Merlin, Season 3

[wiseheart]

Got sparkly shinies from my good friend the_wild_iris yesterday and watched six episodes of Merlin in two sessions. Aside from that silly goblin episode, I found the first half of the season very interesting... although if they don't start feeding Colin Morgan soon, they won't have a Merlin for Season 4. That boy gets skinnier with every new episode... in the end, there will be nothing left.

Good stories in this season, interesting guest stars and lots of yummy, gratutious manflesh to see - mmm, Gawain! Arthur sits around shirtless a lot, too, and unlike Merlin, he seems to have put on some weight... or is it just an impression, not having seen him half-naked so much before? I don't know.

Morgana does a lot of evil smirking, which actually gives the actress the chance to act a little. They could have done more with developing her character, but, well, female characters always get short shrift. Gwen is acquiring more traits of a Mary Sue as the storyline develops, alas. Was it really necessary to have Gawain fall for her, too? As if Arthur and Lancelot wouldn't have been enough? Oh, please! Besides, I know that both A/G and L/G are canon, but she and Arthur have about as much chemistry as a fish and a hedgehog. Even if I weren't a shameless Arthur/Merlin fangirl, A/G wouldn't do the least for me.

I still find Morgause way too colourless; and it's hard to believe that she and Morgana would be sisters. Too much age difference, too diagonally opposite appearances. I know not all siblings ought to have a strong family resemblance, but even taking that fact under consideration, this is too little.

Shoot me, but I enjoyed the return of the Sidhe a great deal. And the poor changeling girl was at least pretty and cute. I'm glad it didn't end in tragedy for her - I liked her a lot. And the pixie nurse pursuing Gaius with her advances was hilarious! Merlin got very good at using the fairies' magic staff, though. Nice piece of continuity - even though the PTB forgot all about it for a year and a half.

I was deliriously happy to see the Great Dragon again - was his face always this sparkly-glowy? Or is that a result of being free and much in the good fresh air again? Anyway, it's good to see him at his best, enigmatic self again. And I loved Taliesin. He was a great character. The mandrake was a nice touch, too.

Have we ever seen Cenred before? I can't remember. He's seriously hot. No wonder Morgause wants to get into his pants - but I think he'd wish a woman with a little more blood in her, not such a wax figure. And he wasn't stupid, either. As soon as he saw, that he can't get Camelot easily, he chose not to get all his men killed and withdraw. A good leader, actually.

I'm looking forward to the second half of the season and to the return of Lancelot. Even if he does have a moustache. It pisses me off that the PTB do their best to make him look unattractive: first cutting his hair and giving him designer stubble, and now a moustache? But it's understandable, I think. Santiago is too hot for his own good; they don't want him overshadow Arthur, I guess. *g*

Comments

[lindahoyland.livejournal.com]

To my surprise, I've come to enjoy "Merlin". I'll miss it when the series ends this weekend.

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

There's always Season 4. *g*

Me, I fell love with the series from frist moment on when Merlin came to Camelot, all wide-eyed and excited. He was just so cute...

[the-wild-iris.livejournal.com]

Glad you enjoyed the rest! (I couldn't remember which episode had been #6, but I liked 'The Changeling', too.)

Gwen is acquiring more traits of a Mary Sue as the storyline develops, alas.

True :). Although I think Guinevere can be Sue-like in general - always being abducted/threatened with execution and needing Lancelot to save her. I've read some Arthurian novels in which she was more Sue-like than she is in Merlin.

Was it really necessary to have Gawain fall for her, too? As if Arthur and Lancelot wouldn't have been enough?

I don't think he falls for her. At least, there's no further reference in the season to Gawain* liking Gwen. I thought the point of the scene in which he gives her the flower was just that Gawain is a flirt, and that he would have acted the same with any pretty girl.

she and Arthur have about as much chemistry as a fish and a hedgehog. Even if I weren't a shameless Arthur/Merlin fangirl, A/G wouldn't do the least for me.

I like to think that the writers are being ironic with the Arthur/Gwen scenes. When they dance so politely around each other, when they kiss so sweetly, when Arthur is far too ready to discount the need to make a political alliance by his marriage, and talks about how he'll be far more successful a king if he's accompanied by his loving wife... well, we know how terribly their marriage ends, so it's ironic, isn't it? Isn't it? Say it is! :)

Of course, I'm a shameless L/G fangirl (in general, not just in Merlin), so I could just be fooling myself.

And the poor changeling girl was at least pretty and cute. I'm glad it didn't end in tragedy for her - I liked her a lot.

Me too. I thought she could have been a good bride for Arthur.

Have we ever seen Cenred before? I can't remember.

No. He's been mentioned, as the neighbouring king, but we haven't seen him before. Wasn't Ealdor in his kingdom?

He and Morgause are quite interesting: the warrior-king and the sorceress who uses her sexuality to keep him in alliance with her. They remind me a bit of Gwydion and Achren (except, you know, more evil). There's a disturbing scene later in the season in which they apparently have sex in the same room as an executed corpse.

I can't understand how he commands so many men! The full fighting strength of Camelot is, what, about thirty knights? That's what it seem like :). And Cenred has thousands. It's amazing he hasn't conquered Camelot years ago.

It pisses me off that the PTB do their best to make him look unattractive: first cutting his hair and giving him designer stubble, and now a moustache?

I suspect that's not their fault; they might not have much control over the hair of a one-off guest star. S.C. has been working on a film in which he, apparently, has a moustache; I'd blame the producers of that :)

Maybe the moustache won't be so bad. I'll let you know after Saturday...

I'm geekily excited to see the meeting of Lancelot and Gawain.

GAWAIN: Look at the two of us, both such great swordsmen, so noble and so dashing! We're going to be either best friends or arch enemies. Maybe both.

LANCELOT: How strange; that's exactly what Prince Arthur said.


*I know he's 'Gwaine' in Merlin, but he's Gawain in my head :)

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

Ep#6 *is* the one with the changeling. And yeah, I think the girl would have made a great bride for Arthur, after she was cured. The first really beautiful girl in three years. Cos don't shoot me, but I find Gwen not pretty at all. She's plain as dirt; I understand that the PTB probably go for the Cinderella romance, but... she has a face like a flatbread. Sorry. The actress does her best, but I just can't buy every man loving her.

Gwaine is a stupid name. They could keep the other important names, so why not Gawain's? I like the flirting part, but for God's sake, why Gwen again??? Okay, they apparently don't have any other girl in the whole Camelot, save Morgana...

I sure as hell hope the Arthur/Gwen scenes are meant ironically, b/c they make my teeth ache with all the sweetness. *shudders*

I find Cendred seriously hot, too. Poor thing, has to sleep with that wilted, horse-faced sorceress! However Morgause gets all those guys devoted to her, it certainly isn't through her prettiness... which she hasn't.

Re: manpower. Camelot might seem to have but a handful knights, but they're like Voyager's shuttles. The boss never runs out of them.

Still mourning for Lancelot's pretty hair. Tell me about the moustache after Saturday; I need to be warned. Have a soft spot for Santiago.

And I know it probably wasn't your intention, but that piece of dialogue made me thing ok Gawain/Lancelot slash. At least they're both grown men, unlike Arthur and Merlin. ;)

[the-wild-iris.livejournal.com]

I would definitely read Lancelot/Gawain slash. It would give a new dimension to their blood feud.

Gawain: You killed my entire family! Plus you didn't return my calls, you bastard!

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

They had a blood feud? Tell me more; I'm not so well-versed in the acutal legendary as I'd like to be, by far.

Speaking of Lancelot/Gawain slash; I've found a great picture of the two together, dressed up as Knights of Camelot, when googling for Eoin Macken. I don't know how to insert it into a comment, but I'll add it to the original post. I don't know what you think, but the moustache actually isn't that bad on Santiago. And the hair looks more proper again. Still not long enough, but better.

Now that I think about it: what is it with hot men and long hair? It never was one of my fetishes before...

[the-wild-iris.livejournal.com]

According to Thomas Malory, whose version of the stories has become the most 'standard' one:

Gawain's brother, Agravain, plotted with Mordred to damage Arthur's prestige by exposing Guinevere's affair with Lancelot. He gathered a band of - I think - 14 knights, including Gawain's two sons. They caught Lancelot in Guinevere's chamber during the night, and broke in fully armed, intending to arrest them (or to kill him and arrest her). However, the plan went horribly wrong; Lancelot fought and killed them all, except for Mordred, who escaped. Then Lancelot, being doomed, fled from the castle. Guinevere refused to flee with him, staying that as queen she ought to stay. She immediately got arrested, so it was a stupid decision, really.

Guinevere was condemned to be burned alive. Gawain's other brothers, Gaheris and Gareth, were ordered to oversee her execution as proxies for the king. At the execution, Lancelot and his enormous extended family showed up to rescue her. Cutting his way through the crowd around the stake to reach Guinevere, Lancelot unwittingly killed Gaheris and Gareth.

This made Gawain, who had now lost two sons and three brothers, rather upset. He hadn't demanded revenge after the fight in Guinevere's chamber, because Agravain had instigated that. But he demanded revenge for Gaheris and Gareth. He challenged Lancelot repeatedly - and obsessively - to single combat. Lancelot tried to refuse, because he didn't want to fight Gawain, but eventually he had to take up the challenge. They fought for a whole day. Gawain lost. He suffered a bad head-wound, from which he eventually died.

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

And all that for a stupid woman? Geez, I hate to say it myself, being a woman, too, and all that, but no woman is worth *that* much.

I wonder how much of this will be reflected in the series. Nothing, I suppose, save from the stupid woman part. *sighs*

You know, I read an interesting comment over at a merlin/arthur comm. Someone said that the character of Morgana should actually be Guinevere, as it would fit a lot better for Arthur to marry her just because she was there and he'd known her all his life, than make him fall in love with a *servant*. The person said, and I tend to agree, that it's stupid to build up a romance between two people who'd been known to have led a terribly unhappy marriage for, oh, eight hundred or so years.

I find this whole Cinderella aspect really forced and out of context. Gwen would have done a lot better falling in love with Lancelot, who's just as low-born as she is, and being Merlin's secret friend, who might or might not know about his magic.

And - my addition here - Morgana could have married Arthur, discovering their blood relationship too late and turning to the evil side in bitterness... it would even make sense - certainly more sense than just "Daddy never told me I was his kid, boo-hoo, he doesn't like me as much as he likes Arthur!"-histrionics.

All that completely beside the fact that Arthur belongs with Merlin and nobody else. Which is probably why Merlin has pushed into the background for quite some time by now, just to give Arthur's dysfunctional romances more spotlight.

Excuse me, but I thought the series' title was "Merlin", not "Arthur and the Girls". *is angry on Warlock Boy's behalf*