...more to say about Merlin

[kivrin]

And when Morgana does find out that Merlin's magic, she is going to slam him against the wall and set him on FI-RE. I was kind of surprised that she didn't do that to him anyway when he turned up at her door.

I was just waiting for Merlin to light a candle with his eyes, or something. I'm so frustrated that THIS is what Merlin decides to toe the letter of Gaius' advice on. "No, of course I'm not sheltering a druid boy! *shelters druid boy*" But "Lie to Morgana, keeping her in torment, and potentially unleashing a fresh pogrom and/or getting the castle burned to the ground? YUP OK!"

We know from "Moment of Truth" that Morgana has both trousers and a sword, so I was annoyed that she went to the forest wearing stoplight-red and without even a sandwich. I also was hoping for some actual interaction with Mordred.

Why are Gaius and the Dragon convinced it's so much better to keep Morgana in ignorance? The Dragon I get, because it's all to the good for him if the castle falls to rubble above his head. But Gaius... the sketchiest stuff Gaius has done, to date, can all be read as simply very narrowly self-interested, but for the same castle falling down on people's heads reasons it seems NOT in his self-interest to keep drugging Morgana, given that THE DRUGS DON'T WORK.

Comments

[julii-wolfe.livejournal.com]

okay, so I'm in the US, so no 2nd season of Merlin yet. But! I was in London last week and managed to watch the 1st two eps of the season and the preview for this ep, so I'm kind of up on what you are talking about.

Okay, that was the preface, this is the thought. I agree with you that they are yellow wall papering Morgana. The insidiousness of this goes beyond Merlin obeying Gaius's orders concerning keeping Morgana in the dark. In his own way, Merlin is terrified of Morgana as well, even while he's friends with her. This is shown in the episode from season one where Morgana gets pissed at Uther and almost helps someone assassinate him, but then decides she really likes him and then doesn't.

For Merlin, the conflict revolves around Morgana's liminal position as a character. She goes back and forth in the roles she plays, from woman to warrior, friend to lady, lady to sorceress, and the way the writers are slowly pulling her character into the role of the alienated Morgan La Fey who conspires against Arthur seems completely focused on her mutability. Unlike Arthur and Merlin, Morgana is never fixed in her role, and has no secure position at court. In a way, Merlin's decision to obey Gaius and the Dragon concerning Morgana is rooted in the fact that he is, in his own way, afraid of her.

My greatest fear here is that the show will take Morgana evil too fast. I don't want her to be evil at all, but so far, the powerful women in the show have Wicked-Queen syndrome (perhaps we can blame Arthurian literature for this). Any girl that the boys like has to be threatening in some way, whether it is Morgana having sorcery, or Gwen loving Lancelot more than Arthur.

I really enjoy Merlin, but I will admit to some anxiety toward it. The first season emphasized a light hearted goofiness that is slowly wearing away. (I know, it's like any part 2 of a hero's journey in that respect). But even as our characters are headed toward angst and betrayal, I'm more worried about the patriarchal subtext than the inevitable teenage angst.

. . . I wish I was back in the UK so I could watch!