So true!! That thought makes me feel a lot better about Lancelot's death; it's so much nicer to see it this way, than to think that Gwen was simply thoughtless when she made her request.
I loved Gwen in that episode. My one small qualm was how she apparently didn't think they should tell Arthur. I get why Gaius wouldn't rush to (especially if he suspected that they might need a magical cure), but would he really have been able to sway Gwen if she didn't agree? What would they have lost by telling Arthur? Maybe it would have shaken his faith in Merlin a bit, knowing he was being mind controlled...but still. I feel like it was more that the writers wanted to avoid giving Arthur cause to doubt Merlin in any capacity before The Reveal.
I also love SoTM because I feel like it shows us that down to the bottom of their souls, Merlin could never hurt Arthur, and Arthur could never doubt Merlin. Humorous as it is, Merlin could hardly make that many failed attempts on Arthur's life without there being something else at work. First, with the lunch: while I find it somewhat plausible that he simply didn't know that Gwen would be bringing Arthur his food, you'd think he'd know when Arthur would expect it, and try to be there on time. Second, with the crossbow: the fact that it mysteriously didn't fire when Arthur opened the cabinet, though it fires whenever Merlin opens it? I sense magic afoot. Third, with the sword...that was a pretty spectacular crash. He bounced from the pillar into wall! Clumsy he may be, but I hardly think that Merlin would ordinarily manage a failure that extraordinary without it being deliberate to some extent. And finally, with the bathwater, I suspect that had Arthur actually touched the water, it would have felt maybe a bit too hot, but wouldn't have seriously harmed him.
I've read several interpretations on why Merlin never used magic to try killing Arthur in the episode, ranging from "Because Morgana didn't know" to "Because it's part of what makes Merlin Merlin, so the Femorrah would have taken it away." But by this point in the story, Merlin's magic is so completely Arthur's, for Arthur's protection especially, that I wonder if the magic—somehow providing a small subconscious resilience against the Femorrah—wasn't there the whole time, protecting Arthur from Merlin himself. Or, alternatively, that Arthur's rooms are so perfused with Merlin's magic that it's difficult to kill Arthur in there, whether the perpetrator was Merlin or otherwise.
And Arthur! How many times he fails to notice Merlin's increasingly conspicuous attempts on his life, right under his nose! I feel like there's a second when his eyes flicker to the curtain that Merlin's pulling over the crossbow arrow at some point—and he just takes it in stride when Merlin's collapsed on the floor right behind him, sword clearly outstretched. This from the man who even doubted his most trusted uncle in this episode.
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timeasmymeasure
Re: Part 2 II
Date: 2013-03-16 09:37 pm (UTC)I loved Gwen in that episode. My one small qualm was how she apparently didn't think they should tell Arthur. I get why Gaius wouldn't rush to (especially if he suspected that they might need a magical cure), but would he really have been able to sway Gwen if she didn't agree? What would they have lost by telling Arthur? Maybe it would have shaken his faith in Merlin a bit, knowing he was being mind controlled...but still. I feel like it was more that the writers wanted to avoid giving Arthur cause to doubt Merlin in any capacity before The Reveal.
I also love SoTM because I feel like it shows us that down to the bottom of their souls, Merlin could never hurt Arthur, and Arthur could never doubt Merlin. Humorous as it is, Merlin could hardly make that many failed attempts on Arthur's life without there being something else at work. First, with the lunch: while I find it somewhat plausible that he simply didn't know that Gwen would be bringing Arthur his food, you'd think he'd know when Arthur would expect it, and try to be there on time. Second, with the crossbow: the fact that it mysteriously didn't fire when Arthur opened the cabinet, though it fires whenever Merlin opens it? I sense magic afoot. Third, with the sword...that was a pretty spectacular crash. He bounced from the pillar into wall! Clumsy he may be, but I hardly think that Merlin would ordinarily manage a failure that extraordinary without it being deliberate to some extent. And finally, with the bathwater, I suspect that had Arthur actually touched the water, it would have felt maybe a bit too hot, but wouldn't have seriously harmed him.
I've read several interpretations on why Merlin never used magic to try killing Arthur in the episode, ranging from "Because Morgana didn't know" to "Because it's part of what makes Merlin Merlin, so the Femorrah would have taken it away." But by this point in the story, Merlin's magic is so completely Arthur's, for Arthur's protection especially, that I wonder if the magic—somehow providing a small subconscious resilience against the Femorrah—wasn't there the whole time, protecting Arthur from Merlin himself. Or, alternatively, that Arthur's rooms are so perfused with Merlin's magic that it's difficult to kill Arthur in there, whether the perpetrator was Merlin or otherwise.
And Arthur! How many times he fails to notice Merlin's increasingly conspicuous attempts on his life, right under his nose! I feel like there's a second when his eyes flicker to the curtain that Merlin's pulling over the crossbow arrow at some point—and he just takes it in stride when Merlin's collapsed on the floor right behind him, sword clearly outstretched. This from the man who even doubted his most trusted uncle in this episode.