The fact that we know that neither Arthur nor Merlin can die until the end of the show removes a lot of tension from this episode, as it is clear from the start that Merlin will never kill Arthur. The whole plot seems a bit contrived and convoluted to me. Merlin as the old archetypal wizard was funny at first but now it seems a bit stretched. Why does he turn into the same old wizard all the time? Is he not powerful enough to look differently every time? It would have been more effective. This time it was effective to scare Morgana but not so good idea with the knights who know the old wizard. The battle of magic with Morgana looked impressive, though again it was a foregone conclusion that Merlin is going to defeat but not kill her.
The episode starts with a beautiful depiction of Arthur's friendship for Merlin, as the young king finally recognises and appreciates Merlin's courage and loyalty and praises his friend, also carrying Merlin on his back when he is wounded.
There are some "Harry Potter" analogies, as Merlin with the snake in his head behaves in a way that could be typical of the Slytherin house, and wicked Morgana looks more and more like the spitting image of Bellatrix Lestrange. Though her convoluted plans to kill Arthur seem silly as simply going to Camelot (which she still does on occasion, unmolested by anyone) and stabbing or poisoning Arthur would have been a fool-proof solution. Speaking of the bad guys, Agravaine seems totally dedicated to Morgana and as loyal to her as Merlin is to Arthur. And now that Merlin saw Agravaine leaving Morgana's den, I wonder what he is going to do about it? As he was there incognito, he cannot really talk about it directly to Arthur as he has no proof as yet, but it would have been totally out of character for Merlin to know something like that and do nothing about it.
Review by ladysherlockianBlockedParentSpoilers2020-09-07T16:48:00Z
The fact that we know that neither Arthur nor Merlin can die until the end of the show removes a lot of tension from this episode, as it is clear from the start that Merlin will never kill Arthur. The whole plot seems a bit contrived and convoluted to me. Merlin as the old archetypal wizard was funny at first but now it seems a bit stretched. Why does he turn into the same old wizard all the time? Is he not powerful enough to look differently every time? It would have been more effective. This time it was effective to scare Morgana but not so good idea with the knights who know the old wizard. The battle of magic with Morgana looked impressive, though again it was a foregone conclusion that Merlin is going to defeat but not kill her.
The episode starts with a beautiful depiction of Arthur's friendship for Merlin, as the young king finally recognises and appreciates Merlin's courage and loyalty and praises his friend, also carrying Merlin on his back when he is wounded.
There are some "Harry Potter" analogies, as Merlin with the snake in his head behaves in a way that could be typical of the Slytherin house, and wicked Morgana looks more and more like the spitting image of Bellatrix Lestrange. Though her convoluted plans to kill Arthur seem silly as simply going to Camelot (which she still does on occasion, unmolested by anyone) and stabbing or poisoning Arthur would have been a fool-proof solution. Speaking of the bad guys, Agravaine seems totally dedicated to Morgana and as loyal to her as Merlin is to Arthur. And now that Merlin saw Agravaine leaving Morgana's den, I wonder what he is going to do about it? As he was there incognito, he cannot really talk about it directly to Arthur as he has no proof as yet, but it would have been totally out of character for Merlin to know something like that and do nothing about it.