The Kindness of Strangers

"“Let loose the hounds of war. Let the dread fire of the last priestess reign down from angry skies. For brother will slaughter brother. For friend will murder friend. As the great horn sounds, a cold dawn at Camlann. The prophets do not lie. There Arthur will meet his end, upon that mighty plain.”"

- Gaius reading Finna's delivered prophecy.

The Kindness of Strangers  is the tenth episode of the fifth series of Merlin.

Synopsis
Morgana leads a terrifying manhunt in pursuit of her old foe, Alator of the Catha, for she knows without a doubt that he can tell her exactly where to find Emrys. Merlin’s life has never been in more danger, so when the mysterious Finna offers to help him, is he right to trust her? Or will he find himself cornered with nowhere to run?

Plot
The episode opens with a vicious attack happening in a village. Morgana oversees the destruction. Alator of the Catha is brought before her on his knees and she demands he tell her who Emrys is. Later on Merlin goes to check on Arthur who tells him to bring breakfast-in-bed for Gwen as Arthur wants to surprise her. As Merlin is collecting flowers  a woman appears and she tells him she has been told to warn him about the great battle. They are interrupted and Merlin promises to seek her out later. Merlin brings Gaius the brooch he found in the woods earlier in the day while on a picnic with Arthur and Gwen. The physician states that it was forged in Helva but other than that he knows nothing about it

Gaius warns Merlin against going to the wood. However Merlin goes regardless and  finds pieces of torn paper and brings them to Gaius who is sure are written in the Catha language. Gaius correctly assumes that Morgana has captured Alator to get him to reveal Emrys' true name to her.

Merlin returns to Arthur's bedroom and gives him breakfast, still troubled. However, victims of Morgana's vicious attack flood into Camelot from one of the few places where magic is still used. Merlin confides in Gaius and tells him Alator would never betray him and also tells him about about Finna. He goes to meet her, however Gaius suspects Finna of siding with Morgana and alerts Arthur who sends out his knights to capture Finna.

Against Gaius' advice, Merlin goes, and finds she is a follower of Alator's, and her name is Finna. Requesting he meet her again when Mordred leads the Knights into the temple, she runs off into the woods.

Meanwhile Morgana is having Alator beaten by one of her minions however Alator remarks he has been trained to cope with physical torture which leads Morgana to use evil magic in and attempt to get the truth by using the Nathair but he still refuses to talk.

Alator received a letter from Finna telling him that all was well and she had found Emrys. Morgana has her guards bring Alator to her again. Once again, she tries to get the information from him. However, he refuses, and claims that if Morgana killed him, he'd go to paradise happy in the knowledge that Morgana would have failed. Unfortunately at the time, Morgana's guards discovered the letter from Finna. After telling Alator she would 'find Finna' and break her like a twig' and 'enjoy your other world' she snaps his neck using magic.

Meanwhile Morgana is searching for Finna in the woods at the same time as Merlin. Merlin reaches her first and they talk, before being attacked by three of Morgana's army. Merlin is wounded, but they manage to escape to an old watch tower, where Finna completes her request and delivers Arthur's destiny to Merlin.

She warns Merlin not to trust Mordred  and asks that he leave her his sword, before telling him to go to the roof, for it is her that Morgana wants. As Morgana arrives, she confronts Finna and asks for Emrys' identity, but Finna uses Merlin's sword to stab herself, dying almost immediately from her wounds, leaving Morgana frustrated as she has no other way to find Emrys.

Morgana then orders her men to burn Finna's body and leaves, meanwhile as Merlin is dying from his wound he speaks in dragon tongue and Kilgharrah appears from nowhere and flies him to safety and heals him. As Merlin wakes he thanks Kilgharrah for his help however also notices Kilgharrah has a wound on his wing and asks him what has happened. Kilgharrah remarks his time has come and reveals he is dying. Merlin is shocked by this and asks Kilgharrah if he will see him again, however Kilgharrah remarks when Merlin needs him he will be there for him and flies away.

Merlin later on confides in Gaius and has him read the parchment Finna gave him which says that on the Great Plain of Camlann Arthur will meet his end. Merlin is worried and shocked as he has found out where Arthur shall die by Mordred's hand, just then, a Knight bursts in and brings in a dead fellow Knight whose face is covered in excess skin and Gaius identifies this as ragaid a very gruesome type of magic and says Morgana has declared war on Camelot.

Main Cast

 * Merlin - Colin Morgan
 * King Arthur - Bradley James
 * Guinevere Pendragon - Angel Coulby
 * Morgana - Katie McGrath
 * Sir Gwaine - Eoin Macken
 * Sir Leon - Rupert Young
 * Sir Percival - Tom Hopper
 * Gaius - Richard Wilson

Recurring cast

 * Mordred - Alexander Vlahos
 * Alator of the Catha - Gary Lewis
 * Kilgharrah - John Hurt

Guest Cast

 * Finna - Sorcha Cusack
 * Beroun - Barry Aird

Trivia

 * This marks Alator's second appearance in the show, the last being The Secret Sharer and also his death.
 * Kilgharrah reappeared in this episode after his last appearance in The Disir and told Merlin that he was dying.

Reception
7.00 million views

Broadcast
The Kindness of Strangers December 8, 2012 - 8.00pm BBC One 

Transcript
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