Grade: A
In one of the most pivotal episodes to date, we become aware of several well-kept secrets on the parts of various characters; Arthur, in becoming crown prince, takes another step towards his eventual kingship, and one or two of the most iconic moments in the traditional Arthurian legends are strongly foreshadowed. Overall, not an installment to miss.
We open in a dusty crypt. Nimueh speaks an incantation over an old tomb, and a mailed fist breaks out of it.
In Camelot, Arthur, having come of age, is officially declared crown prince of Camelot. In the midst of the celebratory ceremony, a black knight rides through a window of the hall, throwing down his gauntlet to Arthur. Before Arthur can retrieve it, however, it is picked up by another knight, Owain by name, who accepts the challenge in Arthur's place. The stranger sets a match for the next day, a fight to the death, and departs without revealing his name or his face.
Despite a universal discomfort with Owain's situation, exacerbated in Gaius and Uther by their recognition of the black knight's crest as that of a man long dead, the match goes forward. Arthur attempts to prepare Owain for the prospect of facing a stranger with unknown capabilities, but Owain is confident in his ability to defeat the man in combat. During the dual, Owain deals the black knight a heavy blow, but, unaffected by it, the knight continues fighting and eventually kills his opponent. Upon his victory, he immediately proceeds to throw down his challenge to the knights a second time, and, when Uther prevents his son from stepping forward, a knight called Pellinor accepts it.
In the increasing unease surrounding the advent of the second match, Gaius takes Merlin to visit the tomb where the dead man had been interred; finding the crypt broken from the inside, the two rush back to Camelot. Gaius explains that the man, Tristan de Blois, was the brother of Uther's wife, and blamed the king when she died in childbirth. Challenging Uther to single combat, Tristan was killed, swearing in his last breath to return to haunt Camelot; Gaius believes that some powerful sorcerer has now taken advantage of Tristan's dying wish and conjured him back to life, creating an indestructible wraith. During the duel the next day, Pellinor deals the Black Knight a killing blow, but the knight continues without injury; thrown off, Pellinor is slain. Before the knight can issue another challenge, Arthur preempts him and chooses to throw down the gauntlet himself. Despite Uther's protests, Arthur insists on going ahead with the match; Merlin, aware that no sword in Camelot is capable of killing the wraith, determines to do it himself with magic. Gaius goes to Uther and informs him of the state of Tristan's tomb. Telling the king that the wraith has almost certainly returned for revenge against Uther, Gaius insists that Arthur not be permitted to fight it; Uther replies that Arthur has already refused to obey to his father's order to withdraw from the challenge. Gaius tells the king that Arthur must either be informed of the knight's identity and purpose, or allowed to go to his death. Uther refuses to tell Arthur anything, and forbids the physician from revealing what he knows about Arthur's birth.
Venturing out into the courtyard where the black knight stands, unmoving, every night, Merlin attempts to use a magical fire to kill the wraith. Untouched, the knight continues his silent vigil; in a panic, Merlin goes to Arthur, begging him to call off the duel, insisting that the people don't want to lose their crown prince over one challenge. An argument escalates between them until Merlin is forced to leave; meanwhile, in the empty throne room, Nimueh appears to Uther, gloating over Arthur's impending death. He resentfully asks whether she hasn't tired of taking revenge on him, and she reminds him that he began the conflict with magic when he threw Nimueh out of his court and slaughtered hundreds of sorcerers across the kingdom. Uther counters that the sorcerers were practitioners of evil and deserved what he did to them, and that Nimueh had already betrayed the friendship between them when he banished her. The sorceress responds that she only did as Uther asked, employing magic to give Uther and his wife a son, insisting that she could not have foreseen that Arthur's mother would die in giving birth to him; and that, if she had predicted the death and the terrible vengeance Uther would wreak against all users of magic, she would not have dared to grant the king's request. Uther quietly wishes that she never had, astonishing Nimueh, and causing her to inquire whether he really wishes that he didn't have a son. Upon his silence, she merely notes that Arthur will die the next day in any case, and that it is now Uther's turn to watch the death of someone he loves.
Meanwhile, Merlin ventures once again into the dusty archives of the castle, searching for any information on the destruction of wraiths. Caught by the genealogist, Merlin throws caution to the wind and begs for help on the subject. The old man points Merlin to several old fables which speak of a wraith being destroyed by a sword "born in a dragon's breath". Seeing a ray of hope, Merlin goes to Gwen and asks her for the best sword from her father's blacksmith shop; acquiring it, he takes the blade to the dragon's cave and, explaining Arthur's situation, begs the dragon to enchant it for him. The Dragon informs Merlin that, although a sword burnished by a dragon's breath would, indeed, destroy a wraith, the power of such a blade could be devastating in the wrong hands. Sternly warning him to ensure that no one but Arthur uses the sword, the Dragon breathes on it, giving the weapon supernatural qualities.
Meanwhile, Uther has gone to Gaius and, believing that there is no other option, informed the physician that he intends to take his son's place in the duel the next day. Over Gaius's protests, the king insists that his death will stop the wraith, and that Arthur will then be free to take up the throne. Reminding Gaius that, with Uther gone, Gaius will be the only remaining person who knows the true nature of Arthur's birth, the king begs him to maintain his silence on the subject even after Uther is dead. Heavily, Gaius promises to take the secret to his grave.
As Merlin returns with his newly-burnished sword, Gaius fulfills one last request from Uther and takes Arthur a sleeping draught, telling him that it's a preparation which will take the edge off his nerves. Indulging Gaius, Arthur drinks it, falling asleep within minutes.
The next morning, Merlin waits for Arthur in the armory, only for Uther to appear in his son's stead. Seeing the blade which Merlin had prepared for Arthur's duel, the king is impressed by its quality and resolves to use it against the wraith himself. Upon being told that Merlin had the sword made particularly for Arthur, the king commends Merlin for his extraordinary loyalty to the prince, quietly asking Merlin to care for Arthur when Uther is gone. Unable to dissuade the king from taking the burnished sword, Merlin is at a loss for how to proceed.
Going down to the field, the king elicits astonishment from the crowd by appearing in Arthur's place; the duel begins, and up at the castle, Arthur slowly awakens from his drugged sleep. Realizing what has been done to him, he desperately attempts to escape from his room, only to find that Gaius left all exits carefully and firmly locked the night before. On the field, Uther knocks the knight's helmet from his head, revealing the visage of a rotten corpse. With Nimueh watching from the sidelines, the king desperately stabs the wraith through the heart, killing it with the enchanted blade. Amid the jubilation of the crowd, Merlin is unsure how to react to Uther's victory with the blade that was meant for Arthur.
In the castle, as Gaius dresses the king's wounds, Uther casually wonders how Merlin was able to acquire such a fine blade from the ordinary blacksmiths of the city; Gaius, his suspicions aroused, departs to find Merlin. Arthur confronts Uther over his subterfuge in drugging his son. Uther makes a brief, impassioned, guilt-driven speech regarding how much Arthur means to him, leading Arthur to blurt in astonishment that he always considered himself a disappointment to his father. Uther gently corrects him, and, both of them somewhat embarrassed over the king's display of affection, Arthur hastily leaves the room. That night, Gaius sternly inquires whether Merlin enchanted the blade that Uther fought with, and Merlin quite honestly replies that he did nothing to it. Gaius obliquely compliments the power of Merlin's supposed spell, leaving Merlin quite pleased with himself. However, that night the Dragon calls him from his bed, and Merlin is forced to confess that someone besides Arthur used the blade against the wraith; discovering that Uther was the one to fight the creature, the Dragon is infuriated, and, reminding Merlin of his previous warning, orders him to take the sword and dispose of it where no man can wield it again. The next morning, Merlin takes the sword deep into the woods and sinks it in the depths of a distant lake.
In this episode, we are once again reminded of the deep schism between the magical and the mundane in Camelot, even when their ends and purposes coincide. Here we see Arthur's father and servant both doing their uttermost in order to help him; neither of them ultimately motivated by anything but love for him and a desire for his safety. However, due to the divide between methods of sorcery and those of ordinary life, Merlin and the king never gain anything but an imperfect understanding of one another's actions and motivations, and, in the end, their two plans come very close to negating each other. Even as the current-day storyline plays out, the foundation of this episode is clearly set some twenty years previously, as multiple past actions of Uther's come back to haunt him.
Uther's encounter with Nimueh is the emotional core of his role in this episode; it is the mental turning point which causes him to make the decision to die in Arthur's place, and also forces him to confront memories he has likely been repressing for decades. As she faces him, we are surprised by how rational are her arguments and her quarrel with him; her methods are harmful and vindictive, but the motivation behind her years-long quest for revenge against Uther is eminently relatable. We never learn the exact thought process behind her decision to grant his wish for a son years before, but we are never given cause to believe that it was malicious in any way; Uther's wife was as likely as not a victim of her husband's rashness and little else. Arthur's role as a catalyst for the long, destructive war between Uther and practitioners of magic is a surprising twist in the mythology of the show, and complicates the bond between Arthur and Merlin even more.
As Uther's long-repressed guilt over his wife and son comes to a head, and as the spectral embodiment of all the hatred and vengeance of the great purge comes back to haunt him, we learn, and more importantly Arthur learns, exactly how much his father is willing to risk for him. The scene between them at the end of the episode is heartbreaking for a variety of reasons, perhaps the biggest one being the fact that, when Arthur claims that he always considered himself a disappoint to his father, he doesn't sound resentful or even wistful; merely observational and somewhat bewildered. His belief in his father's disregard for him has been embedded in his thoughts for so long that it no longer even grieves him; "my father is disappointed in me" has been his assumption for so many years that he takes it for granted. Uther's declaration of love for his son is the biggest outpouring of emotion we've seen from him to date, and very possibly the most unguarded statement of affection Arthur has ever had from his father.
The swords of the Arthurian legends, or some composite thereof, are possibly the most iconic and widely-known elements of the old stories. The lake and the stone are some of the most well-imagined legendary moments in the public consciousness, and this episode paves the way for Merlin's version of both of them. One moment was brought to fruition in the third season finale, which simultaneously laid tracks for the next, as yet unrealized, culmination in the story of the sword. Already, as of this episode, the blade has quite a complex and beautiful history; provided by Gwen, enchanted through Merlin's actions, used by Uther to slay his demon, and finally hidden away until it is necessary to bring it forth again, it's a sword worthy of a future king.
Complaints:
- For some reason the lack of blood in the fight scenes was extremely obvious in this episode. In fact, this is probably the most technically bloodless show I've ever seen, despite all the carnage. I suppose it's a contract issue.
Thoughts:
- "It may surprise you, Merlin, but my knowledge of your life is not universal." Hee.
- This is the first time I've noticed the random disappearing moon in the short opening teaser. It sort of appears, hangs there hesitantly for a second or so in the upper right-hand corner of the screen, and then fades out. It doesn't appear to be a part of either the rippling-water shot or the long shot of Merlin, but shows up briefly in between them. Odd.
No comments:
Post a Comment