User blog comment:Chawk1993/Staying Loyal/@comment-4623180-20111219100420

Sorry to say, but I WAS considering stopping watching after Season 2, I thought the finale was disappointing (yeah, I was a fan of The Great Dragon and wanted the dragon storyline to extend on further.. which it kind of really hasn't, some would argue it's better with less dragon- well that's what they got in Series 4) but, boy, I stuck in and was I impressed! Series 3 blew me away! It was more like a movie then ever. Then Series 4.. oh, goodness, LOVE IT! Never been so attached to a tv series. I love Morgana. I love the twists and secrets and improved continuity of the show. It's so suspenseful, and the story lines are so attaching, I can't stop thinking about it sometimes. As for what you're pointing out, it is generalising of the show. Series 4 has brought to the show some dramatic changes, and that does include Merlin not saving the day by himself... at least without help. They're doing a great job at balancing it to add realism by presenting many more struggles to Merlin. So let's review the episodes: The Darkest Hour- Lancelot saved the day by stepping into the veil. Merlin wanted to, but was stopped. But if it weren't for Lancelot he possibly would have. His destiny is marked out, as mentioned many times before. The Wicked Day- Nothing he could do there. He tried, but oh, boy, did this really hit a blow against him. Series 4 really does get right into the "Merlin can't do anything, he's lost, he's gotta just step back and let things happen" aspect. Right? Aithusa, it's a bit of a personal mission of Merlin's, who only he, Gaius and eventually Julius Borden know about. Merlin is the one who allowed Borden to find the egg and so is the one who leads the knights on the mission to pursue him to the temple. Borden poisons the knights and he uses magic to save them (still, he caused it, anyway) and then later takes the egg from Borden who would've failed to use its power, anyway. We wouldn't really emphasise Merlin as any hero here- well, except to The Great Dragon, and he's a bit of a daddy to Aithusa. This is still different from the generalisation, though. No swinging knives going at Arthur or Gaius the other way back to the enemy, or making the enemy fall out of the window. His Father's Son, is mainly about Arthur's great kingship- it's Arthur who saved the day by going to visit Annis and agree to the champion dual. Haha, notice the pattern, Merlin follows him in to see if he can "Save the day" from anything, and is caught, and his skin saved by Arthur instead! Although later on Merlin decides to save the day by stopping the champion fighting Arthur after Morgana uses an enchantment on Arthur's sword, but mainly credit is given to Arthur here- Merlin thought, oh, he's in trouble, I'll give him a bit of a pointer -eyes glow and Arthur wins- In A Servant Of Two Masters, Merlin BECOMES the baddy, but proves to be a terrible assassin. Gaius and Gwen save Arthur's skin. Then, Gaius saves Merlin, who goes and saves HIMSELF, by defeating Morgana as Old Merlin. In The Secret Sharer, Alator of the Catha saves the day. Merlin and Gwaine try to go and save Gaius, and Gwaine succeeds (with the sly Agravaine who plays the hero) but Merlin is cornered by Morgana with a knife, and then Alator, who saves the day upon finding out who Merlin is! We could say Alator of the Catha and Gaius were the main saviours here (Gaius told Alator who Merlin was and this convinced Alator to save him). In Lamia, Gwen, but mainly ARTHUR saved the day. Merlin was a little helpless here. When he saw the Lamia for what it really was, he was screwed. Gwen defended him and struck a blow against the Lamia and then Arthur speared it. Dead. Merlin was emphasised as a little bit of a wimp here. He MAY have saved the day using magic in front of Gwen if Arthur hadn't arrived, but that didn't happen, so it doesn't matter! Lancelot Du Lac was a rather unconventional ( but *stunning* ) episode, where Merlin could really do nothing but stop someone from dying in the fight they were having. That wasn't that important, though. He still thinks Gwen did betray Arthur (I hope the ring is found later on!). This episode wasn't about Merlin. In A Herald Of The New Age, I don't recall Merlin doing anything but trying to warn the knights of what happened. Once again, he goes out to meet Arthur who is confronting the ghost, to see if he can use magic to fix the ghost. It turns out, though, Arthur caused the problem and must fix it himself. A little exorcism sort of goes on, but it's all Arthur's doing. Merlin doesn't do anything. So there we go. No Merlin as a big hero, again. In The Hunter's Heart, the build up to the epic finale, Merlin saves Gwen's life. A heroic action, but that's in Merlin's character and wouldn't notably be a big thing in the episode as it didn't happen in the end. The build up to Morgana's attack I suppose blurs out Merlin's 'saving the day' thing, as there's a lot ahead! In The Sword in the Stone Part: 1 Merlin uses an enchantment to pull Arthur away, and leads him to a smuggler camp. From then on, it's Arthur leading the way. Except for in Ealdor, when Merlin tells them to go out the back, and also sets the cart on fire and wheels it towards Agravaine.

If you've bothered to read this all, thank you, and Merlin is nowhere near a repetitive show! Those who say it's too repetitive haven't reviewed the episodes over again thoroughly as I have. If they are going to generalise, then don't watch it! The old saying: don't have anything nice to say, don't say it! ~