Zero tolerance is an extreme policy. For the first two seasons I was wanting the lads to hook up with the wrong gals, but now enough is enough, Merlin has to get it on with Morgana before he figures out that she is naughty. Why am I thinking of Tarrant and Servelan smooching during a truce in season four of Blakes Seven? What sort of conflagration would have to come cross purposes for Merlin and Morgana to fall in love with one another TRULY while they are already dread enemies trying to kill each other?
"And she got it didn't she, your sympathy I mean." I'm surpised Dayna didn't kill Tarrant for shagging the Supreme Commander...
Finally got round to seeing episode 1 on iPlayer, really pretty good, I was impressed. Granted, Morgana needs to be more subtly "EVIL!!!!", but then that aspect of this show (good vs. bad) has always been a bit cheesy. I can live with it Top marks to Anthony Head, though - fantastic performance and including some range I haven't seen before in the scene by the well. Merlin/Arthur dynamic was spot on, the fight scene where he mimics Merlin was great. The way he looked in the forest though after Merlin saves his ass for the 500th time (seriously, how did this guy live this long before Merlin was around?)... maybe I'm reading too much in, but I saw shades of him knowing what was going on.
Second episode, equally impressive. A little (OK a lot ) derivative of LotR, but I really enjoyed it nonetheless. The fight scene between Merlin and Morgana was a particular highlight. I'm all kinds of confused over whether Morgana knows Merlin is magical at this point or not. I thought she knew anyway, then she didn't, then Merlin makes the ceiling cave in, remarkably coincidentally right over her head... If she hasn't figured it out now, she's even thicker than Arthur. Next week's episode, however - hmmmmmm we'll see. Looks like more 'troll episode' toilet humour.
That's Nimue's role in the old legends, in particular the Vulgate Cycle. Nimue is a young sorceress who Merlin takes a liking to, he teaches her what he knows to make her a better sorceress, and then she betrays him and entraps him forever in an ice castle out of pure malice. Or possibly because she feels sexually harassed. (As completely modern as that sounds, that's the way the translation in Norris Lacy's The Vulgate Cycle Reader reads.) I've thought that if Merlin could draw on that -- Merlin flirts with the dark side by becoming seduced by an evil sorceress -- that it could make for a nice story arc. Nimueh would have been the obvious choice for that, but she's dead. Morgana or Morgause? I think I'd lean towards Morgause; I'd like to see Morgause figure out what her sister couldn't for all those years -- that Merlin has magic. I found myself humming Howard Shore's Mordor theme during the siege scenes. Some shots were taken straight from The Two Towers, others from Return of the King. The army sizes were off by a factor of ten, though; the early Dark Ages British and Saxon kingdoms wouldn't have had the manpower for 20,000 men armies -- or the logistical capabilities to support them.
Yeah, the attacking army was ludicrously large. I think someone went a bit mad with the crowd duplication there. Especially as we've seen, at most, two dozen Camelot knights.
That was very good, if a little rushed in places. Loved Merlin telling the dragon he had no intention of walking anywhere, and of course Arthur saying that sometimes Merlin had great wisdom...but most of the time he was still an idiot Not sure if an ongoing Morgana evil inside the castle and only Merlin and Gaius know might get a trifle annoying! Next week's will be the comedy episode then?
I watched yesterday on iPlayer. I'm disappointed that they left Morgana in the castle like that, but it was a good episode overall.
Why hasn't she killed Merlin? Keep your friends close and your enemies closer is complete bullshit. Joey Stalin is said to have said "Death solves all problems. No man, no problems."
I didn't watch it because the first episode "Morgana Smirks" killed any interest I was building up. Is it worth it then?
She's quite a bit less "mwha ha ha!" in episode two. She's actually doing something evil instead of smiling evilly.
So you're saying yes then. I'll hold it against you if it doesn't go well. Can you take the pressure?
Yeah, I too cringe every time I see Morgana smirking... Makes me feel like she can't act. Hell, she can't act. Period.