Review – Merlin: The Beginning of the End (1.08)

Episode eight of BBC’s Merlin is quite interesting. For the first time we are rooting for the magic wielding prisoners to escape Uther’s rage. Surprisingly, they are not sorcerers seeking revenge, they are druids. This is a new twist to the mythos of the television series, and a most exciting one.

Merlin hears the desperate call of a young druid boy and saves him before he is captured and executed like his druid master. However, the child is injured and Merlin must keep him safe, while Arthur and the king’s men search all of Camelot for the boy. Merlin finds help for the druid boy’s plight from a most unexpected source, Lady Morgana. She hides the child in her chambers and cares for him until it is determined that Gaius’s assistance is needed. The safety of this unnamed druid boy only escalates when he is later captured with Morgana trying to escape. It is then that, Arthur, Merlin and Morgana must work together to save him from execution. However Merlin has been warned by the Great Dragon that the druid child who refers to Merlin as “Emrys” is a danger to Arthur and must die if the prince is to be safe. It is only when Arthur takes the boy to his people that we along with Arthur learn his name to be ” Mordred”, which of course means nothing to the young Arthur.

Last review I complained about Morgana’s role being to benign and uninteresting. Well the writers have officially shut me up on that subject. I am glad to see Morgana taking a stance and risking it all. She also has a conversation with Merlin about magic and the people it chooses. I wonder if this is a hint that one day Merlin may share his secret with her. It was also good to see Arthur stand up once more to his father, and do the right thing. Yet once we learn of the boy’s identity some viewers might wish he had minded his own business. Have we seen the last of Mordred? I wonder...

Merlin has captured the heart of its viewers, and I think this new reboot of Merlin and Arthur’s tale is quite good. I hope others out there feel the same.

About PLMII

Philip Lee McCall II or “PLMII” to his legions of manuscript minions has authored several dark fantasy collections. Through the use of poetry and prose, PLMII takes readers on excursions into a dark fantasy realm filled with vampires, werewolves, exorcism, and a lot of other creepy things guaranteed to make you lose sleep. For more information on PLMII visit his website by clicking here.