Dragon

"They must be left unshackled, free to roam the earth. Dragons are magical creatures, they belong to no man. They are for the benefit of all."

- Merlin

Dragons were Creatures of Magic that lived in the land of Albion. They were noble and powerful creatures, and were near-invincible and humbled only by the Dragonlords. The dragons were victims of the Great Purge, becoming near-extinct by its climax.

History
It is known that hundreds of years before Uther's reign, dragons brought down a kingdom called "Daobeth" (The Darkest Hour).

Dragons had a special bond with the Dragonlords, who could talk to, tame, and kill a dragon. According to the Old Religion, they are brothers to dragons, connected through their souls so that Dragons obey Dragonlords (The Last Dragonlord).

Dragons procreate by laying eggs which can remain viable for more than thousand years, but their special bond with Dragonlords is such that dragon eggs cannot hatch without a Dragonlord. Dragonlords do this by calling the unborn dragons into existence by naming the egg's occupant to bring them into the world. Thus, even if there were plenty of dragon eggs in existence, if there were no more Dragonlords none of them would ever hatch (Aithusa).

While there was such a thing as white dragons, their birth was a very rare occurrence (Aithusa).

Dragons were old allies with Trolls (Beauty and the Beast).

During the Great Purge, King Uther Pendragon had all dragons killed except for Kilgharrah. He then tricked the Dragonlord Balinor by asking him to bring Kilgharrah to him so he could make peace. Instead, Uther imprisoned him beneath Camelot and then had all the Dragonlords rounded up and killed (The Last Dragonlord).

Kilgharrah was imprisoned for at least twenty years before Balinor's son came to Camelot and set him free. Kilgharrah went on a rampage throughout Camelot to avenge what Uther did to him and his kind, but was stopped by Merlin.

Although only Kilgharrah and the young Aithusa remain, the dragons' distant cousins, the Wyvern, live on. Unlike dragons, they have red eyes and are only slightly larger than Humans, they also appear to be more animal like (The Eye of the Phoenix).

Appearance
The dragons in Merlin have many similarities to dragons in myth. dragons are massive, scaly, four legged creatures, with long tails and large wings. They have golden eyes. However Aithusa, being an exceptionally rare dragon, has blue eyes.

New-born dragons have a thin bones structure and their wing sails is a near-transparent membrane (Aithusa).

Abilities
Dragons had great knowledge and power in Magic. They were impervious to almost any weapon, an enchanted spear hurled at a Dragon would just bounce off it's scales despite being filled with Magic (The Last Dragonlord).

As with all Dragons in Myth, they had the ability to breathe fire and fly. Despite their massive size Dragons are far more graceful and much faster than they appeared, able to easily avoid numerous projectiles such as arrows even when they were fired at the same time. A Dragon could easily defeat a whole group of human knights (though not without the possiblity of being injured) and they seemed to be undefeatable to anyone except the Dragonlords. Dragons are a powerful and almost indestructible enemy in combat, a single Dragon being able to ravage a city within weeks.

Although all attacks on Kilgharrah in his assault on Camelot failed to kill him, there were presumably non magical ways to kill Dragons as Uther was able to have all the Dragons except for him killed. However, regarding the way Uther appeared to feel helplessly without Balinor while Kilgharrah attacked indicates that he likely had help from dragonlords, though how he convinced (or forced) them in do such thing is unknown (The Last Dragonlord). Judging by the way how Kilgharrah easily slaughtered an entire army of armed mercenaries, it's seems to be very unlikely that Uther managed to kill a single dragon without the help of powerful magic (The Sword in the Stone).

In addition to being virtually unbeatable, Dragons had the power to transmit spells from their thoughts into another persons mind (The Curse of Cornelius Sigan) and they could use their fire to fill weapons with magic giving it great power (Excalibur). Dragons also had healing and unlocking powers as Kilgharrah healed Merlin when he was stung by a Serket and broke open the chains which bound him (The Tears of Uther Pendragon). Due to Kilgharrah's prodigious knowledge of the future it's likely that Dragons could foresee the future, though he may have learned the future from another source.

Furthermore, a dragon's breath has the ability to bring back to life a fallen person or someone who is in a near-death situation. Kilgharrah unwillingly used this power once in order to give Merlin the power to bring Morgana back to life (The Crystal Cave). Aithusa did the same thing for her to the series 4 finale, after she was injured by a knight and Merlin's magic, although the reasons for doing that remain unclear (The Sword in the Stone).

Appearances

 * Series 1
 * The Dragon's Call
 * Valiant
 * The Mark of Nimueh
 * A Remedy to Cure All Ills
 * The Beginning of the End
 * Excalibur
 * To Kill the King
 * Le Morte d'Arthur


 * Series 2
 * The Curse of Cornelius Sigan
 * The Nightmare Begins
 * Beauty and the Beast: Part Two
 * Sweet Dreams
 * The Witch's Quickening
 * The Fires of Idirsholas
 * The Last Dragonlord


 * Series 3
 * The Tears of Uther Pendragon: Part One
 * The Tears of Uther Pendragon: Part Two
 * The Crystal Cave
 * The Eye of the Phoenix
 * Love in the Time of Dragons
 * The Sorcerer's Shadow
 * The Coming of Arthur: Part Two


 * Series 4
 * The Darkest Hour: Part One
 * The Darkest Hour: Part Two
 * Aithusa
 * The Sword in the Stone: Part Two


 * Series 5
 * TBA

Myth
The Dragons in Merlin are very similar to those in the myth. They are usually reffered to as massive flying fire-breathing reptiles. Like in Merlin dragons can live for hundreds or even thousands of years, and come in a variety of different colours. They have a bad reputation for being greedy and fiercely protecting its treasure in caves.

Dragon is derived from the greek word Drakon meaning huge serpent.

Chinese dragons, as opposed to the western dragons, are revered as creatures of zen and goodness.