Board Thread:Rewatching "Merlin" - Season Two/@comment-5102537-20130720114222/@comment-5102537-20130721104425

I agree, StrengthCourageMagic.

This episode introduced us to the Crystal and Merlin's upcoming encounter with the glimpses of the future. It also demonstrated the unbelievable great power of magic and the effect it has on the one who sees the future.

I think it was sad that Morgana's first "love interest" - if we could even call it that way - was her only one and also be ruined so quickly. It wasn't quite nice of Alvarr to use her romantic feelings for him, but at the same time it shows his ruthlesness. I wonder what would have happened if Morgana had found out about Alvarr's manipulation of her feelings, later when she was much more powerful than him and driven by hatred. I guess it's never a good idea to mess with her.

Anyway, I was a little surprised that Uther reacted so softly to Morgana's challenge and insults towards him. She not only told him that he was an arrogant fool but also that she disowned him - which is something a king in those times would have never tolerated. Yet Uther simply grounds her when telling her to go to her chambers. He was visibly shocked by what Morgana told him but he didn't even wonder why she was so keen and blunt to defend a sworn enemy of Camelot. He should have asked himself what was going on with Morgana to side with someone like Alvarr, a potential murderer and assassin.

However, his reation to her proved that he kept his promise he had given her at Gorlois' grave - and sadly, the softer he grew towards her, the meaner she became.

I think it was obvious what Morgana was willing to do to get rid of Uther, even if it meant to harm and kill her friends and innocent people. She agreed to Alvarr's plan to kill all those who served him, and even though she was reluctant, in the end she was willing to kill her family and friends. I will never understand why she obviously made no difference and was that cold and cruel even in season two already. This contributes to what Goblin-Gaius told her later in season three, that there was "evil in her heart".

One thing that often bothered me was Gaius attempt to talk Merlin out of believing that the future was not what he saw in the Crystal. While it was alright in this episode, it later turned out that the future was indeed predestined and couldn't be altered. Gaius always seemed to try to ignore this all and he never really listened to Merlin's concern in regard to this - just as if he knew what was going to happen but tried to hide it.

I've always been under the impression that Uther knew very well that Morgana had helped Alvarr to escape. The way he looked at her in the end when he threatened the one who helped him escape showed that he at least suspected her. If this was the case, he was bluffing because he never even talked about it ever again and Morgana wasn't punished or under observation whatsoever. At this point of time I thought that Uther knew about Morgana's powers, given that Morgause was a sorceress and obviously inherited it from Vivienne, Uther's love affair at a time when he didn't have a problem with magic yet.

Shame that all that stuff was being dropped later. There was so much potential for such great stories.