#merlin s1

[syfysource]

Merlin 1.04 The Poisoned Chalice

[merlinemrys]

it always gets to me how powerful merlin is because if nimueh, one of the last high priestesses of the old religion, has to say a spell aloud to just unlock a door while merlin in the first five minutes just stops TIME for funsies then it's honestly a miracle that the whole of camelot doesn't just blow up if merlin sneezes too hard

[lesbicosmos]

gio's merlin reactions!! @giolovesyousm

s1 ep4 : the poisoned chalice (aka my second favourite episode ever)

<< prev next >>

[none-ofthisnonsense]

It's 3.35 am and all I think of is Merlin's "I'm psychic" to Gwen. Help.

[ramblings-of-lola]

Thoughts on Season 1 of Merlin

I really liked the first season! The characters are definitely the highlight for me. I love Merlin's selflessness, Morgana's fierceness, Arthur's strength, and Gwen's gentleness

The dragon was also an interesting character too. He's this guiding figure in Merlin's life in Camelot and then in the end, it turns out he was using Merlin just to let him free

I honestly thought that Uther was going to be killed at the end of the season (kinda wish he was honestly)

Gaius is good character too; he's very sassy and caring. I like his dynamic with Merlin

I'm really excited to start the next season 😁

[marandina-001]

if the merlin fandom did the "selfcare" tiktok trend (the one that u close the laptop before a bad/sad scene) they'd just watch the first episode and leave

[xviruserrorx]

MerlinRewatch2023 -> "Excalibur" The Book Of The Dead ~ Masterlist [Prev <-���-> Next]

[mainlysarcastic]

Arthur 100000% has a degradation kink

DID YOU SEE THE WAY HE SMIRKS WHEN MERLIN CALLS HIM A PRAT AND SHIT TALKS HIM RIGHT WHEN THEY MEET

Holy hell these two are ridiculous 

[buckbeforeyou]

Arthur being willing to die for Merlin while Anhora says “he has proved what’s in his heart” SIR WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY THAT?!?

That scene was so romance coded

[oakenemrys]

Please pause your day to acknowledge the goodest character to grace Merlin with their presence

[horselovingbookworm]

Hi!

So, I'm rewatching Merlin, and this is the first time I noticed this dragon-scale wristband/bracelet he's wearing in the pilot episode. Am I the only one who noticed this??? And is it me or do we just never see it again after this???

I just felt the need to point this out because it's irking me that we seemingly never see it again!

[syfysource]

Merlin 1.06 A Remedy to Cure All Ills

[merlinemrys]

s1 arthur's early moments of his fondness for merlin is so endearing bc merlin would just be like "oh valiant's a creep" and arthur gives him the tiniest smile before you see his walls come back up... god this show makes me feel every emotion possible

[lesbicosmos]

first watch: ew, pompous egotist

second watch, after you know his mother died in childbirth and he thinks it was his fault:

[none-ofthisnonsense]

Merlin liveblog (partly for @thisisjustmefangirling )

Season 1 Episode 1:

I’m halfway through the first episode, and so far HOW IS MERLIN SO LUCKY ALL THE TIME. (Also, why has everyone been in Doctor Who?!)

I’m coming into this with some background - I think I watched the first 5 episodes a few years ago? But I don’t really remember them well. Apart from being shot in the heart by Katie McGrath’s beautiful outfits. And also, being on tumblr, I have some mutuals who are fans of it, or I’ve seen gifsets when scrolling through some blogs. And I also do know basic Arthuriana, so I can guess in what position some characters are meant to end up. I’ve got a little background knowledge but not that much. Onto the liveblog!

Merlin you’re behaving like a dramatic teen. Which I guess you are, I don’t really know how old you are.

“Look, I’ve told you you’re an ass, I just didn’t realise you were a royal one.” BEST BOY MERLIN but also he can definitely hurt you and holds power maybe don’t challenge your social superiors too much Merlin mmk?

Merlin. Don’t challenge him. You won’t win.

Yeah tbh if I were Arthur I’d probably laugh too.

Merlin he’s been training his whole life and has power and has weapons and has armour WHAT MAKES YOU THINK YOU CAN WIN YOU AREN’T ALLOWED MAGIC

“Wow. And how long have you been training to be a prat?” See Merlin gets the best lines but that’s dangerous for him.

Slight discrepancy: how does Arthur know Merlin’s name?

Yeah if I were Gaius I’d have that reaction too. Merlin has NO self-preservation instinct.

I like the music. (Also apparently this was filmed at Pierrefonds, so that’s cool!)

YEAH “OH GOD” WHAT DID YOU THINK MERLIN??? That you’d win??!

(Let’s just pause for a moment and appreciate all those historical inaccuracies. They’re painful but also there are so many it almost warms my heart. They’ve COMMITTED to being historically inaccurate. Though I suppose this is fantasy anyway.)

I like both leads’ actors.

And of course he sees Gaius and loses.

“He may be an idiot, but he’s a brave one.” Merlin summarised in one sentence. This boy is DUMB.

“There’s something about you, Merlin. I can’t quite put my finger on it.” See I’m starting to get why this was explained to me as Destiel before Destiel.

“How could you be so foolish?” We are all, at heart, Gaius.

See Merlin’s problem is he wants to be special. Not to be that person but you’re a servant in the (fantasy) Middle Ages you were always going to be a nobody. Being special is very 2000s not so much 1300s.

Aaaand he’s a dramatic emo boy.

Gaius we love you. You’re so kind and honestly the most relatable character. Gaius is great I love him.

OUCH that looks like it hurts.

Oh fantasy medieval painkillers! That’s cool.

It’s not that I don’t like Eve Myles but I specifically chose Merlin to avoid seeing her and John Barrowman all the time. So. I’ve been seeing her pretty much nonstop for a few weeks. I was sort of hoping to catch a break.

Uther is realistic. (As much as a fantasy character from the fictional Middle Ages playing a mythological king from a fictional kingdom can be realistic, but he is!) Both as a father and as a king. I don’t necessarily agree with him, but he’s definitely the most fleshed out character so far.

That voice is creepy and after watching Torchwood CoE it reminds me of the 456.

Merlin come on. Really?

The camera work on this series is………interesting.

Y a un couvre-feu ou quoi? Pourquoi y a personne dans la cour?

Merlin you’re having too much fun with those dice.

Ohhhh is this the dragon Gaius told him about?

OKAY YEAH IT IS DEFINITELY I didn’t expect us to see the dragon so quickly.

So he has a destiny. Great. We already knew that. But I guess this is establishing characters.

Merlin not understanding is me. Yeah I’m confused too don’t worry.

“If anyone wants to kill him, they can go ahead, in fact I’ll lend them a hand.” At least Merlin is coherent, and funny. If extremely dumb and foolish.

“No. No. There must be another Arthur, because this one’s an idiot.” BAHAHA OKAY THAT’S FUNNY

Oh we get the theme music again when Merlin is asking all his questions.

Yeah again Gaius I get you. Also that’s the bedroom of a teenage boy what did you expect, did you want it to be clean? Gaius you’re aiming too high. I have a 15-year-old brother the most I can wish for is for him to open the window once in a while.

One thing I do like is how well-lit the castle is. It’s nice for once.

Oh please tell me he isn’t getting a crush on Morgana. Noooooo please why does every character always have a crush in these shows can my aroace heart be soothed for a while instead of crushed at every occasion

Merlin is a teenage boy with hormones okay. Check.

Okay Merlin just squeaking to imitate Gwen is funny.

Gwen where are you though?

And she arrives! Gwen and Gaius are easily the most relatable people.

I loooove candle lighting.

OHHHHH I FORGOT ABOUT THE REFLECTION THING NOOOO WHY IS SHE DYING

Oh so Merlin and Arthur have spotted each other- nope that’s just Katie McGrath in an incredible dress that won’t be invented for centuries but since when is accuracy the point of this show. The inaccuracies make it better

Isn’t she your cousin or something Arthur?

Gwen is so sweet! But also. The foreshadowing is starting. “Not that I’d want to marry Arthur.” WELL YOUR NAME IS GUINEVERE. SO I GUESS YOU’RE HEADING THERE ANYWAY GWEN I really hope he improves.

“No, I like much more ordinary men like you.” Gwen is realistic! She doesn’t have ideas above her social station! Finally a character who has some knowledge of where they stand! But also no Gwen please don’t fall in love with Merlin that’s just a bad idea

Gwen deserves better than this world. She’s so sweet and nice and frankly dealing with stuff she isn’t paid for enough. #GiveGwenARaise

Oh phew thank god it’s established she doesn’t like him I don’t think I could have borne it.

Merlin is very much a self-centred emo teenager while Gwen is reasonable and sweet and dealing with so much bullshit I promise Gwen you deserve so much better than dealing with him.

Guys believing the female characters for once would have made a nice change. I guess not, huh?

I love Uther’s voice.

I almost expected her to start singing Memory from Cats but no it makes sense that she’s singing something else actually

I’m 95% sure Eve Myles is dubbed here but also medieval music had lyrics.

OH IT’S A SPELL

The darkening as the spell takes effect is well-done and a touch I wouldn’t have imagined. But also what in the Sleeping Beauty

Merlin I thought you said you’d help anyone trying to kill Arthur? Apparently not, huh?

Those cobwebs look sticky.

How has Merlin not gotten caught yet?!

So he saved Arthur’s life huh. Quite a different reaction to twenty minutes ago. Is this character growth? Or is it him realising how bad it would be if A died? (Or am I just having fun interpreting his joke too literally)

“You shall be Prince Arthur’s manservant.” BAHAHA I LOVE UTHER

the absolute DESPAIR on M and A’s faces

Gaius is having fun.

Oooh a magic book! This’ll be interesting!

Aaand the episode ends.

[gaiusbunnymask]

rewatch commentary: the dragon's call

(look at this shot! I looks like a Renaissance painting)

"If I can't use magic, what have I got?"

Merlin arrives at Camelot feeling lost, inadequate and purposeless and I think that's what makes him vulnerable to Gaius and Kilgahrrah's ideas of destiny. EVEN if what the dragon is saying it's true, the timing is really suspicious.

He used to want recognition too, wanted to be someone. He thinks that his magic is the only thing that makes him special, that gives him power over bullies like Arthur, but since the world sees him as something strange and dangerous and rejects his existence, he wonders if he's a monster that shouldn't exist.

That's why it's so easy for him to believe everything the dragon tells him, because he wanted to have some higher purpose. He wanted someone to tell him he was born like that for a reason. It's the beginning of his tragedy.

"I saw how you saved Arthur's life. Perhaps that's his purpose."

Gaius' dubious beliefs/morality about purpose, destiny, and the purpose of Merlin's magic. He was on board with Merlin using his magic to protect Arthur even though he had reprimanded Merlin for using magic recklessly before, and that Arthur is the son of the man that started the Purge. He equals using magic for good to supporting the royal family, which is... not good actually.

My headcanon is that Gaius was/is against dark magic and the abuse of it, but the Purge did more than just condemn dark sorcerers and destroy objects with dark magic, and it turned into something he didn't expect and didn't fully support. Not saying he supported the Purge but he wasn't as pro-magic as Nimueh, for example. He may have helped others escape but he stayed in Camelot and served Uther for 20 years so that says a lot about him.

"An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, a son for a son!"

It seems to me that Mary Collins was a dark witch?? I'm guessing that practicing dark magic is what gave her that ghastly appearance (yes they also needed the audience to differentiate her from lady Helen because it was the same actress) but it says something about the state of magic in Camelot that most of the sorcerers we'll find later show the same signs of corruption.

Not saying Uther was right to attack all magic and all sorcerers for that, of course not, but Gaius did say that dark magic was running rampant before the purge, and honestly? It's not a surprise. If magic is a tool then people can use it to do bad things. This was probably what gave Uther leverage to carry on with the purge. Obviously the solution to that would be to have laws that condemn acts of dark magic that hurt people. But instead most dark sorcerers probably were able to lay low and hide whereas people like the druids and less powerful sorcerers where easy to capture and execute.

"When I came to this land this kingdom was mired in chaos."

Uther is a very very smart politician, at least on this episode. He beheads a sorcerer/the son of a witch, and right after the fact the announces a festival. This is a show of his power. It reinforces his authority and the idea that the persecution of magic is a good thing, that he's the savior of the land, the protector of the realm, for ridding it from the evil of sorcery. And since it's the anniversary of the capture of the great dragon, it also serves a a reminder.

"No, I'm his son, Arthur."

Arthur was not present at the execution of Mary Collins' son, nor is he there to welcome "lady Helen". Uther forced Morgana to attend but it seems that Arthur can skip it if he wants. I wonder why Uther allowed it? "Lady Helen" doesn't meet Arthur until the night of the banquet where she tries to kill him. I'm just wondering about Arthur, making it his mission to be absent from as many official occasions as possible.

It seems that he used to spend all his time training and bullying helpless servants. No wonder Merlin didn't recognized him as royalty the first time they met.

"He needed to be taught a lesson."

Merlin is very very impulsive. He falls for Arthur's taunts really easy, and he just got out of the dungeons! I think this is not the first time he put a bully in his place/taught them a lesson. He was at odds with the people in Ealdor, where it seems he used his magic more freely. If he was going around "taking bullies apart with one blow", no wonder Hunith was worried.

"The more brutal you are the more enemies you'll create."

Morgana's conversation with Uther was another scene I liked. It established the foundation of her character quite well. Her standing by the window staring at the chopping block for who knows how long it's a thought that haunts me.

It seems she copes by wearing pretty and scandalous dresses that make her look stunning.

Final thoughts:

I was surprised by how much I liked the episode. This is the third time I watched it and I didn't know I would find it enjoyable, but I did! the music, the cinematography, the script (its lovely plotholes ♥) the acting! (Eve Myles' performance was superb) the peak comedy! There was a lot of foreshadowing too. Merlin and Gaius, Merlin and Gwen, and of course Merlin and Arthur are great comedic duos. overall the first episode it's really fun.