Merlin's End
Dec. 29th, 2012 09:58 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bunnI've been watching the BBC's Merlin on and off, mostly on the grounds that it is Arthuriana and quite pretty. The plots and characterisation seemed to get in a bit of a tangle from time to time, and sometimes you could only conclude that Monty Python was right about Camelot being a very silly place, but on the whole I enjoyed it.
I enjoyed the final two episodes too, although I am vaguely aware that lots of people didn't. It was nice to see Merlin finally doing some serious magic and coming out as a sorcerer, and also, hurray! Some Saxons have finally turned up. I'd been wondering if the whole Saxon side of the story had been dispensed with. I was disappointed to see that the Merlin Saxons weren't colour-coded with huge fluffy sheepskin vests, like Arthur of the Britons Saxons though. Actually, possibly that suggests one thing that would have improved Merlin as faintly-cheesy Arthuriana. It was very jolly, but it contained no Brian Blessed, and although Merlin's Percival's enormous arms were probably comparable to Brian's as Mark of Cornwall, there was no comparable bellowing.
I did wonder what exactly Morgana had done to win the everlasting devotion of the Saxons so that they were so willing to send an army at her call. Possibly I missed that, but my guess would be that these particular Saxons are just really into invading... everything. I am not even sure if any of them got names. England, founded by an army of nameless henchmen! There's a heritage to echo down the centuries.
The last episode of all was an extended two-day post-Camlann death scene, with Merlin playing the Bedivere role. This might have seemed a rather gloomy way to end if it were not, well, post-Camlann Arthuriana, and therefore never likely to be a bundle of laughs. At long last Arthur found out that Merlin had been stage-managing his entire career with illegal magic. He coped with the revelation surprisingly well, considering, and the whole 'you killed my father : prepare to die!' thing never came up at all, although possibly that was because of the 'dying of a splinter from an unearthly blade that is working inwards' aspect (where have I heard that one before...?)
Seeing Merlin as a sorcerer who actually sorcels full time, rather than a servant who sorcels furtively on the side, made me realise why the series has hung on so desperately to the idea that Merlin's magic must be a big secret, to the point where it was hard for the viewer to understand quite why nobody (particularly Arthur) had worked it out yet. As soon as Merlin turned up and started hurling lighting bolts, the entire Camelot army was suddenly rendered obsolete by superior technology. It made me wonder how they would have written a Merlin is revealed as a sorcerer plot earlier in the series - compared with Arthur, Merlin is shown as cleverer, mostly better informed, and with a better understanding of ordinary people, so you kind of wonder what there would have been left for Arthur to do, other than hang about looking regal and securing the succession. Although I suppose that is essentially much of the role of the British monarchy today.
I really liked the final little scene with an old, present-day Merlin walking past Glastonbury Tor (where he had left Arthur many centuries/one scene previously). It suggested all sorts of intriguing ideas for a Once and Future King return, without promising anything too definite. Although of course, you could see that Glastonbury Tor is no longer an island, raising the old questions about whether they found the Lady in the Lake when the drainage work was done, whether she was annoyed about being drained out of a home, etc
etc. And in this particular case, whether the Sidhe are still living there, and if so whether they are now running some sort of New Age teashop full of dreamcatchers and incense holders.
Oh, one final thing - was the 'Guinevere crowned as queen music' the same music that Aragorn gets crowned to in Return of the King? Is that official TV Coronation Music now? It sounded very similar!
I enjoyed the final two episodes too, although I am vaguely aware that lots of people didn't. It was nice to see Merlin finally doing some serious magic and coming out as a sorcerer, and also, hurray! Some Saxons have finally turned up. I'd been wondering if the whole Saxon side of the story had been dispensed with. I was disappointed to see that the Merlin Saxons weren't colour-coded with huge fluffy sheepskin vests, like Arthur of the Britons Saxons though. Actually, possibly that suggests one thing that would have improved Merlin as faintly-cheesy Arthuriana. It was very jolly, but it contained no Brian Blessed, and although Merlin's Percival's enormous arms were probably comparable to Brian's as Mark of Cornwall, there was no comparable bellowing.
I did wonder what exactly Morgana had done to win the everlasting devotion of the Saxons so that they were so willing to send an army at her call. Possibly I missed that, but my guess would be that these particular Saxons are just really into invading... everything. I am not even sure if any of them got names. England, founded by an army of nameless henchmen! There's a heritage to echo down the centuries.
The last episode of all was an extended two-day post-Camlann death scene, with Merlin playing the Bedivere role. This might have seemed a rather gloomy way to end if it were not, well, post-Camlann Arthuriana, and therefore never likely to be a bundle of laughs. At long last Arthur found out that Merlin had been stage-managing his entire career with illegal magic. He coped with the revelation surprisingly well, considering, and the whole 'you killed my father : prepare to die!' thing never came up at all, although possibly that was because of the 'dying of a splinter from an unearthly blade that is working inwards' aspect (where have I heard that one before...?)
Seeing Merlin as a sorcerer who actually sorcels full time, rather than a servant who sorcels furtively on the side, made me realise why the series has hung on so desperately to the idea that Merlin's magic must be a big secret, to the point where it was hard for the viewer to understand quite why nobody (particularly Arthur) had worked it out yet. As soon as Merlin turned up and started hurling lighting bolts, the entire Camelot army was suddenly rendered obsolete by superior technology. It made me wonder how they would have written a Merlin is revealed as a sorcerer plot earlier in the series - compared with Arthur, Merlin is shown as cleverer, mostly better informed, and with a better understanding of ordinary people, so you kind of wonder what there would have been left for Arthur to do, other than hang about looking regal and securing the succession. Although I suppose that is essentially much of the role of the British monarchy today.
I really liked the final little scene with an old, present-day Merlin walking past Glastonbury Tor (where he had left Arthur many centuries/one scene previously). It suggested all sorts of intriguing ideas for a Once and Future King return, without promising anything too definite. Although of course, you could see that Glastonbury Tor is no longer an island, raising the old questions about whether they found the Lady in the Lake when the drainage work was done, whether she was annoyed about being drained out of a home, etc
etc. And in this particular case, whether the Sidhe are still living there, and if so whether they are now running some sort of New Age teashop full of dreamcatchers and incense holders.
Oh, one final thing - was the 'Guinevere crowned as queen music' the same music that Aragorn gets crowned to in Return of the King? Is that official TV Coronation Music now? It sounded very similar!
no subject
Date: 2012-12-30 11:00 am (UTC)I know what you mean about Merlin being over-powered - I have seen various fanfics tackling that over the years, but most of them were premised on the idea that Morgana wasn't the only other sorcerer in Albion, and that an Arthur who knew about Merlin's magic wouldn't want him to commit mass murder on his behalf (noble king and all that) so would make his battle plans accordingly. As I see it a large part of the problem is the lack of/inconsistent character growth that Arthur was given - going from spoilt brat with Daddy issues to noble king would have been a great progression, but he never seemed to quite get there. Possibly a modern problem with seeing a king as being an unreservedly good thing? I don't know.
It's no doubt a sad reflection on me as a Tolkien fan, but I'm afraid my first thought was Tony Stark and his shrapnel, rather than Frodo and the Morgul blade. Unfortunately, however powerful a sorcerer, Merlin doesn't seem to be good with arc reactors. :-)
That last scene was very popular - witness the couple of dozen stories continuing it on AO3 already, and a lot of people who've been writing re-incarnation stories over the years feeling vindicated. My head-canon is that Arthur is just about to get out of the lorry, but who knows...
no subject
Date: 2012-12-30 02:25 pm (UTC)Hengist: "So, Horsa, you are telling me this king Arthur has got a sorcerer that is the greatest ever to live?"
Horsa: "Yup"
Hengist: " And he's also the last Dragonlord?"
Horsa: "Yup"
Hengist:"And he's totally loyal to this king Arthur? We don't have a hope of getting him to fall for some gorgeous Saxon lady and coming over to our side?"
Horsa: "Yup"
Hengist: " And the druids are scared of his very name?"
Horsa: "Yup"
Hengist : "Fuck this for a game of soldiers, anyone fancy invading Gaul?"
Horsa: "Yup!"
It's not just that he's overpowered though, he's cleverer than Arthur, and nicer than Arthur, and less arrogant... If they wanted to do a magic reveal earlier, I think really they needed to set him up with more weaknesses or he is just too shiny to be true, somehow.
In my head, apocalyptic John Wyndham style End of the World type stuff is about to put an end to all the lorries, and Merlin is on his way to get Arthur to help deal with that somehow. But I am not sure of the details!
no subject
Date: 2012-12-30 03:58 pm (UTC)I can't help thinking though that as he was originally conceived he was a little too nice for politics, with no idea of warfare or sense of strategy - sure he could knock a few bad guys out, but he needed others, the Dragon, Gaius to tell him what needed to be done. The Arthur I was expecting this one to grow into had the political training, and the ability as a warrior and a general to be a worthy king, and to make best use of Merlin's abilities. If that was to scare off his enemies and make them become allies out of fear of Merlin, that would work, at least until you had treachery from within like Mordred. And after all, Merlin was only one man, however powerful, he couldn't have been everywhere - Arthur would have had something to offer other than just being a pretty face. ;-)
It's all speculation, I'm well aware. It's over, and from my point of view as someone who was invested in Merlin and Arthur's relationship the ending could have been a lot worse. I'm afraid I'm welcoming the chance to discuss it with someone that isn't just us crying on each others' shoulders, though there's been plenty of that.
no subject
Date: 2012-12-30 05:16 pm (UTC)Of course, what this alternative version with a political/military Arthur and a slightly-naive but powerful Merlin needs is a really serious and convincing enemy. I favour Rowena on a big white Saxon dragon leading an army of 7-foot Saxons armed with seaxes. (Aithusa really never lived up to his promise, I thought, and Kilgharrah was quite simply *the wrong colour*)
no subject
Date: 2012-12-30 06:24 pm (UTC)I'd really like to know where the writers thought they were going with Aithusa - he was supposed to be a good omen for the kingdom that Merlin and Arthur were going to build together, and then he randomly started working for Morgana... A white Saxon dragon would have been fine - as it was it just created confusion.