Board Thread:Rewatching "Merlin" - Season One/@comment-5102537-20130223112431/@comment-5102537-20130225120158

As far as I'm informed, at least according to what I read on the internet, "Valiant" belongs to the fan's least favourite epsiodes of season one. If this is true, I have to agree with that.

Nevertheless, I liked this episode (just not as much as others), probably also because tournaments are not my favourite things on TV.

I was wondering what drove Valiant to kill Arthur but I suppose it was all only for the prize to win. The character Valiant was a typical villain to me and it was clear from the beginning that he would fail once he faces Arthur. What was interesting was the way the protagonists try to prevent Arthur from being killed by magic. The outcome was secondary to me since Arthur would not die in episode two already ;-)

One thing that surprised me was the fact that Gaius left the poisoned/wounded Ewan alone in the quarters when he knew but too well that another attack was likely.

I loved how Merlin practised to bring things to life and the suddenly awakened unreal dog barkig behind the door

This was one of the first episodes in which Merlin has a hard time making himself heard, and Arthur, Uther and others denying what a servant is claiming to know. Since Arthur saw that Merlin was right in the end, it would have been nice if Arthur had grown more senible and sensitive to Merlin's warnings in the future. Alas, this treatment lasted until the very end of the entire show.

There was also the introduction of the royal's arrogance towards servants, especially on Uther's side, which was understandable but also very unpleasant.

And Arthur and Morgana sort of flirting is actually proof to me that the showrunnres had not planned to make Morgana Uther's daughter from the beginning.