Merlin Series 3-Episode 8: The Eye of the Phoenix

Originally posted when this episode aired in the UK, October 30, 2010.

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Just knowing that Warwick Davis is in this episode, I am all excited!!

**Spoilers Below**

Well this episode is off to a nice start in the first moment...Bradley James without his shirt.  It's happening in pretty much every episode now, and trust me, I am not complaining! 

Apparently, in order to become king, Arthur (Bradley James) must get a vision of a quest that he must complete alone and unaided--Merlin (Colin Morgan) looks a little concerned by this, since he is usually the one that gets Arthur out of trouble.  This storyline reminds me of something else...but I just can't put my finger on it.  Arthur comes out of his trance, and states that he will go to the realm of the Fisher King and retrieve the golden trident.

We learn from Gaius (Richard Wilson) that the Fisher King was a sorcerer that lived hundreds of years ago, and he was supposedly killed in a battle.  Yet his magic ran so deep, when he was killed, his lands died as well.  They then became known as the Perilous Lands.  Some still believe that the Fisher King is still alive.

Cut to the market down in the town.  Gwen (Angel Coulby) and Morgana (Katie McGrath) are shopping.  Here's my thought here, if Morgana is always seemingly sot after, wouldn't there be guards with her as she wanders the town?  While shopping for fabrics, Morgana is stopped by an elderly woman...which is actually her evil sister, Morgause (Emilia Fox) under a spell.  She gives Morgana a bracelet, and tells her to give it to Arthur as a token, for his quest.  As she is walking away, Gwen sees the old woman's reflection in a mirror and instead of seeing the old woman, she sees her true form...Morgause.  She is, understandably, concerned, as she had just seen Morgana wander off with her for a moment.  When asked if she was okay, Morgana said that the woman needed money to feed her family.  To me it seems that maybe, just maybe, Gwen is beginning to see that Morgana is EVIL!  Man, I wish she would...this round and round about it is getting rather old, at times.

Gwen then goes to Arthur before he leaves, and asks him to be careful, for her.  He agrees and then kisses her.  Not too touching of a moment...but I love that they are beginning to really show how they feel for each other.

As he is leaving Camelot, Merlin notices the bracelet on Arthur's wrist.  Arthur tells him it's from Morgana...he gets his angry/worried face and then goes straight to the books with Gaius, looking for clues as to what it is.  They finally find it...it's the eye of the Phoenix--which consumes the life force of anything it comes in contact with.  Well...that's not daunting at all!  Arthur is off on his own, wearing something that will suck his life force!  We know Merlin can't have that, and Gaius tells him that he can't do it alone, that he will need help.  Who to call....Who to call?  Merlin is off...

That night, while Arthur sleeps...Morgana is creating a voodoo doll of him, and setting it on fire within a box.  The eye of the Phoenix on Arthur's wrist begins to glow, and Arthur looks like he is having a restless sleep.  While Morgana is doing this, Gwen steps in her room...Morgana closes the box quicker than a fellow caught looking at the wrong things on his laptop, and screams for Gwen to get out--strike 2 against Morgana!

The next morning, Arthur is awaken by 2 guys trying to kill him.  The usual sword fight ensues, and Arthur is noticeably weaker and more floppy than normal.  Though he's clearly struggling, because his life force is being drained (we are shown the bracelet glowing in the midst of the fight) he is still able to take out both of his attackers.

We then see that Merlin isn't too far behind Arthur (as he is looking out at the same mountain range that Arthur did the day before.  Yet, clearly, he has a detour in mind, to get that help that he needs.  Who is it that he finds in a bar brawl??  Why, Gwaine (Eoin Macken) of course!  Who seems very happy to see Merlin, but sucks Merlin into the brawl and the next thing we see is the both of them running from the tavern with some tough looking fellows after them.  Oh Gwaine, you haven't changed a bit!  While running, Merlin fills him in--Arthur needs his help.  Gwaine agrees to help out.

Arthur, who is not looking too hot, gets to a bridge where the keeper of the bridge, Grettir (Warwick Davis) is waiting.  Grettir tells him he will need 3 things on his journey: courage (which Grettir called him), strength, and magic.  Arthur responds with something his father Uther (Anthony Head) would be proud of, "I do not condone the use of magic."  Grettir tells him he would be wise not to dismiss magic so easily.  As Arthur is walking passed him, Grettir grabs his wrist and looks at the bracelet.  When he hears that someone dear to Arthur gave it to him for luck, he smiles, and says, "did she now..." He clearly knows what the bracelet really is.  Arthur turns away, and when he looks back Grettir is gone.  He crosses the bridge to the Perilous Lands.

Back in Camelot, Morgana apologizes to Gwen for shouting at her the night before, and opts to make it up to her by giving her the night off.  Instead of spending the evening at home, Gwen hides out in Morgana's room to see what she's up to.  Good on you, Gwen!!  Though if she's caught, she's as good as dead!  Gwen watches as Morgana lights the voodoo doll on fire again, with magic.  At the same moment, we see that this drains Arthur even more of his energy, as he makes his way through the Perilous Lands.  He finds himself stuck in a bog, and he doesn't have the strength to pull himself out.  Then he passes out.

We then see that Merlin and Gwaine may soon find Arthur (hopefully very soon), as they have now reached Grettir's bridge.  Gwaine goes to check out the other side, while Merlin approaches the bridge, and Grettir appears.  He says, "Ahh...magic has arrived!"  And tells Merlin that he must cross the bridge if Arthur is to complete his quest.  He also states that they must succeed to restore the Fisher King's land to prosperity, which is something that he wants.  When Gwaine comes running up, Grettir says, "Ahh...finally, strength has arrived the trio is complete."  Clearly, the 3 of them are meant to go on this quest together.  As they cross the bridge, Grettir reminds them that in the Perilous lands, nothing is as it seems.

Then Arthur gets a burst of energy and crawls out of the bog, on to the shore, and then passes out again, through the night.  Poor guy, can barely move.  Why doesn't he notice the glowing thing on his wrist??

Oh thank the Mighty Dragon!!!  Gwen has figured out Morgana's secret, and she has run and told Gaius, who does not deny that Morgana means harm to those in Camelot!!! 

The next morning, Arthur stumbles as he makes his way through the Perilous Lands.  He finally gets close to the castle he's looking for, and sees that it's guarded by two large flying creatures--kind of dragon like (we find out that they are distant cousins of the dragon--could Merlin's dragonlord abilities work on these magical creatures too?!), which immediately go after him.  Just a bit behind him, Merlin and Gwaine see that Arthur is being hunted by these creatures and run to try to get there in time to help.  Arthur gets inside the castle walls and runs to find safety--though the creatures are right behind him, and the other 2 are not far behind.  Once they reach the castle walls, Gwaine and Merlin split up to look for Arthur.

When Merlin finds him, Arthur is passed out, again, and the creatures are about to attack.  He jumps in between them, and speaks in his dragonlord tongue...it worked!!!  The creatures bow to him, and back off!  Merlin removes the bracelet, and almost immediately, Arthur comes to, and then gets pissy with Merlin for being there--it was supposed to be his quest.  He gets even more pissy when Gwaine saves them when one of the creatures sneaks up on them and almost kills them.

And now the quest for the trident continues...interestingly enough, Arthur seems back to 100%.  Who would have thought it would have been that quick to restore your life force!

I'm thinking that this time,  I shall leave the ending for you to watch yourselves...it's REALLY good, and we get a little glimpse of what may come...Lake of Avalon...the Once and Future King...and we see that everything that happened in that quest (the good and the bad) had a purpose.  Just watch...it's bloody great!

I rather liked this episode.  I like the character of Gwaine.  He is friendly, loyal, and daring.  He makes the episode fun and more interesting.  You know he'll show up later, with Elyan and Lancelot, since they are known Knights of the Round Table.  I am SOOOO happy that Gwen is now in the know about Morgana!!  Now hopefully, Arthur will be as well...though that may be wishful thinking...

Torchline.com: Facebook Recap: Merlin 3.08 The Eye of the Phoenix

Here's a sneak peek at next week's episode--looking interesting, Gaius with a love interest??...though the last scene reminds me of the demons on Supernatural!

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.