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metonomiaMy thoughts on Merlin 3.01, The Tears of Uther Pendragon (1), in icon form. Later on I'll fix up the icons, pretty them up and post them as actual icons, but for now they are just illustrations.
Let's begin with some kind of heartbreaking ones.
DOLLOP-HEAD. It's idiomatic, okay, Arthur? You need to be more in touch with the people, okay? LISTEN TO YOUR FUTURE COUNSELOR. Power is derived from the consent of the governed.
I really like the Arthur/Merlin bromance dynamic here. There's a lot of Arthur making fun of Merlin and vice versa, but to me it was all very friendly, very brotherly - it was like, now that they've found Morgana, they can really laugh again, and it can come out mean because of station and because of stress, but they really are friends.
OH GOD MY FAVORITE SHIP. Guys, I loved Arthur/Morgana from day one, and then the show tried to tell me that really Arthur belongs with Gwen (thoughts on Gwen to follow) but I still believed, and see, I am validated! THEY SAY THEY ARE JUST FOSTER-SIBLINGS BUT REALLY IT IS LOOOOOOOOVE.
"I need him to get better," Arthur says, and then Morgana tells him, "I know." So here's the thing - I really don't think Morgana wants harm to come to Arthur. I think she knows he is fiercely loyal to Uther and will not help her bring ruin to the king, but I think that Morgana doesn't want Arthur to die in this takeover. And yet...she knows how much Arthur needs his father to be well, but she's not going to even think about stopping what she's doing to Uther. OH PENDRAGONS, SO MESSED UP.
SPEAKING OF PENDRAGONS.
"Drunk?" AND THEN UTHER WHACKS ARTHUR'S ARM AND THEY ALL LAUGH TOGETHER. I don't care if it's the mandrake root spell making him odd, I almost cried just then. Because this family, so screwed up, but Arthur loves his dad so much, and Uther loves both his children tons, and this brief moment of joy in the face of all the angst was SO AWESOME.
STILL SPEAKING OF PENDRAGONS, LET'S TALK ABOUT HOW I RABIDLY SHIP UTHER/MORGANA NOW.
"I would have searched the entire world - the seas, the skies, the stars...for that smile. Having it stolen from me was like a blade to my heart." Oh my God, my heart. Uther may be narrow-minded and often cruel, something which we see very hauntingly just a little later in the episode when he hallucinates a child he had drowned because the boy had magic, but in this moment...guys, he loves Morgana SO MUCH. And I hate him as a king, but as a person, right now, I just ache for him. Because he's really sorry for ever upsetting Morgana (he totally doesn't get it, of course, and he's still a dollop-head, but), he adores her, and I just...if she ends up killing him, I will take to my bower and weep for a week (first I'll have to build the bower).
Pause for pretty Morgana.
The pretty dresses!!! Love love love. Though really Morgana, darling, you are very pretty when you smirk/brood evilly, but maybe you should take more care. I think Gwen suspects something (even if she got like, NO SCREEN TIME. COME ON WRITERS).
What I am hoping is that Gwen will realize that more is up than just Morgana being a bitch to her, and that she and Merlin will team up to stop her. Or something. I want more for her, though.
Speaking of Morgana, here's the thing - obviously she's evil now (well, you know. against Camelot), but I don't want her to be defeated! But then, I also don't want her to cop out in order to save her life, you know? I don't want Anthony Head gone either, but if it came down to it, I'd want Uther to die and Morgana to stick around to help Arthur take charge of Camelot. Even though she's a foe now, I won't be pleased if she gets killed.
Magical sisters going to take over the world!!!! So much love. And oh man, that look on Morgana's face as she watches Morgause work magic. It's all wonder and awe, and some greed and savage joy mixed in, and I just cannot wait for Morgana to start really learning to use her powers. I want scenes of Morgana teaching her, of Mordred teaching her, of Merlin teaching her (that won't happen, I guess. Show is still adamantly keeping Merlin a secret, sigh).
LOVE Morgause. Emilia Fox grows on me more and more each time I see her, and I love getting to really see both her physical power and her magic employed so casually and effectively. Tom Ellis as Cenred (I really want it to be pronounced 'kin-rid' but alas, they want a soft c) is gorgeous and kind of amusing and omg he is kind of like an evil, leather-clad Aragorn. (I'm watching The Two Towers, okay? And I really love Aragorn and I really love Viggo Mortensen, and Tom Ellis has that look).
Anyway, I also majorly approve of Morgause and Cenred's relationship. I like how they are constantly testing each other, how both seem to feel superior to and yet respectful of the other. I like that Cenred tries to make light of Morgause, to kind of bring her down through sexual power, but really she's completely his equal. I'll so enjoy watching them take on Camelot.
Oh yeah, and then there's that bloke called Merlin. I capped one of them up at the very top - he has so many scenes in this episode where his expression is just so...doomed. I think that right now, despite the levity brought on briefly by Morgana's return, he is seeing very clearly the ways in which Camelot might fall, and while he doesn't worry so much about Uther, I think he fears kind of the same thing I do - that Morgana wouldn't stop at Uther, wouldn't acquiesce the kingdom to Arthur, would just keep killing. And man am I looking forward to that scene next week with him flying on Kilgarrah.
I've probably missed a lot, so if you've seen it, or if you've read this because you don't care about spoilers, talk to me! Just yesterday I was saying that I like this show more for the fandom than for the show, but suddenly I find myself completely re-enamored of the show itself. Maybe I just needed the fresh material. BUT IT WAS SO GOOD. I cannot wait for more, and I want to know what everyone else thought!
Let's begin with some kind of heartbreaking ones.
DOLLOP-HEAD. It's idiomatic, okay, Arthur? You need to be more in touch with the people, okay? LISTEN TO YOUR FUTURE COUNSELOR. Power is derived from the consent of the governed.
I really like the Arthur/Merlin bromance dynamic here. There's a lot of Arthur making fun of Merlin and vice versa, but to me it was all very friendly, very brotherly - it was like, now that they've found Morgana, they can really laugh again, and it can come out mean because of station and because of stress, but they really are friends.
OH GOD MY FAVORITE SHIP. Guys, I loved Arthur/Morgana from day one, and then the show tried to tell me that really Arthur belongs with Gwen (thoughts on Gwen to follow) but I still believed, and see, I am validated! THEY SAY THEY ARE JUST FOSTER-SIBLINGS BUT REALLY IT IS LOOOOOOOOVE.
"I need him to get better," Arthur says, and then Morgana tells him, "I know." So here's the thing - I really don't think Morgana wants harm to come to Arthur. I think she knows he is fiercely loyal to Uther and will not help her bring ruin to the king, but I think that Morgana doesn't want Arthur to die in this takeover. And yet...she knows how much Arthur needs his father to be well, but she's not going to even think about stopping what she's doing to Uther. OH PENDRAGONS, SO MESSED UP.
SPEAKING OF PENDRAGONS.
"Drunk?" AND THEN UTHER WHACKS ARTHUR'S ARM AND THEY ALL LAUGH TOGETHER. I don't care if it's the mandrake root spell making him odd, I almost cried just then. Because this family, so screwed up, but Arthur loves his dad so much, and Uther loves both his children tons, and this brief moment of joy in the face of all the angst was SO AWESOME.
STILL SPEAKING OF PENDRAGONS, LET'S TALK ABOUT HOW I RABIDLY SHIP UTHER/MORGANA NOW.
"I would have searched the entire world - the seas, the skies, the stars...for that smile. Having it stolen from me was like a blade to my heart." Oh my God, my heart. Uther may be narrow-minded and often cruel, something which we see very hauntingly just a little later in the episode when he hallucinates a child he had drowned because the boy had magic, but in this moment...guys, he loves Morgana SO MUCH. And I hate him as a king, but as a person, right now, I just ache for him. Because he's really sorry for ever upsetting Morgana (he totally doesn't get it, of course, and he's still a dollop-head, but), he adores her, and I just...if she ends up killing him, I will take to my bower and weep for a week (first I'll have to build the bower).
Pause for pretty Morgana.
The pretty dresses!!! Love love love. Though really Morgana, darling, you are very pretty when you smirk/brood evilly, but maybe you should take more care. I think Gwen suspects something (even if she got like, NO SCREEN TIME. COME ON WRITERS).
What I am hoping is that Gwen will realize that more is up than just Morgana being a bitch to her, and that she and Merlin will team up to stop her. Or something. I want more for her, though.
Speaking of Morgana, here's the thing - obviously she's evil now (well, you know. against Camelot), but I don't want her to be defeated! But then, I also don't want her to cop out in order to save her life, you know? I don't want Anthony Head gone either, but if it came down to it, I'd want Uther to die and Morgana to stick around to help Arthur take charge of Camelot. Even though she's a foe now, I won't be pleased if she gets killed.
Magical sisters going to take over the world!!!! So much love. And oh man, that look on Morgana's face as she watches Morgause work magic. It's all wonder and awe, and some greed and savage joy mixed in, and I just cannot wait for Morgana to start really learning to use her powers. I want scenes of Morgana teaching her, of Mordred teaching her, of Merlin teaching her (that won't happen, I guess. Show is still adamantly keeping Merlin a secret, sigh).
LOVE Morgause. Emilia Fox grows on me more and more each time I see her, and I love getting to really see both her physical power and her magic employed so casually and effectively. Tom Ellis as Cenred (I really want it to be pronounced 'kin-rid' but alas, they want a soft c) is gorgeous and kind of amusing and omg he is kind of like an evil, leather-clad Aragorn. (I'm watching The Two Towers, okay? And I really love Aragorn and I really love Viggo Mortensen, and Tom Ellis has that look).
Anyway, I also majorly approve of Morgause and Cenred's relationship. I like how they are constantly testing each other, how both seem to feel superior to and yet respectful of the other. I like that Cenred tries to make light of Morgause, to kind of bring her down through sexual power, but really she's completely his equal. I'll so enjoy watching them take on Camelot.
Oh yeah, and then there's that bloke called Merlin. I capped one of them up at the very top - he has so many scenes in this episode where his expression is just so...doomed. I think that right now, despite the levity brought on briefly by Morgana's return, he is seeing very clearly the ways in which Camelot might fall, and while he doesn't worry so much about Uther, I think he fears kind of the same thing I do - that Morgana wouldn't stop at Uther, wouldn't acquiesce the kingdom to Arthur, would just keep killing. And man am I looking forward to that scene next week with him flying on Kilgarrah.
I've probably missed a lot, so if you've seen it, or if you've read this because you don't care about spoilers, talk to me! Just yesterday I was saying that I like this show more for the fandom than for the show, but suddenly I find myself completely re-enamored of the show itself. Maybe I just needed the fresh material. BUT IT WAS SO GOOD. I cannot wait for more, and I want to know what everyone else thought!
