Dragoon the Great

"I know more than you can possibly comprehend."

- Dragoon the Great to Arthur Pendragon

"Dragoon the Great" is a disguise that Merlin uses to mask himself, as to prevent his magic from being discovered by others, he is basically Merlin's alter ego. This disguise is caused by an aging spell that ages him around eighty years. Emrys appears as Old Merlin to Morgana.

Biography
The disguise first appears to Merlin when he is in the Crystal Cave, witnessing future events (The Crystal Cave).

As Gwen was accused of enchanting Arthur, when it was actually Morgana's doing, Merlin needed to save her from execution. So he decided to disguise himself as an old sorcerer, the same one he saw at the Crystal Cave. Once Merlin took the aging potion and transformed into an old figure, he went to get himself caught for the enchantment, by pretending to plant a new one. He deliberately got himself discovered by Arthur, who held him at sword point. But Merlin stopped Arthur by announcing if he were to run him through he wouldn't learn of his "plan". Arthur then lowered his sword and looked at Old Merlin with curiosity, recognizing his eyes. Old Merlin casted a spell, temporarily knocking Arthur out with helmet to his head, and made a run for it. Shortly afterwards when Merlin tried to use the reversing spell it didn't work. Arthur and a few guards caught up to Old Merlin and Arthur brought him to Uther, to who Old Merlin finally spoke his mind out to and lifted the blame from Gwen. He took Gwen's place and was taken to execution the next day, despite ho, trying to distract Arthur with more "confessions". Gaius visited him in the cell and Merlin told him he was unable to turn back. Gaius said could save him by brewing a potion that reverses the effects. He found time to give it to Merlin, who once again, made a run for it. He quickly drank it, returning to his old self. In the end he saved Gwen, but nearly got himself executed in the process (Queen of Hearts).

When Morgana discovered from The Cailleach that Emrys was her doom, she had a dream of the future which showed her pleading to an old man in a battle, to which she knew was Emrys. But she didn't know that she was dreaming of Merlin in disguise (The Darkest Hour).

When Uther was dying and Arthur was seeking magic to save him, him and Merlin went to 'his hut', but Merlin quickly snuck into a bush because he needed to 'pee'. Arthur struck a bargain with the old sorcerer. The bargain was that if Merlin save Uther with sorcery, Arthur will let magic roam free around Albion. They met up at the lower gate and made their way to Uther's chambers. Merlin tried to save Uther, but little did he know, Morgana had Agravaine put a necklace on Uther that blocked any curing spells. Merlin managed to save Uther for only a few seconds, before finally dying. Arthur went on a rage, but Merlin (who was probably even sadder) casted Arthur back so he could escape. What he did only increased Arthur's hatred for magic (The Wicked Day).

When Merlin needed to terminate the Fomorroh in Morgana's hut without revealing himself, he needed to once again, disguise himself as Old Merlin. On the way to Morgana's hut, he came across the Knights of the Round Table. They threatend to kill him but Merlin used magic to get himself out of that situation, using them as steps to get onto his horse. When he arrived at Morgana's hut, he searched for the Fomorroh, but on his way out he met with Morgana, who tried to kill him with a knife. He used a spell to push her back, before a magical duel broke out between them. After several close calls, Merlin defeated Morgana with a powerful wind spell, and killed the Fomorroh in the fire (A Servant of Two Masters).

Old Merlin appeared in a flashback following Morgana's magical duel with him. Gaius later mentioned to Arthur that the old man didn't intend to kill Uther, and did all he could in his power to save him but Uther was dying and nothing could be done (The Secret Sharer).

Merlin disguised himself as Dragoon for the fourth time, when Morgana crowned herself queen again. He did it to plant a poppet under Morgana's bed, which blocked her magic so she couldn't kill Arthur upon his confrontation with her. Old Merlin intentionally let Morgana spot him in order to lure her to "the safety of her bed", when in fact it was to the danger of her magic as Merlin had intended (The Sword in the Stone).

Appearances

 * Series 3
 * The Crystal Cave
 * Queen of Hearts


 * Series 4
 * The Darkest Hour: Part One
 * The Wicked Day
 * A Servant of Two Masters
 * The Secret Sharer
 * The Sword in the Stone: Part Two


 * Series 5
 * TBA

Trivia

 * A recurring gag over Old Merlin is that, when Gaius has to explain Merlin's absence, he would simply answer that he is in the tavern, and as a result, Merlin got the reputation of being a drunkard and is severely punished for that each time Gaius uses the excuse, much to Merlin's chagrin. This grows notorious to the point that Merlin asked Gaius to use another place than the Tavern as a excuse to him, but unfortunately, Gaius refused and Merlin was forced to be "trained" by George for a week (A Servant of Two Masters).
 * Another running gag that exists with Old Melin is that he constantly has run ins with the nobles, namely Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table.