Series 4



 Series 4 of Merlin will air in autumn 2011. Its air date is not yet known. The series was originally cut to ten episodes from the previous series' 13 due to financial issues. However, Johnny Capps revealed on 18 March 2011 that the show has been increased to its original 13 episodes, opening with a two-parter. Filming started in mid-March 2011 in Cardiff, Wales and Pierrefonds, France. This season is said to be darker and mature than the rest, with the other three having a few violent scenes, and this one having much more. Most characters will show a darker side to their personality. The offical tagline for the fourth series is: The Darkest Hour Is Just Before The Dawn.

Trailers/Previews

 * Official Trailer shown at Comic-Con: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZjVsDiHbS64
 * Offical Poster from Comic-Con:here.
 * Official Bloopers shown at Comic-Com: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zslj5qZ8W_I
 * Spoilers revealed at Comic-Con: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=leJlravQ3Zg&feature=related

Confirmed Facts

 * The season 4 description 'The Darkest Hour, Is Just Before The Dawn' is one of Bradley James' Lines in Season 4, Confimed by Bradley at the San Diego Comic Con: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wax0DoWJeRc&feature=related at 13:12.
 * The series will open with a two parter called Revival of the Witch.
 * Revival of the Witch will take place a year after the events of The Coming of Arthur.
 * Nathaniel Parker will play Arthur 's uncle Agravaine.
 * Arthur will become either King or Prince Regent.
 * Morgana will return.
 * Gwen and Arthur will get married.
 * Morgause will be brought back by Morgana and thus return.
 * Merlin will be injured and perhaps lose his powers.
 * Merlin will show a darker and damaged side to his personality.
 * Merlin will disguise as Dragoon the Great (Old Merlin) again.
 * Gwen has been looking after the King during the period of time between the series.
 * A sword will be burned near the start of the series.
 * There will be more Knights of the Round Table
 * Morgana wears a lot more makeup.
 * Agravaine will be the new enemy within the walls of Camelot, laying a claim to the throne.
 * Merlin will try to discover his destiny as Emrys, and will find out there are massive reasons why he can't reveal his magic.
 * Morgause and Morgana will start looking for Emrys, unaware that he is Merlin.
 * Merlin will somehow be stripped of his powers (possibly temporarily).
 * Lancelot has a major role in Revival of the Witch.
 * The Arthur/Gwen/Lancelot love triangle will be a major plot line.
 * Lancelot will be declared dead, which causes mourning among Merlin, Arthur, the knights and especially Gwen.
 * There will be more stories about Uther's past.
 * Arthur and Gwen will become engaged.
 * The way Lancelot is portrayed may be substantially different from the legends.
 * Morgana's magic has finally become as powerful as Merlin's, and possibly more powerful than Morgause's.
 * A battle for power will occur between Arthur and Uther.
 * Morgana becomes quite nomadic, moving from one place to another.375518950.jpg
 * Lancelot will meet the Great Dragon.
 * Grettir will make an appearance.
 * The Isle of the Blessed will reappear.
 * Gwen and Morgana will learn about Merlin's powers.
 * Hunith will return.
 * Merlin and Gwen's friendship will be explored this series.
 * Gwen and Lancelot may be under a love enchantment, causing a fight between Lancelot and Arthur. In the official trailer, Guinevere is shown to be wearing a suspicious bracelet, while kissing Lancelot. What's more Lancelot shows suspicious behavior, since he attacks Arthur. (Up here is possibly true) The most likely possibility is that Agravaine has put a spell on them with Gilli's help causing a fight and trouble. (This is less likely due to Gilli is not confirmed to be in the series yet, if he is where's the proof?)
 * Merlin will have a new reason to hide his magic from Arthur.
 * Arthur will learn the truth of his birth again.
 * There will be an episode that focuses solely on dragons and the future of the dragons.
 * Uther is in a mental state that prevents him from ruling so Merlin gets the biggest chance that he's ever going to get, to guide the future in the direction that he wants, the destiny that he is set to achieve. He wants to see magic return to the kingdom under the rule of Arthur.
 * Merlin is going to struggle keeping his friendship with Arthur going on, but he is met with a wall and he's not sure how to deal with that.
 * Merlin's greatest fear is a reincarnation of Uther in Arthur: if there's any sign that Arthur is thinking like Uther, then he can never bring his magic to the foreground. He can never get the kingdom he wants to have.
 * Merlin will dress like a knight of camelot. (Not sure why thought but was confirmed by Colin Morgan)
 * Arthur is walking towards the very noble, heroic king that is spoken of in the legends.
 * There is someone or some people/creatures who have no faces who attack a village.
 * There will be a dragon egg in one of the episodes.
 * Uther is closer and warmer towards Arthur. There's some really nice, emotional stuff between them.
 * As per usual Uther and Merlin will have just a little interaction.
 * Merlin will be sympathetic towards Uther but ultimately loyal to Arthur.
 * We'll see a lot more from Arthur's knights as their characters are explored.
 * We can expect series 4 to be darker and to see the return of Excalibur.
 * With Uther a broken man, Prince Arthur has the emotional dilemma of either taking charge or waiting for his father to recover.
 * Uther is a broken man this series and this leaves a power vacum in Camelot which leaves Arthur with a choice.
 * Morgana is pulling an old wagon, whose contents are covered. Her face is covered by a hood. Knights of Camelot approach and inquire where she is headed. She says the Sea of Meredor. She turns and Leon says “The Lady Morgana!” to which she holds out her hand and Leon goes flying backwards. She continues to do this for the remaining knights, like Elyan. When she’s confident they are incapacitated, she pulls down the covers of the wagon to reveal Morgause, and asks if Morgause is okay. Morgause says yes, but they have to hurry.
 * In the blooper reel, someone will temporarily wear Merlin's costume and serve Arthur.
 * Uther will fight with someone in his chamber.
 * Morgana and Morgause will go to the Isle of the Blessed.
 * Someone emerges from the Lake of Avalon.
 * Merlin, Arthur and the knights go to the isle of the blessed in search for Morgana.
 * Mordred returns He is heard in the comic con s4 trailer saying " Emrys " at 0.41 seconds as Merlin gets pushed back against the wall.
 * Wyvern will attack the Knights of the Round Table, including Lancelot and Percival.
 * In the 4th series you forget that they were all good mates. Merlin remains a servant whereas Gwen who is becoming a lot more privileged. In terms of status there are barriers up now.
 * Arthur takes over Uther and relies on his uncle Agravaine.
 * Merlin is upset that family bonds seem to overrule friendship, regardless of what he's done for Arthur and what they've been through together. Merlin has a lot of scenes where he is calling on friendship, looking at things from the heart, and it's not clicking. That's a big thing for Merlin to try and overcome.
 * Old Merlin/Emrys appears regularly. Morgana knows that her doom is Emrys and wants to get him, even though she doesn't know who he is.
 * Old Merlin is not exactly an old man but is Merlin in disguise and the way young Merlin thinks an old man would react. The character can pretty much say what he wants around people and they genuinely won't question him on it. He is an angry old man with a stick.
 * Arthur's first duty is to Camelot, and Gwen is one of those things that he'd have to make sure would be good for the kingdom before he acts on it. Lancelot stands in their way as far as Gwen is concerned, so their love story will be a mess.
 * Arthur will always be there for Merlin and Uther, despite he doesn't agree with all his decisions.
 * Arthur doesn't see Lancelot as a threat and he is great for Arthur's protection and the kingdom. They've always respected each other hugely, and Arthur's got great respect for Lancelot and what he's capable of, and who he is as a person.

Rumours

 * The Great Purge make be shown briefly in a flashback
 * Nimueh will be revived by Morgause and will return.
 * Morgana and Morgause will form an alliance with King Alined.
 * Morgana will have somewhat of a reluctant romance, possibly with Gwaine.
 * Uther will die.
 * Gwaine will be the second knight out of The Knights of the Round Table to find out about Merlins secret.
 * Morgause will kill Gaius.
 * The Sidhe will reappear.
 * Avalon will reappear.
 * Arthur's mother Ygraine will appear (in a vision or flashback).
 * Cornelius Sigan's soul will possess another person.
 * Mordred and Arthur will meet again.
 * Merlin meets Morgana at the Isle of the Blessed.
 * Arthur kills Uther after learning the truth of his birth again.(spoiler)
 * Gwen tells Arthur about Merlin's powers and he banishes him from Camelot.
 * When magic returns to Camelot, it makes more bad than good and Merlin is blamed.
 * Morgana and Merlin will have a kissing scene.
 * Arthur will confront Morgana for the first time after discovering her true nature.

Main Cast

 * Colin Morgan as Merlin/Emrys
 * Bradley James as Arthur Pendragon
 * Katie McGrath as Morgana Pendragon
 * Angel Coulby as Guinevere
 * Anthony Head as Uther Pendragon
 * Richard Wilson as Gaius
 * Emilia Fox as Morgause
 * Santiago Cabrera as Sir Lancelot
 * John Hurt as the voice of Kilgharrah the Great Dragon

Cast to Reappear

 * Tom Hopper as Percival
 * Adetomiwa Edun as Elyan
 * Eoin Macken as Sir Gwaine
 * Caroline Faber as Hunith
 * Asa Butterfield as Mordred
 * Warwick Davis as Grettir
 * Alice Patten as Ygraine Pendragon
 * Rupert Young as Sir Leon

Rumoured Cast

 * David Schofield as Alined
 * Laura Donnelly as Freya
 * Harry Melling as Gilli
 * Michelle Ryan as Nimueh (implied on her BBC profile)
 * Georgia Moffett as Lady Vivian

New Cast

 * Phil Davis as The Gleeman
 * Nathaniel Parker as Agravaine
 * Charlenne MacKenna as Lamia
 * Hayley Bishop as Caelia
 * James Callis as TBA
 * Gemma Jones as The Cailleach (gatekeeper to the spirit world)
 * Lindsay Duncan as Queen Annis
 * Zee Asha as Audrey
 * Steven Hartley as King Carleon
 * Emma Tainton as Servant
 * Andrew Fowler as Knight of Camelot
 * Sarah Beck Mather as Vilia
 * Zig Byfield as Goron
 * Anya Beth-Davies as girl (one of the girls who gets saved by Vikings)
 * Terence Maynard as Helius in 3 episodes
 * Gary Lewis as sorcerer
 * Miranda Raison as Isolde