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BBC's Merlin: Fuck Continuity
Hello My Children. Den Mother Colleen has a new(ish) series to discuss with you all. Since Blog-Master Scooter posted pictures of Katie McGrath of Merlin, I figured it would be nice for you readers to learn about the show she's in.
Merlin is a BBC series, which gets points for that alone, that SyFy has opted to run with. Nice that Syfy does try to show Sci-Fi/Fantasy every now and then. Anywho, as you probably guessed, the show is about Merlin! and oh the rest of Camelot, I guess. One thing before following the jump, this show is not overly concerned with following the Myth as we all know it.
Let us begin with the Titular Character: Merlin, portrayed by Colin Morgan. Change in myth number one: Rather than being the wise older Brit Wizard that we all know and love, he is a young peasant, albeit a powerful young warlock. He would be HOT! if it weren't for his epic ears. Check out Merlin vs. Actor Colin Morgan with a hairdo suited to his EARS.
Meet Merlin's Ears! Colin Morgan with better 'do -OH and its from Doctor Who!!
Anyway, Merlin tramps on over to Camelot at his mother's behest to live with his great uncle Gaius, Physician to the Court, because she was worried about his being very "special." After saving Arthur's life, Uther "rewards" him by making him Arthur's manservant...which neither are initially thrilled about. This leads to Change in myth number two: Uther is still alive and king LONG after he is supposed to be...and he raised Arthur. Magic has been made a crime by Uther -change in myth number 3, so poor Merlin has to keep his secret from every body but Gaius. He still saves the day every episode but more or less this goes unnoticed as he generally can't take credit. Poor sweet almost hot Merlin. Anyway, Merlin does magic, is a dragonlord -Kilgarrah the dragon has to do his bidding-, and wants to help everyone...although sometimes the result can be catastrophic, such as the case of Morgana...which we will get into later. Oh and Merlin and Morgana are my number one couple to HATE-FUCK!
Next on the hit parade is Arthur, crowned prince of Camelot, played by Bradley James. Change in myth number 4 -Camelot has existed in some form for centuries as opposed to being created by him or his father (the myth varies as to WHO created Camelot). Now he is more or less the same as he is in the myth. Arrogant, being a prince and all, but generally a good-hearted young man who cares a whole mess for his people and his future kingdom...Although insulting and hard on his servant, Merlin, he does care about him and has put his life on the line for Merlin a number of times, since practically the beginning of the series. Change in myth number 5: He and Merlin are about the same age. Oh and he is a genuine hottie if you like blondes.
Hello Pretty Boy!
Although he has been raised to distrust magic by his father, he is far more reasonable regarding those accused of witchcraft or colluding with witches/warlocks. I will assume that when Merlin FINALLY gets around to telling Arthur that he is a warlock, Arthur won't be all "off with his HEAD!"
Next we have Uther...the BIGGEST source of changes of Myth! Oh and guess who plays him?!?
ANTHONY STEWART HEAD!!!!
For those very unfortunate few who live under a rock, Anthony Stewart Head played Giles on Buffy the Vampire Slayer. He is credited as Anthony Head, personally I think he should have kept Stewart in it. Anthony Head is a porn name. Anyway, Uther, as I have mentioned, is still alive. He raised Arthur and Morgana (since she was ten, I'll get to her next) and HATES magic. Change in myth number 6: rather than seducing Igraine, wife of Gorloix, via Merlin's Magic, Igraine was always his wife. She was barren so he went to Nimueh, a sorceress, to use magic to create a child. So magic is still involved but in the conception rather than him appearing to be Gorloix to Igraine. Anyway, it worked but, and YAY for this true tibit on magics, balance had to be restored. See you can't get something and not give up something when dealing with Magic. For a life to exist where it shouldn't, a life has to be taken. So Igraine dies in childbirth. Uther feels betrayed by the sorceress that did the magic so he decides to KILL ALL SORCERERS AND PRACTICERS OF MAGIC. Its good to be the king, huh? At heart, he is a good man and a good king, but his hatred of magic has led him to commit some great atrocities. This will be a GIANT issue for his "ward" Morgana.
And thus we transition to Change in myth number 7: Morgana aka Morgan le Fay, played by Katie McGrath. Who, thanks to Scooter's extensive collection of pictures, we all know to be quite fuckable. But here's a picture anyway!
Hello my Pretty!
Now in accepted myth, Morgana is the child of Igraine and Gorloix, thus through Igraine she is half-sister to Arthur. Now initially we just think the major change of myth is that she is simply a ward and NOT sister to Arthur. But we learn in season 3 that she is Uther's daughter...kinda the twist on how ARTHUR was supposed to be conceived. Rather than Uther fucking Igraine outside wedlock to conceive Arthur, he fucks Viviane, wife of Gorloix (who was "lonely" while husband was at war) and MORGANA is conceived. Initially in the series, Morgana is a very good natured young woman who is appalled at her "guardians" hunting people with magic. She cares about Arthur, Camelot, her servant-girl Guinevere -change in myth number 8- and becomes good friends with Merlin. But she has visions and eventually starts developing magical powers. She wants at first to use her magic for good, but unfortunately her mentor ends up being Morgause, her half-sister, who wants to destroy Camelot. If only Merlin HAD TOLD HER that he could do magic too when she confides in him, she may never had ended up an enemy. However, he listens to Gaius who tells him not to reveal his secret...dumb decision but then she is supposed to become an enemy. The final blow for Morgana is that, unbeknown to her, Morgause puts a spell on her that makes everyone around her fall asleep so that a bunch of unkillable soldiers can invade and kill Uther unchallenged...which cannot be broken unless the source is removed. Merlin and Arthur, having been away from Camelot, are all that stands between Uther and DEATH. So Merlin, in complete and utter agony, poisons Morgana with Hemlock at the end of the episode. Thus in season 3, Morgana has been utterly changed into a villain...understandably so I might add.
Here's that utterly heart-rending scene:
I wasn't kidding. Utterly heartbreaking. Merlin, in the ultimate act of negotiation, refuses to tell Morgause what poison he used until she lifts the spell -apparently knowing the poison would allow her to save Morgana whom she genuinely cares about-and so OWNAGE by Merlin. However, once best friends are now enemies. On the other hand, the interaction between the two in season 3 is Ripe for Hate-Fucking...and there are MANY fans who agree! Morgana, however, has everyone else convinced she is the same Morgana. And Merlin cannot reveal the truth because he is a servant and no one would believe him.
Moving on to what I have already deemed change in myth number 8: Guinevere, or Gwen as she's usually called, is played by Angel Coulby. Rather than being a child of a noble whom Arthur either marries out of love or for reasons of state or both, she is a servant. She is also Black.
Very pretty but obviously NOT a Celt.
Guinevere is the servant of Morgana, daughter of a blacksmith -who was killed for unknowingly helping a sorcerer. She and Morgana were very close friends before Morgana went to the dark side. As of yet, she is unaware of Morgana's powers or new allegiance. She has met Lancelot and there is a deep connection between the two. Oh change in myth number 9 -Lancelot is ALSO a commoner. But at the moment, she is genuinely in love with Arthur, who returns said feelings. Unfortunately for her, Morgana is aware of their mutual interest. This does not bode well for the pair.
Next is the aforementioned Gaius, played by Richard Wilson. Gaius is Merlin's mentor and guardian. He's the court physician and assisted Uther in his campaign against magic. Gaius went along with this campaign to a) be in the position to help practicers of GOOD magic get the FUCK out of dodge post-hastey and b) save his own neck since he too knows magic...kinda. Anyway, he does his best to calm the king down when he has his gander up, watch over Merlin, tried to keep Morgana from ever learning about her magical abilities through sleeping draughts -her magic originates in prophetic dreams. He wanted to keep Morgana in the dark due to her position as the ward of the King and thus prevent a rift between the two. He failed...miserably.
Gaius, the once and future collaborator
Merlin wanted to tell Morgana about his magic and that what she is going through is also magical in origin. Gaius tells him not to because it would put both of them at risk. Merlin decided to only follow part of Gaius's advice. He leads her to the druids so she can learn about what's happening to her...but DOES NOT tell her about his own abilities, as I mentioned earlier. Too bad for he would have been a much better teacher for Morgana then Morgause. Gaius had the best intentions in his dealings with Morgana. However, her road to hell was paved with HIS good intentions.
Finally, there is the dragon Kilgarrah, voiced by the esteemed John Hurt. He is the last of his kind, apparently. All the other dragons and their dragonlords were destroyed. He was captured and held prisoner under Camelot by Uther. Haven't a fucking clue how Uther managed this initially considering the massive issues they had with the dragon when Merlin set him free...which I'll get to momentarily.
Kilgarrah on his favorite rock.
Anyway, Merlin goes to the dragon repeatedly for advice and assistance. After X number of times, the dragon demands that Merlin release him someday in exchange for his continued help. Merlin agrees. Merlin sets him free. Chaos ensues as everyone knew it would. In revenge against Uther, Kilgarrah attacks Camelot. Merlin and Arthur set out to find the last dragonlord...oh and that happens to be Merlin's daddy. Merlin and Daddy meet. They bond. Merlin's daddy dies in a raid to protect his son. Merlin cries but also inherits the dragonlordliness upon Daddy's death. And thus now is master of Kilgarrah. And obviously stops the attack. Damn I thought this would take longer to explain. COOL! Anyway, the dragon can see the future and keeps telling Merlin he should eliminate both Morgana and Mordred(I'll get to him later)...which is weird seeing as THEY would be way more sympathetic to dragons than Arthur would. I personally think he intentionally caused Merlin to poison Morgana to create the rift between the two so Camelot could be destroyed... as it ultimately is when Mordred kills Arthur in the myth.
That's it for the main cast and some of the main plots. Because this is so frigging long I'm just gonna end with the cast of "big Bads" for Merlin.
Nimueh, played by Michelle Ryan. She wasn't supposed to ever have been a big bad but Uther's hunt and destruction of her kind led her to become a villain. She told Uther once in the show that she did NOT know that Igraine would be the one to die. If she had known she would never have used magic to help her conceive, considering the atrocities that would occur due to Igraine's death. Nimueh kept trying to undermine Camelot but Merlin kept interfering. She tries to kill Merlin, fails. Ultimately, Merlin kills Nimueh. Change in myth number 10. Nimueh, in certain myths, captures and imprisons Merlin. In other versions, they are lovers. In yet other versions, its both column A and B. And considering how fucking HOT Nimueh was, Merlin should have at least Hate-fucked her.
Nimueh obviously has a good anti-aging spell!
Morgause, played by Emilia Fox. As mentioned, she is the half-sister and mentor of Morgana. Morgause is allied to the Old Religion and the magics. She, understandably like all of her kind, wants Uther dead. She first tries to make this happen by leading Arthur to learn about the truth of his conception. Merlin reluctantly convinces Arthur that she was lying to manipulate him...even though its actually the truth. Now she is working through Morgana. And she may or may not (it hasn't been revealed as of yet on Syfy) be the mother of the ultimate big bad... Mordred. According to different versions of the myth, he is the son of either Morgana or Morgause... but the show has already decided to ix-nay much of the accepted canon. On a very strange note, my computer recognizes ix-nay as a proper word and thus recognizes pig latin.
Morgause, Master Manipulator and Most Likely Mother of Mordred. YAY ALLITERATION!
And Finally there is Mordred, played by Asa Butterfield. Also he is without a doubt, the creepiest kid on TV! He was introduced in season 1 as a child being hunted for his magic. Merlin, Morgana, and Arthur help him to escape despite Dragon telling Merlin that he will one day kill Arthur... in this they decide to stick to canon. Anyway, this child is as much responsible for Morgana's rift with Uther and her turn to the darkside as Morgause. Every time he shows up, Morgana and Uther have a confrontation... and Morgana is drawn that much deeper into the world of Magic. Although he initially is friendly with Merlin, Merlin's continuous choosing Camelot over Magic leads to him becoming an enemy. Oh this child is also telepathic. He mostly communicates by thought. His latest message to Merlin was "I will NOT forgive this and I will NEVER forget." Dun Dun DUNNNNNNNNNNNNN!
I would be way more frightened of THIS coming out of a TV then Samara.
So that's it. I did my best to condense two and half seasons. Hope you decide to watch it. You can Hulu the first two seasons.
