#merlin handing over the sword as a symbol of his utter trust in arthur

[justaz]

merlin (immortal) giving arthur (pendragon) the only blade that could kill him

[adhd-merlin]

Merlin S1 rewatch: episode 4 🌼

4 episodes in, and our boys are already tripping all over themselves to die for each other. Insane.

I don't have many funny comments to make about this one. It's a solid episode.

Arthur is an incredibly brave and chivalrous knight, Merlin is an extremely powerful sorcerer, and Uther is an utter bastard. Characters effectively distilled to their essence.

random thoughts & comments

• For all that it's a silly family show, the sets and locations are so beautiful. Look at this!

• Nimueh is so gorgeous in her blue turban. I can't blame Merlin for the flirting.

• Her fake name is Cara (!). But spelled with a C. Caras/Karas are not to be trusted, I guess

• They were really going all in with the red & blue juxtaposition

• I love Arthur red studded jacket. Why did they deprive him of his fun little outfits in later seasons! He's even wearing jewellery!! Wtf is this necklace, btw

• Stupid question but how did Nimueh know Arthur would end up with the poisoned chalice?? She just put it in the box

• Well done Gaius for identifying the poison in 0.5 seconds. That's got to be some kind of record. Does he train for that? Does Camelot hold an annual speed poison-identification contest?

• Luckily Gaius’s book contains all the information needed to retrieve the flower required for the antidote – what it looks like, where to find it, what to expect when you get there. Top 10 restaurants in the area. It's all in there.

• I've missed Uther! He's a great character/antagonist. "I can't stand by and watch [Merlin] die." / "Then don't look." (!) Banger of a line. And Anthony is an amazing actor.

• After having watched the entire series, I feel like S1 Arthur comes across as more of a noble and good guy than in later seasons? I can't put my finger on why, exactly. Perhaps the way he stands up to Uther with no hesitation. I don’t know.

• I like that Arthur gets to defeat the Cockatrice all by himself. So often in the series it's just Merlin (literally) working his magic behind the scenes and Arthur taking all the credit, but in this episode he very much deserves to be called a hero.

• Speaking of which, the way Arthur just defeats that Cockatrice and then carries on like it was no big deal is kind of funny. (Like... he just threw a sword at it? And it died? Alright.)

• Nimueh is so bad at acting like an innocent damsel in distress. Definitely nothing at all sus about her situation. "Please help me, good sir! Why, yes, I do know where to find the flower you're after. Just follow me into this dark cave. No need to take your sword." Arthur are you dumb (don't answer that)

• Nimueh is like "it's not your destiny to die at my hand!" Mmkay if you know who's going to kill him what's this all for then 👀

• I LOVE Merlin guiding Arthur to safety with his magic. I've said it before but (ironically) there isn't enough magic in this series. I think this is perhaps the coolest act of magic we ever see Merlin perform. And even if the CGI is at times hilariously bad, this globe of light looks pretty cool. Quite powerful, both visually and symbolically (and also literally. Merlin’s not even conscious).

• Uther has done some truly fucked up things (both on screen and implied) but crushing the flower needed for the antidote is just so needlessly cruel that I still think of it as one of the worst things he's done.

• Gwen to the rescue <3 I know everyone goes on about how sweet and kind she is, but she can also be shrewd when the situation calls for it. She's good at thinking on her feet under pressure, and it's a trait that shows in other episodes.

• Arthur and Gwen cooperating to save Merlin – love to see it. (Arthur, that's your future wife! Look at him. He doesn't even know. He doesn’t know he'll turn into a complete simp for this woman.)

• Interesting that Gwen's first reaction to Gaius's "We might need to use magic to prepare the antidote" is "but we can't! it's forbidden!!" GIRL, THE BOY YOU FANCY YOURSELF IN LOVE WITH IS DYING. MAYBE CHILL. But I guess it says a lot about Uther's reign of terror that this was so unthinkable to her.

• If I remember right (and I might not), Gaius uses magic only 3 or 4 times in the entire series and always to save Merlin's life (or to save Alice, once). It's a fairly consistent trait throughout the series that he's actually quite reluctant to use magic (whether because he's vowed not to, or because it brings up unwanted memories. Or both). It's always a last resort. I know no one cares, I just find it interesting.

• GWEN AND MERLIN'S KISS! I wonder how Arthur would have reacted at finding out that Merlin kissed Gwen first. WE WERE DEPRIVED WE WERE ROBBED

• Why didn't Uther question the fact that Merlin survived?? First he's s all intent on letting him die to teach Arthur a lesson, then he goes "haha, well done son, you were right to defy me" (??) Did he find out about Gwen and Arthur’s subterfuge to get the flower to Gaius? He must have, I suppose, but he's remarkably chill about it (I'm surprised he didn't accuse Gaius of using sorcery to save Merlin)

• Something tells me we haven't seen the last of Nimueh yet. I don't know what. Just a feeling.

[1asbrightasthestars3]

holy fuckin god

merlin (immortal) giving arthur (pendragon) the only blade that could kill him