Board Thread:Rewatching "Merlin" - Season Two/@comment-5102537-20130608085206/@comment-5102537-20130608190509

Edrea wrote: That is why Gwen always irritates me. ( --)

What is it about Guienevere? Was she the most beautiful girl in the Camelot or something? Is it said in the legend that way?

I suppose, as it often happens in the real world, that Gwen was one of those (though fictional) people who attract others only by her presence. It might sound weird since we're only talking about fictional characters, but at least in real life there are particular things that make certain people irresistable for others, like body language, pheromones, voice, body proportions ... Aside from her beauty, she had a particular personality and also way to present herself that attracted others. Such things can hardly be noticed by the viewers since we only see the filmed version of the (supposed) "real" person.

If you have ever been "enchanted" by the glance of another person, or maybe by just one single sentence of them, however actually unimportant, you might know what I mean. Some people simply have the charisma that drives the opposite or same sex mad. Beauty is always in the eyes of the beholder, so whether or not we are supposed to believe that the Guinevere of all the legends was the most beautiful woman ever, it might mean that she was a woman who cast a spell on men only by her presence due to her personality and pheromones most of all, additionally to her beauty. Even if 15 of 20 men find a woman beautiful or stunning, the other 5 men don't because they find another look attractive.

Not to mention that additionally to Gwen's beauty, she was a very kind, intelligent and fair person with a good sense of humour. She was beautiful and a strong and witty person. I'd say it's a good mixture to make others fall in love with her.

And yes, of course, another reason was that we as the viewers knew that she was the future queen and the one for who men fought for.

'''ReganX wrote: Like The Poisoned Chalice, I think this episode highlighted the difference between the younger generation who want only to save their friend - though I feel compelled to ask whether they'd have been as keen to risk their lives and the lives of others to save a random kitchen maid - and Uther, who is old enough and experienced enough to know that a King must choose his battles and not risk the lives of his soldiers, the men who will be needed to protect Camelot, to save one servant.'''

I agree. Though I think it's understandable that they were keen to save someone they liked and loved. Like most of us would probably rather risk their lives for someone close to us than for a stranger, Arthur, Lancelot and Merlin (and Morgana) naturally wanted Gwen to be saved.

The thing is that Uther didn't feel close to Gwen, and like Arthur probably wouldn't have been so desperate to save a random servant/peasant/soldier/whoever (not so sure about Lancelot and Merlin, though), he saw no real reason to save Gwen, a servant he didn't love and didn't even know. It wasn't nice that he refused to help her, yet it was - from his point of view - understandable, most of all due to the reasons you have already mentioned, ReganX.

Imagine if people learnt that the king either sent rescue troops or even pays the ransoms for servants and commoners... Soon Camelot would find itself with a servant-shortage at its hands because a kingdom that's susceptible to blackmail would be taken advantage of and a lot of others would try to make a fortune of  it. That's totally unthinkable.

Nevertheless, as a life lesson it was the right thing to show that there were people who wanted to save Gwen. I would have been more than just negatively surprised if Arthur and the others wouldn't have wanted to rescue her.

On a side note, I'd like to mention again that in this episode, Morgana challenges Uther in front of the court and he doesn't even get angry about it. This was one of the occasions that showed that he kept his promise he gave Morgana at Gorlois' grave and never punished her again for being disrespectful and insulting towards him.

I said it on the episode page but it bears repeating that Kendrick is an utter fool for thinking that it was a good idea to try to pass Guinevere off as Morgana.

Definitely! His actions made no sense but they gave Morgana the opportunity to strengthen her opinion about Uther being a ruthless a***. It also gave Gwen the opportunity to meet Lancelot again, and Merlin and Arthur had the opportunity to have a conversation about Arthur's love for Gwen. Not to mention that we got a foretaste of Gwen being royal someday. While here she wasn't worth to be rescued in Uther's opinion, we knew that someday she will be the queen - which was something that Arthur, Lancelot and Merlin proved by risking their lives for her, the servant.

'''Finally, every time I see this episode, I want to smack Arthur over the head with a heavy blunt object for not taking five seconds to ask his terrified, injured, half-undressed foster sister if she was okay, or to express relief that she was alive, before immediately demanding to know where Guinevere was. Uther's genuine relief and pleasure when he and Morgana are reunited is quite a contrast to Arthur's reaction.'''

And I agree again. I was baffled too that he didn't even say a word about her having returned safely. We learnt in season three how much she (supposedly) meant to him when he was devastated about her upcoming death. However, on other occasions he often behaved like a cold fish towards her, as if he wouldn't really care. Shame.

I like that Uther showed his relief so openly, and yes, his attitude towards his children or the ones he loved was way more mature than Arthur and Merlin's was. In just one single scene, Uther's love for either Morgana, Arthur or Igraine was more intense and believable than the entire show was about Arthur and Merlin's love for each other or for others, with the exception for Morgana's affection for Gwen in season one and two. Only Merlin and Gaius' father-son-relationship was equally convincing.