*****SPOILERS*****
Merlin
Merlin is portrayed in what can only be
described as ‘Jack Sparrow’: super drunk and super camp. Thankfully this ended
with episode one, seeing a more thoughtful and proactive character.
After Merlin is saved from
execution (what Uther’s mother calls ‘an exciting day’), he laughs. It’s not a
laugh that I’d expected from Merlin’s character (or actor). But blimey! It had
dry humour, irony, surprise, and a lingering sense of ‘oh fuck I’m gonna die’.
It was perfect for the moment and really opened out the character.
Merlin helps Nimue control
her magic, saying she could be a ‘Shadow Lord’. There’s the implication that
these individuals lead the sorcerers; apart from Merlin being a fallen Shadow
Lord, details are thin. Perhaps Odin and the Widow are also Shadow Lords.
Merlin is Nimue’s true father.
He teaches her how to use
magic and shows her his memories with her mother. Seeing how parents snogging,
grabbing and everything else that leads to sex on the temple’s alter (no
less!), Nimue shouts, ‘”No thank you. No
to this, please.”’ That gave me a proper chuckle.
Nimue also sees her mother
pull the Devil’s Tooth from Merlin’s body (how did it get in there?!) after
which he loses his magic. Then Nimue’s mum says she destroyed the sword which
sends Merlin packing. This explains why Merlin was genuinely surprised to learn
the Devil’s Tooth still existed and it explains how he didn’t know Nimue was
his daughter. And the alcoholism.
Sword has certain effect on
people. Whenever Nim holds it, her speech becomes more epic and courtly, as if
every sentence is part of a great speech. It’s the way only legendary figures
speak, not how people speak in real life. YET. This only happens when Nimue
holds the sword. Merlin often states that the sword changes a person, so seeing
how it alters Nimue’s speech was a nice demonstration of that.
How did it get in Merlin? The
handle was in his chest and the blade went down. So blade point start at chest
and handle really high, longer than his arms could reach. We get memories of
him using magic so that’s not beyond imagination. Still, it would be nice to
get solid confirmation of what happened.
Human Characters
Arthur is Nimue’s love interest. Arthur tries
to reassure Nimue into joining him in the hot spring by saying, ‘”I’ve seen a
naked woman before.”’ Nimue responds with, ‘”And we are all very impressed.”’
Brilliant.
In this story, he’s Morgana’s
brother. He also has a random fae, who wears a badger on his head, as an
annoying sidekick. For twenty minutes. Why does tv kill all the quirky
characters?
He gives up his ways as a
sell-sword to help Nimue and the fae. Would he had bothered to help the fae if
it wasn’t for Nimue? He does seem always aware of what’s wrong and right, even
when he does something wrong, so I’d like to think he’d help the fae
regardless.
Arthur’s skin tone is darker
than Uther. This led to questioning if they were related or not. If he were a
prince, he wouldn’t have such freedom unless he had guards or if he had people
searching for him (which he didn’t) confirmed it. Considering the Devil’s Tooth
confers kingship to its barer, this explains how Arthur could be Uther’s
successor.
Morgana is both a nun and a key member of the
fae resistance. In a time where human
and fae don’t trust each other, this is good to see. Her girlfriend (also a
nun) dies as the nunnery burns.
She has more of a fighter’s
heart than her brother, even though he’s the sell-sword. Morgana writes Merlin a note, saying if he
doesn’t meet with Nimue, the Wolf Blood Witch would soak the land with Paladin
blood. Nimue makes Morgana take it out and Morgana mopes because it was ‘the
best part’. I can’t decide if this is funny and dark or if it’s funny because
it’s dark.
Her nun girlfriend dies in
the nunnery fire. Twice after this they see each other, as a gift from the
Cailleach. After the first time, Morgana gets infected (?) by the Cailleach and
her fighter’s spirit becomes single-minded and less tactful and remorseful.
Now, the Cailleach is my
favourite Celtic being, being both powerful and benevolent. Yet fiction always
makes her malevolent. There’s nothing wrong with being creative with the
imagination of people past and present. There’s also nothing wrong with
pointing out the truth of the matter: the Cailleach is good.
Uther’s mother is an intriguing character.
She’s always making poisonous
meals. Even when she’s in a war tent, she has her hobby to keep her busy. Never
mind Uther kept her locked in a tower yet doesn’t question how she escaped.
By Merlin she’s called ‘Queen
Regent’. Um, no. Uther rules the kingdom so who and what is she regent for?
When her husband died and their baby was yet to be born, sure, she was regent
then, but you don’t keep the title of ‘regent’ after you’re no longer regent.
We also learn that Uther
isn’t really the queen’s child. This means that the Ice King’s claim as true
heir to the English throne is correct. (He is a Scandinavian raider. The
story’s set too early to have Vikings. Mind you, time consistency isn’t this
show’s forte.)
Iris the nun is only a child (reportedly) but
this somehow makes her all the more awful.
After the Red Paladins reject
her as a member, she asks God for a sign, has a temper tantrum for getting no
reply, then sees Morgana’s cross in the ash. So naturally she burns the nunnery
down. Some fae bring Iris to their safe-haven and she keeps on trying to kill
Nimue but fails because she picks the wrong moments.
In the last episodes, Iris
shoots Nimue who falls down the waterfall (this is painful because Squirrel
taught Iris how to use a bow). As a reward, Iris is made a Trinity Guard. Red
Paladins came for Merlin straight after the murder so maybe they saw what
happened? Otherwise I’m not sure how the Pope would have found out apart from
Iris telling someone (and really, who’s going to believe a woman in that day
and age?)
Conclusion
So it looks like Nimue, the main character, is
dead. Maybe. Ordinarily, I’d think there couldn’t be another series but the
cliff-hanger was a bit too dramatic to not get answered. Even if she is dead,
the Cailleach can bring the dead to the world of the living. Morgana can
petition for this, especially under the influence of Merlin.
Merlin
and Morgana went gallivanting off with the Devil’s Tooth. Will he destroy the
sword like he wanted or use it to help the fae like Nimue wanted? Fae
coexistence with humans would be beneficial so someone both humans and fae
trust. Such as a human that was the fae queen’s partner, like the brother of
Merlin’s companion, perhaps? Arthur owning the sword that bestows true kingship
would explain how he’d become king after Uther.
Nimue
was chosen by the Hidden to become the new ‘Summoner’. It was made out to be a
big deal but it wasn’t explained what this meant. Yes, she can ‘summon’ the
Hidden to do her will but her village knew this yet this was precicely why they
didn’t want Nimue to be chosen. With
her people dead, will this ever be answered? How do I summon the answer to
this?
It’s
been an interesting take on the legends. With the church involved, I’d be
surprised if the Holy Grail doesn’t make an appearance in the future (even
though Christianity was a much later revision on centuries-old legends). The
legends have been a useful framework: Arthur drove back the
Scandinavian invaders; Lancelot was sinful but now is trying to redeem himself;
Morgana is going to the dark side and has the next series to bond with Merlin.
There’s
a lot going on and still a lot to go on in this story. It’ll be interesting to
see where it goes next.
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