Board Thread:Rewatching "Merlin" - Season Two/@comment-5102537-20130530130219/@comment-5102537-20130531102006

I found this episode okay. Not outstanding but alright. I'm not so very interested in tournaments, neither in assassins waiting in the dark to strike, so this wasn't a storyline that picked my special interest. Also the romance between Gwen and Arthur didn't convince me because I never really saw the great love between Gwen and Arthur (same with Merlin and Arthur, it just didn't convince me either).

Anyway, I especially liked turning the farmer into "Sir William of Deira". Very funny. Arthur checking the chicken and not knowing what to do with it was a very funny scene too.

Gwen once again proved her strength and courage when she finally tells Arthur off due to his arrogant behaviour. Instead of completely submitting to him she says what she thinks, yet stays respectful. This was the Gwen I still liked very much, a strong but warmhearted woman who had the great ability to open other people's eyes for reality and what's important in life.

It was interesting to see that Arthur wasn't so pure and made a mistake when killing Odin's son, even though it happened in a duel. Once again there was an attack that didn't have to do with Uther which I've always found refreshing and much more believable since, naturally, there had to be also people who had other reasons than simply the ban of magic to attack either Camelot or the royal family.

It was also refreshing to see that Arthur was able to convince Uther so quickly to not go to war with Odin even though Odin's attack was a clear declaration of war when trying to have the prince being killed. Uther immediately understood what Arthur was talking about and what Odin must have been going through when losing his son. This was something he could comprehend because he loved his own son too and surely would want to avenge him. This showed once again that Uther wasn't a king of war and most certainly didn't run into dangerous and destructive actions head over heals whenever something went wrong but acted reasonable in order to keep the kingdom from being weakened or destroyed in a war. It also showed that his vengeance only concentrated on those who used magic which was evident when the Great Purge started and when the druid camp was slaughtered when he thought that Morgana was being kidnapped. He was much too tolreant towards non-magic users for a king of the dark ages.

Nevertheless it's a miracle that Uther didn't hold a grudge against Odin. He tried to kill his son, after all. Some kind of  sanction or penalty would have been much more likely. But then, it probably was more reasonable to let it rest in order to not risk a war.

I think it was a big coincidence that Arthur hid at Gwen's place the very moment that the assassin came to Camelot. This was a good bit of luck.

Arthur proved his ability for humility when he let  "Sir William" take the glory which was a kind gesture and another step towards him being the great king that he sadly never really became due to the weird finale. Shame. Yet it was part of his nature to grant commoners/peasants much more rights and to be more respectful towards them than Uther was.

However, I do wonder why Uther and the others didn't recognize Arthur during the fights. I would recognize my family members or friends by the way they move, whether they are disguised or not. Especially since Uther knew every step of Arthur's fighting skills ever since he was a little boy.

Arthur lying to his father again and actually making a fool of him was both somewhat funny and not funny. Funny when he told him about the "creature" he had to hunt down but actually quite rude and mean to betray him like this. It felt a little bit like a teenager wanting a sleepover at a friend's place and lying to his parents in order to spend the night elsewhere. This was an important tournament and Arthur had some obligations, yet he fooled and betrayed pretty much everyone, even though his intentions were noble. I also wonder why his men were so bold to not inform the king about Arthur's real whereabouts. The soldiers and knights of Camelot had to answer the king after all, not the prince.

Last but not least, I think it was once again weird to hear Arthur telling Gwen that once he is king, things will be different. Again it has to be emphazised that Arthur was actually talking about his father's death that would put him in a position of marrying Gwen. Aside from the fact that waiting for a loved one's death is not really a nice thing, it's very unlikely that Gwen would have waited another maybe twenty years until Uther died a natural death. I truly disliked this scene because it was tactless and inappropriate. It also was a clear hint on the showrunner's side that Uther was only in the way and the reason why the kids couldn't do whatever they wanted to do. With scenes like this one they contributed to the viewer's anticipation to finally see another main character, Uther, die. Not okay.

All in all there were bits I really liked and others I disliked or found boring. An average episode, in my opinion.