Edwin Muirden

Edwin Muirden was the son of Gregor and Jaden Muirden.

Early Life
As a child, he was instructed in the art of sorcery by his parents. During the Great Purge, his mother and father were both burned at the stake for practising dark magic; Edwin attempted to save them by jumping into the flames and was badly burned across his face as well. His wounds were tended to by Camelot's court physician Gaius, who had once been a friend of Edwin's parents.

Revenge on Uther and death
Some twenty years later, Edwin returned to Camelot under his mother's maiden name, posing as a physician. He delivered a deadly beetle, by way of anonymous flowers, to Morgana; the insect crawled into Morgana's ear and burrowed into her brain, rendering her unconscious and feverish. When Gaius was unable to diagnose or treat her, Muirden arrived at the Court to offer his services. He summarily summoned the beetle out of Morgana's ear, claiming that she had a cranial haemorrhage.

Edwin's actions allowed him to gain Uther's trust and Uther offered him a place as Court physician, which Edwin accepted. However, Edwin still harboured a hatred for Uther due to his parents' deaths, and tried to kill the king by paralysing him and getting another beetle to crawl into his ear.

After leaving the King's bedroom, he was confronted by Gaius, who then tried to attack Muirden with magic. However, since he had not used magic for twenty years he was unable to pronounce the spell properly. Muirden slammed him against a pillar with the same spell pronounced correctly before summoning a ring of fire around him.

Merlin then burst into the room and Edwin offered him a chance to join him. After refusing, he attacked Merlin by telekinetically controlling an axe- Merlin deflected this with his own magic and killed him.

Personality
Edwin Muirden was a bitter man who was obsessed with having revenge on Uther for the death of his parents. He acted as a loyal servant to the king while gaining his trust and then revealed his true intentions while Uther was weak, paralysed and helpless. He also displayed a slightly sadistic streak by telling Uther that he longed to hear him scream just like his parents had.



Despite this Edwin appeared to be fond of Merlin to some extent, though he told Gaius that he would tell Uther about Merlin's magic if Gaius told anyone, including Merlin, that Edwin was an enemy of the king. He also didn't hesitate to try and kill Merlin at the end of the episode.

Abilities
Edwin was a powerful sorcerer, well accomplished in many of the magical arts, including spell-casting and potion making, he was also able to perform magic non-verbally, a skill that few other magic users have managed to perform. His power was still below Merlins, as he was beaten in a magical duel by him.

Edwin also possessed some knowledge of medicine, but he mainly used his healing Magic, suggesting he didn't know enough to heal some one without it.