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~ Merlin 3x01 ~
Remember back in S1 where the writers actually tried to make an attempt of putting out a whole host of ships? And it felt like each character (the main four at least: Arthur, Merlin, Morgana and Gwen) had a nice part to play. True, Gwen was in the background a lot in S1, but she still had her moments and the writers developed her friendship with Merlin even if it wasn't until later S1 where hints of Arthur/Gwen started to appear (versus the ONCOMING TRAIN!! Arthur/Gwen of S2).
Seeing how each series is progressing is reminding me how much more balanced S1 was...they managed to handle Morgana and Gwen's characters much better...unlike in S2 where the writers decided to get rid of any Arthur and Morgana interaction (not shippy, just any interaction would have been logical as they are siblings...whatever, writers Oo) and then they floundered all, "Oh no...what the hell do we do with Morgana now? Oh...well, we'll just develop Arthur/Gwen in S2 and no one cares about Morgana, right? We'll just give her a couple episodes here and there and suddenly turn her evil...everyone will get a nice surprise at that! No one will see it coming!" (cause you barely developed Morgana's character in S2, so it just ended up being faulty characterization...*IDEK with the writers anymore*).
I've read a comment about how some of the Merlin/Arthur scenes in 3x01 could have been cut/shortened to give Gwen more scenes (besides her epic flower arranging and whatever else she was doing...oh, Morgana's inexplicably cold behavior toward her...whoa, what has Gwen ever done to you? IDEK). While I frowned a bit at some of the Merlin/Arthur scenes being called "pointless", that person did have a point... I was thinking that at least Arthur putting the bucket on Merlin could have been cut...that just ruined the moment for me and it looks like I'm not alone here. But that's the main thing I could think of...or the Arthur pretending to be Merlin "fighting"...that could've been something else to cut.
Yes, it's more than clear that all those lovely Merlin/Arthur scenes were mostly for the comedic aspect of the episode (they pretty much all took place before the episode really went downhill...into dark territory I mean with Uther's madness). But I do mostly watch for the Merlin/Arthur scenes...though I even admit to missing more serious/emotional Merlin/Arthur scenes since all we got was comedy/funny scenes between them. Considering this *is* a two-parter, the imbalance was intentional in a way...since it appears their more serious scenes will be in the second half. So knowing that, I'm all right with their scenes in this episode (the banter, the teasing is always something to look forward to :)) particularly the "Is your little bottom sore?" line from Arthur to Merlin. I had forgotten about that line, but then I was reminded of it and then I pretty much giggled ridiculously at the slashiness of the line. THEY DO THIS INTENTIONALLY. :P (and I love them for it *nods*).
I don't mind that Gwen's presence was minimal in this episode... My trio is Merlin/Arthur/Morgana...so the fact they each had a good amount of screentime made me happy. I love that Morgana had a significant role to play here even if her evil smirks got tedious after a while (we geeeet it, you're EVIL). Haha, was anyone else gobsmacked that Arthur and Morgana were actually talking to each other/interacting at all? I was like, "What?? Am I watching the right show? I thought they would ignore each other like they did in S2...some sort of long-term sibling silent treatment for a reason the audience wasn't privy to :P"
I snagged an icon of Arthur/Morgana hugging in 3x01 (I know it's fake from Morgana's POV, that's why the icon's not attached to this post :P) because it could very well be a moment from "The Heart of King Arthur"...I was thinking after their daughter Kahlan is born (like comforting each other since "Oh no, Kahlan's a Confessor...what do we do? How do we raise her?" /end drama). I think I'm a closet Arthur/Morgana shipper now, maybe (ok, it's more shipping Arthur/Morgana in "The Heart of King Arthur"...which is a bit weird since it's my own fic, but it was months in the making so it's hard not to feel attached to characters/relationships in a fic you write, you know?)...I'm interested in seeing how long it'll take for Arthur to discover that Morgana is *bad news* on the show.
CENDRED/MORGAUSE = THE NEW OTP. They totally did it with one another, yes they did. I love it when new characters (Cendred) come in and are AWESOME and I want to squee all about Cendred's crazy leather attire and "you can't control me" attitude toward Morgause. I want more of them so badly...*nods*
I love Morgana's pretty new outifits...the red cloak/dress...and purple cloak...cheers for new "I'm an evil sorceress, watch out" outfits. (Just wean yourself off the evil smirks please ;)).
I'm glad that Morgana knows Morgause is her sister now...figure it's been a year, she would know by now. ;)
Morgause and Morgana catch Merlin in the act and he's all tied up in magically bound chains with nowhere to go and then giant scorpions/sekrets come to eat him. Oh noes! Someone commented that if Merlin's supposed to have the power of life over death...after killing Nimueh in S1...then couldn't Merlin have killed the scorpions and then had butterflies be born in their place?
But then that would have been a bit too cracky I suppose...one moment, giant killer scorpions, the next awww look at the pretty, colorful butterflies! :P
I fear Merlin will suffer the MAGIC!FAIL syndrome this season. *sad face* I heard that he'll mostly just use his Dragonlord powers ("Hey Kilgharrah! I'm tied up, come fetch me!" ...to which the dragon says, "I'm not your dog! *frowny face*") and also focus on his mental powers aka the advisor role versus the "I can kill you with the power of my mind awesome magical powers") *resigned sigh*
Aww, I was actually feeling a bit sorry for Uther there when he was going mad...but then the sodden boy showed up and then it was revealed that Uther drowned magical children who looked suspiciously like Merlin...SO THERE IS NO SYMPATHY FOR YOU, UTHER. How could you??? Fail.
Next episode:
Merlin: I'M THE KING OF THE WORLD!
The Titanic sinks.
The Dragon: I TOLD YOU SO.
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And you have a good point there...Arthur's still alive and well and even with Uther gone mad, Arthur is more than capable of taking on the leader role (no matter how adverse Arthur was to doing so because he hated the thought of usurping his father). Despite Arthur's reluctance, when push does come to shove, he will do what he has to. So Morgana and Morgause's thinking was a little faulty there...