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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:
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