Board Thread:Rewatching "Merlin" - Season Four/@comment-5102537-20131221121617/@comment-89.64.130.39-20181219161903

190.64.49.26 wrote: For some reason Merlin didn't seem to remember about his magic during the time he was controlled by Morgana. Why do you think this would be?

Personally I think the whole secrecy about Merlin's magic was overused, and it should have ended by the time Uther dies. Also, since the druids seem to know about Merlin being Emrys, I don't think is very believable Morgana couldn't find out before who Merlin was. Even worst, she doesn't even suspects about Merlin's magic, however Nimueh realized about Merlin magic immediaetly. Agreed, it's one of the thing that makes least sense in the whole series. Nimueh, using her crystals, instantly figured out that Merlin has magic. In the following episode, in the same way, she found out about "how important he is" (seemingly listening to the conversation between Merlin and Gaius).

And even if I assume that Morgana lost her brains when she became evil (which seems to be the thing anyway), it's in no way believable that Morgause didn't discover it. After all, she was using crystals too. In the first episode of season three, she said herself that there was something about Merlin. Didn't it get her thinking how he escaped from the serpents? Or how her spell backfired in the episode in which Elyan and Gwen were kidnapped by Cendred? Or how Merlin and Lancelot defeated multiple soldiers from the immortal army to get to the cup? Or even much earlier, how Merlin figured out what to do to stop the sleeping spell? I know that at that point, Morgana/Morgause didn't know about the prophecy but it was still dumb not to look into it, it was clear that he couldn't have done the above things without magic and he kept ruining their plans.

Anyway, "A Servant of Two Masters" was a great episode but wow, weren't the writers of the show cruel to Merlin. It's one of the few episodes in which Arthur is nice to Merlin all the way until the last scene, and seems to openly value his opinion above anyone else's. And Merlin gets to enjoy it for a few moments at the beginning but then he's controlled by Morgana. So, he doesn't really hear that "he's the only person Arthur can trust" (though the moment is, of course, hilarious in its own bitter way) or doesn't remember that he's asked for advice multiple times. He also won't ever really know how happy Arthur was when he and Gwaine found Merlin in the forest. And what's most meaningful for the future events, he was robbed of the only occasion when Arthur was open to the idea that Agravaine is a traitor.

Another thing is that it makes absolutely zero sense that Merlin didn't kill Morgana in that episode, before leaving her hut. Or in the next one, because she also lied unconscious before him. In fact since he knew where she lived, he could have killed her whenever he wanted, sending Kilgharrah there. It's a shame that he got to hear so many prophecies but in fact I think he never got to know the one which said that he was destined to be "Morgana's doom" - maybe it would help him get over whatever sentiments he had. (Though maybe it's not important, obviously he was the only one who could kill her.)

But back to the episode, I really liked Gwen here, and at that point of the show she'd already become pretty boring, so it was a nice reminiscence of her more interesting side. It was a cute moment between Arthur and Gwen when she was trying to convince him that there was a problem with bath water, and finally screamed at him "I don't think you can have a bath today!", to which he replied "Good job I'm not very dirty then," and she said "That's good job indeed" with a very funny face.

Obviously Merlin being an assassin without magic was hilarious, I liked how he openly told Leon that he planned to kill the king and how clueless he was with weapons. Also, how rude he was to Gaius, and well, pretty much anything he said in that episode ("What do you think about Percival?" "Very big.").

Another small moment that was interesting to me was the dynamics between Morgana and Agravaine. In the first few episodes, they seemed a little more like partners and it was here that Morgana really started pushing him. It was in that episode that I almost felt sorry for him (even if I probably disliked him more than Morgana because his sliminess was so disgusting) for the first time, seeing how much he wants to impress Morgana and how he's losing it.

Also, I liked how Arthur woke up to his new servant serving him amazing breakfast and it made him realize that he's not ready to accept Merlin is gone, and how Gwaine showed up to go to look for Merlin with Arthur. Though two things that ruined it were Gwen almost telling him not to go (when Merlin was in fact the only person in the show who's never given up on her, even later, when she was banished) and Arthur instantly insulting Gwaine.