Grade: A
This is one of those quiet, unremarkable installments which, on a second viewing, tends to surprise you with its quality and impact. We get a glimpse at the distant history of some of our older characters, as the result of Uther's cruelty from some twenty years before returns to haunt him, and Gaius is forced to deal with the remnants of his own past.
We open with vague, sinister shots of an unidentifiable sorcerer preparing an enchantment. The sequence ends with his hands carefully placing a small black bug deep inside a flower.
Later, in Morgana's chambers, Gwen delivers the anonymously sent flowers and departs, leaving the bouquet by Morgana's bed. During the night the tiny bug escapes from the blossom, and makes its way across Morgana's face, eventually burrowing into her ear.
Two days later, Gaius has apparently been unable to find a definite diagnosis or a cure for the deep coma into which Morgana has suddenly fallen; he tentatively suggest that an inflammation of the brain might be the cause. Although pressed by Uther to find a remedy, Gaius declines Merlin's offer to help Morgana with magic, reminding him of the consequences he brought about by curing Gwen's father. Meanwhile, a mysterious, disfigured man converses with Arthur in the courtyard, claiming to be a wandering physician with a cure for all known ills. Unimpressed, Arthur sends him on his way, only to be told that the man will continue staying at the inn in case his services become needed.
Later, Gaius having despaired of finding a cure for Morgana's illness, Arthur mentions the man he met outside, insisting that even if his cure turns out to be a fraud, they have nothing left to lose by giving him a chance to save Morgana. Uther gives the order to have the man summoned. Arriving at the castle, the stranger, introducing himself as Edwin, immediately ingratiates himself with Uther with his subservient manner, and gains the privilege of examining Morgana privately. As soon as he's alone with her, he pulls out a box of the same type of bug which has apparently been making her ill, and, although managing to extract the bug from her brain and awaken her, arouses Gwen's suspicions when she enters the room in the midst of his spell.
However, Uther is overjoyed by Edwin's success in treating Morgana's alleged brain hemorrhage, and is disturbed when Edwin delicately suggests that Gaius has been severely misdiagnosing Morgana, and, in fact, worsening her symptoms. Uther offers Edwin a permanent home in the court, becoming even more insistent when Edwin pretends to refuse the position on the grounds that he would be encroaching on Gaius's territory.
Meanwhile, Gaius, his memory triggered by Edwin's facial scarring, goes to the court record-keeper and requests a sealed volume of records dating from a time nearly twenty years past, referred to only as the Great Purge. Though his request is initially refused, the record-keeper eventually changes his mind and brings Gaius the volume, warning him to be cautious, as Uther would be furious if he discovered that the sealed records had been broken into. Gaius assures him that it is for Uther's sake that he is carrying out the investigation.
Helping Edwin move some medical supplies, Merlin comes across the small wooden box filled with bugs. Although the bugs are usually kept by magic in a state of suspended animation, Merlin absentmindedly awakens them, causing Edwin to realize that Merlin is also a sorcerer. Appealing to Merlin's loneliness and desire to protect a fellow wizard, Edwin convinces Merlin not to reveal the true nature of Morgana's cure to anyone.
Invited to dine with Uther, Edwin once again uses his powers of delicate manipulation to suggest that Gaius is failing as a physician, eventually causing Uther to request Edwin to conduct a review of Gaius's past medical work. The next day, Gaius confronts Edwin, revealing that he has, indeed, met Edwin before, and now remembers when and where. During the great purge of magic by Uther, Edwin's parents, both sorcerers, were captured and burned at the stake. Edwin, a small child, attempted to rescue his father from the flames and was badly burned. Treated by Gaius at the time, he later made up his mind to kill Uther in revenge for his parents' lives. Gaius threatens to tell Uther of Edwin's ancestry, only for Edwin to counter with a threat to reveal Merlin's sorcery to the king. Gaius forced into silence, Edwin informs Uther that his review of Gaius's records reveal that Gaius has been failing in his treatments and diagnoses for some time. Believing Gaius to have grown too old for the strenuous job, Uther retires the old physician and instates Edwin in his place. Torn between saving Uther from Edwin or protecting Merlin, Gaius travels down to the caverns below the castle in order to consult the Dragon.
The Dragon, confronted with Gaius's dilemma, points out that, as the matter stands, it is currently Uther and not Merlin who is in immediate danger. He confirms Gaius's belief that Merlin and Arthur are destined to do great things, but claims that their future together cannot take place until Uther's time has passed. Gaius desperately inquires if the time is ripe for Uther to die and Arthur to inherit the throne, and the Dragon tells him that the decision is in his hands. Bitterly, the Dragon reminds Gaius that turning a blind eye has always been the physician's tendency, obliquely referencing the Great Purge, when hundreds of sorcerers were killed and the Dragon first imprisoned without Gaius saying a word in protest.
His mind made up, Gaius determines to leave Uther to his fate at Edwin's hands and allow Arthur and Merlin's future to unfold. Now unemployed, he packs his belongings and leaves Camelot immediately without explanation, despite protests from Merlin and Gwen.
As soon as Gaius has departed, Edwin uses his new authority as court physician to prescribe Uther a different medication for an old battle wound; however, that night, when Uther drinks it, he finds himself paralyzed. With Uther unable to move, Edwin explains his past and his identity to the king before allowing one of his beetles to burrow into the Uther's head. As soon as he has returned to his chambers, however, he is confronted by Gaius, who was unable to hold to his resolve and has returned to Camelot. He attempts to incapacitate Edwin with magic; however, nothing happens. Edwin casually corrects Gaius's pronunciation and uses the same spell to throw Gaius against a pillar; he then starts a magical fire around the pillar, reminiscent of a burning at the stake. At that moment, Merlin, having been ordered by Arthur to fetch Edwin on the discovery of Uther's condition, bursts into the room. He angrily refuses Edwin's offer of a position working by Edwin's side after Uther has died, and orders him to release Gaius. Edwin uses sorcery to lift an ax from the wall and fling it at Merlin; however, Merlin manages to magically deflect the ax and send it back to Edwin, killing him.
Merlin shows Gaius the box of beetles and the physician recognizes them as a magical creature which can eat into a human brain, eventually devouring the entity itself. The two of them go to Uther's bedside, and Merlin, despite being unsure of his capabilities, is able to use magic to draw the beetle out of the king's head. The next day, somewhat recovered, Uther inquires if Gaius remembers the parents whom Edwin was so determined to get vengeance for. Gaius replies that he does indeed remember all of the sorcerers who were killed at that time. Uther apologizes for betraying Gaius's years of service, and tells him that he trusts Gaius implicitly in the fight against magic, eliciting an uncomfortable response from Gaius. Later, Uther reinstates Gaius as court physician and also grants him his freedom, something that, as a servant of the city, he was not considered to have possessed before. Alone with Merlin the next day, Gaius acknowledges that both Edwin's death and Uther's rescue were Merlin's doing, and tells him that he may, in time, become a genius.
Overall, I would say that this episode is a first for the series, both in that it marginalizes Merlin and Arthur to focus on Gaius and Uther, and in that fact that the villain is, while not exactly sympathetic, understandable and possessed of an extremely human and relatable motive.
Edwin is an interesting figure. Although this episode, as part of Merlin's story, obviously casts him as the antagonist, it's easy to see him cutting quite a figure as an enigmatic anti-hero opposite Uther as the monstrous villain. While he has obviously become twisted and vindictive from years of plotting revenge, and no longer cares about who or what he destroys in getting to the man he wants to kill, his story is desperately tragic, and, if he is evil, Uther made him so. His more minor vendettas and smarmy manipulation demonstrate how deeply he has become mired in shady dealings and obsessive hatred, but, fundamentally, he's a relatable person.
This installment also gives us a glimpse into Gaius's mind and motives (it appears he bears quite a load of guilt over the fellow sorcerers he once watched die at Uther's hands), as well as beginning a trend of episodes dealing with the to-save-or-not-to-save-Uther quandary. On the one hand, it would be awfully convenient for the majority of the cast of characters if the king would just die, sooner rather than later, and he's certainly made enough enemies for it to be a distinct possibility; but at the same time, he is the king, Arthur and Morgana and even Gaius have a deep affection for him, and turning a blind eye to a plot against his life would be inexcusable on several levels. Gaius, and later, Merlin are faced with the decision numerous times, and always, for one reason or another, the king lives. Ultimately, it's always been the right thing to do.
Thoughts:
- When it comes to shady, mysterious sorcerers attempting to ingratiate themselves with Uther, he really goes beyond gullible and enters a state of total denial. However, he's generally prepared to execute even people he knows and cares about on the flimsiest, most groundless evidence of magic. Maybe his susceptibility to one feeds his paranoia of the other.
- It's fascinating to see Merlin's two mentors coming together to discuss him for the first time, especially considering that fact that they don't appear to be at all on friendly terms, or to have any sort of regular communication with each other. It's also interesting to note that Gaius was apparently unsure of the details of Merlin and Arthur's purported future until the Dragon confirms and clarifies it for him.
- Very nice effects in this episode, both with the magical sand being transferred back to its bottle, and the ring of fire at the end. Edwin's prosthetic facial burns are also very well-done and convincing.
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