escaped from the dungeons and search for you and find the corpses of Sophia and her father laying here, who do you think they're going to believe killed them?

Merlin: Oh, you seem to remember quite a lot of details of what happened, sire. (Accusing) Tell me, how conscious were you really, my lord?

Arthur: What? What does that have to do with-

Lancelot: Sorry for interrumping your spat, but though I agree with your highness, I don't think we have enough time. Search parties must be looking either for the prince or for the prince's manservant as we speak. There's no way we can dig a hole to bury the bodies so fast.

Merlin: Oh, that's easy. There are ropes on the horses we brought with us, right?

Lancelot: Yes, I believe so.

Merlin: We can tie them with the ropes to heavy rocks and then throw them in the lake so they sink to the bottom. No one will look there, problem solved.

Arthur: ...

Lancelot: ...

Merlin: What?

Arthur: You seem to know a lot about hiding bodies.

Merlin: It's simple logic and fisics, my lord. Someone would think that with all your royal education you would know. (Sighs) Let's get this over with. (Walks away to go to the horses)

Arthur: (walks behind with Lancelot, whispering to him) He's been calling me "sire" and "my lord" for far too long. Is he mad at me?

Lancelot: He's definitely mad at you.

Arthur: But why?!

Lancelot: Well, you weren't very nice to him when you were echanted.

Arthur: It's not my fault! I was echanted!

Lancelot: That's right and he knows but...

Arthur: But?

Lancelot: If a drunk man killed a woman and his defense at court was that he was drunk when he did it, would that make him less guilty infront of the Jugde.

Arthur: ...

Lancelot: Just give him time, sire.

Time skip. After they hidded the bodies.

Arthur: Great. Now we need to get rid of your clothes. (About to help Merlin off his clothes)

Merlin: (stops him and says dryly) I'm perfectly capable of undressing myself, my lord. Thank you (turns his back to him and starts taking off his jacket, shirt and neckerchief with hard movements).

Lancelot: (To Arthur) Your eyes, sire.

Arthur: (takes his eyes off Merlin, blushing) I was not looking anything.

Merlin: (finishes taking off all his top clothes) My pants are clean.

Arthur: Are you sure?

Lancelot: Sire! 😠

Arthur: I was just making sure!

Merlin: (folds his clothes) I'll get rid of these.

Lancelot: (takes Merlin clothes from him) No, I better do it. The sooner you're far from this place or any evidence, the better. (To Arthur) You can take my horse, sire. Well, technically it's your horse but... you know...

Arthur: Of course. (Turns to Merlin) Merlin-

Merlin: (Just passes him and goes ahead)

Arthur: (sighs) Was I really that mean?

Lancelot: (mumbles) Rather you were too nice to Sophia.

Arthur: What?

Lancelot: I said you better hurry, sire. (Leaves to get rid of the clothes)

Time skip. Merlin and Arthur with the horses.

Merlin: (prepares get on his horse)

Arthur: Do you need help with-

Merlin: No, my lord.

Arthur: (Notices Merlin is shivering a bit) Wait, put on this. (Takes off his jacket) My cape is still wet, but I think this is dry enough-

Merlin: I don't need anything from you, my lord, thank you.

Arthur: Look, Merlin. I'm sorry, alright? If a treated you badly while I was... that was not fair to you and you deserve an apology.

Merlin: You don't have to apologise, sire. You were echanted. I understand.

Arthur: Then why do you keep calling sire?

Merlin: Because that's what you are, sire.

Arthur: See? You are still mad!

Merlin: I'm not mad! 😠

Arthur: Yes you are! 😠

Merlin: I'm not! 😠

Arthur: Fine, be mad. But I won't let you catch a cold so put on this! (gives Merlin his jacket rughly)

Merlin: Is that an order?

Arthur: Will you put it on if it wasn't?

Merlin: No.

Arthur: Then it is an order. Put it on. Now.

Merlin: (puts on the jacket angryly and gets on the horse)

Time skip. Merlin and Arthur ride side by side in an uncomfortable silence until they encounter a search party.

Knight 1: Sire! You're back.

Knight 2: And the... prisoner is with you.

Arthur: He's no prisoner. We're in our way back to the castle. You can scolt us if you like.

Knight 1: But, sire, the King order us to arrest the boy.

Arthur: I'll talk to him to solve this, but Merlin is coming with me.

Knight 2: But-

Arthur: (raises his voice, more sternly) I said I will solve this! Understood?

Knights: (frightened) Yes, sire. (start scolting them to the castle)

Knight 1: (whispers to knight 2) Isn't the servant wearing the prince's jacket?

Knight 2: (whispers back) Yep.

Knight 1: You think they...?

Knight 2: Totally.

Knight 1: And Lady Sophia is no where to be seen.

Knight 2: Want to keep being a knight?

Knight 1: Yes.

Knight 2: Then hear and see, but stay silent.

Time skip. Merlin and Arthur in the throne room with the king and Morgana.

Uther: Horseplay?

Arthur: Yes, Merlin and Sophia were just horseplaying, but it kind of... got out of hand.

Uther: ...

Merlin: (thinking) This is the best excuse you could have come up with? Really? 🤦‍♂️

Morgana: My lord, if you allow me, I noticed Lady Sophia didn't like Merlin from the start. She even told me once she wanted to get rid of him. Merlin as a servant can't say no to the wishes of a Lady. It wouldn’t surprise me if she wanted to get Merlin into trouble on porpuse through this... horseplay.

Arthur: (crosses eyes with Morgana and gives her a grateful smile)

Uther: Even if that were true, it doesn't change the fact that he escaped from the dungeons!

Arthur: He didn't escape, I ordered some guards to free him before I left.

Uther: The guards were knocked out!

Arthur: I ordered them to be discret.

Uther: (sighs) I'm going to corroborate this story later. Where is Lady Sophia?

Arthur: Yeah, about that... we decided to break our engagement by mutual agreedment and she left with her father.

Uther: What?! But you were so in love with one another.

Arthur: We were but... sometimes love can be... fleeting too.

Merlin: (snorts)

Uther: And it had nothing with the fact that this boy went after you.

Arthur: I had already broken our engagement and given her my farewells when Merlin found me. He apologised for his behavior and explained to me what really happened. (Puts an arm around Merlin) He even brought me a horse to ride back more comfortably, because he's such a considerate servant.

Merlin: (gets the arm off him)

Uther: (thinking) Either he made my son cover for him or managed to make him believe this stupid lie, this seductive demon is more dangerous than I thought! (Says) It's a shame Sophia and you didn't work out, (looks at Merlin, severely) Though I don't blame her, honestly. This boy still needs to learn his place. You should at the very least, fire him. In fact, I'm firing him.

Arthur: But, father-

Uther: I'm not leaving the boy without salary. He would still be Gaius apprentice, so don't tell I'm being too hard on him. You should be grateful I'm not sending him to the dungeons again after this.

Arthur: But that's not fair! It was all a big misunderstanding!

Uther: Do you really expect me to believe-

Merlin: I quit.

Uther: ...

Arthur: ...

Uther and Arthur: What? 😧

Merlin: I quit being the Prince's manservant. Can I leave now?

Arthur: You can't quit! 😡

Uther: Yes, you're not quiting! I'm firing you! 😡

Merlin: Okay, I'm fired. Can I leave now?

Arthur: Merlin!

Uther: You insolent brat! Get out of my sight! 😡

Merlin: With pleasure, sire (bows and makes a gesture to leave)

Arthur: (stops him by the arm) No! You are not fired! I'm rehiring you! 😡

Uther: Arthur!

Merlin: (exasperated and tired) Alright! I'm rehired! Can I please, PLEASE just leave?

Morgana: You are dimissed Merlin.

Merlin: (frees from Arthur rughly and leaves)

Arthur: Merlin! (makes a gesture to go after him)

Uther: Don't you dare go after him! 😡

Morgana: For once I agree with the King, Arthur. Let him be, he must have gone for quite an ordeal.

Arthur: (sighs and looks where Merlin left, sad)

Time skip. Arthur encounters Morgana in a hallway.

Arthur: Hey! Can I speak with you for a sec?

Morgana: (surprised cause Arthur hasn't talked to her on his own will for a while) Sure, what is it?

Arthur: I wanted to thank you for helping Merlin and for trying to warn me about Sophia and all. You were right about her, I should have listened to you, I'm sorry.

Morgana: (smiles) Arthur, it's okay, I don't blame you. You were echanted. Besides, saying I saw Sophia killing you in my dream, even in your right mind I would have understand if you didn't believe me.

Arthur: It's not just that. I know I haven't been very nice to you lately. I was... going through stuff and I took it out on you. I'm sorry.

Morgana: (teasing) The great Arthur Pendragon apologising two times in one day? That's a record!

Arthur: (still very ashamed) Will you forgive me?

Morgana: (gives him a comforting smile) Of course, you silly. (Hugs him)

Arthur: (thinking while hugging her) I missed you so much. Gods, please let me keep her. Let me keep my sister too. I don't want to lose her again.

Merlin: (passes by)

Arthur: (separates the hug inmediatly) Oh, hi, Merlin.

Merlin: My lord. (Bows and leaves)

Morgana: Uh... did something happen?

Arthur: (vents, frustrated) He's been mad at me since Sophia! Acting all respectful and proper like-

Morgana: Like an actual servant?

Arthur: Yes! It's anoying! 😠 I get that maybe I treated him badly while I was echanted, but this is not fair! I'm not the drunk man! The drunk man chose to get drunk before killing that woman, but I didn't choose to get echanted! So he doesn't get to be mad at me for something I didn't have any control over! 😡

Morgana: (confused) Who's the drunk man?

Arthur: Lancelot.

Morgana: Lancelot killed a woman! 😨

Arthur: No! He gave me this metaphor about a drunk man killing a woman-The point is Merlin has no right to be mad at me!

Morgana: (in disbelief) You think Merlin is mad at you... because you treated him badly while you were echanted?

Arthur: And it wasn't even that bad! From what I remember, I still was pretty considerate of him if you ask me. My attention was mostly on Sophia.

Morgana: Oh, gods 🤦‍♀️. You really don't know, do you?

Arthur: What?!

Morgana: Merlin is not mad at you because you treated him badly especifically.

Arthur: Then why is he mad at me?! 😡

Morgana: (unsure) I don't think I can tell you.

Arthur: What? Why? 😨

Morgana: It's not really my place to say.

Arthur: (begs) Morgana, please! I need to know! I can't handle his respectfulness anymore! He even woke me up at the right time this morning, I can't stand it!

Morgana: Well, if Merlin has been the one echanted to love someone else and has brushed that love at your face every 5 seconds and even almost married that person, wouldn't you be mad at him?

Arthur: Yes, but that's because I- (realises) Oh...

Morgana: Yes, oh.

Arthur: He... he's jealous?

Morgana: Again, it’s not my place to say.

Arthur: (smiles) He is jealous.

Morgana: Don't smile! 😠

Arthur: I'm not smiling (smiles)

Morgana: You did it again! 😠

Arthur: Alright, I'll stop. (hopeful) So... he loves me?

Morgana: Love is a very strong word. I would say he likes you, though I don't believe he's aware of it. He's been pretty oblivious to your advances and he may not even be aware he likes men that way.

Arthur: (keeps smiling)

Morgana: Stop it! May I remind you Merlin is still mad at you and you are not precisely in his good side right now?

Arthur: (turns serious) You're right. Sorry. What do I do then?

Morgana: (crosses her arms) Why should I help you? 🤨

Arthur: Because you would cut your own arms and legs for me? 🥺

Morgana: You! (Shoves him) I should have know you would use that against me!

Arthur: (whines) Morgana!

Morgana: (sighs) Fine, here's what you should do.

Time skip. Merlin and Arthur arrive at the stables of a horse seller.

Horse seller: These are our finest horses and mares, your highness.

Arthur: (looks at the horses carefully)

Horse seller: Has one caught your attention, sire?

Arthur: Not really. (turns to Merlin) Pick one.

Merlin: (confused) What?

Arthur: I need to pick one before I get back.

Merlin: Then you pick one, my lord.

Arthur: I'm doing it by ordering you to do it.

Merlin: That doesn't make any sense...

Arthur: It's an order from your prince, Merlin. Pick one.

Merlin: (rolls his eyes, but looks at the horses until his eyes stops in one) This one is pretty. (Aproaches a young black mare and smiles) What's your name, precious?

Horse seller: Oh, it doesn't have a name and it's barely more than 3 years, quite young and savage still, but a pure blood nonetheless.

Mare: (lets herself being caressed by Merlin and neighs, happily)

Merlin: (giggles) She seems pretty docile to me.

Arthur: (To the horse seller) I want that one.

Horse seller: Of course, sire. At what name shall I put the papers? Yours or the king?

Arthur: My manservant.

Merlin: WHAT?! 😨

Arthur: I'm buying this mare for you.

Merlin: Are you insane?! 😠

Horse seller: I'll go get the papers. (Leaves)

Merlin: (whisper yells) Rumors in the castle are bad enough as it is! They are saying I'm some jealous misstress of yours! Some even think the reason Sophia never came back was because I killed her out of jealousy!

Arthur: (whispers back, smirking) Didn't you?

Merlin: What?!

Arthur: I mean, you did help Lancelot kill her.

Merlin: To safe your life! Not out of jealousy, you arrogant prat! 😡 So what do you think they're gonna say when I come back to the citadel with my own horse?!

Arthur: I don't care what others say or think. No, actually, I do care about what one person says or thinks: you. Your opinion matters to me, Merlin, more than anybody else's.

Merlin: Yeah, you care about it so much you brought me here without telling me you were planning to buy me a horse!

Arthur: Because I wanted it to be a surprise, you idiot! And I couldn't exactly wrap a horse.

Merlin: ...

Merlin: Wait, this mare is a gift for me?

Arthur: No, I buy horses for my servants every day. Yes! This is a gift for you, Merlin!

Merlin: Oh... (blushes)

Arthur: What did you think I was doing?

Merlin: Getting me in more trouble with your father? He's not going to be happy about this, Arthur.

Arthur: (smiles) You called me Arthur. Does this mean I'm forgiven?

Merlin: (smiles apologetically) There was really nothing to forgive. I'm sorry. I was being inmature.

Arthur: It's alright. I understand why you were upset. If a man killed a woman an then got drunk-wait that's not how it was.

Merlin: Was what?

Arthur: Never mind. (Holds Merlin's hands) You know, even when I was echanted I never gave Sophia any gifts. (Gets closer) Nor a horse... or a flower in a pot. (And closer)

Merlin: (blushes) A...Arthur? 😳

Arthur: (looks down at Merlin's lips)

Horse seller: (arriving) Here are the papers, sire! 😊

Merlin: (pulls away from Arthur quickly all red)

Arthur: (kills the horse seller with his eyes)

Horse seller: Uh... should I... come back later or...?

Merlin: No! Not at all! Where do I sign?

Arthur: (confused) I thought you didn't want the horse?

Merlin: Well, I figure if I'm going to be the talk of the castle, better live up to them. (Signs the papers)

Arthur: (thinking, smiling) I need to thank Morgana for this.

BONUS SCENE:

Morgana: I told you a small gesture! SMALL! Like flowers, chocolates, a love letter! NOT A FUCKING HORSE!

...

I think this and the previous post are the longest I've written so far! I had so much fun exploring this episode with tree Merlin and future Arthur.

Credits to my best friend, Rosangela, who gave me crucial ideas for this, like the cat fight and the say of the drunk man XD

Any ideas for names for Merlin's mare?

[sneakyboymerlin]

It’s a shame that the core four’s ages are never confirmed in canon. Arthur’s age is the best we get, and even then, it’s not that simple.

The dragon was captured exactly 20 years before Merlin came to Camelot. This means that Arthur is certainly over the age of 20 in 1x01. I’d argue that he should be over the age of 21 if the Purge had not only been going on for some time, but had already progressed into Kilgharrah’s capture by that point 20yrs prior.

If we take each episode as ~1 month (making each season ~1 year long), then Arthur’s birthday being in 1x09 would indicate about 9 months’ difference from 1x01, meaning that — if Arthur is 20 here — he was born only 3 months prior to the dragon’s capture.

This would mean that it only took 3 months for Uther to 1) wage his war, 2) escalate it so severely that Balinor summoned Kilgharrah to make peace with Uther, and 3) manage to capture Kilgharrah in chains specially designed to keep a dragon. This is incredibly unlikely.

I propose that Arthur is actually 21 in 1x01, giving Uther ~1 year and 3 months to wage war and orchestrate Kilgharrah’s capture.

From there, we can guesstimate Merlin’s age, since his birth is a direct result of this event. 20 years prior to 1x01 is when the dragon was captured, and so too was Merlin’s father. Then, he would have spent a period of at least a few months or 1+ years in Ealdor (long enough for him to fall in love with Hunith, and enough to never love another woman like that ever again). Then, he left Ealdor before he could discover Hunith’s pregnancy (i.e. she was not showing).

Accounting for the time Balinor spent in captivity, then the time spent in Ealdor, and of course the 9 months of pregnancy (which would have had some overlap, but small enough that Hunith was not showing), we get a period of at least one year, possibly even 2 years, after the dragon’s capture (again, exactly 20 years before the events of 1x01).

Subtracting 1 year, or 2, or whichever number we decide is most realistic from that 20 year figure, Merlin could be any of a wide range of ages in 1x01. At the oldest, he is a little over 1 year younger than Arthur (21 - 1.5 = 19.5). The youngest he could be is ~16 (based on appearances and relative age, since the numbers alone don’t place a limit on his minimum age) but it’s safe to say he’s at least 17 when he leaves Ealdor. So, 18 or 18 and a half would make for a functional average.

There is little to go off of for the Smiths, but Gwen is likely to be somewhere right between Merlin and Arthur’s ages since she has romantic plot-lines with both. She is likely ~19 in 1x01, older or younger depending on which figures we’re using. Elyan is implied to be younger than Gwen in 5x06 (when he says that Gwen “practically raised [him]”), so he may be Merlin’s age or younger. Only tangentially related, but Gwen says in 3x07 that it’s been 4 years since Elyan left. This places his departure ~6 months prior to 1x01.

As for Morgana, her age is dependent on when Uther slept with Morgana’s mother. Gorlois was off in battle when this happened, so it may have been post-Purge. However, because Morgana’s magic is an inherited trait (as it is with her sister, Morgause) and she and Morgause have the same mother but not the same father, this makes the magic a matrilineal trait in their family. It is highly unlikely that Morgana’s mother — a woman with innate magic — would have slept with Uther during the Purge. It was likely pre-Purge, and at least a year before Arthur’s birth.

Furthering the latter possibility, Uther having a child out of wedlock would be the evidence he needs to confirm the reason he has no child with his own wife (only his best friend’s wife): Ygraine is the infertile one. (Uther, on the other hand, is a little too fertile for his own good).

Compiling the timelines of these events, with enough time passing for the conception of Morgana to be realized, enough time for Gaius to persuade Nimueh to help Uther and Ygraine conceive, and enough time for Ygraine to complete a full 9 month pregnancy, we’re looking at a minimum of ~1 year and a half, but probably 2+ years if Uther and Ygraine looked into other (ineffective but time-consuming) fertility options first (via Gaius?).

Therefore, Arthur and Morgana might have a good 2 years between them. If Arthur is 21 in 1x01, then Morgana is probably ~23.

So my best guesses for 1x01 ages are:

Morgana: 22-23

Arthur: 21

Gwen: 19-20

Merlin: 18-19

Elyan: 16-18

[evedaser]

Merlin Spell Review

After rewatching the entirety of the show, some episodes more than once, and taking notes the whole time, I am so excited to finally present to you a full summary of the magical data* from 2008-2012's BBC Merlin.

*Specifically about the spells, therefore innate/passive abilities were not included! Morgana's visions, Merlin's Dragonlord commands, Anhora's teleportation etc DO NOT COUNT.

BBC Merlin contains 512 spells over the course of 65 episodes.

Characters

Merlin

Merlin cast 312 spells (60.9%) over the course of the show for an average of exactly 4.8 spells per episode. 112 of his spells were cast nonverbally, comprising 35.9% of his total magic usage. This proportion was at its highest in s1 (35.1%) when his magic was at its least refined and most instinctual, and s5 (71.2%) when his magic was at its most powerful.

(The other 39.1% of spells are divided between 41 other characters.)

He is the most consistent magic user in the series, being the only magician to cast in (almost!) every episode. There were 12 episodes where he was the only character to perform magic (including some surprising ones like s4e9: Lancelot du Lac, where Morgana's resurrection of Lancelot doesn't actually use any spells. In fact, Merlin is the only one to use spells in any of the three episodes named after Lancelot - s1e5: Lancelot, s2e4: Lancelot and Guinevere, and s4e9: Lancelot du Lac).

Season 3 Episode 8: Eye of the Phoenix is the only episode in the show in which Merlin does not cast any spells. He does still perform magic in this episode via the use of his Dragonlord abilities, however these were not measured in this tally.

Merlin did not throw anyone until Season 2, where he throws Jonas against the wall in a confrontation in Episode 5: The Beauty and the Beast I. The first time he threw anyone nonverbally was in Episode 13 of the same season, The Last Dragonlord, when, in a fit of anguish, he instinctively threw and killed the soldier who had just stabbed Balinor. In general his combat strategy tends towards using the environment (dropping tree branches, chandeliers, slamming doors) or the opponent's own equipment (heating sword hilts, breaking saddles, pushing weaponry against their will) against them rather than brute force, though he does transition more toward throwing in the later seasons. By the end of the series, he had used spells to throw people, either verbally or nonverbally, 24 times, still less than Morgana despite his head-start.

He cast his highest amount of spells in s4 (69) and his lowest amount in s5 (52).

Merlin used magic to do his chores 9 times on screen.

The lovely @arrowlovesdragons asked that I note how many of Merlin's spells were for Arthur, which I did and subsequently turned into this graph:

The most common characters included in "Other" were Gwen and Gaius, Morgana in the earlier seasons, and very notably in s2 (hence the large increase), Freya. Any spells Merlin did for Uther were counted under "Camelot".

Or, if you want a simplified version (wherein I factored "Others" as Merlin's own desires, and "Camelot" as being for Arthur):

TL;DR when Merlin said "I use it for you, Arthur, only for you." he was blatantly lying. That being said, he still devotes almost half of all of his magic to just Arthur. In s5 when he makes that statement, it's more than half. Considering Balinor told Merlin that he is magic itself... well. Merlin wasn't too far off.

Morgana

Morgana is the second most prolific caster in the show, casting 59 spells (11.5%) across the 25 episodes she is magically active in for an average of exactly 2.36 spells per episode. She has the highest proportion of accidental casts in the show, the first in Season 1 Episode 12: To Kill the King, wherein her touch activates the Mage Stone, and the other 5 in Season 2 Episode 3: The Nightmare Begins, where she casts magic in a panic after being woken by nightmares.

The aforementioned artefact activation in Season 1 is her first specific usage of magic in the show, and if you would prefer not to count that, then the also-aforementioned panic-magic are her first spells.

Morgana had the highest proportion of magic intended for violence by a very large margin. 34 of her 59 spells (57.6%) were intended to cause harm to others (harm to others for the purpose of protecting someone not included - this is why Merlin's stat for this is so much lower). She also used throwing as her chosen method of combat magic more than anyone else in the series, throwing people a total of 25 times (38.5% of all person-throwing in the show). The first person she threw was Merlin in Season 3 Episode 5: The Crystal Cave.

In Morgana's final episode - Season 5 Episode 13: The Diamond of the Day II, where she casts 5 spells - her last four spells are used to hurt or kill others, but her first was to protect Mordred (albeit by killing the soldiers around him). All the way at the end, she still truly cared for someone.

Other High Priestesses and Servants of the Old Religion

Nimueh is the first recurring magic user, aside from Merlin, to appear in the show. She mostly uses her magic to be malicious and evil, but does take Merlin to the Isle of the Blessed and gives him water from the cup of life with which to heal Arthur. Her intentions around this are never made clear.

Despite 70% of her spells being used explicitly for harm, she never directly attacks someone until Episode 13, where she launches two fireballs at Merlin. It is also interesting to note that she is one of very few villains who never attacks Arthur. Her malice was always focussed on Uther and his kingdom, not misdirected towards his son.

Throughout her time on screen, Morgause was a formidable enemy. In her first appearance (Season 2 Episode 8: Sins of the Father) she performs 4 spells. She is the first person to enchant an animal (discounting Edwin Muirden's Elanthia Beetles because they operated more like magical items than natural animals) and is linked to both of Ygraine's appearances, with the spirit she raised in s2e8 and the mandrake root she enchanted in the first two episodes of Season 3. Like many more experienced magic users in the series, she relied heavily on enchantments to weave complex and manipulative webs of magic rather than brute force violence. In Season 2, she actually doesn't use magic for direct violence at all. The Knights of Medhir, who were meant to carry out violence on her behalf, were only shown to be responsible for the deaths of the knights Arthur took with him to inspect the fortress in the beginning of the episode. They did not kill anyone in Camelot.

That being said, she can be extremely violent when she so chooses. The first person she acts against directly is one of Cenred's guards, who gets little further than drawing his sword before she has thrown him across the room and through a table. In that very same episode, her soldiers knock Merlin out (for several hours), and she subsequently binds him in magical chains and leaves him for the serkets. Very friendly. Catching up on the violence I see.

Most of the other creatures and messengers of the old religion are bound to a specific purpose. Anhora, the keeper of the unicorns, only ever deals with matters dealing with unicorns. Grettir and the Cailleach are gateway spirits. None of them get to do many spells because, within their purview, there just isn't a need for it. The Disir do slightly more, but only slightly.

Fun fact, those were the only four I categorised under "Messengers of the Old Religion" in my spreadsheets. Anhora is from Season 1 and so cannot count towards this, however the other three are post-Gwaine, and all three of them use a spell to get Gwaine to lay off threatening them. For Grettir and the Cailleach, it is their only spell. The Disir's only other spell is summoning the rune mark that got them into the situation in the first place. That is a 100% pissed-off-by-Gwaine rate among the spirits of the old religion. I'm sure Merlin would be thrilled (he was there for all of them).

All of them seem to believe in Arthur's potential, but they are not as assured of his fate as Kilgharrah leads Merlin to believe they should be. The Dochraid -- who I included as a Magical Creature and not a spirit -- chooses to support Morgana and quite actively opposes Arthur, despite being a creature aware of Emrys, and, you would think, probably the prophecies too. She's not alone in this. That being said, the Cailleach seemed to derive some joy out of Morgana's fear in 4x01, and did refuse Merlin's sacrifice. To me, this shows that at no point in the show did the old religion itself "pick a side" in the war, it was only ever up to Merlin, Morgana, and Arthur to prove who was right.

I don't have interesting magic stats about these characters for you because they were usually too busy dealing with Gwaine to do any actual magic. My apologies.

Mordred

Mordred did very very little magic throughout his time on screen, especially in Season 5. In his three child episodes, he performs exactly one spell in each of them. The first is an instinctive reaction to Cerdan's execution in Season 1 Episode 8: The Beginning of the End, shattering Morgana's mirror with a mental scream, and the other two are both violent actions of self-defense when surrounded by Camelot soldiers. Poor kid.

As an adult, Mordred performs only three spells.

He throws Morgana at the Cauldron of Arianrhod after Merlin abandons him to deal with her on his own (5x09),

He screams, out loud this time, and absolutely destroys the dungeons around him as a reaction to Kara's execution (5x11), and

He performs the only cooperative spell in the entire show, wherein he and Morgana combine their powers to launch a gigantic fireball at Stowell (5x12).

As a child, he was built up as someone with a great deal of power dealing with an incredibly hostile world. We were led to believe he would grow into someone dangerous, perhaps matching even Merlin's calibre of sorcery. Mordred ended up growing into a world in which he suppressed his magic for the sake of laying low and fitting in, but when he used his power, he was unstoppable.

Sorry for the break from the stats there, there just isn't a lot to say about Mordred statistically, except that the only spell he ever performs verbally is that final one he does with Morgana. All of his personal magic usage is done without incantations, and half of it is pure instinct. It's understandable why Merlin was so afraid of him.

Guest Characters

These are characters who only appeared in one episode (double-parters not-withstanding) (or in Alator's case only cast magic in one episode).

The highest casting guest character was Edwin Muirden, who cast 9 spells in s1e6: A Remedy to Cure All Ills.

The lowest casting guest characters were Anhora (1x11), Cornelius Sigan (2x01), Jonas (2x05), Balinor (2x13), Taliesin (3x05), the Sidhe Elder who attacked Merlin in his chambers (3x06), Grettir (3x08), the Cailleach (4x02), Lochru the Vates (5x01), and Ari (5x12), who all cast only one spell in their on-screen appearances.

The median was represented by all the characters who cast 2 spells in their on-screen appearances: Sophia (1x07), Aulfric (1x07), Cerdan (1x08), Tauren (1x12), Alice (3x09), and Osgar (5x05).

Honorary mention to the only two on-screen sorcerers who went unnamed in BBC Merlin, both of whom were vendors who sold their enchanted items to extremely-obviously-evil people and were immediately killed. R.I.P these guys (1x02 and 3x04):

(There were other magic users who went unnamed, but they weren't human: the goblin in 3x03, the troll in 2x05 and 2x06 -- "Lady Catrina" was her DISGUISE -- , the Diamair -- more of a title than a name --, and from 4x08 you could argue 'Lamia' is her species and not her name, but she does introduce herself by that.)

Episodes

The episode with the highest amount of spells was Season 5, Episode 13: The Diamond of the Day II with 19 spells cast. This was split between Merlin, who contributed 14, and Morgana, who contributed 5.

The runner up was Season 1, Episode 1: The Dragon's Call with 17 spells cast. This is split between Merlin, who casted 12 times, and Mary Collins, who casted 5 times.

The episode with the lowest amount of spells was Season 5, Episode 11: The Drawing of the Dark with only 2 spells cast. This was split between Merlin and Mordred, who each casted once. Mordred's spell was instinctive, a wave of destruction following his anguish at Kara's death.

There were 2 other episodes that shared such a low count. The first is Season 1 Episode 11: The Labyrinth of Gedref. Anhora's teleportation and the curse itself both were not counted as no deliberate spells were involved. One of this episode’s spells didn't even happen on screen, we only saw it being cast (Merlin used magic to kill the rat in Arthur's chambers, though we never saw exactly how). The second is Season 2 Episode 2: The Once and Future Queen.

The median was represented by all the episodes which had 7 spells to their name, listed as follows. s1e8: The Beginning of the End, s2e11: The Witch's Quickening, s3e4: Gwaine, s3e5: The Crystal Cave, s3e9: Love in the Time of Dragons, s4e2: The Darkest Hour II, s4e12: The Sword in the Stone I, and s5e8: The Hollow Queen.

As a bonus: The most common spell value per episode (the mode if we're talking stats, which we are) was 5. 10 out of the show's 65 episodes (15.4%) contained exactly 5 spells.

The average spell count per episode was 7.88.

Spells

The most common type of spell cast in the entirety of Merlin was Telekinesis in both verbal and nonverbal forms. It comprised 108 spells, or 21.14% of all spells shown on screen. That being said, if you separate verbal and nonverbal forms, the nonverbal Telekinesis becomes the second highest usage of magic, and the verbally incanted Object Manipulation becomes the fifth. It is bearing that separation in mind that I give you the following spell type top 3:

Enchantment. The big catch-all. 97 spells, 18.98% This is a big one, it accounts for every spell targeted on an object or a creature, provided they didn't belong to other categories*. It included enchanting poppets, amulets, bracelets, potions. It included all the love-spells, applied directly or not. It included the one other instance of mind-control, it included the GPS function Morgause installed in Arthur's horse, it included the spell Merlin used to clean the stain off Arthur's shirt. It included Morgana's blatant Darth-Vader rip-off force choking, and plenty of other things. Huge catch-all, very common. Merlin used enchantments 46 times.

Telekinesis. Classic. Non-verbal only. 62 spells, 12.13%

Elemental. Also classic. Verbal only. 61 spells, 11.94% This is another category that is split between verbal and nonverbal. If you combine both types of elemental spells, it comes out as 86 spells total (16.83%). The vast majority of this is flame and heat magic, but Merlin also uses wind several times throughout the show (he's the only one to do this) and, on occasion (literally only where his loved ones -- Arthur -- are in mortal peril -- 1x13 and 5x13 only), lightning. He is known to be able to cause rockfalls (also done by only Merlin) and precisely one time causes a full-scale earthquake. No one uses commands elemental water magic at any point in the show (spirits who happen to live in lakes/rivers doing magical things do not count, it has to be related to the water. Merlin does use magic related to water a couple times, but it was always categorised under other things).

Honourable mention to Violent Telekinesis, the term I used for the nonverbal "throwing people" spell, which came in 4th with 51 spells (9.98%). If you combine it with its verbal form, which I literally had to title Throwing (14 spells, 2.74%). That means that on 65 instances was magic used to throw people with an intention of causing harm, which averages out to exactly once per episode.

* There were two types of spells that were definitely enchantments but which I chose to separate into their own categories. The first of these is Artefact Activation, which is when a spell is used to activate a magical item that has already been enchanted. A good example of this would be the entirety of Gilli's magic, all of which was done via the use of an already-magical ring. Another good example is in s4e5: His Father's Son, when Morgana uses a nonverbal spell to activate the curse she placed on Arthur's sword the night before. The other of these categories is self-explanatorily named Locking/Unlocking, and I separated it simply because it was so common and I was curious.

Seasons

Seasons 3 and 4 are tied for most amount of spells cast, each with 108 spells in their 13 episodes. Season 1 has the least, with only 96. Overall, the show was pretty consistent with the amount of magic it did, with the average sitting mostly within the 7.5-8.5 range at any given time whilst I was constructing these tallies. The top five episodes of the entire show are a perfect distribution action the seasons, with one episode from each (1st. 5x13, 2nd. 1x01, 3rd. 4x06, 4th. 2x03, 5th. 3x06).

Season 4 has the highest lowest-episode spell count at 4, whereas s1, s2, and s5 have their lowest at 2, and s3's lowest has 3.

Most of the data on the spreadsheets were not organised by Season, though many of my physical tallies were. If you're interested in how the seasons compare, send me an ask or a message and I'll happily fish that information out for you. Otherwise, most of the data about the individual seasons has already been uploaded under other posts, so I won't make this section any longer.

Fun/Opinions

I'll do my narrative analyses later on a separate post, but just know it's so important to me that the top two episodes are the finale and the pilot, and the lowest is The Drawing of the Dark. At the top, two episodes that are so quintesentially about a magic boy in a world where his powers are desperately needed, Merlin (Arthur) at his very beginning and at his end, and at the bottom an episode that really was not about magic at all. The story of Kara's death was never a story of magic. She was not condemned for her sorcery, she was condemned for her murder. She was both caught and treated like any other criminal. 5x11 is fundamentally about people, about loyalty, about how our choices shape us. Mordred saw it as if it was about magic, and it was this misunderstanding which turned him away from Arthur for good.

Anyway. Silly spells (with references)!!

Merlin trips Arthur twice in the first episode.

Merlin successfully lures guards away from their posts using dice in the first episode. The second time he's shown using telekinesis on dice is when he's cheating in a gambling game against Arthur in 5x12.

Merlin uses barrels to distract guards on two separate occasions (2x04, 4x10). On the first one, he knocks them out.

Merlin slows time four times throughout the show (1x01, 1x07, 3x06). One of them is in order to observe Grundhilda's massive purple frog tongue.

Merlin uses magic to wind a rope discreetly up his pant leg and around his torso (2x08). This has a verbal incantation, which means someone either made a spell for this, which would be absurd, or Merlin is bastardising the hell out of someone's real actual sorcery that they wrote down formally.

Merlin once uses magic to put a princess to sleep and stuff her into a cupboard, which he then seals shut with magic as well (2x10).

Merlin uses magic to pull down people's pants. Twice. It works perfectly for his plans both times (3x07, 4x04).

Morgana also has an elderly disguise (5x04)!!

Sorry that they were mostly all about Merlin, everyone else in this show is so serious about magic. For other magic users who get silly with it, just rewatch Season 3 Episode 3: Goblin's Gold. I couldn't make up half the things that guy does.

I do have Fun/Vibes as a 'Purpose' category. It's populated mostly by Merlin, but also by the Goblin (3x03), Edwin Muirden (who lights a flame in the opening shot of the episode for the purpose of looking spooky and magic to the audience, and also who does some telekinesis just to show off to Merlin) (1x06), and Gilli (who activates his ring once in the opener of the episode purely for the benefit of signalling that it's magic to the audience) (3x11).

And no, I'm still not over the toad in s2e7: The Witchfinder, and I'm certainly not over the use of the Sidhe staff as a TAZER in s3e6: The Changeling (See the posts for Season 2 and Season 3 for elaboration on those).

Data

I am human, I have biases and make mistakes, I oversimplify things, I have a preference for viewing certain characters in certain ways. If you thought I was disingenuous, or wasn't clear enough, or have some other issue with this post, or otherwise are curious, the raw data I collected is now yours!!

Do with it as you wish. If you do end up using any of this for something, I would really appreciate a credit. This took me a very long time to put together.

Tally A list, with descriptions, of every spell in Merlin by episode.

Spreadsheets The numerical data in a variety of different tables and graphs.

Please note that I know there are mistakes in this dataset and I will be continuously working on fixing those. If you have need of the data, always refer back to the original post/document/spreadsheet. Reblogs do not update when previous posts are edited.

If you notice a mistake, even a minor one, please let me know!! And if you have any questions, I would be more than happy to answer them. Thank you for your time <3 I really, really appreciate it.

[astudyintheburningofhearts]

I'm gonna.... I'm gonna start writing this (ignoring all my other WIP's)

I'm not a writer so don't ask me for a fic, but

I keep imagining a scenario where Merlin is holding Arthur as he's dying, but with a magical grief outburst like Morgana's over Morgause. Except for Merlin it sends his time manipulation powers into overdrive and he ends up reversing it, all the way back to the beginning. I've read several fics where he time travels back, but in this scenario I imagine Arthur ALSO knows about it, because Merlin was holding him as it happened. Imagine Camelot at the very start of season 1 and only Arthur and Merlin have knowledge of the past/future 10 years. I'd imagine it would change quite a bit (they def support Morgana from the beginning, smuggle out any sorcerers because they don't quite want to actually murder the king, maybe Arthur and Morgana end up simply traumatizing him with their stances on magic idk, they adopt mordred and also hatch and smuggle Aithusa in, gaslighting everyone into thinking she's a bird)

Now Arthur has to do the whole 'keep Merlin's magic a secret' thing.. he's terrible at it, Morgana ends up knowing within 5 minutes

I would also imagine it would change the relationship dynamics, sharing 10 years with only one person is bound to bring you even closer together (yes I need merthur to happen here, but it could also be mergwenthur 👀 or if Merthur is endgame Gwen should at least get to end up with both Lancelot and Morgana, she deserves everything)

[unreesonable]

Stage/Fright

I won't be reblogging Stage/Fright stuff here to prevent spoilers, but I'll use this pinned post for some real-time archiving. Last updated 05/04/25

SPOILERS BEYOND THIS POINT

I update this post after every show - that’s every day Mon-Sat and twice on matinee days! (Thursday and Saturday)

Now that the West End run of Stage/Fright has concluded, I will be sharing more information about the guest appearances, photos etc over at @fuckyeahstagefright

Photos and reviews are at the end of this post

I'm going to try and track the celebrity guests throughout the run. Asks/DMs are open if you have a tip for a show you've attended, or you can comment below.

Celebrity guests

(plus the mime for their name and the show name / character name / catchphrase that Len keeps getting wrong)

Previews

16/01/25 - Jim Howick (Gym Cow Sick - Horrible Histories) 17/01/25 - Ralf Little (Death in Paradise) 18/01/25 - The Actor Kevin Eldon (Cave In Held On - Fist of Fun) 20/01/25 - David Morrisey (Day Vid Morris [Boris] See - The Walking Dead) 21/01/25 - Marc Wootton (Mr Poppy, Nativity) 22/01/25 - Adrian Dunbar (Ted Hastings, Line of Duty) 23/01/25 - Nick Mohammed (Nick More Ham Head - Ted Lasso) 24/01/25 - Katherine Parkinson (Cat Thin Parking Sun - The IT Crowd) 25/01/25 - Gary Kemp (Car Reek Hemp - the running joke was the Spandau Ballet song 'True') / Martin Freeman (Fart Tin Three Man - Bilbo Baggins, The Lord of the Rings) 27/01/25 - Matthew Kelly (Mat You Ceilidh - Stars in Their Eyes) 28/01/25 - Lee Mack (Lemur Ick - Not Going Out)

Press night and end of previews

29/01/25 - Alexander Armstrong (All Lick Hair Arms Wrong - Classic FM) 30/01/25 - Daniel Mays (Down Yell [Theresa] Mays - Line of Duty) 31/01/25 - Mat Baynton (Mat Pain Tonne - Horrible Histories) 01/02/25 - Les Dennis (Les[bian] Tennis - New Faces) / David Harewood (Day Vid[eo] Hair Wood - Martin Luther King, The Mountaintop) 03/02/25 - Tamsin Greig (Tame Sing Gregg - Friday Night Dinner) 04/02/25 - Monica Dolan (Moan Knickers Dough Lamp - Mr Bates vs the Post Office) 05/02/25 - Ophelia Lovibond ([James] Bond - W1A) 06/02/25 - Julian Rhind-Tutt (Julie [Andrews] Wine Tut - The Madness of King George) / Paterson Joseph (Peep Show) 07/02/25 - Mel Giedroyc (Smell Head Roy [Orbison] - The Great British Bake Off) 08/02/25 - Denis Lawson (Dentist Law Son - Star Wars) / Sue Perkins (Soup Hare Skins - Great British Bake Off) 10/02/25 - Dara Ó Briain (Parachute O Brie - Mock the Week) 11/02/25 - Rory Kinnear (Roar Reek In Ear - Black Mirror) 12/02/25 - Matt Berry (Mat Bear Eye - The IT Crowd) 13/02/25 - Mackenzie Crook (Mack Hen See Rook - The Detectorists) / Mark Bonnar (Boner - Line of Duty) 14/02/25 - Phil Daniels (Fill - Quadrophenia) 15/02/25 - Emilia Fox (Meal Ear Fox - Silent Witness) / Sarah Hadland (Sir A Add Land - Strictly Come Dancing) 17/02/25 - Gemma Whelan (Jam A Wee Land - Yara Greyjoy, Game of Thrones) 18/02/25 - Joe Thomas (Sew Tom[cat] Ass - Fresh Meat) 19/02/25 - Lenny Henry (Sirloin Knee Hen Wee - Comic Relief) 20/02/25 - Matthew Horne (Mat Horn - Gavin and Stacey) / Nigel Planer (Gel Plane - Filthy, Rich & Catflap) 21/02/25 - Charlie Higson (Charl[eston] Lie His Son - Swiss Tony, The Fast Show) 22/02/25 - Morgana Robinson (Mow Garden Robin Son - Pippa Middleton, The Windsors) / Mark Gatiss (Margate Tits - The League of Gentlemen) 24/02/25 - Rob Brydon (Rob Bride On - Would I Lie to You?) 25/02/25 - Gareth Malone (Car Alone - Military Wives) 26/02/25 - Liza Tarbuck (Please A Starbucks - Upstart Crow) 27/02/25 - Bob Mortimer (Knob More Timer - Gone Fishing) / Julian Clary (Jewel Ink Lairy - The Joan Collins Fan Club) 28/02/25 - Stephen Merchant (Steep Hen Merchant - The Office)

01/03/25 - Robin Askwith (Rob Bin Ass Quiff - The Madame Blanc Mysteries) / Matt Lucas (Mat Loo Gas - The Great British Bake Off) 03/03/25 - Jane Horrocks (Jay No Rocks - Bubble, Absolutely Fabulous) 04/03/25 - understudy show - Steve Pemberton (Steed Pen Button - Inside No 9) 04/03/25 - Joel Dommett ([Billy] Joel Dominatrix Meet - The Masked Singer) 05/03/25 - Alex Horne (All Licks Horn - The Horne Section) 06/03/25 - Micky Flanagan (Mick [Jagger] Key Flannel - "Out out") / Josh Widdicombe (Posh Wee Dick Cum - The Last Leg) 07/03/25 - Joe Pasquale (Joke Pass Quality Street - New Faces) 08/03/25 - Paul Chuckle (Pull Chuck El[bow]- “To me, to you”) / Michael Sheen (Mic[rophone] El[bow] Shin - Good Omens) 10/03/25 - Stewart Lee ([Air] Steward Wee - Stewart Lee's Comedy Vehicle) 11/03/25 - Chris McCausland (Cry Smack Oars Land - Strictly Come Dancing) 12/03/25 - David Walliams (Slay Vid[eo] Wall Iams - Britain's Got Talent) 13/03/25 - Pauline McLynn (Pull Lean Muck Lean - Mrs Doyle, Father Ted) / Richard Osman (Reach Hard Oz Man - The Thursday Murder Club) 14/03/25 - Tamzin Outhwaite ([Lion] Tamer In Mouth Weight - Red Cap) 15/03/25 - Clive Anderson (Clay Van Der Son - Whose Line Is It Anyway?) / Stephen Fry (Steep Hen Fry - Jeeves and Wooster) 17/03/25 - Paul Merton (Pull Mare Tonne - Have I Got News for You?) 18/03/25 - Mark Addy (The Full Monty) 19/03/25 - Adam Buxton (A Dam Books Tonne - The Adam and Joe Show) 20/03/25 - Elaine Paige (E Lane Page - I Know Him So Well) / Jason Manford 21/03/25 - Romesh Ranganathan (Row Rang - The Weakest Link) 22/03/25 - Neil Morrissey (Knee [Elm] Tree - Bob The Builder) / Paul Whitehouse (Pull Why Toes - Gone Fishing) 24/03/25 - Simon Pegg (Sigh Mump Leg - Mission Impossible) 25/03/25 - Meera Syal (Me - Goodness Gracious Me) 26/03/25 - Robert Lindsey (Robbing Lean Sassy - My Family) 27/03/25 - Danny Dyer (Fan Knee Higher - Eastenders) / Su Pollard (Soup All Hard - You Rang Milord?) 28/03/25 - Danny Baker (Fan Knee Baker - Pets Win Prizes) 29/03/25 - Ross Noble (Row Snowball - Have I Got News For You) / Prof Brian Cox (Brr Iron Cocks - Things Can Only Get Better) 31/03/25 - David Tennant (Slay Vid Ten Ants - Doctor Who) 01/04/25 - Sandi Toksvig ([de]Tox Fig - QI) 02/04/25 - Sophie Willan (Sew Feet Willy - Alma's Not Normal) 03/04/25 - Miles Jupp (My Edge Jump - The Thick of It) / Phoebe Waller-Bridge (Feet Bee Wallop Bridge - Fleabag) 04/04/25 - Sir Ian McKellan (Serene Muck Alan [Sugar] - Lord of the Rings) 05/04/25 - Louis Theroux (Loo Wee T (kanga)roo - Weird Weekends) /Jonathan Ross (Johnny Thin Rose - The Masked Singer)

Press Night Photos by Marc Brenner

Press Reviews Roundup

compiled by u/NanetteFuckingNewman on Reddit

4 stars from The Guardian: “An ingenious edge-of-your-seat, one-step-ahead show”

4 stars from WhatsOnStage: “Joyously silly … great, all-encompassing fun”

4 stars from The Telegraph: “STAGE/FRIGHT reaffirms [the writers’] rare ingenuity… Bravo”

4 stars from Financial Times: “Another wildly clever, madly innovative and suddenly moving show from this inspired duo”

4 stars from Chortle: “A hugely impressive coup de theatre, keeping you guessing and gasping to the end”

5 stars from All That Dazzles: “Wickedly funny and impressively clever, Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith really have made theatrical magic”

4 stars from The Independent: "This is one play you won’t be checking your watch in"

5 stars from the Radio Times: "The production is fabulous across the board... it's a thrilling ride that shouldn't be missed"

4 stars from Time Out: "A delight, the duo at the peak of their powers"

4 stars from The i: "Riotously fun... raucously entertaining"

No rating (but highly positive) from Beyond The Joke: "This spectacular show is both side-splitting and spine-chilling... If you don't enjoy Stage/Fright, contact a doctor immediately, you might be dead. This is brilliant. Go see it." "In the interests of fairness, there have been a few more moderate reviews from the Evening Standard, The Stage and London Theatre (all 3 stars), and one stinker from The Times (2 stars). There’s always someone…"