User blog comment:Ḡwẵine Ḹٍٍkƨ Ĺiĸe Ͼềлȑềd/Rumoured Cast???/@comment-4623180-20111127122358

You missed 'Odin'. http://merlin.wikia.com/wiki/Odin His character of course has been mentioned, and his mentioning has played a significant role- it's because of his assassin, the Gleeman, that Uther died (but originally wanted Arthur dead) and you could count that as an appearance, but it's a bit of a thorn in the side of Arthur that he's still around wanting him dead. (But you never see him- what's he plotting?!) So let me give you the way I'd do it (and I watch the episodes many times over and over:)

• Odin should appear once more, in a standalone episode in Series 5, and set up a trap for Arthur, by kidnapping an old friend or something and using him to lure Arthur to him. (In an abandoned fortress somewhere, not in his castle- too dangerous). The trap should then be pursued by Merlin who fails, but is then backed up by Lady Vivian!!! Whoo! She happened to be around or heard about it and sent for help or something. OR it could be her kidnapped by Uther. Nonetheless, King Olaf now is offering Arthur as much help as he can, now that his dad is dead. King Olaf shouldn't completely be forgotten. King Odin's trap is then foiled and his plans ruined, as well as his best soldiers killed. He manages to escape, though, but without nothing, no food or supplies, or a hose, and the walk back home is a few days. He'll presumably die of thirst or starvation, or wild animals or something, and not be mentioned. A deep scene of him regretting the vengeance he took upon Arthur should be shown. This would be good. Imagine Odin limping in the darkness, muddy and crying, with an amulet or something reminding him of his son, then a close of up of him thinking through everything. A good ending to him. (He'll then be forgotten) That, or at least the mentioning of him forgiving Arthur, being taken over by another kingdom or dying.

• Alined should at least be mentioned or return to play part in an episode, but I think another episode with him as primary antagonist isn't worth it. He's a bad bad guy, anyway.. pitiful person. Perhaps he could be used as a sideline person, used to give someone else more meaning. E.g. a powerful force manages to overthrow him and rule him, and use his riches and army for conquest. He could used as an example of a force that overthrows those that are greedy and cowardly. My point is, he should return, but in a degraded way, or be used a sideline or supporting character. Maybe he could be forced to ally with Arthur at one stage, but then try to betray him (and fail eventually). As for his servant, the one with magic, his powers should have grown and he too should be used a sideline character but die off fast (faster than Alined, presumably), as he too is out of focus and not worthy for the true evils in the upcoming seasons.

• Mordred definitely needs to play a big role. Morgause did, Morgana did, is and will, the three Ms need to be complete so I think Mordred is a must. Perhaps save him for the end, though. That's when Morgana will know who Emrys really is and the heat will grow between Merlin and Morgana. More people will find out about Merlin then.. that's epic finale kind of stuff. So Mordred is for the big stuff. The big stuff the dragon emphasised so much. No Mordred will be disappointing but I will understand at least 30% if they don't have him in it anymore. Maybe the future alliance Kilgarrah spoke off really was stopped by Merlin in the early series.

• Lady Vivian I mentioned. A sweetheart character who makes more of a 'gimmicky' cameo appearance, there to remind us of the old days, and add more depth to the series and show how it's matured.

• Freya, I'm not so sure, I don't think about her that much. She has had two episodes so far. She helped Merlin a tremendous amount, but Merlin has more help (like Alator) for Series 4. Things have grown. He may not even be thinking about her anyway. But sure, she's welcome but I wouldn't really consider making her a big part again. Bringing her back from the lake again and again seems to be moving back in story a little. Just my opinion anyway, but I'm sure there are more creative forms and ways for her to communicate with Merlin again. Maybe at the very end she can congratulate Merlin for reuniting the old and new lands. That would be a lovely touch.

• Grettir - Perhaps an episode where Merlin learns of one more thing the fisher king left, a secret, a secret dungeon/chamber full of gifts and treasure or even prophetic-worthy material in the perilous lands. We could see the reoccurrence of Grettir, there to add mystery and wonder again. Having him as an ally, I dunno, he seems a bit too lone to join up with anyone. He is his own force, don't see him really joining Merlin. He's a bit like the Great Dragon- a prophecy. The Great Dragon indirectly helps Merlin, you don't see him swooping down chasing Morgana, he doesn't do that. I kind of mean to say Grettir is too good to be in it. Don't want to remove that mysterious enchantment to him, either. I think it's a 50/50. Grettir making a one-off appearance is fine with me, a two-off, would be a nice surprise but probably only a treat.

• Hunith- Definitely, but her role I don't see extending to one of Gaius's. She should be there once again to emphasise Merlin. A sideline one, but sometimes skimming to a main character again. I'd say 2 or 3 more appearances of her would suffice.

• Ygraine- I think Arthur will learn the truth sooner or later, but we've only seen Ygraine in an illusion form so far. Both hallucinations, both caused by Morgause/Morgana. MAYBE an episode where Arthur views the past through a crystal or something. Since Merlin isn't the right style to do flashbacks, unless it fits in with moving the story itself forward (like in a dream or vision through another object), that might be great. Just flashes of her face and what not. But I'm sure Arthur will find out the truth. He should. After all, it's gotten as deep as it can get so far with the recent Gwen/Lancelot betrayal.

• Nimueh- As good as it would be to have her resurrected, why? Morgana is good enough. Though she is still too ignorant to find out who Merlin really is, unlike Nimueh who did right away, and is a lot more impatient and so on, her consistency makes up for it. Maybe to emphasise Morgana's power, she can obtain the power to contact Nimueh in the spirit world for some valuable information or power. That's as far as I can go. Bringing her fully back to life is silly. Because if that happens, why not Morgause as well? Why not the immortal army? The whole gang? Edwin? Mary Collins? That would screw Merlin over good. So yeah, Nimueh should be limited. No appearance= fine to me. She's not forgotten or anything, she would still be mentioned in concern to Ygraine's death.

• Alvarr- Yes, he should, or at least get a mentioning. When Mordred reunites with Morgana, he's sort of on the sideline. But since Mordred and Morgana are more magically capable than him, he could be killed off sooner than them. He could also just be used to emphasise their own power. His fall could give more reason for them to do evil!

I hope you liked what I've speculated. If you wanna talk more Merlin, email me (without the spaces) at d r y u u @ g m a i l. c o m