Weirdly enough, I know this one right off the top of my head.
It's the one at the end of The Lady of the Lake. Merlin has just witnessed the death of the Druid girl he was going to run away with. And then this happens:
First of all, and most prominently, I am all about bromance. It is what I live for, the reason I breathe. So the fact that this is one of the most bromantic things ever just makes me so warm and fuzzy inside.
But let's look a little deeper, because that's what I do. In fact, screw brevity. Let's do a blow-by-blow analysis.
So, let's just start with that endless line of boots that Merlin has to scrub. I have to see it as symbolic. It's just hammering into his head exactly the life he was going to leave behind with Freya - one where he's "destined" (read: doomed) to serve Arthur, who for the entire episode is an ungrateful, inconsiderate prat (and as far as I'm concerned, this is the only episode where that's justified, since it actually makes a point here). Merlin will do the dirty work for Arthur and Arthur will refuse to acknowledge him as anything beyond a buffoon, and that'll go on for the rest of Merlin's foreseeable future.
Enter Arthur. Now, Arthur is by no means the most perceptive of characters, but when Merlin snaps at him how he does - something so unusual for the warm, clumsy servant that Arthur's come to know - even Arthur realizes that something's wrong. So Arthur does something very important here.
He brings himself down to Merlin's level.
He sits next to Merlin. They are on equal ground. Merlin no longer has to look up to Arthur to talk to him. That's a pretty important thing, for a show that puts such emphasis on class distinctions. It effectively undoes the power imbalance that's such a huge part of how these two interact.
And then he takes it a step further. "Something's been upsetting you, hasn't it?"
This is so significant because how many times has Arthur confided in Merlin about things that have been upsetting him? A good few. But he usually seems unsure how to take it when Merlin decides to share things about himself in return, and when that happens, it's usually followed by a pretty hasty re-establishing of the social order. This is the first time that I can think of that Arthur wholeheartedly invites Merlin to express himself as a person, rather than as his servant.
"Maybe." Merlin being cold makes my heart hurt, but considering what happened this episode, and considering what a jerk Arthur was this episode, you can't really expect him to react any differently. The fact that it's a maybe, though, and the fact that he hesitates definitely shows that Merlin doesn't quite know what to do with this weird semblance of concern from Arthur.
"Was it when I threw water over you?"
Okay, so this is such a prime example of Arthur severely missing the point, but to be fair, Arthur just doesn't have a clue what Merlin went through the past few days. And to his credit, he seems to recognize that his treatment of Merlin has been bordering on cruelty, and realize how that could make him upset. He even acknowledges, out loud, that his behaviour toward Merlin has been unfair. And interestingly, while Arthur, through no fault of his own, misses the whole story, he isn't entirely wrong either - the whole episode is about Merlin escaping his destiny and the currently unfulfilling life that Camelot offers him, and Arthur's refusal to recognize him is a large part of what Merlin was trying to escape.
Merlin laughs lightly before saying, "Wasn't very nice." Merlin knows that Arthur is missing the point, and that he can't exactly correct him on it. But in spite of Arthur getting it pretty wrong, he accepts Arthur's version of things, because it's the easy thing, and probably because he knows that this is the closest he'll ever get to an apology from him for the foreseeable future. And that apology is a really important step in mending the chasm that's been widening between them for most of the season.
"It was a bit unfair. Like when you called me fat?" Arthur is so incompetent about feelings, poor guy. He just can't maintain an emotional conversation without redirecting it somewhere more comfortable for him - in this case, blaming Merlin for something. Which is a nice reminder that the communication between Arthur and Merlin has been painfully awful this season, and they rarely truly understand each other when they interact - the fat gag being an example and a continuation of that trend. And that might undercut the good stuff that's happening here, except for what happens next.
Merlin takes it lightly here, which is good because I think that's how it was meant, and responds with a sincere-sounding, "Why was that unfair?"
Arthur leaps to his own defense. "Because I am not - !" But then, in a nice turn of events that signals the rebuilding of their communication, Arthur catches that Merlin had, in fact, been joking, instead of insulting him - it's the first time in a while that Arthur and Merlin are on the same page about what's going on between them.
Commence the affectionate noogie-ing. Merlin isn't always pleased with Arthur's version of cheering people up - Love In the Time of Dragons comes to mind, when Arthur punches him in the arm and Merlin goes, "How is punching me in the arm meant to cheer me up?" - but this is a scene where they've built an actual connection for once, and Merlin actually understands what Arthur's doing, and how it's meant. The whole thing is all very brotherly (I've done similar things to my own little brother, so there's that), and that's lovely.
Anyway, Merlin ends up smiling despite himself. "That's better," Arthur says. "Thanks," Merlin replies uncertainly. I definitely get the feeling that Merlin is thanking Arthur for actually caring more than anything else - it's not like he did much for Merlin's general situation - but at the same time isn't entirely sure what to do with this distinctly un-prat-like Arthur.
Anyway, he's still smiling, which Arthur takes as his cue to commend himself on a job well done (Merlin isn't sad anymore, right?) and re-establish the social order as we know it. That's how these scenes usually end, and it tends to be a little unsatisfying, but not so here. Partly because of the breakthrough that the boys made here concerning how they view each other, but more importantly, because I spy symbolism. Merlin still has his chores to do - Arthur gives him even more before he leaves. He still has this life he has to live in Camelot. But it's the beginning of him maybe discovering that this life isn't terrible by necessity, and that there is a future here. Arthur spends a lot of the episode representing the things that Merlin resents about his destiny, and at the end, he tentatively comes to terms with it. It's a surprising high note for an episode that tore my heart to pieces.
Basically, I love that Arthur is actually trying, for once, to mend the gap between them (because let's face it, it has to be Arthur who takes the first step - Merlin's intentions would have been inevitably misunderstood, mostly because of Arthur's woefully inaccurate perception of his servant) and Merlin accepts it. There's actually a surprising amount going on here.
And, of course, this scene warms my heart, and makes me smile like a loon every time I see it. And that's really the most important thing.
No comments:
Post a Comment