#guinevere stewart

[dlya-dyshi]

[chernobog13]

Sir Patrick Stewart in one of his earliest film roles as King Leodegrance in Excalibur (1981). At his side is Cherie Lunghi as Leodegrance's daughter, Guinevere, the future wife of King Arthur.

[bloodurged]

I think sometimes he would get upset because, well, he Had blood family: his mom, his father, even though he didn't get to grow up with him, he did continue his craft post-show, in my opinion, working with dragons from time to time, especially as magic became less and less real for most people; he would get upset that they do not see enough value in the family he has made, that he had to work to have them all. the knights, gwen, especially arthur: his life's work, his liege. with arthur it is more complicated, I imagine. there's the gay yearning, the wanting to have the specific kind his dedication is acknowledged, if not by arthur, then by scholars, who have dedicated their lives to studying arthur, trying to figure out who merlin was, if he was ever real. when especially sad and full of regret, I do think he would just be happy to have been there for arthur, even though it wasn't good enough. arthur didn't know, so why should they. this is good enough for him, as long as arthur can come back and see how hard he's worked for him. "my whole life was in this boy, every hour of mine was filled with love for him, and I thought about nothing, taking his sincere craving for me as a divine gift." ("the hollow hills" part three, chapter four, translated back by me, because I don't have it in english right now and can't be fucked to look online.)

theres smth abt the entire legend of merlin and king arthur all sitting on one little lad that makes me feel emotions and idk what it is

like he created excalibur and put it in the lake then in the stone and the lady of the lake is his dead gf and literally every single piece of that whole big centuries old legend is all in the secretive traumatic life of this little fucking kid

[queer-ragnelle]

I'm honestly kinda disgusted by the way a lot of authors just seeped their misogyny onto Guinevere to make her so horrible, lol. effectively destroyed a lot of people's view of her and she gets blamed for everything?? people keep shitting on her, saying Lancelot should be shipped with "someone better" and I'm just really annoyed because.. Guinevere is horribly characterized by these weirdos authors 💀. It does not take much to portray her as a complex character while also not making her shitty on purpose because you don't like her for her affair, lol.

I love her so much and it's disappointing how she's been treated :(( which is why I'll never be able to hate Guinevere or her ship with Lancelot

My friend it’s honestly so exhausting at this point. It’s not even limited to writing Guinevere herself as insufferable, but writing other characters behaving worse toward her than they ever were in medlit. Arthur hitting and degrading her when he cheats on her? (Warrior of the West by M. K. Hume) Lancelot using her for political gain and never loving her at all? (Enemy of God by Bernard Cornwell) Owain blocking her passage as she flees danger? (Legend in Autumn by Persia Woolley) Agravaine threatening to rape her? (The Road to Avalon by Joan Wolf) Gawain threatening to rape her? (Guinevere by Lavinia Collins) WHO are these characters bro you got me fucked up!!! The subtext here is that the authors hate Guinevere (read: women) so much they’re willing to warp everyone around her to treat her like garbage!!!

“Guinevere is bad because she has sex outside marriage.” Yeah so does Arthur. He fucked his own sister. In the dark. Leading her to believe he was her husband. So there’s Mordred, but there’s also Loholt and Arthur the Less etc. Arthur has many bastards from his extramarital affairs. (Vulgate and Post-Vulgate) Yet he isn’t canceled. Hm. Wonder what the difference could be? Let’s investigate. Seems authors treat Morgause and Morgan similarly to Guinevere. Gee, what is the common denominator here? Meanwhile in medlit, Morgause didn’t commit any crimes—she didn’t rape Arthur to have Mordred, she never neglected her children, she never cheated on Lot, and she didn’t prey on young men, she had ONE consistent lover who was younger than her AFTER her husband died. And she was murdered for it. (Post-Vulgate) Yet every other author writes her as a rapist (The Once and Future King by T. H. White), child grooming (The Wicked Day by Mary Stewart), pedophile (The Book of Gaheris by Kari Sperring), trying to put one of her sons on the throne (many examples). Now, Morgan is evil. But not for lewdness, for trying to murder people. In literally every source. Hello. It’s very simple. These authors are ridiculous. They care more about highlighting their opinion that fictional women having sex is BAD than writing a good story. When there are plenty of actually bad things happening in medlit they could condemn instead. You know, like the misogyny? Burning Guinevere at the stake??? You couldn’t make this up. It’s the utter disdain for the material for me. Assuming these dumbasses are even reading the material. Write something else where I can’t see it. (To be clear, I don’t even hate all the books I listed as examples, but they are unfortunately examples.)

Thankfully I haven’t encountered the blogger discourse regarding this. At least not lately. My advice to anyone who sees people shitting on something you like is to block them. Just do it. Fuck that noise. It’s not worth it.

Also I have to laugh at ship discourse about Guinevere/Lancelot. Of all pairs! It’s so unserious. They’re not some random comphet duo from the newest tumblr trending fandom. They’re mythological characters from a medieval literary tradition. Lancelot was created for her. In the 12th century. That was 900 years ago. It feels juvenile to reduce them to ship discourse. Especially because the story is fluid, it can be reshaped to fit the author’s narrative. So if Guinevere sucks, it’s because they made her that way. This is the epitome of making up a girl to be mad at.

“Oh but in Knight of the Cart—” Shh stop talking. If you’re pulling out KotC like some “gotcha” about Guinevere’s treatment of Lancelot, then you’re lost, buddy. You may be seeking entertainment in the wrong place! Guinevere and Lancelot aren’t real. Nobody was “abused” because they’re characters, narrative tools, to tell a story. Guinevere is flawed. Nobody ever said she wasn’t. If that’s too much complexity for you then I don’t know what else there is to say.

Honestly? Nobody is obligated to like Guinevere. I think it’s stupid to dislike her but the real take away is—if you dislike Guinevere so much, hate her even, why the are you writing so poorly about her? She’s as old a character as Arthur himself. Show some fucking respect or get out.

Anyway I’m going to end this with a recommendation! Today I started the third book of Sharan Newman’s Guinevere trilogy. The first two, Guinevere and The Chessboard Queen were utterly AWESOME!! Lots and lots of named women, like Guinevere’s mother Guenlain, Cador’s wife Sidna and daughter Lydia, Guinevere’s handmaiden Risa, and so on. The one downside is Morgause and Morgan are your typical modern retelling baddies, but overall it’s two thumbs up from me. Many points of view, but Guinevere is fascinating and complex and most importantly she is beloved!!!!!! Really hoping it stays enjoyable through to the end. Miss Newman is still in print, so I encourage everyone to seek these books out at your local library or from your favorite bookseller. Here’s a quote from book 2, The Chessboard Queen.

[beetnik-jay]

Maude Guinevere Stewart AKA Mudd

[aetherdecember]

Look, I love BBC Merlin and how they told the lore, but I’m a sucker for the relationship between Arthur and Mordred in the mythology. Specifically, I love how Mary Stewart (author of The Arthurian Saga**) and Nancy Springer (author of I Am Mordred**) wrote about the father/son relationship between them. So naturally, my brain has been conjuring up how I can include that in my Flipping the Coin au.

Since the main premise is Merlin died/Arthur lives, and now Arthur is the one waiting for Merlin to come back, things would stay consistent with canon up to the last episode (when Merlin flips the coin of their destiny and sacrifices himself so Arthur can live and thus stop Camlann from happening altogether). Which is where this idea will start:

Gwen is barren. She and Arthur never have kids. Eventually, everyone Arthur knows and loves dies. He can’t rule Camelot forever, and after Gwen’s death, he no longer wants to, so he fakes his death and wanders off figure out why he’s still here. He never gets an answer for that. Arthur spends the next millennium waiting. He keeps living. He meets people, experiences things he’d never experienced before, and learns things he’d never dreamed of learning. He can’t stay anywhere long, or else suspicions will rise, but he gets to see the world change, how technology advances, and witness humans continuing to be humans. When war breaks out, he joins the battle. It’s familiar. The rush of adrenaline is the same whether he’s wielding a sword or a gun. Only, he can’t see the enemy’s face anymore.

Peace comes again. At some point, he sleeps with a woman, and she happens to become pregnant. Bisexual disaster that he is, he’s had all sorts of partners from both sexes, but has never had this happen, even before the advent of reliable birth control. Later, he’ll learn her name is Morgause. She doesn’t look like the Morgause he knew before, nor does she act like her, but her name haunts him. After the baby is born, she gives him to Arthur, says she has no intentions of being a mother, and leaves. The last thing she had said to him was the baby’s name.

Mordred.

That night, Arthur holds Mordred and weeps.

There is irony in his son being named Mordred. First, in that the legends surrounding him, Merlin, Camelot, the Knights of the Round Table, and all of it, had long ago decided Mordred was his son. And two, in a retelling of that legend, it had aptly phrased what he sensed was happening now. Granted, he isn’t a sorcerer, he doesn’t have magic, so he can’t support his feeling with anything other than he’d been around a long time and knew to his very core that it was true. Mordred’s birth is a signal of the beginning of the end.

Fatherhood brings him a new sense of purpose. Gone are the days of loneliness and drudgery. Every day with Mordred brings a new light into his life. Each smile is a miracle. Seeing Mordred experience things for the first time brings a new appreciation. Being there to watch him grow makes time fly like it never has before. But Arthur is afraid. He doesn’t want to be his father. He doesn’t know how to be a father, or what the right way to do it is. In all the years he’s been on the Earth, he’s never known a man who could concretely say, “This is the way to raise a son,” and actually reap the fruits of their efforts. Too frequently, he’d seen sons grow outside of the visions their fathers molded for them and receive only disappointment and disdain in return. So he was afraid, because he too had been that son.

*cue a series of fluffy father/son one shots of Arthur raising Mordred until Merlin comes back, takes one look, and is is like WTF????? No, I won’t have Mordred for a step son >:(*

**Mary Stewart and Nancy Springer have several other works, not just the stories I mentioned. The ones mentioned are the ones I’m pulling inspiration from ^^

Additional notes below the break:

Guinevere’s barrenness is not a headcanon I typically subscribe to for BBC Merlin. My headcanon is that after Arthur’s death, Gwen gives birth, and their child eventually succeeds her as ruler.

I’ve always seen Mordred’s appearance as the harbinger of Arthur’s downfall. Thus, the reason for the plot bunnies in my brain going crazy with this idea of how I could bring him in, still remain mostly canon compliant with BBC Merlin, and build off some of my favorite parts of the lore. (Mandatory disclaimer: for BBC Merlin, I don’t headcanon Mordred as Arthur’s son. But for the mythology, I do wholeheartedly support that canon.)

Arthur’s choice to participate and live once Camelot is gone is a decision to contrast my headcanon of how Merlin handled it. I don’t think Merlin thrived. I think he stayed busy, and tried to remain hopeful, but I think he was anxiously consumed with the anticipation of wondering when Arthur would come back. In this au, Arthur may or may not know that Merlin is supposed to come back (I’m still working on that detail), but he’s always been around others. I think he would seek camaraderie, and companionship, and that he would connect with others but only to a superficial level. I don’t think he’d exist in a void of loneliness. Plus, he doesn’t have the guilt of knowing he failed because the pressure from the prophecy is very one sided *coughcough*causemerlinnevertoldhim*coughcough*

Anyways, that’s enough rambling from me about this. I’ll probably share some snippets of writing next because there are some fantastic scenes coming together in the draft so stay tuned! ;D

[fuckyeaharthuriana]

mordred through time (movies, tv shows, opera and musicals)

Part 4: From 2014 to 2017

Other Parts: Part 1: From 1949 to 1981 -> here Part 2: From 1982 to 2002 -> here Part 3: From 2002 to 2010 -> here Part 5: From 2018 to 2023

For this part I just wanted to talk a bit about sympathetic Mordred.

Through time we started to see a more sympathetic Mordred. I think the first iteration in audio/movies/tv was the the Blind Guardian's song in 1995. For the first time we have Mordred as a protagonist, mainly lamenting of regret, pain and lonliness. While I do not know why they decided to focus on Mordred, it is also notable that writing a more sympathetic Mordred was already happening in novels, around the same time. I used the arthurian list of novels I made so I might have missed any, but at this time we have 1956 "The Great Captains" by Henry Treece, "Sword at Sunset" by Sutcliff, "The Wicked Day" (the first novel focusing on Mordred as protagonist) by Mary Stewart, 1982 "The Idylls of the Queen" (Phyllis Ann Karr), 1983 "The Mists of Avalon" (Marion Zimmer Bradley), Persia Wolley's 1987 Guinevere trilogy, 1988 "The road to Avalon" by Joan Wolf and 1988 "The Book of Mordred" by Hanratty all depicting Mordred as a more round character, as someone the reader can feel sympathy too or even enjoy or relate to.

A slighty sympathetic but still villanous potrayal can then be found in 2001 ("The Mists of Avalon" miniseries) but we have to wait till 2008 ("Merlin", BBC) to have a tv Mordred who is actually shown trying to do the right thing (at least for a bit), and working with Arthur. I think this is more due to the fact that "Merlin" often tries to depict villains' origins and motivations than a real conscious attempt to redeem Mordred or make him less villanous.

Other following examples are the kid movie 2010 "Merlin and Arthur the Lion King" and the album 2014 "High Noon Over Camelot" that positions Mordred in a co-protagonist role and fully allows the listeners to empathyze with him. The Fate franchise (the introduction of Mordred should be around 2012 in the novels) continues on this trajectory, making Mordred a main sympathetic and beloved protagonist in many of the adaptations.

2014 High Noon Over Camelot album by The Mechanisms: The song I used is "Peacemaker". The album has multiple arthurian characters sung by different artists, and Mordred is interpreted by Ashes O'Reilly. This is also the first time we have an explicitly queer Mordred (outside of novels), as Mordred is a trans man in this retelling. The story is a Western reimagining of arthuriana, and another case of a sympathetic Mordred - this time Mordred is more overtly sympathetic and even reconcile with his father Arthur at the end.

2011 recording of Albeniz's "Merlin": Piotr Prochera plays Mordred. This is another recording (no dvd, this has been shared by Piotr Prochera acor himself on youtube) of the "Merlin" opera.

2015 recording of "Le Roi Arthus": This opera is probably my favorite arthurian opera. It was created by Ernest Chausson between 1886 and 1895 and it is sung in French. Mordred is a bass and a classic villain, here jealous of Lancelot and the attention Guinevere gives Lancelot. This 2015 version was a modernized edition, with the knights depicted as modern soldiers. Mordred here is played by Alexandre Duhamel.

2016 Rex, youtube webseries: This series is on Severe Chill Studios' Youtube channel, with 48 short episodes. The series is a vlog of arthurian characters living in modern times (no reincarnations, just reimaginings). It follows Rex (Arthur) a student who is dealing with his abusive family and the brothers Merlin and Lancelot. Moore (Mordred) is Arthur's spoiled and arrogant friend (played by Daniel O’Sullivan). He lets Rex crash at his place for a bit, and is often depicted insulting his mother and calling her slurs. If you decide to watch this just know the series has some pretty heavy themes (a part from domestic abuse it also touches on terminal illness). Youtube link.

2017 Fate/Apocrypha: This is one of the many anime adaptation of the Fate franchise. Mordred is voiced by Miyuki Sawashiro. The Fate franchise is massive and deals with numerous spin-offs or even alternative realities to tell the tales of wars/battles for the Holy Grail mainly fought by Servants who are personification of historical/legendary figures. Fate/Apocrypha is based on a series of novel and is an alternative timeline to the previous Fate/Stay Night anime and also the first time we have Mordred in the anime. Mordred is here a Servant, they are the cloned-son of Saber (Arthur/Arturia, who is a woman) and Morgana. Their story is massive so let me just say I am using they/them for Mordred because the Fate series is very ambigous regarding theri gender. They are born as the close of a woman (Saber) and often referred with female pronouns through the series, they hate being called "a girl", and also hate being called "a boy". While I do not think the series was making an effort to actually depict a non-binary character, I do believe Mordred can easily be read as one.

2017 King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table: 2017 was a wild year for arthuriana but nothing was as wild as this movie. The movie follows the life of some arthurian characters' descendant living in Thailand. Morgana and Mordred (banished in arthurian times) ended up in space, working with aliens, and are now back to destroy the descendants. The movie is full over dramatic close up, Morgana turning into a mecha, fighting scenes and more. Interestingly, given how ridiculous the movie is, Mordred is depicted as a sympathetic (almost) villain. He is played by Russell Geoffrey Banks.

2017 King Arthur: Excalibur Rising: The scene I used in the video is right at the start, as the movie is set after Arthur's death. While Mordred might seem sympathetic there he is actually a pretty violent villain for the rest of the movie. The story is focused on Owain (Arthur's illegitimate son) trying to take back the crown from Mordred and Morgana. Here Mordred (played by Gavin Swift) is Arthur's incestuous son with Morgana.

2017 Legend, youtube webseries: A webseries you can watch on Tufts University Television's channel (link here). The series has 7 episodes and an epilogue and is set in a university. Each student is an arthurian character, with Mordred (Morty) as the overly joking, friendly guy who is hiding some deep hatred and jealousy towards Arthur. Unfortunately I do not remember if Mordred is Arthur's half-brother or just a friend. Mordred is played by Yuval Ben-Hayun. The story and production were pretty good, so I recommend it!

2017 Mordred La Revolte: I cheated a bit as this movie is the end of a long webseries. The series started in 2013 and run till 2018 with two season and can still be found here on youtube. The series was created by Tommy-Lee Baïk (who also played Mordred) and is in French. Unfortunately I cannot really tell how arthurian the series is, but the plot does not mention other arthurian characters. If I am not wrong, la Revolte is simply S2 turned into a movie.

2017 Fate/Grand Order The stage - Divine Realm of the Round Table: Camelot: Part of the Fate saga but in the Grand Order timeline, this is a stage adaptation of one of the events in the videogame Fate/Grand Order. In particular, it should be the same story shown in the later movie Camelot part 1 as the full title is Fate/Grand Order THE STAGE - Divine Realm of the Round Table: Camelot Replica; Agateram. I will explain more about it in the next part of this Mordred series. Chihiro Kai plays Mordred.

[merlincersei]

Merlin BBC UK TV Show - Opinion Piece Part 7 - How The 2008 Series Reinterprets and Subverts Arthurian Legends

I was talking to a mutual friend about movies and TV shows in the fantasy genre and this friend bought up the fact how Arthurian legends have influenced most of them.

As that conversation progressed, we both agreed that the best adaptation of Arthurian legend was John Boorman’s 1981 classic "Excalibur".

However he seemed very amused when I told him that I was a huge fan of the 2008 BBC TV series Merlin. His opinion was that the TV series was "so childish, historically inaccurate and farcical" when he watched it.

I disagreed with him profusely and decided to make this post to outline my love of the TV series. I will share this post with this person so we can have further discussions on this topic. So here it goes:

Creators wanted to reinterpret Arthurian legend.

PROOF:

Julian Murphy, co-creator and executive producer: It all began in a restaurant on Kensington Church street, where I had lunch with the writer Jake Michie. And the pitch I gave him was very simple - It was 'I'd like to do the Arthurian story, but as an origin story in the same way that the Superman story had been done in [US TV series] Smallville.' And I think from there, it evolved.

But the decision that I think was at the heart of it, which was to make Arthur and Merlin contemporaries, rather than make Merlin the old man looking after the young Arthur, was there from the very beginning.

Source : https://www.radiotimes.com/tv/fantasy/merlin-at-10-the-cast-and-creatives-on-how-they-made-the-bbcs-boy-wizard-drama/

If you are a fan of the series i would recommend to read the article above for more information and details about the TV Show.

______________________________________________________________

There has never been a concise Arthurian story. The legends are an amalgam of numerous versions, the most popular of them being as follows:

 History of the Kings of Britain by Geoffrey of Monmouth

Geoffrey’s account of the legendary king contains the first appearance of many of the iconic features of the Arthurian legend, including the wizard Merlin.

Lancelot by Chrétien de Troyes

Geoffrey of Monmouth never mentions Arthur’s most famous knight, and it wasn’t until Chrétien de Troyes wrote Lancelot and introduced the idea of an affair between Guinevere and Arthur’s most noble knight that Arthurian legend really got the ‘romantic’ treatment

The Mabinogion by Anonymous

The Arthur we glimpse in the Mabinogion is usually a marginal figure so it’s worth reading if you’re a fan of early legends containing King Arthur.

Le Morte d’Arthur by Sir Thomas Malory

This is a vast prose retelling of the story of King Arthur and the Round Table.

Idylls of the King by Lord Tennyson

Here we find the stories of Lancelot and Elaine, Geraint and Enid, Merlin and Vivien

______________________________________________________________

So for the 2008 series to collect Arthurian stories from various sources and try to repackage it to a modern audience is nothing new as the trend has already been established through works of T. H. White in The Once and Future King, Mary Stewart in The Crystal Cave, Mark Twain in A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court etc...

But it is through reinterpreting Merlin & Guinevere's storylines and using Magic as a motif that we get a brand new Arthurian story.

Guinevere

The name Guinevere means The Fair One in old Welsh.

To cast Angel Coulby, a woman of color as one of the most famous white woman in history was a revolutionary act by 2008 British TV standards.

In the legends, Guinevere is of royal blood. Gwen in the TV series is a servant of common birth who ascends to become a queen.

Here the audience come to see Gwen as the fair one based on the strength of her character and not the color of her skin.

In the TV show Arthur forgives Gwen's infidelity with Lancelot rather than having her sent to a nunnery or worse having her die. The old male authors were okay with Arthur bedding several women but expectation of chasteness placed on Guinevere always contained an undercurrent of misogyny.

In the TV Show, Gwen leads Camelot into the golden age, instead of being blamed for the downfall of Camelot due to her affair with Lancelot

PROOF : Excerpt From Hyable Article:

Meanwhile of course, Guinevere was left to lead Camelot into the golden age. “We’ve had that in our minds for about three series,” Julian Murphy says. “We felt that to take Gwen from a servant girl to a powerful and strong queen, a person who can bind the kingdom together, was the journey we wanted to do, and I think Angel [Coulby] delivered that brilliantly.”

Merlin

By having Merlin be of a contemporary age to Arthur they effectively changed Merlin from being a father figure to being a companion of Arthur.

The close bond that Merlin shares with Arthur in the TV Show effectively replicates Lancelot's close bond with Arthur in the historical legends.

Bradley James here confirms how in some legends Lancelot was in love with Arthur.

The gay subtext that was prevalent between Lancelot and Arthur in the historical legends is played out in all its glory between Merlin and Arthur .

Motiff of Magic

Throughout the history of Abrahamic religions, there has been a connection between magic and (deviant) sexual practices. From the osculum inafme (kissing of donkey’s anuses and kissing the Devil’s anus) to witches who were supposedly inserting hallucinogenous mushrooms into their vaginas. The series association between magic and non heteronormative people becomes pronounced as series progresses.

And therein lies the appeal of the 2008 Merlin TV Series. With this modern retelling it succeeds in addressing certain historical wrongs, make it more representational, address issues and highlight subtext that have been historically ignored in popular media for the time frame it aired.

Arthurian legends no longer becomes the domain of a patriarchal Judeo Abrahamic narrative about a return to the good old days but of class mobility, race, feminism, queer acceptance and the belief of a better world to come in context of the TV Show.

[companion-showdown]

Showdown 2k24 Nominations!

alright, redoing this post now that I can give a concrete start date of Monday the 15th of January!

Nominations for the tournament are open up until the start date, and you can submit anyone who could reasonable be considered a companion, either by sending me an ask or by filling out

this form.

If you make your nomination via the form you can also submit some propaganda to go alongside the poll. Anyone who was considered a regular at any point in the last year will automatically be included, as well as anyone who was in the original tournament (+/- a couple I might miss or misremember as being a regular because I don't have old lists anywhere). The exception to this is last years winner, Rose Tyler, she will not be getting a place in the main tournament, however after the final I will run a poll to see if our new winner can beat her. (oh and also maybe I'll leave the TARDIS out but not fully decided yet)

The tournament is going to be run in the same way I did @adventure-showdown, meaning I'll keep companions from different periods of the show and different mediums segregated at first so the nicher ones don't immediately get knocked out, and slowly get mingled together. The exact details are going to depend on just how may characters get included.

Errm yeah, so go wild, nominate whoever you like (as long as they are a companion). If they are from teh TV show they have to be on this list to qualify, and for EU companions I'm going with them needing a TARDIS wiki page, and also I will give them a quick proof read to make sure they pass, the bar is low but it is there

if you want to submit an alternate version of the character sorry but main version only unless you can give a really good reason, eg regenerations of a time lord

also, if they are primarily from another franchise that'll be a no

The full list of contestents is under the cut and will be updated as nominations come in. Its sorted by medium and then to be alphabetical by first name. if an eu companion exists in multiple mediums i just sort of picked one or I put them under the other category, people who exist in real life are also sorted into their own category. There are some characters under Classic Who/NuWho who were not companions on TV but were in the EU. Companions who's names are in green have had propaganda submitted for them, if they're not in green then they don't, and just because someone has propaganda doesn't mean i wont accept more

Classic Who

Ace McShane

Adric

Barbara Wright

Ben Jackson

The Brigadier

Chang Lee

Dodo Chaplet

Grace Holloway

Harry Sullivan

Ian Chesterton

Jamie McCrimmon

Jo Grant

K9

Kamelion

Katarina

Leela

Liz Shaw

Mags

Mel Bush

Mike Yates

Nyssa

Peri Brown

Polly Wright

Romana I

Romana II

Sabalom Glitz

Sara Kingdom

Sarah-Jane Smith

Sergeant Benton

Steven Taylor

Susan Foreman

Tegan Jovanka

Turlough

Vicki Pallister

Victoria Waterfield

Zoe Heriot

NuWho

Adam Mitchell

Amy Pond

Bill Potts

Canton Everett Delaware III

Clara Oswald

Dan Lewis

Donna Noble

Graham O'Brien

Grant Gordon aka the Ghost

Handles

Inston-Vee Vindor

Jack Harkness

Karvanista

Kate Stewart

Martha Jones

Mickey Smith

Missy

Nardole

River Song

Rory Williams

Rose Noble

Ruby Sunday

Ryan Sinclair

Wilfred Mott

Yasmin Khan

Audio

Alex Campbell

Anya Kingdom

Bliss

C'rizz

Cass Fermazzi

Charley Pollard

Cousin Eliza: Christine Summerfield: Horus

Dalek Test Subject 2

Erimem

Evelyn Smythe

Helen Sinclair

Hex Schofield

Iris Wildthyme

Liv Chenka

Lucie Miller

Mark Seven

Molly O'Sullivan

Narvin

Oliver Harper

Sheena (The Starship of Theseus)

Tania Bell

Novels

Anji Kapoor

Anna (Good Companions)

Badger

Barusa

Bernice Summerfield

Business woman (Time on a Vine)

Catherine “Cat” Broome

Chris Cwej - have propaganda but in conjunction with another contestant

Cinder

Claudia Marwood

Compassion

Dorothy (The Wonderful Doctor of Oz)

Fitz Kreiner

Guinevere Winchester

Hector (All Flesh is Grass)

Homunculette

Ikalla

Irving Braxiatel

Jack McSpringheel

Larna

Marie (Alien Bodies)

Milena

Patience

Penelope Gate

Peter Summerfield

Rosie Taylor

Roz Forrester - have propaganda but in conjunction with another contestant

Ruth Leonidas

Sam Jones

Serena

Sibling Different aka Mae

The Mortimer Family (Ida, Alan, Helen, George)

Trix MacMillan

V.M.McCrimmion

Wolsey the Cat

Zeleekhà

Comics

Abslom Daak, Dalek Killer

Angus ‘Gus’ Goodman

ARC

Chantir

Child Master (The Then and the Now)

Cindy Wu

Dave Lester

Destrii

Duh

Flanx

Fey Truscott-Sade

Frobisher

Gabby Gonzalez

Gillian & John Who

Grayla

Hattie Munroe

Izzy Sinclair

Jayne Kadett

John Jones

Josie Day

Kroton

Ly Chee the Wise

Majenta Pryce

Maxwell Edison

Olla

Rose-the-cat

Shayde

Ssard

The Squire

Weeping Angel (Origins)

Real Life

Alan Turing

Claudia Winkleman

John Lennon

Jules Verne

Mary Shelley

Peter Cushing

Other

Alison Cheney

Andy Davidson

Antimony (Death Comes to Time)

Brian the Ood

Dormouse (The Red and the Blue)

Emma (curse of fatal death)

Koschie

Romana (Battle for the Universe)

Splinx

Susan Who

Tom Campbell

[forgottenrian]

OOC | Rían & Edmund

so edmund is at least technically a local lord thanks to the whole riverbend thing so!! like i was saying [ in cassimir's comment ], he's looking to cultivate positive working relationships w local lords for a couple reasons!! but obv, given some of his hopes, his relationship w edmund is by its v nature a lil different from his relationship w cassimir hahaha so here's what he'd like from edmund:

he hopes that edmund will rec/approve of him as a potential stewart of astaira when roderick inevitably rushes off to conquest

he hopes that edmund will approve of him as a good brother and recommend him for the role of guinevere's husband to roderick

he hopes to have a good working relationship w him to get things done at lorcan in the mean time etc

now, parts 1&2 also tie into other hopes to which edmund will likely be diametrically opposed, since rian hopes to use his marriage (either to aine w native astairan support, or to guin w varmont support) to help propel him to power in astaira, at least, if not the empire (so that he can rule astaira ngl he does not really care abt the rest of it but he'll take it if that's what is required to rule astaira lakjsdfkljsdfkj and YES he quite literally is like 'ill rule the whole world if that's what it takes to rule this one (1) country alkjsdfjkdf but anyway!! lakjsdfkjlsdf)

anyway!! obv if becoming emperor becomes the path he follows, edmund probs won't be on board!! lakjsdfkjsdf so i def feel like he ~also wants to be prepared to backstab him and godfrey (with whom he's ~also tryna walk this tightrope situation, being a local lord and potential future enemy etc etc) bc rian is another guy whose eyes wide open abt the coming varmont civil war and honestly that's part of why he wants to get involved, to hopefully protect astaira from the undoubtledly terrible effects that'll inevitably sweep all across the empire!!! and anyway i deffff think this is misguided bc its probs more likely to put a target on astaira's back essentially but anyway here we are!!!

i can potentially see, however, where rian might potentially change his tune if/when he starts hearing more about how edmund's so pro-astaira and i feel like he might look, then, to strike a deal w edmund where basically he'll support his bide for emperor if edmund will make rian king to astaira who pays edmund tribute and all ~that sort of thing basically lajsdfkljdf but obv he'd have to have lotsa support to throw behind edmund in exchange for such demands and lbr idk if he'll ~ever have that except maybe if he uses the bargaining chip of basically maneuvering guin's faction to throw in w edmund but lbr!! roderick will noT think rian is a fit hubby for his eldest!!!! alksjdfkljdsf so yeah idk if this'll ever matter save that its what rian's currently thinking about alkjsfkjsf so yeah!!! here we are!!!!!

[dlya-dyshi]

[theaddictedwatcher]

Hello everyone!

Today I am delighted to present you the series you were able to choose thanks to the survey done on my Instagram (@theaddictedwatcherreviews) last Saturday and that is ... Oh no, I'm not going to tell you just like that! It's a series created by Julian Jones, Jake Michie, Johnny Capps and Julian Murphy (yes, that's a lot of people!) in 2008 for the BBC. Need more clues? It's a medieval fantasy series that revisits a great myth. Do you have it yet? Yes, of course, I'm going to tell you about the Merlin series!

To begin with, I'll give you a short synopsis: In medieval times, in the Kingdom of Albion, King Uther Pendragon has banned the practice of magic. Merlin, a young magician sent to the castle to be educated by Gaius, must hide his extraordinary powers in this age of terror against magicians and sorcerers. Propelled as Arthur's valet -the son of the monarch Uther Pendragon and future sovereign- following a fortuitous combination of circumstances, Merlin has sworn to protect his lord Arthur at the request of Kilgharrah -the dragon secretly imprisoned beneath the castle of the monarch Uther Pendragon. And a short technical presentation : Created by : Julian Jones, Jake Michie, Johnny Capps and Julian Murphy. Music by : Rob Lane, Rohan Stevenson, James Gosling and Michal Pavlicek. Main cast: Colin Morgan, Bradley James, Angel Coulby, Katie McGrath, Richard Wilson, Anthony Stewart Head, John Hurt.

Merlin is a freely-adaptated story of the Arthurian legend that largely rewrites its roots. Over the course of 5 seasons and its 65 episodes, the creators and screenwriters have attempted to modernise the themes of the original legend, including the following examples from the first episode:

Uther Pendragon -played by Anthony Stewart Head- governs the kingdom of Camelot which, in the legend, does not exist under his reign.

Merlin -played by Colin Morgan- and Arthur -played by Bradley James- are approximately the same age, which is not the case in the Arthurian legend.

Morgana -played by Katie McGrath- is the ward of King Uther and Arthur's adopted sister.

Guinevere -played by Angel Coulby- is the mixed-race daughter of a black smith and works in the castle as Morgana's lady-in-waiting instead of being the daughter of the King of Carmelides -a clan federated by Arthur- in the legend.

And there are other alterations that I'll leave you to discover as the series progresses (although I'll talk about some of them below but I'll warn you when I will)!

I realise that, for people familiar with the legend, this can be very confusing and even unpleasant. But, if you manage to put aside your pre-watching knowledge of the subject and give the series a chance, I think you might just enjoy it all the same.

The main cast of the series - although different from what you might expect - has been meticulously chosen. The characters may differ in character from those in the legend, but there's no denying the acting ability of the cast. Some of them were well known before the series, such as Anthony Stewart Head -notably known for his roles in the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series, in the film The Iron Lady alongside Meryl Streep and more recently in the TV show Bridgerton -, John Hurt -notably known for his role in the Harry Potter saga, in the film V for Vendetta and more recently in the Doctor Who series- and Katie McGrath -notably known for the King Arthur: The Legend of Excalibur movie, the Tudors series and, more recently, the Supergirl series which I'll talk about in a later article. However, the revelations that turned out to be Bradley James and Colin Morgan are not to be outdone either. As for the guest actors and actresses, many of them are well known to the British public, and some even to international audiences. Indeed, actors such as Asa Butterfield (Sex Education), Tom Hopper (Umbrella Academy), Tom Ellis (Lucifer) and Warwick Davis (Harry Potter, Willow, Leprechaun, Star Wars) have enjoyed successful careers since Merlin went on air (and some even before that) and are recognized as major talents internationally. Whether they are recurring, main or guest actors, the unity formed by their complicity both on and off stage helps to make this cast a family with its affections, tensions, passions and losses. The relationship between Merlin and Arthur, despite their complicated beginnings and the fact that their social positions put them on different levels of equality, is a brotherly one. Merlin, on his mission to protect the future King Arthur, will do everything in his power to learn how to live at court and make himself useful to Arthur, who, for his part, will come to recognise Merlin's usefulness at his side and will develop a great affection for him, albeit tinged with teasing. Even during their quarrels, the bond that unites them always leads them back to each other, and to me, this is a fine illustration of a brotherly friendship. The bond between Merlin and Gaius is also important and touching, because, in the series, Merlin was raised by a single mother and Gaius acts as a father figure to him. Indeed, Gaius protects and educates him as best he can. In the end, a real bond and understanding develops between the old man and his apprentice, and I think it's important to show that a parental figure is not necessarily linked to a blood relative.

However, there was one aspect of the actors' performance that I didn't like, but I think that has more to do with the artistic direction than the acting ability of the actors: I'm talking about the fight choreography. I'm aware that sword fighting or even hand-to-hand combat isn't easy, but that's precisely where I think they should have been better choreographed to make the various battles that take place throughout the series more believable. Indeed, when we talk about the legend of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, these epic stories are often punctuated by numerous battles. It was only natural, then, that when I watched the series I expected big, strong, rhythmic and carefully choreographed battles. Unfortunately, in my opinion, most of the fights, especially the sword fights, failed to live up to these expectations…

I'd also like to say a few words about the different filming locations. Pierrefonds Castle in the Oise region in France, near Compiègne, was one of the locations used for the Camelot Castle set. This 14th-century fortress is open to visitors and many of the sets for the series can be seen there.

The series was also filmed at Goodrich Castle in Ross-on-Wye in Herefordshire, on Penshurst Place in Kent in England and in Wales. The fact that the majority of the sets are real means that the use of special effects - especially green screens - has limited, as the series ages, the diminution the quality of the images.

Speaking of the quality of the images, I'd like to talk very briefly about the special effects used on the series. As a fantasy series, Merlin necessarily uses special effects to symbolise the magic and mythical creatures that inhabit the kingdom of Albion. The computer-generated images were produced by the British team The Mill, whose credits include the special effects for Gladiator and Doctor Who. However, the quality of the effects varies depending on what is being represented. As long as the effects remain minimalist, such as smoke or a change in the colour of a character's eyes, they have aged well and remain effective in their own right. But as soon as they are more important, such as a fall caused by magic, a physical transformation or the animation of a dragon (this is not a spoiler, the word dragon appears literally in the name Pendragon), the effects have generally aged rather badly, look a little crude and, let's be honest, quite ugly…

On the other hand, one of the aspects of the series that I liked the most was the work that went into the characters' costumes. From what I've been able to see and learn in the course of my research, the costumes chosen for the characters by the series' costume designer, Charlotte Morris, are fairly faithful to the armour and court dress worn in the period that the series aims to reflect. One detail, however, bothers me personally in this temporal cohesion, and that's the cut of Merlin's brown jacket. I find that this jacket, which appears to be made of nubuck, seems too modern, too recent to blend in with the atmosphere that was intended to be created.

Let's take a look at the changes that have been made to the Arthurian legend! BEWARE OF SPOILERS IN THIS PARAGRAPH! In the series, Merlin -who in the legend is a druid and in the series a magician- is Arthur's valet, to whom he hides his magical powers while using them to save his master without his knowledge. He is the son of a single-mother and farmer called Hunith and his father is unknown. It was Hunith who sent Merlin to her friend Gaius, a physician in Camelot's court and a former magician. In the legend, Merlin's parentage differs radically from one version to another. Speaking of the origins of the legend, an anecdotal but noteworthy fact is that even Geoffrey of Monmouth appears in the series as a court genealogist. The real Geoffrey of Monmouth (1095-1155) did exist, and he is known to have been the first to write a very extensive version of the Arthurian legend that served as a model for all later Arthurian stories. Finally, in the most remarkable changes, Morgana, who is Arthur's adulterous sister and Morgause's consanguineous sister in the legend, is in the series Morgause's adulterous younger sister and Arthur's consanguineous older sister. END OF SPOIL. All these changes have enabled Merlin's authors to modernise the various themes and make the series more accessible to a wider audience. They also took this opportunity to slip in a few nods to the British literature to which the Arthurian legend belongs.

Finally, as usual, I'd like to end with the series' soundtrack. It was created by Rob Lane, Rohan Stevenson, James Gosling and Michal Pavlicek and for me it's one of the series soundtracks that best fits the genre of this one. Unfortunately, the link I've provided is missing a lot of tracks, but there are enough for you to get a good idea.

That's it for this article on the BBC series Merlin (2008). I hope that if you were reluctant to watch it, I've been able to help you in your choice. And for those of you who have seen it, let me know what you think and whether you agree with me.

Don’t forget to keep an eye every Saturday on my Instagram account (@theaddictedwatcherreviews) if you want to be able to choose the subject of the next article!

Until our next adventures, I wish you a great weekend and a wonderful week ahead,

Eli.

[chernobog13]

A king before he was a knight:

Sir Patrick Stewart (left) as King Leodegrance, the king of Cameliard (Cornwall), and Guinevere’s father, in the film Excalibur (1981).

[queer-ragnelle]

So, there's a lot of books that you complain about being awful (most of which I haven't read), usually because of the interpretation of some character (or many characters).

Is the problem with most of these books:

1. That the character on question has been written as a bad person,

2. That the interpretation differs from the Vulgate Cycle,

3. or the specific combination of those two things?

Or have I completely misread this situation?

See the thing is, yes it has to do with interpretation of characters, but perhaps not as superficial as it sounds! While I do love the Vulgate and prefer a more nuanced Mordred, that’s not really the root of the issue. I want Mordred to topple Camelot. I don’t expect or want authors to follow the Vulgate exclusively, there’s plenty from Chrétien or SGATGK or Parzival or the Mabinogion I’d love to see incorporated and they often are! Yay!

The real answer is a complicated thing that can only be expressed through examples because citing “misogyny” or “racism” doesn’t convey the magnitude or severity of the problem. Medieval society was misogynistic and racist at times, I don’t think those things should go ignored in a retelling. It would cheapen the narrative to pretend Guinevere’s or Morgause’s situations weren’t brought about largely due to the patriarchal systems at play nor do I want to pretend everyone who met Palomides was race blind.

Here’s an exhaustive list of sourced examples to indicate what I’ve encountered that really turned my stomach in retellings…content warning for everything from animal abuse to rape to genocide. This is gonna be long….

Adding more/intentional incest.

Agravaine sexually attracted to his mother Morgause (The Once and Future King by T. H. White) or to his aunt Guinevere (Arthur Rex by Thomas Berger, The Road to Avalon by Joan Wolf)

Gaheris sexually attracted to his mother Morgause (The Wicked Day by Mary Stewart)

Mordred sexually attracted to and raping his mother Morgause (Morgawse by Lavinia Collins)

Uther sexually attracted to his step-daughter Morgause (Igraine by Lavinia Collins)

Kay sexually involved with his uncle Lancelot (Guinevere and Morgan by Lavinia Collins)

Mordred sexually involved with his aunt Morgause (Guinevere Evermore by Sharan Newman)

Morgause attempting to seduce her teenage son Mordred (The Wicked Day by Mary Stewart)

Arthur marrying his sister Morgan (Bedivere by Wayne Wise)

A life-long sexual relationship between Arthur and his aunt Morgan (The Road to Avalon by Joan Wolf)

Mordred and “auntie” Morgan having sex (Merlin and the Sword (1985))

Exceedingly graphic first-person rape of Guinevere by her cousin Maelgwn (Queen of the Summer Stars by Persia Woolley)

Mordred kidnaps and tries to rape his sister Avlynn (Merlin and the Book of the Beasts (2009))

Increased racism.

Using modern slurs like the N word against Palomides (The Once and Future King by T. H. White)

Aggressive and confrontational Safir “restrained” by white characters and called “homicidal Moor” by Kay (The Book of Gaheris by Kari Sperring)

Palomides speaking in broken English mentioned as a “turn-off” for Morgause (Morgawse by Lavinia Collins)

Palomides a former slave orphaned and raised culturally British instead of immigrating to Britain and constantly othered as “the Arab companion” when the others don’t have modifiers like that (Queen of the Summer Stars and Legend in Autumn by Persia Woolley)

Depicting Arab Bertilak as perpetrator of pederasty, random anti-black or anti-Asian allusions, random antisemitism, etc. (Arthur Rex by Thomas Berger)

Tristan wanting to put down “barbarian” Palomides and drives him to madness (The Enchanted Cup by Dorothy James Roberts)

Black face Palomides (The Black Knight (1954))

Adding pedophilia/child brides.

Girls including Morgaine forced into ritualistic sexual situations for “ceremonial” reasons (Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley)

Eleven year old Morgause given to Lot in marriage by her mother Igraine who lied about her age (Morgawse by Lavinia Collins)

Child bride Isolde (Legend in Autumn by Lavinia Collins, Enemy of God by Bernard Cornwell)

Merlin sexually involved with fosterling Nimuë and later attracted to young Olwen (The Winter King and Excalibur by Bernard Cornwell)

Morgause preying on minors (The Wicked Day by Mary Stewart, The Book of Gaheris by Kari Sperring)

Pedophile/serial killers Kay and Mordred (Dragon’s Child and The Bloody Cup by M. K. Hume, The Queen’s Knight by Marvin Borowsky)

Morgause sexually abusing Agravaine (Queen of the Summer Stars by Lavinia Collins)

Pederast Arthur sleeping with young Peredur and Geraint (Arthur the King by Allan Massie)

Lancelot grooms young Mordred to be his lover (Mordred, Bastard Son by Douglas Clegg)

Bademagus raping 13yo Lynette (The King’s Damosel by Vera Chapman)

Warp a character into a rapist.

Morgause/Morgan tricking Arthur to sire Mordred (The Once and Future King by T. H White, Excalibur (1981), The Hollow Hills by Mary Stewart, Bedivere by Wayne Wise, Morgan by Lavinia Collins, Guinevere by Sharan Newman, Camelot (2011))

Gawain threatening Guinevere with rape then eventually banished from court for raping someone else (Guinevere and Morgawse by Lavinia Collins)

Exceedingly graphic first-person rapes of Morgause by Lot and Mordred, Morgan by Urien (Morgawse and Morgan by Lavinia Collins)

Morgause laughing when she learns how traumatized Arthur is after her seduction of him (Queen of Summer Stars by Persia Woolley)

Agravaine threatening to rape Guinevere (The Road to Avalon by Joan Wolf)

Perceval raping Layla and getting turned on watching the rape of someone else (A Knight’s Tale by Richard Monaco)

Lancelot forcing himself onto Guinevere (First Knight (1995))

Lancelot raping Galahad’s gf (The Winter King by Bernard Cornwell)

Bors tries to rig a dice game in which the prize is sex with Nimuë (Cursed (2020))

“He would not fucking say/do that.”

Arthur, Lot, Geraint, Urien, and Lancelot are wife beaters with minimal to no consequences (Warrior of the West by M. K. Hume, I Am Mordred by Nancy Springer, Igraine and Morgan by Lavinia Collins, Knight Life by Peter David)

Lancelot doesn’t rescue Guinevere leaving her to burn at the stake by Arthur (Fall of Knight by Peter David)

Lancelot used Guinevere for political gain (Excalibur by Bernard Cornwell, The Bright Sword by Lev Grossman)

Lancelot married to Elaine then cheats on her with Guinevere and causes his wife’s death leaving Galahad an orphan (Merlin (1998))

Agravaine skins Elaine’s cat and wears it (Queen of Summer Stars by Persia Woolley)

Gareth helps Gawain torture Pellinore to death (I Am Mordred by Nancy Springer)

Genocide.

Arthur picks up where Uther left off and continues to commit genocide against magic-users, Merlin helps (BBC Merlin (2008-2012)

The red paladins commit genocide against the fay, Lancelot helps (Cursed (2020))

Gawain uses sun powers to commit genocide in the holy land, other knights like Tristan, Mordred, and Agravaine help (F/GO Camelot Wandering (2020) and F/GO Camelot Paladin Agateram (2021))

Lancelot as high king of Britain commits genocide against allies of Arthur to stay in power, other knights like Dagonet, Lot, and Calogrenant help (Kaamelott: First Installment (2021))

So yeah. It isn’t ideal that Lamorak is old in Sword of Lancelot (1963) or Dagonet is stoic and boring in King Arthur (2004). But like, whatever! I like those films! Same goes for replacing Gaheris with Geraint in Sarah Zettel’s series or cutting Gareth out of Gillian Bradshaw’s trilogy. Kind of a bummer, lame even, but not a deal breaker. The things about these bad retellings that drive me mad are much more sinister than that, rooted in really detestable opinions about women and children and people of color.

Can’t Mordred, Agravaine, and Morgan be normal scheming/evil/power hungry like they were in BBC The Legend of King Arthur (1979) or Howard Pyle’s books or Knights of the Round Table (1953) instead of whatever the above are doing? Not to mention the complete violation of Guinevere, Morgause, Lancelot, and Gawain as characters. I’m so tired, man.

Hope this clears things up. Sorry if you made it through that list. I’m sure you hated reading it as much as I hated writing it. But I think it makes it clear the problem here and that I’m not just being picky. The psychic damage is taking its toll.

[fortitudina]

               * MUSE LIST.     ------      Angel Aalbiel  /  Abigail Walker  /  Aeshma Daeva  /  Archangel Akrasiel  /  Alec Lightwood  /  Anastasia Grey  /  Anastasiya Schmidt  /  Anastasiya Zakharov  /  Anatola  /  Angel Aoife  /  Angel Arik  / Divine Goddess Asherah  /  Asmodeus Morningstar  /  Angel Aziel  /  Angel Bina  /  Briar Morningstar  /  Caassimolar  /  Castaelar Aleanundlin  /  Charlotte Holmes  / Chloe Decker  /  Cillian Brockhurst  /  Clary Fray  /  Dr Conrad Hawkins  /  Cooper Hemming  /  Daisy Johnson  /  Dantanian Daeva  /  Dorothea Morningstar  /  Dr Eliza Campbell  /  Ella Lopez  /  Elua D’Angeline  /  Esther Morningstar  /  Angel Evangeline Stewart  /  Faolan Lowell  /  Archangel Gabriel  /  Genevieve Hart  /  Dr Guinevere Voigt  /  Angel Hali  /  Prince Hamon of Zion  /  Harv Wilson  /  Hermione Granger  /  Iris Russell  /  Isabelle Lightwood  /  James Bond  /  Dr Johanna Carter  /  Archangel Jophiel  /  Julian Barnett  /  Kate Bishop  /  Kol Mikaelson  /  Leon Andrews  /  Lien Xao  /  Life  /  Dr Lily Morningstar  /  Lily Evans-Potter  /  Dr Linda Martin  /  Prince Liron Strix  /  Louie Morningstar  /  Love Pena  /  Luna Lovegood  /  Lyall Mortis  /  Angel Malachi  /  Lady Mary Crawley  /  Mother Mary ~ Jesus’s momma  /  Mary Queen of Scotts  /  Massimo Torricelli  /  Matilda Demiurgos  /  Matt Casey  /  Matthew de Clermont  /  Mazikeen Smith  /  Archangel Michael Demiurgos  /  Mycroft Holmes  /  Nancy Perez  /  Nancy Wheeler  /  Demon Ornias  /  King Paimon  /  Q  /  Quinlan  /  Archangel Ramiel  /  Rebecca Barnes  /  Rhonwen Harrow  /  Romy Willow  /  Rosier D’Angelus  /  Ruby Moran  /  Rudi Miller  /  Sherlock Holmes  /  Demon Sitri  /  Storm Demiurgos  /  Angel Temeluchus  /  Tito Giordano  /  Tommy Shelby  /  Uinseann McConnell  /  Waverly Earp  /  Wynonna Earp  /  Yahweh ( God )  /  Yelena Belova  / Zarya Demiurgos.

[annarellix]

The Cleaving by Juliet E McKenna

The Cleaving is an Arthurian retelling that follows the tangled stories of four women: Nimue, Ygraine, Morgana, and Guinevere, as they fight to control their own destinies amid the wars and rivalries that will determine the destiny of Britain.

The legendary epics of King Arthur and Camelot don’t tell the whole story. Chroniclers say Arthur’s mother Ygraine married the man that killed her husband. They say that Arthur's half-sister Morgana turned to dark magic to defy him and Merlin. They say that the enchantress Nimue challenged Merlin and used her magic to outwit him. And that Arthur’s marriage to Guinevere ended in adultery, rebellion and bloodshed. So why did these women chose such dangerous paths? As warfare and rivalries constantly challenge the king, Arthur and Merlin believe these women are destined to serve Camelot by doing as they are told. But men forget that women talk. Ygraine, Nimue, Morgana and Guinevere become friends and allies while the decisions that shape their lives are taken out of their hands. This is their untold story. Now these women have a voice.

Book page: https://angryrobotbooks.com/books/the-cleaving-juliet-mckenna-arthurian-retelling/

My Review: I’m a sucker for everything related to the Arthurian cycle or Matter of Britain: from Geoffrey of Monmouth to Wolfram von Eschenbach, from Thomas Malory to Chrétien de Troyes. A love that was born after reading The Once and Future King by T.H. White and The Merlin Chronicles by Mary Stewart. Like many of my generation I read the first feminist retelling and love it: The Mists of Avalon. It was so successful that also became a sort of sacred text for some people. My last love was By Force Alone by Lavie Tidhar Even if the Matter of Britain is often seen as knights-battles-magic the women plays a relevant role: from Guinevere to Nimue, from Ygraine to Morgause, from Viviane the Dame of the Lake to Iseult. These women play a relevant role in the saga but they’re often the seductress or the villain. The Cleaving was the right book for me and I was very curious about it as the story was told by the POV of these women. I enjoyed the story and I found it quite riveting as I was immersed in a realistic world where some people can use magic and the women are subject to power plays but they’re also strong and clever and they can play their own power games. I loved these women and I was happy to read a different version of Nimue: not the treacherous pupil who seduced and imprisoned Merlin but a woman with magical power who plays in a fair way. Merlin is a sort of villain, a magical being who will not stop to achieve what he saw in the future. I would have liked to know more about Nimue and Merlin and the lore of their people. I have different theories but it would be great to know if they’re sort of fey or druids or what else. The author did a good job in delivering a compelling and fascinating story, it kept me hooked and turning pages. I suffered from book hangover as it usually happens when I read a good book and have to be back in the XXI century. Many thanks to Angry Robots for this digital copy, all opinions are mine.

The Author: Juliet E. McKenna is the author of 15 epic fantasy novels set in the world of Einarinn,  as well as several novellas and countless short stories ranging from SF to steampunk and alternate history. Her contemporary fantasy Green Man novels, published by indie Wizard’s Tower Press, have sold over 28,000 copies since 2018. She has been a judge for the World Fantasy Awards, the Arthur C. Clarke Award, the James White Award and the Aeon Award, and has, herself, been shortlisted for the British Fantasy Award and the BSFA Award for Best Novel. In 2015 she was awarded the Karl Edward Wagner Award for special achievement by the British Fantasy Society.  She is a regular at science fiction conventions, and is a 3rd Dan Aikido black belt.

Website: www.julietemckenna.com Twitter: @JulietEMcKenna https://angryrobotbooks.com/our-authors/juliet-e-mckenna/