Merlin Series 3-Episode 7: The Castle of Fyrien

Originally posted when this episode aired in the UK, October 23, 2010.
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After just seeing the preview of this episode, I was excited.  I'm not sure if it's because of the drama caused by Morgana continuing her evil ways or if it's the Arthur/Gwen growing love that gets me.  From last week, we know that Morgana is aware of the feelings that Arthur and Gwen share for each other...and now she's using that to her advantage.  Now that she knows she is actually Uther's daughter (not just his ward), she is after the throne herself.  Let's see what happens next, shall we? (as I do write these as I am watching the show).

**SPOILERS BELOW**

Poor Gwen!  After a long day at work, Gwen (Angel Coulby) returns home to find that there are dirty, scary looking men in her house.  Though she tried to fend them off, they caught her and ride off into the night with her, all while her so called best friend, Morgana (Katie McGrath) watches from her bedroom window, with her now trademark, evil smile.

The next morning, Morgana joins Uther (Anthony Head) and Arthur (Bradley James) for breakfast late, and she seems upset.  She puts on a good act of Gwen never showed up for work this morning, and I'm worried...which Uther responds coldly to, by saying they could easily get her a new servant, while Arthur calls upon Merlin (Colin Morgan) to go to Gwen's house and make sure that she's okay.  And here, again, we see Morgana's evil smile.  I've said it before, but seriously, Katie McGrath has that evil smile/look down--though the fact that no one in Camelot has seen her do it, surprises me...then again, things are always being overlooked in the land of Camelot.

Merlin heads to Gwen's place, and investigates.  In looking around he concludes that strange things are afoot at the house of Gwen.

Then we see Morgause (Emilia Fox) and Cenred (Tom Ellis) looking into a cell, at a fellow.  Morgause seems thrilled that Cenred has found this guy, and apparently, Morgana told them where to find him.  A scared Gwen is then brought into Cenred, and when she asks why have you brought me here, he says he has a guest that he thought she would want to see.  They bring in the fellow from the cell, and we then find out, that he is in fact, Gwen's long lost brother, Elyan (Adetomiwa Edun).  At first, Gwen seems happy to see her brother, but once alone, we see that she clearly does not trust him, and thinks that he has caused the kidnapping to take place.  Morgause and Cenred clearly have a plan, as they watch the interactions between the brother and sister, we just don't quite know what it is, yet.

Well, it wasn't but a moment later that Cenred has told Gwen what he's wanting.  He wants her to bring him Arthur within a week, otherwise, she will have to watch as he de-hearts her brother.  Oh, the drama and anguish!  What will Gwen do??!

Meanwhile, back in Camelot, Arthur is telling Uther and Morgana of Gwen's kidnapping.  Morgana puts on quite the show of despair, while Uther, in true Uther fashion, could clearly careless, "She's just a serving girl."  But Arthur convinces him to allow for a search party--but alas, Uther will only allow it until nightfall--but we know that won't stop Arthur from finding Gwen, and Morgana knows it too...as we see her evil smile again!

Interestingly enough, the next morning, Gwen has returned and is acting as though nothing has happened (though she seems scared and uncomfortable--but wouldn't you be?).  She tells Morgana (who knows otherwise) that she was gone because she was not feeling well, and when she runs into Merlin (literally), he tells her that Arthur has been worried sick and searching the whole town.  She tries to play it off, that she was sick, but he sees the bruises on her wrists, and she breaks down.  She tells Merlin what has happened and what she's expected to do.  He convinces her to tell Arthur, so that he can help.

Arthur gets all amped up to help Gwen's brother, and says that the 3 of them will go and save him.  Gwen points out that it would be a trap, as they want Arthur dead.  Arthur's response, "Not necessarily."  All the while, we see that Morgana was listening outside the door.

Oh, this time she's wearing a purple cape, instead of the bright red one, maybe she'll blend in more...not that it matters in Camelot...no one EVER sees people lurking around...no matter how much noise they make or how bright their clothing.  Morgana is off to tell Morgause of the newest happenings.  It's so amazing to me the hatred that runs through Morgana...she grew up with Arthur as a brother, and now she's ready to kill him, for no other reason than that she may take the throne...power hungry *#$&@!

In order to leave on his quest of saving Gwen's brother, Arthur fibs to his father, saying ironically, that he lost a bet to Morgana and needs to leave Camelot to purchase some silk so that she can make some dresses.  Uther laughs and says he better hurry along then.

As Merlin is getting the horses ready, Morgana (with her evil face) walks up and says she's going along too!  Oh no!!!  Merlin knows that Morgana is in on this plot, who else would have told Cenred

While camping along the way, Merlin is asked to go check on Morgana who is getting firewood, so that Arthur can be alone with Gwen.  When Merlin finds Morgana, he confronts her (which I love that he did) and talks about the loyalty and caring that Arthur and Gwen have for Morgana, because they are her friends.  She plays it off, like she couldn't possibly understand why he would be telling her this.  Merlin tells her that they are his friends too, and he would stop at nothing to protect them.  I'm liking this tougher side to Merlin.

Back at camp there is a touching scene between Arthur and Gwen.  Gwen shares a bit about her brother, as it seems trouble follows him where ever he goes.  But no matter what, she would be there for him, because that's what you do when you love someone.  As they are about to kiss, Morgana and Merlin return to camp--Morgana seeing what was happening, and giving her evil smirk.  In all honesty, like I said, she's good at it, but it might become a bit of an over kill if she keeps doing it.  Over dinner Arthur talks of the plan to catch Cenred off guard, by using the secret tunnels under the castle that he's hiding out in.  Morgana is especially interested in how this will all work (I wonder why--this of course is absolute sarcasm), while Merlin struggles to try to get Arthur to stop talking about the plan, by offering more beans.

Of course, that night, while the others sleep, Morgana slips away and meets Morgause, telling her of the plan.  In order for Cenred's army to find these hidden tunnels, Morgause gives Morgana a magical ring that will guide them in, when she throws it to the ground.  As she returns to camp, we see that Merlin was aware of her absence, and in turn is aware that she probably let them in on the plan.  He tries first to get Morgana out of the quest by using a spell to have a snake spook her horse, getting her bucked off, alas, she only hurt her ankle, and insisted that she continue on.  Once there, Merlin tries his hardest to get Arthur to see that Cenred, may know about the tunnels...but per usual, Arthur doesn't listen to Merlin.

As they are going into the tunnels, at the back of the castle, I can't help but notice that Morgana is walking just fine.  Though in the previous scene she could barely stand because of her ankle...she must be a quick healer.  Before she goes into the tunnel, Morgana lays the magical ring on a stone, so that their path is now clear to Cenred and Morgause.

While venturing through the tunnel, they realize that they are being followed.  Arthur asks the question, "How did they know we were here?"  I just wanted to scream, and I'm sure Merlin did too, it was Morgana, you fool!  Now...let the sword fighting commence.  Oops, nope, as soon as one of the bad guys puts a sword to Gwen's throat, Arthur drops his sword, and surrenders.  Here's my thought here, why did they bring her along??  She's not a fighter (at least Morgana is good with a sword) and she's Arthur's weakness...this was not well thought out, now was it?

Gwen is put in a cell with her brother, and we learn a bit about their relationship, and Elyan learns a bit about the relationship between his sister and the prince.  Arthur and Merlin concoct a plan to get free from their cell--which is somewhat amusing.  Once free they fight their way to free the others.  Yet, no one knows where Morgana is.  Surprise, surprise, Arthur won't leave without her, and tells Gwen to leave and not look back.  Morgause knows Arthur won't leave without the girl he thinks is family, which calms Morgana, who seemed hell bent on killing Arthur right away.  Cenred then tells Morgana she must play her part well.

Once Arthur finds the hall, he sees that Cenred has a sword to Morgana's throat.  Morgana is pleading for him not to hurt her.  Cenred insists that Arthur lay down his sword...he hesitates...Morgause then makes her appearance, which actually makes Arthur put back up his defenses.  Right at this point, we see that Merlin has followed Arthur (though he was supposed to go with Gwen and Elyan) and is now watching what is happening.  Morgause creates a fiery tornado and sends it toward Arthur.  Merlin then uses his own powers and the tornado blows them all backward and sends some of the ceiling down on them.  Here's hoping Morgana was taken out in that blow...though deep down, we know that won't happen.

Arthur gets up, and goes straight to Morgana...Merlin then appears and the three of them start back through the tunnels.  Merlin is leading the way, pulling Morgana (who is fighting him the whole way).  I seriously LOVE how forceful Merlin gets with Morgana...finally!!!  "What, are you worried about your friends?"  But alas, Arthur catches up to them, and she then falls to the ground claiming her ankle is really bothersome...REALLY??  It hasn't bothered you this entire time??  So Arthur flings her over his shoulder and carries her out, while she is kicking and screaming.  When they make their way out, Gwen and Elyan are waiting...and so are some bad guys.  Here we see that Elyan has some great fighting skills...a bit of a foreshadowing?? I love that the future knights of the round table pop up through the story!  I can't wait to see Arthur become king and bring them all together.

Torchline.com: Facebook Recap: Merlin 3.07 The Castle of Fyrien

Here's a sneak peek at next week's episode...looks like we are continuing the Morgana story arch...and an old friend returns to help out.

The Lastest Movie Run Down

I've been out of the going to the theaters and watching movies world for a bit...though I've caught a few, none have made me feel like writing much about them.  I've also gotten 3 months of free movie channels, so I've watched a bunch of older movies that either I had never heard of or have wanted to see.

Season of the Witch-though an interesting idea, I think something was lost along that journey the characters are on.

Tangled-SO worth watching :)  But I am a Disney fan.  It's cute and fun.

Love and Other Drugs-Good, sweet love story.  There are amusing parts, sad parts...but I felt like it might just be too long.

Charlie St. Cloud-This is a great, touching movie.  Too bad not too many saw it.  It's not the best in the world, but it's sweet.

Megamind- I was rather disappointed in this one.  It wasn't as amusing as it made itself out to be.

The Last Song-Fantastic story!!!  Too bad Miley Cyrus was in the lead role.  It would have been amazing with someone that could act!!

Do They Serve Beer in Hell-Actually, I was surprised by this one.  It was a typical college, boys being stupid adventure, but I was amused while watching.  The thing with this one, it was based on a true story.  It's not a great movie, but I was entertained, for a moment.

Prince of Persia: Sands of Time- Loved this movie!!  It has a great story and action.  Kinda wishing I had seen it on the big screen...Parts of it certainly remind me of Aladdin, but it's a fun adventure.  Looking forward to seeing this one again!

The Sorcerer's Apprentice- I actually liked this one...and I usually dislike Nicolas Cage.  I could do without the apprentice's voice...that guy's voice just bugs me...but the story was good.  I think Disney would have done better to recast the two leads, though.

The Dilemma-Not truly a comedy.  It is good.  But not your typical Vince Vaughn film.  There are funny moments, but really it's more of a drama.

I Hate Valentine's Day-From the writer and actress of My Big Fat Greek Wedding, it was cute, but I feel like it could have been far better.  Just a few tweaks here and there, and it would have been a fantastic romantic comedy.

No Strings Attached-I loved it.  But I am a sucker for romantic comedies.  Worth watching for sure, but maybe not in the theaters.  It's Ashton back to his best, and Natalie Portman playing a fairly realistic character.  It was a cute movie.

Merlin Series 3-Episode 6: The Changling

Originally posted after this episode aired on BBC--10/16/10
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Oh, Merlin...or should I say Oh, Arthur...since this episode had poor Arthur having to marry a lady he does not love, for his father's sake.

Let's get right to it :)

**Spoilers Below**

Little fairy blessing or cursing a princess...I love Sleeping Beauty...oh, wait...this is Merlin!  We start at a castle, where we see a sleeping baby, and one of the blue Avalon creatures, the Sidhe,  I believe the same one from series 1 (which wanted Arthur) comes flying through the window.  He says something in what I am guessing is his language, and the baby glows blue...blessing? curse?  We shall see...

20 years later we see the same castle, the same room, and we can only guess that it's the same princess...only this princess is not very lady like--burping, farting, messy hair.  Princess Elena and her father Lord Godwin are off on a trip with who seems to be Elena's servant, Grunhilda (Miriam Margoyles).  Where are they off to?  Why, Camelot, of course!

Right as they are arriving, literally, they are walking through the doors, Uther (Anthony Head) tells Arthur (Bradley James) that he is expecting him to marry the princess--wow...guess he didn't want Arthur to have a chance to protest.  Later they chat, and then Arthur reveals he has no feelings for Elena, Uther tells him he must find some, because this union would be good for Camelot.  Obviously, Arthur is taken back, and not too happy about it.  In fact, when he is talking to Gwen (Angel Coulby) he makes a clear point to say that he will not be marrying the princess.  Gwen tries to play it off like she doesn't care if Arthur were to get married, but we all know she does.

That night, Princess Elena seems to be having nightmares, and Grunhilda comes to her aid.  While Elena is sleeping she tells her that this shall soon pass, and then she sprinkles golden dust onto her head...and Elena shows her possible true self...one of the Sidhe.  My guess at this point is that she is unaware of what she is.  Grunhilda then goes into the forest to the lake, which I assume is the same place we saw the entrance to Avalon in series 1, she's in on the plan that started 20 years ago!  She says some sort of spell and then the Sidhe put on a light show, which she seems entranced by.  And then, we see her real form, a pixie:

Lovely, isn't she?  She chats with the king of the Sidhe, and it is revealed that Elena is not a Sidhe, but she is in fact possessed by one, that is awaiting the right time to take over...when she is queen of Camelot.

The next day, Arthur takes Elena out on a ride and a picnic.  Clearly he's trying to find something about the girl that he could like.  Yet, it's clear that Elena has no clue how to act like a lady, let alone a princess, and the last straw is when Elena sneezes into his face.  The poor girl.  At the feast that evening, she is rather crude, and Arthur looks even more repulsed.  There was an amusing part when Grunhilda starts making eyes at Gaius (Richard Wilson) from across the room and then goes and sits next to him so that he may take her in.  Gaius was rather taken back...this could lead to some amusing happenings.

In Elena's room, Grunhilda is combing out Elena's hair, and the they are chatting about how she knows how much it means to her father for her to marry Arthur.  Then there is a moment that rather repulsed me...Grunhilda pulls out a live frog, and Elena drops it in her mouth and eats it!  What the hell?!  This is one odd girl, especially since she is unaware that there is a Sidhe inside of her!

Next day, our friend Merlin (Colin Morgan) is collecting plants in the forest when he sees Grunhilda running through it.  Of course, he follows her, at first, it was more interest than anything, but then he sees something rather disturbing.  Grunhilda is eating flies...not like picking them up and eating them, but using her long, skinny, toad like purple tongue to capture them.  And off Merlin runs, back to Camelot to tell Gaius...his response...I've seen some strange tongues in my time--just an odd saying--it's a bloody toad tongue...that's not just strange, that's not human...and no Gaius, it's not been caused by an infection!  Why does he always seem to doubt or explain what Merlin has seen...

For once, Merlin is off the hook when going to find the evidence, Gaius goes up to Elena's room to try to figure out what sort of creature Grunhilda is.  He finds the pouch of golden dust, but has to put it back quickly, as Grunhilda comes back.  She is surprised to see him, he uses the excuse of wanting to offer to make a perfume for the princess, yet she assumes he's really there is see her.  He tries desperately to leave, and then Grunhilda says, "we can make sweet perfume together," and lays on the bed...the look on Gaius' face is hilarious!  We are actually left not know how Gaius got out of that room, as the next scene is him explaining to Merlin that the dust he found is pixie dust, so Grunhilda must be a pixie.  He then reveals to Merlin that Grunhilda has taken a liking to him...and now Merlin is making the hilarious face, and saying how disgusting that would be!  Since pixies are apparently known to be the servants of the Sidhe, Gaiusenhabited by a Sidhe from birth, until the Sidhe chooses to take over.  He also figures out that the Sidhe goal must be to have a Sidhe queen.  That's a lot of deducing just by finding pixie dust!  Merlin then goes and spies on Elena and sees that she is in fact a changeling.

At dinner, served by Gwen, Arthur tells Uther that he will NOT be marrying Elena.  Uther makes it clear that it will be happening.  Morgana (Katie McGrath) notices the looks of despair between Arthur and Gwen...she then has figured out that they have feelings for each other and starts to play a little game, telling Gwen how horrible it must be to be Arthur, being forced to marry, especially when he has feelings for another...and that other has feelings for him.  She lets on that she knows their true feelings for each other.  Gwen denies it, and then says that nothing can ever come of it.  She's acting like the friend that Gwen once had...but we know that Morgana is not a friend to anyone!

While Gaius and Merlin are on a fact finding mission about the changelings and the Sidhe--to find a potion to remove the Sidhe from Elena, Gwen goes and visits Arthur.  This scene brought tears to my eyes.  They both know how the other feels, they both want to be together, and yet because of their stations in life, they cannot be.  Arthur asks Gwen, if he does go through with marrying Elena, what will she do.  She answers with watch you grow into the great king you are meant to be.  You can tell that she is holding back tears, and the absolutely touching moment is that Arthur is crying.  He is seeing that there is no way out of marrying Elena, though his heart clearly belongs to Gwen.  These Arthur and Gwen moments are getting more and more heart-wrenching!

With all the court watching, Arthur is forced to propose to Elena.  The speech seemed painful to give, but he knew he had to do it.  Uther and Lord Godwin look rather happy, the princess, looked take back...Gwen and Arthur, look heartbroken.

That night, Grunhilda goes to the lake, and tells the Sidhe king that she thinks that Merlin knows what Elena is.  He gets pretty pissy, and rants about Merlin.  Next thing we know, he's a little blue light flying through the castle (and no one notices, but what else is new).  He goes into Merlin's room, while he's sleeping, and right as he's about to attack Merlin with his magical staff, Merlin awakes, rolls off the bed, and grabs the staff that Aulfric (who was banished from Avalon) had in series 1, which is convinently hidden under his bed.  They then get into a magical shooting match.  Merlin wins, and shoots the Sidhe king, and he disappears into a blast of light.  In the clean up of the fight, they realize that the potion (which had very hard to find ingredients) has been split, but luckily, Gaius is able to make more.

Gaius then uses his charms on Grunhilda to get her to leave Elena's room--another amusing moment, and get her down into the vaults so that they can imprison her there.  This does not make Grunhilda happy, telling Gaius he doesn't know what he's missing.  Too funny.  Alas, Grunhilda is able to use her magic to escape the vaults, and goes to stop Merlin and Gaius.  Merlin uses his staff against her, and she is thrown backward.  As she gets up, he tells Gaius to go give Elena the potion, and he'll hold her off.  As Gaius is telling Elena that he brought her a tonic to calm her nerves, we hear blast and yells, which we know are Merlin and Grunhilda, it's kind of amusing, really, but how many blasts from the staff does it take to kill a pixie?!  Gesh!

Finally, Merlin has turned Grunhilda to dust, and comes bursting into Elena's room, thinking that the Sidhe would be out of her, and he is ready to fight it.  Well, Gaius is still struggling to get Elena to drink the entire potion, she keeps just sipping it.  Merlin steps in, and in a very non-Merlin like way, says, "this will make you feel a whole lot better."  And then pinches her nose and pours the potion down her throat.  The Sidhe (little blue light) comes out of Elena, and in one shot, Merlin takes it out.  Elena is now looking much more with it, and says she hasn't felt that good in years.

Merlin then goes to Arthur, who is looking rather sad, and Arthur says Merlin can't possibly understand what he's feeling, to have a destiny that is already planned out for you, that you have no control of.  But, alas, Merlin does know this feeling, all too well.  He shares some of his insight with Arthur who questions where it came from, and Merlin says he read it in a book.  Then we see Arthur ask Merlin for advice on if he should marry her or not, which could be the start of Arthur trusting Merlin more and more, until he becomes what we know he will, King Arthur's trusted advisor.  Merlin shares his thoughts and reminds Arthur that though he is destined to be king and rule Camelot, he has a choice in how he does it.  Arthur has clearly taken it in, and you can see in that moment, his respect for Merlin has heightened, for the wisdom, of the Merlin to come, is starting to show through.

With the Sidhe out of her, Elena looks like a princess and is no longer tripping and burping (and other things).  It seems that the Sidhe threw her off.  He father walks her down the aisle.  A sad Gwen watches as the love of her life is about to wed another...for convenience and politics.  As the ceremony begins, Arthur turns and looks at Gwen.  Elena catches the look.  When asked if it is his wish to marry Elena, Arthur responds with yes--to Uther's delight.  And to her father's happiness, Elena does the same.  As the priest continues, Arthur looks saddened and in pain...he stops the wedding!  He says that there is something from the heart that he dared not speak...OMG!!!  Is he going to announce his feelings!  Is he finally going to tell the world of his love for Gwen?!  Alas, no...he just tells Elena that he is not in love with her, and she confesses that she is not in love with him, the wedding is off.  Wow, does that make Uther look pissed and Gwen's eyes fill with tears of joy. 

Arthur stands his ground with his father, and then has a sweet moment with Gwen.  They are back to their flirting banter.  I guess that's all we'll get for now...what a great episode!!!

Torchline.com: Facebook Recap: Merlin 3.06 "The Changeling"

Here's a sneak peek at next week's episode...looks like we're back to the Morgana story arch...and that info that Morgana found out about Gwen and Arthur's feelings, is coming into play:

Merlin Series 3-Episode 5: The Crystal Cave

**Originally posted October 9, 2010 after it aired on the BBC in the UK.

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I am finding that my life must be pretty boring, if the highlight to my Saturdays is realizing that it's late enough in the day that the new episode of Merlin will have been posted online.  But I embrace it, as I love this show!

This week, we return to the dark storyline that follows Morgana (Katie McGrath) down her path to the evil mistress that we know from the legends...we had to get back to it at some point, she knows that Merlin and Gaius know about her.

** Spoilers Below**

We open immediately with some action.  Merlin (Colin Morgan) and Arthur (Bradley James) are running from an angry mob through the forest.  They think they lose them by going into the Valley of the Fallen Kings.  Merlin doesn't seem to feel too good about going in there, but Arthur keeps walking along.  The entrance to the place reminds me of the 2 large statues that are in The Never Ending Story (I can't remember what they were called, as it's been forever since I've seen that film).  At this point, maybe Arthur should be listening to Merlin, but then again, when does he ever listen to Merlin, and who is usually right about things...Merlin.

Alas, the mob follows them into the Valley of the Fallen Kings, even though Arthur swore to Merlin that they would never follow them in there...I don't think Merlin will be trusting Arthur's judgment again anytime soon.  And then Arthur is hit with an arrow, and falls!  All this before the opening credits!

Merlin hides with a passed out Arthur, as the angry mobs goes by.  He is then left to try to help poor Arthur.  He tries his magic, but it's just not enough.  As he is cleaning the blood from his hands, he realizes that this may be the end of Arthur's life, and tears fill his eyes.  All of the sudden a man is standing over him, asking him why he is so sad.  Merlin says, "My friend is dying and I can't help him."  The man states that he should not waste his tears, as it is not Arthur's time to die.  Then he proceeds to walk over and heal him--who is now sleeping, and we are told he will be for a few hours.  Merlin is rather confused, as the fellow, who's name is Tallesin (Karl Johnson), knows Merlin's name as well as his magical name, Emmerus, and talks of knowing he was going to meet him. 

He tells Merlin that he wants to show him something and takes him to a cave.  I'm not sure if I would follow a stranger away from my friend and into an unknown cave.  Kinda creepy. The cave is filled with crystals (The Crystal Cave), where Tallesin tells him that this is where magic began.  Merlin looks into a crystal and sees images he's clearly not comfortable with--like those he saw in the crystal in series 2.  Tallesin tells him that not many are able to see into the crystals, and then he needs to look into them and use what he sees for good.  Merlin reluctantly looks and sees Morgana killing King Uther (Anthony Head).  Then Tallesin is gone, and Merlin gets back to Arthur, looking very angry and determined.

Once Arthur awakes, there is a funny little banter between the two--mostly because Merlin knows what is going to happen and Arthur is acting his normal silly self.  They start their walk back to Camelot, and Arthur is trying to figure out what happened and why Merlin is acting the way that he is.

When they are back in the King's Court, Arthur is telling Uther of the bandits that were chasing them, and then actually gives some credit to Merlin for helping him!  This is a first...though most of the time no one knows that it was Merlin that helped them.  That night Merlin is plagued with the images he saw in the crystals and talks to Gaius (Richard Wilson) about them.  He tells Merlin that Tallesin died 300 years prior and that he used to be a seer to the great kings of the past.  That the fact that Merlin saw the Crystal Cave is a huge thing, but not to take what he saw to be imminent.

The next day is Morgana's birthday.  Everyone seems so excited to celebrate...I still find it odd that no one (except Merlin and Gaius) have figured out that she has changed and is EVIL!!  We learn right off that Arthur is planning on getting Morgana a dagger for her birthday...which is what Morgana killed Uther with in his vision.  He then sees a scene from his vision in the courtyard.  He is then convinced that the visions are coming true very soon.  Gaius tries to set his mind at ease, but he is still troubled...until he sees the dagger that Arthur is giving Morgana, and sees that it is not the same one from the vision--and makes sure to give Arthur a hard time about getting a girl a dagger, instead of something pretty.

That night at the feast, Morgana is opening her presents, and when she opens the one from Arthur, Merlin is surprised that it is not the dagger that he was shown earlier, but it is, in fact, the one from his vision.  Arthur must have switched it, as the first was not bedazzled, and this one was (since Merlin said girls want pretty things).  And he sees another part of his vision come true...and now Merlin is stressed again!

Merlin and Gaius begin to stake out Morgana, to ensure that she will not use the dagger to kill Uther.  Merlin takes the first shift.

Morgause (Emilia Fox) to meet her in the forest that night.  Merlin sees Morgana seek out of her chambers and head down the corridor, just like he saw in his vision.  He follows...it always amazes me that no one ever hears or sees her walking down the halls--she's wearing a bright red cape and her shoes tap and echo loudly.  Merlin gets a bit antsy and magically shuts the doors in front of Morgana, causing her to fall down the stairs, oops!  And even though he knows what Morgana is planning and all, he still feels bad.

All of the sudden Arthur is carrying Morgana into Gauis' chambers and Gwen (Angel Coulby) is following.  Not sure how they came into the picture.  Gauis says he can't help the bleeding that is happening in her brain.  We see the guilt and pain that this puts on to Merlin...not sure why, he has stopped the evil that wants to take down Camelot that hides in the court itself, but it's Merlin, and we know he cares--but he knows he had to do something.

As Morgana lays in her bed, in a coma, Merlin sees that this has brought Arthur and Gwen together, in their grief, and I think he feels worse about causing the others to go through this pain.  As we see Uther dealing with the possible loss of Morgana, he begs Gaius to save her life, using any means possible.  And to the surprise and horror of Gaius and Merlin (who is eavesdropping) he tells Gauis to use sorcery (the one thing that Uther is absolutely against) to save her.  Gaius tries to convince him that he's not thinking clearly, and Uther lets out a HUGE secret...Morgana is HIS daughter--not his ward, not his friend's daughter, but HIS!!  Well this explains why he's so obsessed with keeping her safe and going to such huge means to find her when she was missing.  Morgana begins twitching a bit while Uther is sharing...Uther tells Gaius that no one shall know, for Arthur's sake...but did Morgana hear all that?

Interestingly enough, when Merlin takes Uther a calming potion, Uther opens up to Merlin about his feelings for Morgana, and how he would do anything to ease her suffering...all the while, not realizing that the only reason Morgana came back to Camelot was to kill him.  Merlin watches those around him grieving and suffering and you can tell he feels so horrible about what he's done, but he also knows he had to do it.

Gaius tells Gwen that she will probably be gone by the morning.  Then we see a determined Merlin, and I'm thinking NO!!!  Don't do something to help her!  But what does Merlin do...he goes off and summons The Dragon to get help to save Morgana's life.  The Dragon thinks Merlin is nuts, as he has stopped Morgana, and she will not be a threat again...but clearly, Merlin has learned nothing from the past.  The Dragon refuses to help save her, and Merlin throws down his dragonlord card.  This pisses off The Dragon, but he has to obey.  But before he does he give the warning that the evil that will follow will be Merlin's doing and his alone.  Why doesn't Merlin listen and learn here?!  He's not listened to The Dragon before, and more bad things happen.  Morgana should go, as with Mordred in series 1, but Merlin never listens when it comes to seeing the dark side of people.

Merlin heads back and uses his magic (which was amped up by The Dragon) to heal Morgana.  The next day, we see Uther cradling an awake Morgana in his arms.  He thanks Gaius and doesn't want to know the details.  Merlin confesses to Gaius what he has done, because he couldn't watch everyone's grief, and Gaius understands why but warns him that he doesn't know what he's playing with.

Uther visits Morgana who tells him how she loves him as a father, and wishes that the people knew that...which brings up the question, did she hear the conversation with Gaius??  Well we find that out soon enough, when Morgause comes to see why Morgana never met her that night.  She tells Morgause what she heard Uther say, and Morgause is thrilled, as it gives Morgana a legitimate claim to the throne, yet, Morgana is really ticked, since Uther has been lying to her all these years, and so he must pay.

And then uh oh...Merlin is faced with the next image he saw in the crystal...turns out his vision is still on track!  He didn't stop anything...in reality, he may have caused the whole thing to happen!  Merlin rushes to Morgana's chambers right as she's putting the dagger on her belt.  He tries to stop her, but she uses magic to throw him against the wall, knocking him out and she walks out the door and we see another scene from the vision.  Again she's wearing the bright red cape...and as she moves through the castle it must be some sort of invisibility cloak, since no one at all notices her.

And now we see even more of the scenes from Merlin's vision coming to pass.  Merlin awakes, as Morgana stands by Uther's bed, while he sleeps.  Merlin gets there right as Morgana is lowering the dagger, and he uses his magic to blow out the windows in the room.  Morgana is thrown back, the dagger dropped on the ground, and Uther awoken.  To explain what happened to Uther, Morgana plays the poor me act, again, and says she was scared because there was a fire, and he's the only person she feels safe with.

Merlin then comes to terms with the fact that he's caused the future to occur while talking to Gaius.  Gaius then reveals that he thinks that Morgana knows the truth about Uther being her father, and that Arthur must be looked after, as once Uther is gone the only thing that stands between the Morgana and ruling the kingdom is Arthur...and we are left with a foreshadowing perhaps of what is to come.

Great episode!  Mystery, secrets revealed, action, suspense...LOVED IT!  But I love them all...this was just a better one of the bunch!

Torchline.com: Facebook Recap: Merlin 3.05 The Crystal Cave

Here's a sneak peek at next week's episode...tugging at the heart strings again, it seems.  Arthur is being forced to marry, and Gwen has to stand by and watch:

Merlin Series 3-Episode 4: Gwaine

**Originally posted October 3, 2010...when it aired on BBC.  I will say it again, SyFy needs to air Merlin earlier than 10p...let alone pushing it off the air to show reruns of their lame Being Human remake!
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Since I'm stuck home sick this weekend, a new Merlin was the highlight of it (and this entry probably won't be too great)!  This season we've already seen the dark side of Camelot along with some foreshadowing of the battle that exists within the King's court.  We've also seen the silly things that seem to occur now and again in this mystical world.  So what are we left to see...an episode filled with sword fighting and a plot to kill Prince Arthur.  This week's episode gave us that.

**SPOILERS BELOW**

We start with Prince Arthur (Bradley James) and Merlin (Colin Morgan) riding up to a small town after a day of hunting.  Arthur suggests going into the local tavern to get some mead.  While enjoying their mead, the boys are witness to the town bully shaking down the pub owner.  Of course, Arthur cannot allow this to happen, so a bar fight ensues.  Arthur is just about ready to be stabbed, when Gwaine (Eoin Macken), a fellow hanging out at the bar, jumps in between and saves him.  The bad guy is put in the stocks, and the townspeople flog him with tomatoes.

The boys take Gwaine back to the castle and is under the care of Gaius (Richard Wilson), the court physician--Arthur is very thankful that his life was saved.  In conversations between Merlin and Gwaine, we learn that Gwaine actually comes from a noble family, which would allow him to be more respected in the court, but Gwaine has disdain for the nobles because of the death of his father.

Then we see the fellow has clearly gotten out of the stocks because he is now in a dark room, purchasing enchanted crystals, which allow the wearer to change their appearance into the person's whose blood is on the crystal.  Another moment where a Harry Potter spell might come in handy.  Polyjuice potion...but the crystal is what they have in Camelot.  Then after sneaking up on a few knights, they overtake them and then take on their form.

All this to join the tournament in Camelot.  Their goal, to kill Arthur (is there any other?).

Once in the palace, our friend Merlin is told to do whatever the knights desire.  Well, of course, since Merlin was a part of the humiliation that warranted Arthur being killed, they treat him horribly.  The more that he's around the 2 "knights" the more he sees there is something just not quite right.  And then he sees the crystal--which when he looks into it, he sees the true face of the wearer.  He's figured it out!  He must tell Arthur!  But again he are faced with the, they won't believe me, because I'm just a servant.  So he must have proof.  So he tries to steal the crystal and he is discovered.  Gwaine gets concerned because it's been so long since Merlin left, so he goes after him.  He finds the "knights" about to kill Merlin, and steps in and saves his life.  He then gets taken in front of the king, for being a commoner and attacking the knight.  Though Uther (Anthony Head) is ready to send him to the executioner, Arthur steps up and speaks on his behalf.  So he is just banished from Camelot.  On his way out of town, Gwaine has a moment with Gwen (Angel Coulby).  Seems all fellas that come through Camelot fall for this girl.

Then the day of the tournament arrives.  A tournament where it seems it's just all the knights in the ring fighting it out with dull swords, until the last man standing.  This is the only spot in this episode where we see Lady Morgana (Katie McGrath).  We learn that the bad knights have swords that aren't really dull...though they look it.  Merlin tries to convince Arthur to pull out of the fight, but Arthur needs to prove to the people that he's fit to lead them.  The fighting begins.  We see the lovely sword fighting that the show is known for.  More and more knights are taken down.

Then it's down to the 1 of the bad knights and Arthur, who narrowly escapes being run through.  Then the other bad knight comes riding in on his horse.  Gaius tells Merlin to do something, and Merlin breaks the saddle, so the knight is now on the ground.  Now it's 2 against Arthur.  Then a knight that was grounded gets up and comes to Arthur's aid.  This knight is a great fighter, and takes down one of the bad knights then saves Arthur's life by taking down the other.  Since the point of the whole day is to get down to one knight, Arthur surrenders.  Who is this grand knight?  Why Gwaine, of course!

At the sight of Gwaine, Uther has the guards seize him.  He immediately believes that Gwaine has killed the bad knights...alas, he is wrong, for sorcery has come to Camelot, again.  Gwaine is again banished from Camelot.  Arthur tries to explain that if it were up to him, he would have him join the court.  Gwaine tells Merlin that he believes that Arthur is a noble man, and he's worth dying for.

Arthur then watches Gwaine go, saying what a shame it is that he can't be a knight.  Merlin says, maybe some day he will.  Their conversation is cut short when Arthur watches Gwaine speaking with Gwen and gets a bit upset.  Merlin then throws out, why would you care?  Great little moment of seeing the caring Arthur has for Gwen...through his jealousy.

Torchline.com: Facebook Recap of Merlin 3.04 Gwaine

Here's a preview of next week's episode--looks like we're getting back to the dark storyline...