Changes: The Once and Future Queen

Revision as of 20:58, 28 June 2019

“I have everything to prove. To myself.”
— Arthur to Gwen

The Once and Future Queen is the second episode in the second series of BBC's, Merlin, which was first broadcast on the 26th September 2009. The title is a play upon The Once and Future King, an Arthurian fantasy novel, written by T.H. White and published in 1958.

Synopsis

Arthur enlists the help of Merlin and Guinevere to disguise his identity to enter a jousting tournament. However, he does not know that King Odin has sent a deadly assassin to kill him for revenge over the death of his son.

Plot

Merlin S2 Adrian Lester 003 — Myror, the assassin

Odin, the king of a neighbouring kingdom, commissions the deadly assassin, Myror, to kill Prince Arthur, in order to take revenge for the fact Arthur killed Odin’s son in a duel. Myror sets off for Camelot. Meanwhile, Arthur realises, when practising for the jousting tournament, that he is being treated differently and allowed to win because he is a prince. Arthur becomes keen to show that he can win with no special treatment.

He concocts a plan to enter the tournament without people knowing who he really is. He tells Uther that he has heard word of a beast, conjured by magic, roaming the nearby woods. He describes the beast as "Having the body of a lion, the wings of an eagle, and the face of a bear" (much to Merlin’s amusement). He tells his father that he will set off to hunt the beast in the morning, missing the tournament. The next morning he leaves the castle with a hunting party, but stays behind in the woods, telling his men not to let anyone know he has returned to Camelot. Merlin brings him some civilian clothes, and Arthur goes to hide in Gwen’s house during the tournament.

Myror, lying in wait for the hunting party in the woods, discovers that Arthur is missing and goes to Camelot to try and find him. Uther is informed of Odin’s plan, however

Merlin is still ignorant of it. The plan to allow Arthur to enter the tournament anonymously involves employing a farmer, who is unknown in Camelot, to play the knight "Sir William of Daira" when riding out and greeting the audience. The farmer will then enter a tent, and be replaced by Arthur wearing a helmet. The

tournament goes well, with Arthur beating all opponents. He plans to reveal himself after the final, to experience his "moment of glory". Gwen, after putting up with Arthur’s arrogant attitude while he stays with her, finally explodes and tells him how rude he has been. Arthur realises that he has been behaving appallingly, and tells her he will make it up to her by cooking dinner. However, in reality he has Merlin procure two dinners from the castle. While

Gwen and Arthur are eating, Myror has traced Arthur and is about to shoot him when he is distracted and nearly caught by the castle guards. Myror runs away before he can be caught. Gwen discovers Arthur’s deception after recognising the plates as belonging to the castle kitchens. She becomes angry with Arthur for lying to her, telling him she thought he had learnt some humility. He apologises and tells her he cares about her. Merlin bursts in, having discovered that there is an assassin in Camelot trying to kill Arthur.

800px-GwenandArthur — Arthur and Gwen's first kiss

The next day, while Gwen is getting Arthur ready for the tournament, she gives him a handkerchief “For luck.” He kisses her and then, in haste, leaves. Myror has discovered Arthur’s participation in the tournament, and so he kills Arthur’s opponent and takes his place. As he and Arthur ride up to each other, a hidden blade comes out of Myror’s lance and

Merlin jousting spell1 — Merlin uses magic to break the strap on Myror's saddle

injures Arthur. Merlin sees the blade, and discovers Arthur’s opponent dead in his tent and Myror wearing his armour. Arthur, despite his injuries, refuses to forfeit the match. Before Merlin can reach him and warn him, Arthur rides again, and Merlin is forced to incapacitate Myror by breaking a strap on Myror’s saddle, distracting him so that Arthur can beat him and (though unintentionally) kill him. Arthur lets the farmer posing as “Sir William” go to the crowd and take the glory, saying that, “Perhaps this is a time for humility.” Arthur later tells his father that the assassin attacked him while he was hunting the beast, and that he was injured while killing him. Uther wishes to go to war with Odin, but Arthur urges his father to come to a peaceful

000s31x3 — A disguised Arthur and Guinevere

resolution, saying it was grief for his son that motivated Odin. Arthur and Gwen exchange glances across the room, but later Arthur tells Gwen that his father would never understand what happened between them. Gwen tells Arthur he does not have to explain himself, and that perhaps, when he is King, things will be different.

Cast

Main Cast

Recurring Cast

Rupert Young as Sir Leon
Fintan McKeown as King Odin

Guest Cast

Gallery

Click "show" to see the gallery.

Transcript

View the transcript here.

Release & Reception

Air date: 26 September 2009. 5.94 million viewers.
The Once and Future Queen premiered on Syfy UK at 7pm on September 15th 2017, immediately followed by The Nightmare Begins.

Trivia

This episode marks the start of Guinevere's and Arthur's secret relationship, starting with their first kiss.
This episode marks the introduction of the dispute King Odin has with Arthur.
This episodes marks the first appereance of future Knight of the Round Table Sir Leon
The episode title is a reference to Gwen's future status as Arthur's wife and Queen.
King Odin later appears in the Series 5 episode Another's Sorrow.

@@ Line 22: / Line 22: @@
 {{Quote|I have everything to prove. To myself.|[[Arthur]] to [[Gwen]]}}
-'''''The Once and Future Queen''''' is the second episode in the [[Series 2|second series]] of ''[[Merlin (TV series)|Merlin]]'', which was first broadcast on the 26th September 2009. The title is a play upon ''[[wikipedia:The Once and Future King|The Once and Future King]]'', an [[Wikipedia:Arthurian legend|Arthurian]] fantasy novel, written by [[wikipedia:T. H. White|T.H. White]] and published in 1958.
+'''''The Once and Future Queen''''' is the second episode in the [[Series 2|second series]] of [[BBC|BBC's]], ''[[Merlin (TV series)|Merlin]]'', which was first broadcast on the 26th September 2009. The title is a play upon ''[[wikipedia:The Once and Future King|The Once and Future King]]'', an [[Wikipedia:Arthurian legend|Arthurian]] fantasy novel, written by [[wikipedia:T. H. White|T.H. White]] and published in 1958.
 == Synopsis ==
@@ Line 34: / Line 34: @@
 Myror, lying in wait for the hunting party in the woods, discovers that Arthur is missing and goes to Camelot to try and find him. Uther is informed of Odin’s plan, however [[File:Merlin84.jpg|thumb|left|Future [[Sir William of Deira]]]]Merlin is still ignorant of it. The plan to allow Arthur to enter the tournament anonymously involves employing a farmer, who is unknown in Camelot, to play the knight "Sir William of Daira" when riding out and greeting the audience.
 The farmer will then enter a tent, and be replaced by Arthur wearing a helmet. The [[File:Merl3.jpg|thumb|Turning a peasant into a knight]]tournament goes well, with Arthur beating all opponents. He plans to reveal himself after the final, to experience his "moment of glory". Gwen, after putting up with Arthur’s arrogant attitude while he stays with her, finally explodes and tells him how rude he has been. Arthur realises that he has been behaving appallingly, and tells her he will make it up to her by cooking dinner. However, in reality he has Merlin procure two dinners from the castle. While[[File:Merlin80.jpg|thumb|left|Preparing dinner]] Gwen and Arthur are eating, Myror has traced Arthur and is about to shoot him when he is distracted and nearly caught by the castle guards. Myror runs away before he can be caught. Gwen discovers Arthur’s deception after recognising the plates as belonging to the castle kitchens. She becomes angry with Arthur for lying to her, telling him she thought he had learnt some humility. He apologises and tells her he cares about her. Merlin bursts in, having discovered that there is an assassin in Camelot trying to kill Arthur.
-[[File:800px-GwenandArthur.png|thumb|left|170px|[[Arthur]] and [[Gwen]]'s first kiss]]The next day, while Gwen is getting Arthur ready for the tournament, she gives him a handkerchief “For luck.” He kisses her and then, in haste, leaves. Myror has discovered Arthur’s participation in the tournament, and so he kills Arthur’s opponent and takes his place. As he and Arthur ride up to each other, a hidden blade comes out of Myror’s lance and [[File:Merlin jousting spell1.gif|frame|[[Merlin]] uses [[magic]] to break the strap on [[Myror]]'s saddle]]injures Arthur. Merlin sees the blade, and discovers Arthur’s opponent dead in his tent and Myror wearing his armour. Arthur, despite his injuries, refuses to forfeit the match. Before Merlin can reach him and warn him, Arthur rides again, and Merlin is forced to incapacitate Myror by breaking a strap on Myror’s saddle, distracting him so that Arthur can beat him and (though unintentionally) kill him. Arthur lets the farmer posing as “Sir William” go to the crowd and take the glory. He says, “Perhaps this is a time for humility.”
+[[File:800px-GwenandArthur.png|thumb|left|170px|[[Arthur]] and [[Gwen]]'s first kiss]]The next day, while Gwen is getting Arthur ready for the tournament, she gives him a handkerchief “For luck.” He kisses her and then, in haste, leaves. Myror has discovered Arthur’s participation in the tournament, and so he kills Arthur’s opponent and takes his place. As he and Arthur ride up to each other, a hidden blade comes out of Myror’s lance and [[File:Merlin jousting spell1.gif|frame|[[Merlin]] uses [[magic]] to break the strap on [[Myror]]'s saddle]]injures Arthur. Merlin sees the blade, and discovers Arthur’s opponent dead in his tent and Myror wearing his armour. Arthur, despite his injuries, refuses to forfeit the match. Before Merlin can reach him and warn him, Arthur rides again, and Merlin is forced to incapacitate Myror by breaking a strap on Myror’s saddle, distracting him so that Arthur can beat him and (though unintentionally) kill him. Arthur lets the farmer posing as “Sir William” go to the crowd and take the glory, saying that, “Perhaps this is a time for humility.”
 Arthur later tells his father that the assassin attacked him while he was hunting the beast, and that he was injured while killing him. Uther wishes to go to war with Odin, but Arthur urges his father to come to a peaceful [[File:000s31x3.jpeg|thumb|left|A disguised [[Arthur]] and [[Guinevere]]]]resolution, saying it was grief for his son that motivated Odin. Arthur and Gwen exchange glances across the room, but later Arthur tells Gwen that his father would never understand what happened between them. Gwen tells Arthur he does not have to explain himself, and that perhaps, when he is King, things will be different.
-== Gallery ==
+==Cast==
+===Main Cast===
+* [[Colin Morgan]] as [[Merlin]]
+* [[Bradley James]] as [[Arthur]]
+* [[Richard Wilson]] as [[Gaius]]
+* [[Anthony Head]] as [[Uther Pendragon]]
+* [[Angel Coulby]] as [[Gwen]]
+* [[Katie McGrath]] as [[Morgana]]
+=== Recurring Cast===
+* [[Rupert Young]] as [[Sir Leon]]
+* [[Fintan McKeown]] as [[Odin|King Odin]]
+=== Guest Cast===
+* [[Adrian Lester]] as [[Myror]]
+* [[Mike Goodenough]] as [[Fyren]]
+* [[Alex Price]] as [[Sir William of Deira|Sir William]]
+* [[Jack Sandle]] as [[Kelda]]
+==Gallery==
 {{Hidden|Click "show" to see the gallery.|
 <gallery>
@@ Line 65: / Line 80: @@
 S02e02 sir william 01 1600x1200.jpg
 Merlin1555.jpg
+Merlin1580.jpg
+Merlin1584.jpg
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+Merlin1587.jpg
+Merlin1588.jpg
+Merlin1590.jpg
+Merlin1594.png
+Merlin1595.png
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 </gallery>
 }}
-== Cast ==
+==Transcript==
+{{transcript}}
-===Main Cast===
-* [[Colin Morgan]] as [[Merlin]]
-* [[Bradley James]] as [[Arthur]]
-* [[Richard Wilson]] as [[Gaius]]
-* [[Anthony Head]] as [[Uther Pendragon]]
-* [[Angel Coulby]] as [[Gwen]]
-* [[Katie McGrath]] as [[Morgana]]
-=== Recurring Cast===
-* [[Rupert Young]] as [[Sir Leon]]
-* [[Fintan McKeown]] as [[Odin|King Odin]]
-=== Guest Cast===
-* [[Adrian Lester]] as [[Myror]]
-* [[Mike Goodenough]] as [[Fyren]]
-* [[Alex Price]] as [[Sir William of Deira|Sir William]]
-* [[Jack Sandle]] as [[Kelda]]
+==Release & Reception==
-== References ==
+*Air date: 26 September 2009. 5.94 million viewers.
+*''The Once and Future Queen'' premiered on [[Syfy]] UK at 7pm on September 15th 2017, immediately followed by ''[[The Nightmare Begins]]''.
-{{reflist}}
-==Reception==
-Air date: 26 September 2009. 5.94 viewers.
 ==Trivia==
-*This episode marks the start of Guinevere and Arthur's secret relationship starting with their first kiss.
+*This episode marks the start of Guinevere's and Arthur's secret relationship, starting with their first kiss.
-*The episode title is a reference to Gwen's future status as Arthur's future wife and Queen.
+*This episode marks the introduction of the dispute [[King Odin]] has with Arthur.
+*This episodes marks the first appereance of future Knight of the Round Table [[Leon|Sir Leon]]
-*[[Odin|King Odin]] later appears in the ''[[Series 5]]'' episode, ''[[Another's Sorrow]]''.
+*The episode title is a reference to Gwen's future status as Arthur's wife and Queen.
+*[[Odin|King Odin]] later appears in the ''[[Series 5]]'' episode ''[[Another's Sorrow]]''.
-== Transcript ==
+==See also==
+*Characters: [[Odin]], [[Kelda]], [[William|Sir William of Deira]], [[Myror]], [[Fyren]], [[Leon|Sir Leon]]
-{{transcript}}
+*Locations: [[Odin's Kingdom]]
+*Events: [[Jousting|Jousting Tournament]]
-'''Previous story : ''[[The Curse of Cornelius Sigan]] | ''Following story: ''[[The Nightmare Begins]]'''''
 {{Series 2}}
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+{{StarRatings
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+[[fr:Un Assassin Pour Arthur]]
 [[Category:Series 2 Episodes]]
 [[Category:Shot in Super 16]]