So, Merlin season finale...

[castalia]

Well, greensilver has much better thinky thoughts on this episode and why it's both amazing yet frustrating, but I'll say a few words.

Basically, we got Morgana on the throne with an immortal army, Arthur's knights starting to all come together, a new Big Name Character from the mythology, a return to Excalibur, and many other things that should have made for an epic end to the season.

I say should have, b/c really we're back to the status quo. No one even died!! Morgana escapes with Morgause (same as the end of season two but with their roles swapped), Uther is sort of back in power and Arthur still thinks he's not ready to take over, and most importantly, ARTHUR STILL DOES NOT KNOW ABOUT MERLIN'S MAGIC. All those invincible soldiers just exploded and he doesn't think to ask any questions? He's not one bit curious about who did that? Not to mention Excalibur really isn't meant to be Merlin's weapon? C'mon, show.

Still. Lancelot. Gwaine. Elyan. Leon. Percival. Round table. ♥

So, basically, there were lots of individual things I liked, even loved, but at the end of it all I'm disappointed.

Then there's the series creator being a sexist dickwad in interviews and again brushing off the fans who want to see more of Morgana and Gwen being badass and proactive and to have character development. B/c talking dragons and magic and societies where POCs and women can have equal social standing (as long as they're not poor, of course) is all good, but girls using swords and actually fighting for what they care about is just not being realistic. If they wanted to be historically accurate, they should have thought about that a loooooooooong time ago, not just when fans rightly complain about the female characters only being love interests or villains.

Grr.

Comments

[dragoness22.livejournal.com]

I really wish Gwen and Morgana would get some proper development... My friend keeps complaining about hating when Gwen gets any focus in an episode because she's "too boring"; my reaction is well then don't hate her showing up, hate her lack of character development! Blargh.
But boy, can Morgana throw one mean temper tantrum, am I right?

[castalianspring.livejournal.com]

Heh, yeah, that screeching was pretty harsh. I honestly expected Gaius to get squished by falling rock or something. Seriously, I still can't believe NO ONE died. B/c I don't think Morgause is actually dead. It was too easy.

[dragoness22.livejournal.com]

Especially since no one bothered to try and retrieve the cup of life. Morgana probably grabbed it off the floor, where Merlin had knocked it with his sword but didn't seem to hurt the goblet itself, and then hightailed it out of there to recover.

At least Uther now know that his anti-magic ways have turned his beloved daughter into a bitter, revenge driven jerk... hopefully he won't see it as *magic* made her a bitter, revenge driven jerk, though that wouldn't surprise me... but I was really hoping that Merlin would wind up outing himself to Morgana and Morgause in his bid to spill the cup... *sigh*

[castalianspring.livejournal.com]

I hope they don't just conveniently forget about the cup next season. Might be interesting if Morgana still has it, for sure.

[corilannam.livejournal.com]

I was really disappointed that Merlin was wielding Excalibur. Not that it wasn't nice to see him getting some fighting time, but it just didn't make any sense. Excalibur is supposed to be for Arthur to wield + why does the guy with no sword fighting experience get the only weapon that can kill these things + why did nobody notice Merlin was toting around this big shiny sword? Also, why did the mission to tip over the Cup of Life have to be sneaky in the first place? Arthur knew what the Cup was, and it's not like Merlin even used magic to knock it over.

I can't even deal with the misogyny on the part of the producers. I was furious when Gwen was the only person left behind. She could fight in series 1, but not now? Argh.

But yes, the knights and the Round Table were spectacular. If we get to keep the knights next season, I'll be very pleased!

[castalianspring.livejournal.com]

*nodding my head to all of that* Totally not fair to let Gaius sneak off and be the hero of the hour, but leave Gwen behind to do nothing.