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Merlin 4x10 - A Herald of the New Age
So many feelings! I hardly know where to start.
The plot itself was nothing all that special this week, and I'm a bit disappointed that Elyan's big ep really turned out to be All About Arthur, but all the interactions involved were admittedly fascinating. I loved that despite concern over how Elyan feels about Gwen's banishment none of the Knights wanted to hurt him. And although everyone kept bringing that up as a possible reason for his actions, I never really believed they believed it. I just love the foursome of the Knights and I hope nothing messes it up. Leon is the only one of the group who isn't from the legend, so I tend to worry about him the most. However, they've proven that the names don't always matter (they had Bedivere as just a background knight who died right away, so the big names aren't safe). Anyway.
I also really liked that it was Percival who talked Elyan down (well, long enough to knock him out). I really do kinda slash those two.
Perhaps next time Merlin warns everyone about something like this, they'll listen to him instead of poking fun. Surely they'll eventually notice he's right all the time. It was interesting that Gaius seemed reluctant to take his expertise to Arthur and argue on Elyan's behalf, choosing instead to push Merlin to do it. He's still giving Arthur advice here and there, but he's definitely stepping back to let Merlin assume that role.
As far as Agravaine goes, I remain astounded that he hasn't resorted to trying to kill Merlin somehow. It was surprising to see them both in there at the same time giving their opposing viewpoints to Arthur, versus Merlin staying silent in front of Agravaine as in the past. And then Arthur decided to deceive Agravaine entirely and do his own thing. Surely that whole issue will have to come to a head soon and Arthur will have to find out about Agravaine's treachery or at least realize he's a shit adviser and do something about it.
Arthur was so not himself in this episode, and yet at the end he was. It's really too bad that all of Arthur's mistakes come back to hurt not only him, but his kingdom, other kingdoms, and personal friends. I had a feeling he was going to apologize, but to see him offer himself up like that despite being absolutely terrified...damn. Bradley gave such a great performance yet again - it seems to be his season to cry all the time just like Merlin got to last season. I like that we keep seeing little steps towards a Camelot where magic is no longer banned, especially steps like this where Arthur made it all on his own.
I was a bit nervous over Arthur's treatment of Merlin, but it felt different this time compared to his awful behavior of third season. It felt almost like he was trying to keep up their usual banter but his heart wasn't quite in it so it came off as cold and impersonal. No more quirky smiles to let Merlin know he's teasing. I'm not sure if Arthur is trying to keep everyone at arm's length because he's hurt and doesn't want them close or what.
The end did make me laugh, and of course having the action offscreen while we heard the reaction made my imagination go wild as to what Arthur did and where it progressed...
Re the teaser - next week may get us closer to reconciliation, but the outfit they have Gwen wearing is already making me annoyed, so I'm not going to think about it until next week.
The plot itself was nothing all that special this week, and I'm a bit disappointed that Elyan's big ep really turned out to be All About Arthur, but all the interactions involved were admittedly fascinating. I loved that despite concern over how Elyan feels about Gwen's banishment none of the Knights wanted to hurt him. And although everyone kept bringing that up as a possible reason for his actions, I never really believed they believed it. I just love the foursome of the Knights and I hope nothing messes it up. Leon is the only one of the group who isn't from the legend, so I tend to worry about him the most. However, they've proven that the names don't always matter (they had Bedivere as just a background knight who died right away, so the big names aren't safe). Anyway.
I also really liked that it was Percival who talked Elyan down (well, long enough to knock him out). I really do kinda slash those two.
Perhaps next time Merlin warns everyone about something like this, they'll listen to him instead of poking fun. Surely they'll eventually notice he's right all the time. It was interesting that Gaius seemed reluctant to take his expertise to Arthur and argue on Elyan's behalf, choosing instead to push Merlin to do it. He's still giving Arthur advice here and there, but he's definitely stepping back to let Merlin assume that role.
As far as Agravaine goes, I remain astounded that he hasn't resorted to trying to kill Merlin somehow. It was surprising to see them both in there at the same time giving their opposing viewpoints to Arthur, versus Merlin staying silent in front of Agravaine as in the past. And then Arthur decided to deceive Agravaine entirely and do his own thing. Surely that whole issue will have to come to a head soon and Arthur will have to find out about Agravaine's treachery or at least realize he's a shit adviser and do something about it.
Arthur was so not himself in this episode, and yet at the end he was. It's really too bad that all of Arthur's mistakes come back to hurt not only him, but his kingdom, other kingdoms, and personal friends. I had a feeling he was going to apologize, but to see him offer himself up like that despite being absolutely terrified...damn. Bradley gave such a great performance yet again - it seems to be his season to cry all the time just like Merlin got to last season. I like that we keep seeing little steps towards a Camelot where magic is no longer banned, especially steps like this where Arthur made it all on his own.
I was a bit nervous over Arthur's treatment of Merlin, but it felt different this time compared to his awful behavior of third season. It felt almost like he was trying to keep up their usual banter but his heart wasn't quite in it so it came off as cold and impersonal. No more quirky smiles to let Merlin know he's teasing. I'm not sure if Arthur is trying to keep everyone at arm's length because he's hurt and doesn't want them close or what.
The end did make me laugh, and of course having the action offscreen while we heard the reaction made my imagination go wild as to what Arthur did and where it progressed...
Re the teaser - next week may get us closer to reconciliation, but the outfit they have Gwen wearing is already making me annoyed, so I'm not going to think about it until next week.