User blog comment:MerlinUSA/Lies My Dragon Told Me/@comment-5102537-20130130003215/@comment-5995315-20130130210748

Yes, I mean the dragon cannot know certain things about humans. Part of what he said was --

KILGHARRAH ''Patience, young warlock. The solution lies in a force greater than you or I can understand, a force that has puzzled many minds...''

The interesting thing about this dialog is how drawn out it is. Before the dragon gets around to Merlin, he rambles on about love as such. He finally gets around to the immediate trouble concerning Arthur. He knows love will break the spell, but not much else. For now, that's okay. Merlin happens to know who it is Arthur truly loves.

Kilgharrah brings up two other things. First, he knows love is a force that transcends his understanding. Second, he knows love itself is a puzzle. So besides the problem Merlin came to him about, the dragon raises a second, much broader question about love.

Although Merlin didn't have the time or patience to think about it when Gwen and Arthur were his immediate concern, the broader point Kilgharrah brought up is relevant to the story arc. Otherwise, Kilgharrah wouldn't have wasted so much of Merlin's  time on it. We see this "force" and "mystery" playing a role in later episodes with Gwen and Arthur, Merlin, Lancelot, Mordred and so on.

It raises a question. First, how can the dragon know it's a force greater than Merlin, a human, can understand? Morgana herself said, "Merlin is a lover ...". Then, if it is such a great force, in what way can Merlin use it? What puzzles the dragon might not forever puzzle a human like Merlin.

So while the dragon can point something out, he cannot help Merlin any further. Merlin is left on his own. Perhaps Merlin gets it right -- he brings Gwen and Arthur together. But perhaps he gets it wrong -- should he have allowed his love of people to get in the way of killing Morgana and Mordred when he had the chance? The dragon is useless at this point.

So I took the scene to have two meanings, one immediate and one long term. Maybe I'm reading too much into it, but if there is something to it, it sets up a theme that returns in future episodes.