Mary Collins

"You took my son, and I warn you - before these celebrations are over you will share my tears! An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth... a son for a son!"

- Mary Collins, threatening Uther

Mary Collins was a sorceress and the mother of Thomas Collins.

Biography
Mary, along with the people of Camelot, witnessed the execution of her son who was accused of sorcery. After that she swore revenge on King Uther Pendragon for her son's death, promising: "An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, a son for a son". She then fled, using the magic of an amber necklace which resulted in her teleporting before Uther's soldiers could arrest her.

She later intercepted Lady Helen of Mora's convoy on its way to Camelot. She murdered Helen by using a poppet, and cast a glamour on herself to take on Helen's appearance in order to gain access to the king. Her glamour was incomplete however, as her true form could still be seen in  mirrors and other forms of reflection. After she arrived at Camelot, a handmaiden caught a glimpse of her reflection, and was murdered for her discovery. Merlin also discovered her poppet while delivering a concoction, but was not caught by Collins.

At a feast celebrating the twentieth year since Uther drove magic out of Camelot, Collins sang to the court in the guise of Lady Helen, simultaneously weaving an enchantment that put the court to sleep and caused the castle to age exponentially. Merlin, who was present, avoided the effects of the enchantment by covering his ears. When Collins produced a dagger with the intention of throwing it through Arthur's heart, Merlin used his own magic to drop a chandelier on her. Her spell broken, the members of the court awoke, covered in cobwebs. With her last bit of energy, Collins hurled the dagger at Arthur. Merlin again used his magic to slow time and pull Arthur out of the dagger's path, after which Collins expired, having failed in her quest for vengeance and then dies. Merlin was then awarded as Arthur's manservant for his bravery (The Dragon's Call).

Appearances

 * Series 1
 * The Dragon's Call

Personality
Mary Collins clearly loved her son, Thomas, a great deal because she was devastated and enraged when he was executed. She swore revenge on Uther Pendragon and tried to kill his son, Arthur, to inflict the same pain on him that he had on her, but Merlin intervened and killed her by crushing her under a chandelier.

She was also clever, knowing exactly how to get to Uther. She seemed to have a slightly sly and cunning nature.

Abilities
Mary Collins was a sorceress and appeared to be quite powerful with magic. She used a teleportation spell to escape from Camelot after the death of her son, creating a whirlwind around herself before disappearing. She also killed Lady Helen using a poppet and then used a transformation spell to disguise herself as Helen. She also drained the life of a maid when she saw her real face in a mirror. She was also able to sing a song that magically put everyone in the throne room to sleep, except for Merlin who covered his ears. Even after Merlin brought a chandelier down on top of her, Collins displayed enough strength to hurl a knife directly at Arthur and if not for Merlin's intervention it would have killed him.

Behind the Scenes

 * Mary Collins was played by a young actress named Eve Myles. To make her look old, they used the same technology as they did on Colin Morgan in Series 3 and Series 4 of Merlin when they turned him into Emrys/Dragoon the Great, and also the same as they used on Emilia Fox in Series 3 when Morgause was disguised as an old woman.
 * Merlin uses an aging spell in an episode of Series 5 on himself.
 * Imagery of Mary Collins appears as part of the title sequence from series 1 to 3.
 * The song Mary Collins, disguised as Lady Helen, sings is performed by soprano soloist Emma Brain-Gabbott (as credited on the Official Soundtrack leaflet).