Day 3: Favourite episode
AAAAAH. HOW DO I CHOOSE?
I'll name a few of my ultimate favourites, and let's see if I can narrow it down. Not an exhaustive list, mind you; just the ones that stick out in my mind as ones I really really loved when I saw.
1x04 - The Poisoned Chalice. In which everyone is wonderful to watch, Gwen kisses Merlin, and Uther is the master of short-sightedness.
2x07 - The Witchfinder. In which everyone's in actual danger and Gaius actually manages to get some of my sympathy. Also, Merlin has a very dark sense of humour, as demonstrated via toads.
2x09 - The Lady of the Lake. In which my heart goes out to Merlin, and Freya makes me melt.
3x04 - Gwaine. In which the class distinctions couldn't have been clearer if they were burned into my retinas, and Arthur is, as usual, oblivious.
3x08 - The Eye of the Phoenix. In which Merlin gathers his drunkest friend for a rescue mission, Gwen figures out Morgana isn't all she seems, and Arthur is, as usual, oblivious.
3x12-13 - The Coming of Arthur. In which the knights of the Round Table become a thing, Merlin is surprisingly competent at sword-fighting, Freya reappears, and Morgana becomes very good at the dramatic entrance and exit.
4x01-02 - The Darkest Hour. In which Morgause can't even die without furthering her own agenda, and Merlin repeatedly fails in his mission to get himself killed on Arthur's behalf, but not for lack of trying.
4x04 - Aithusa. In which Merlin's love for dragons makes me warm and fuzzy inside, but the knights piss me off.
4x06 - A Servant of Two Masters. In which everyone, including Morgana, are interesting, and Merlin is the worst assassin to walk the earth.
4x07 - The Secret Sharer. In which there is wonderful tension between everyone, and Alator of the Catha's only redemption is that Morgana is terrible at taking hints.
4x12-13 - The Sword in the Stone. In which Merlin discovers he's very good at stage managing things so Arthur thinks he's a hero, and Arthur is, as usual, oblivious.
5x08 - The Hollow Queen. In which Merlin's compassion comes back to bite him in a way I've been waiting for ever since Morgana went bad.
5x09 - With All My Heart. In which I love Mordred more than I anticipated, and Merlin continues his hobby of trying on dresses in his spare time.
5x12-13 - The Diamond of the Day. In which my heart cries almost as much as Merlin does.
You can see why this is difficult for me.
But, well, let's think. My ideal episode would have equal balance of humour and sincerity, character moments and plot movement. Make me laugh, make me hurt, and make me think - that's the goal.
At a quick evaluation of all the episodes on this list, there's only one that totally fits my ideal properly, and that's A Servant of Two Masters.
This was pretty close to a perfect episode in that all the major characters got really good character moments. I live for things like Merlin and Arthur's friendship bit at the beginning - it always warms my heart, and is a pretty successful mislead considering where the episode ends up going. Arthur also spends the episode trying to figure out who to trust - it's a rather background plot, but a nice one, and it has the added enjoyment of all the dramatic irony that ensues when Merlin is attempting to assassinate him the entire time and Arthur is, as usual, oblivious.
Morgana is also surprisingly interesting through the episode - throughout her villainous run, she was only sporadically interesting to me, but she stepped it up here. Her bit about not having anyone left to be loyal to was unusually revealing, both about Morgana's capacity to loyalty (which we know from the way she idolized Morgause, though Merlin has no way of knowing that) and about her grief concerning Morgause's death. It also speaks to how contemptuously she regards Agravaine, as he's clearly not worth being loyal to. I also find the intentional closeness to Merlin interesting to note - I have to interpret it as some sort of psychological game, especially when you consider that even though she doesn't spend nearly as much time trying to kill Merlin, she does most certainly loathe him (since he, y'know, poisoned her that one time). Also, the fact that she tells Merlin her whole plan is either very Bond-villain, or - and this is the explanation I like - a way to make Merlin feel helpless before he's brainwashed. In fact, the entire scheme can be interpreted that way. And then, her terror when Emrys shows up... Morgana is a veritable treasure trove of interesting character things this episode.
Gwen takes this opportunity to make herself useful. She and Gaius together figure out that there's something wrong with Merlin and take it upon themselves to help, mostly by knocking him out and then cutting the creature out of him, and of course, knocking him out again. Gwen's comic ability also comes into play here, and I must say, she can be very funny.
As for Merlin, well, most of the interesting things regarding his character has to do with his interactions with the others... mostly Morgana, though the beginning is a good bit with Arthur as well. There's also the interesting thing which is that, by rights, Merlin should actually be a pretty deadly assassin, considering his talents. But then I think of Morgana's, "Everything that makes you Merlin..." spiel, and it occurs to me that the fact that brainwashed!Merlin never thinks to use magic could be implying that it's so intrinsically a part of Merlin, the real Merlin, that it didn't get carried along with the brainwashing. Which is a nice hint at the revelation we get at the end of the series, and not one I expected to find, considering this show's spotty track record regarding continuity.
I suppose the "Everything that makes you Merlin..." thing probably also explains why as an assassin he's so terribly incompetent. Since, you know, his intelligence is one of the things that make him who he is.
Now, here's what most surprised me - Agravaine gets some good character development! I wasn't entirely sure how to interpret his bridal-carrying of Morgana at the end, besides the obvious he-cares-for-Morgana-far-more-than-we-thought-even-though-Morgana-doesn't-care-a-whit-for-him. Then I read somewhere that a season 4 storyline that got largely, but not completely, cut, was that Agravaine was in love with Morgana, and I suppose that was probably the only real way to interpret that anyway, but it just took me so entirely by surprise. Which was nice.
So that's the make-me-think part. What about the rest?
Well, the episode continuously makes me laugh. After Merlin gets returned to Camelot, his out of character activities should have been cringey, but are instead hilarious - probably because of the absolute enthusiasm he does all of it with. You definitely get the impression that Colin Morgan was having some fun this episode.
And then, of course, the scene where Merlin's preparing a bath and Gwen knocks him out only to face a mostly naked Arthur - again, it should have been cringey, but it's just so funny, and the fact that Gaius is just awkwardly hanging around makes it even better.
What about making me hurt?
Well, Merlin and Arthur's talk about cowards and heroes certainly does something to my heart. And the dramatic irony about Arthur considering who he can trust while Merlin repeatedly tries to kill him is amusing, but a little painful on Arthur's behalf - especially considering that pretty much everyone Arthur's ever trusted has betrayed him somehow (or, in the case of Gwen, will betray him before the season's out).
But mostly the hurt comes from Morgana and Merlin. I feel Merlin's pain and his fear and his confusion, when he's captured and not killed. I also find myself feeling for Morgana - verily, life has not treated her well, and this is one of the only episodes that actually makes me consider that about her. And then the big battle at the end, Emrys vs. Morgana - as much as we need Emrys to win, I really feel for Morgana here. Merlin's poisoning of Morgana may have driven her to evil (though I still refuse to believe that Merlin's entirely to blame on that count), but Morgana's absolute terror of Emrys leads me to believe that Emrys is a large part of Morgana losing her mind - he at least contributes to her paranoia.
And that makes me hurt, both for Morgana and Merlin. Morgana because she's completely losing herself and that makes me sad, and Merlin because, given the revelation about Emrys's contribution to Morgana's madness, Merlin appears to be, in a soul-crushing staple of this show, unwittingly making things worse.
Anyways. That's why this is my favourite episode. Makes me laugh, makes me hurt, makes me think. As far as I'm concerned, it's pretty close to a perfect episode.
Also notable about this episode: Merlin wears a purple shirt. Audiences everywhere failed to recognize him.
Also also notable about this episode: Mergana shippers all universally and immediately spotted clips to use in their inevitable vids. Is anyone surprised?
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