Board Thread:Questions and Answers/@comment-99.67.186.187-20130911014032/@comment-5102537-20130912104146

Merlin almost died/almost sacrificed himself  in "Le Morte d'Arthur" without Arthur knowing (when he fought Nimueh), in "The Tears of Uther Pendragon" when fighting Morgana if you want to count this one. Well, he didn't almost die but he faced Morgana alone. In "The Beauty and the Beast", Merlin was captured by the troll in the dungeons. Don't know if that conts. In "The Darkest Hour", "A Servant of Two Masters", "The Secret Sharer", "The Lamia".

There surely were also such situations in season five but I've watched the few epsiodes I've seen only once so I can't remember them now.