Grade: A
There's a terrible, beautiful sort of symmetry to this episode. We are forced to watch as each one of the primary characters, some of them for the first time, makes a conscious decision to defy Uther's orders on one small, seemingly unimportant matter: that of the arrest or escape of a small, anonymous child trapped in the city. As each one of them contributes to their cause with individual capacities and strengths, we see the intricate workings of a terrible future event being involuntarily, perfectly orchestrated by the very people it is destined to affect most deeply.
We open with a tall, hooded man, holding a small boy by the hand, stealthily making his way through the back alleys of Camelot. He approaches a street vendor and collects a bundle of supplies, only to realize that he and the boy have walked into a trap, with soldiers approaching from both ends of the street. Making brief, desperate use of sorcery, the man tosses some of the soldiers back, buying the boy time to run through a gate, which he then closes by magic. As the doors close, the boy witnesses the soldiers closing in on his mentor, then takes refuge in a corner of the courtyard. Going about his daily business inside the castle, Merlin telepathically hears a child's voice begging for help.
Walking out into the courtyard, Merlin eventually pinpoints the small Druid boy huddled in the other side of the square as the source of the voice. Cautiously reaching out with his mind, Merlin finds he is able to communicate with the child, who continues begging for help as a group of soldiers enter the yard. Given next to no time to make a decision, Merlin offers a hand to the boy and tells him to run. Dodging through the castle corridors with the guards in close pursuit, Merlin rushes the boy into Morgana's room and begs for her help. Also forced into a split-second decision, Morgana waves Merlin and the boy behind a curtain just as the guards knock at her door. She lies to deflect their search and makes it behind the curtain herself just as the boy faints as a result of the wound in his stomach, apparently from a soldier's sword.
Meanwhile, the captured Druid is scheduled to be executed, with Uther unwilling to show mercy despite Arthur's protests at the unfairness of the sentence; additionally, Arthur is ordered to scour every inch of the city until the boy is found. Meanwhile, Morgana attempts to comfort the child while Merlin watches the execution from her windows; as the ax falls, the boy lets out a shriek of rage and an uncontrolled burst of magic, which shatters a nearby mirror. Later, Gaius warns Merlin to stay out of trouble while the search for the Druid boy continues, unaware that he has already become involved. Talking quietly over the unconscious child in her chambers, Morgana and Merlin discuss their respective views of magic and Uther's harsh policies, managing to obliquely agree with each other without betraying any indication of their own magical abilities. Dining with Uther that night, Morgana witnesses a disagreement between Arthur and his father after Arthur expresses the opinion that the Druid boy, believed to be hiding inside the castle, is not a threat; after pretending to side with the king, Morgana returns to her chambers to find that the boy's wound is becoming infected, and that Merlin intends to treat it himself rather than involve Gaius. At that moment, Arthur knocks on Morgana's door, dutifully if unenthusiastically carrying out his orders to search the entire castle for the hidden boy. Pretending to be disinterested in the affair, Morgana dares Arthur to search for the boy behind her curtains; refusing to call her supposed bluff, Arthur leaves without searching the room.
Merlin returns to Gaius's workshop in order to collect supplies for the treatment of the boy's wound; returning, Gaius assumes that Merlin is finally showing an interest in a physician's work and insists on beginning his education immediately. Not able to think of an excuse to leave, Merlin is unable to get to the boy until hours later. Inexpertly attempting to treat the infected wound, Merlin finds himself once more communicating with the boy telepathically; inquiring why the boy addresses him as "Emrys", Merlin is bewildered and unsettled to be told that, among the Druids, that is his name. Going to consult the Dragon, Merlin is even more disturbed to be told that he has long been written about under many different names. Warning Merlin not to continue protecting the boy, the Dragon departs, leaving Merlin even more in the dark than before. In her chambers, Morgana is startled when the boy begins to speak to her telepathically as well; however, she is distracted by Merlin's return. Telling him that his attempted treatment is having no effect, she begs him to employ Gaius's help. Reluctantly, Merlin agrees to do so; returning to the workshop, he explains to Gaius that Morgana is hiding the refugee boy in his chambers, and that's he's severely wounded. Despite disapproving of Merlin's involvement in such a dangerous affair, Gaius is unable to refuse his help, and agrees to treat the boy under the condition that Merlin and Morgana get him out of Camelot as soon as possible. Merlin believes that a secret door in the castle armory is their best bet for getting out of the city unnoticed; aware that her privileged position would give her an advantage if caught with the boy, Morgana determines to do it herself. That night, Merlin manages to smuggle the key to the armory door from Arthur's belt, and Morgana sets out from Gwen's house under cover of darkness. However, almost as soon as she does so, Arthur discovers the keys missing from his belt and sounds the warning bell; Morgana is caught with the boy by an astonished, bewildered Arthur before even reaching the outskirts of the city.
Infuriated by Morgana's defiance of his edicts, Uther orders Arthur to have the boy executed the following morning. Morgana begs him to change his mind, and, when refused, lashes out at the king in rage, causing him to briefly physically assault her before storming out of the room. Crushed, Morgana returns to her chambers in despair, blaming herself for allowing the boy to be captured, despite Merlin's assurance that she did the best she could. Morgana, unable to bear the thought of allowing the child to die, determines to stop it by any means possible, and Merlin, after a brief internal struggle, assures her of his willingness to assist her. Arthur, following an unsuccessful attempt to convince Uther to spare the boy's life, returns to his chambers and finds Morgana nervously waiting for him. She tells him that she is aware he disagrees with his father's decision to execute the boy, but Arthur is convinced that his beliefs make no difference. Telling him that the time for talking and reasoning is past, she attempts to enlist his help in breaking the boy out of prison; and, although initially resistant, he eventually agrees. Merlin, joining them, insists that the plan is suicidal for Morgana, who has already been caught once. Agreeing with him, Arthur tells Morgana to apologize to and dine with Uther that night, providing her with an alibi while Merlin and Arthur help the boy escape through a network of tunnels leading from the castle burial vaults. Merlin, although resistant to the idea of continuing to aid the child, reluctantly allows Arthur to persuade him into agreement.
Returning to the Dragon's cave, Merlin demands an solid explanation of the cryptic advice regarding the Druid boy that he was given earlier. The Dragon merely tells him that if the child lives, Merlin will be unable to fulfill his destiny. Unable to see a connection between his destiny and the boy, Merlin nearly leaves in frustration before being stopped in his tracks by a sudden suspicion. Tentatively, already dreading the answer, he asks whether the Dragon is implying that the child will grow up to kill Arthur. Told that the question of Arthur's fate is now in his hands, Merlin returns to Gaius's workshop in a daze. Quietly, over their evening meal, Merlin asks Gaius whether he would choose to let something bad happen if it would prevent something even worse from happening in the future; gently, Gaius replies that it would depend on what those things happened to be. Merlin's responds that while the immediate occurrence would be bad, the worse thing would be unthinkable, and Gaius observes that Merlin appears to have made his mind up already. Merlin, obviously torn, sadly agrees, and informs Gaius that for once he intends to do the safe thing and not get involved.
Morgana steels herself and enters Uther's presence; she feigns remorse, apologizes for her actions, and receives an invitation to dine with the king. Meanwhile, Arthur takes out the prison guards and retrieves the Druid boy from his cell; traveling through a network of tunnels, they eventually arrive at the barred outlet where Merlin was intended to meet them with supplies to remove the grate. Merlin, however, has remained in his room, thoroughly miserable, but sticking to his decision not to carry out his part of the plan. Uther receives word of the boy's escape, and, after threatening Morgana with retribution if he discovers she had part in the conspiracy, leaves the room. As Merlin doesn't appear and the sounds of a search are heard down the tunnel, Arthur grows desperate, snuffs his torch, and draws his sword. The boy reaches out and finds Merlin telepathically; growing increasingly desperate and enraged, he begs Merlin to help him. Eventually, unable to block it out, Merlin rushes down out of the castle and down to the grating, releasing Arthur and the boy just before they are discovered. Taking the child on horseback through the woods, Arthur meets a delegation of Druids and hands the boy over to them. As they retreat back into the woods, Arthur calls after the boy and asks to be told his name; the child responds that he's named Mordred, and departs with his people, leaving Arthur appearing vaguely unsettled.
As mentioned above, this installment has a terrible sort of symmetry to it. Everybody who isn't Uther spends the episode actively defying him, every character employing their distinct talents and advantages to help this one nameless boy. Merlin uses his comparatively advanced experience and familiarity with magic to retrieve the boy from the streets, as well as utilizing his many opportunities to slip under the radar where Arthur and Morgana could not; Morgana takes advantage of her privileged status to provide Mordred with a relatively safe haven and to safeguard both herself and the boy in the event of discovery. Gaius contributes his medical knowledge to save the child's failing health, and Gwen, the only townsperson among then, provides a temporary base of operation outside the castle, while Arthur employs his detailed knowledge of the city and easy access to practical supplies to orchestrate a fairly smooth escape attempt. As all the pieces fall into place, it becomes increasingly obvious that without the commitment of everyone involved, the plan to save Mordred would not have worked for five minutes. Sacrifices are made, relationships are strained, the boy is ultimately smuggled out of Camelot, only for us to learn that he is ultimately destined to kill Arthur. Everyone risks everything, and for what?... so that Arthur's future killer can go free. It's a terrible situation; Mordred, whatever his destiny, is here a scared, abandoned little boy, and callously allowing him to die would have been inexcusable. Whatever your perspective, the state of affairs remains dreadful all around.
As someone who has seen the entire show to date, I'm aware that the story has, over the course of three seasons, been taken in a very definite direction; however, re-examining this early episode, I can't help feeling that the characters missed a pivotal, irreplaceable opportunity for connection here. Morgana and Merlin are still grappling with the implications of possessing illegal magic in Camelot, and, as they both become more deeply involved in the situation with the Druid boy, neither of them could betray the other without implicating themselves, even if they wished to. Had they chosen to willingly confide in each other at this moment in time, everything might have turned out differently. As for Arthur, already uncomfortable with his father's rigid attitude towards magic, this would have been a potentially ideal moment for him to learn about Merlin and Morgana's powers; himself implicated in Mordred's escape, he would have been unable to betray either of them without disowning the two people he cares about, arguably, more than anyone else in the world. The entire situation would have created a web of trust and obligation which it would not have been simple for anyone involved to shrug off. But the opportunity passed, sending the narrative in an entirely different direction; perhaps for the best.
Complaints:
- It's sort of irritating that through all of the hiding, stealth, and subterfuge, Mordred never removes or has taken from him that extremely noticeable and distinctive bright green cloak. Put him in a nice, unremarkable brown and smear dirt on his face, and he would in all likelihood have been able to walk right out of Camelot without attracting attention.
Thoughts:
- Merlin (The Dragon's Call) and Arthur's respective methods for taking the prison guards out of commission are hilariously appropriate and metaphorical for their personalities and approaches to life. Arthur's: straight-forward, effective, fast-working, and a little crude; Merlin's impish, delicate, and amusing.
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