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Sep. 26th, 2009 08:57 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
vanessaramaI had a great afternoon of Merlin-squee yesterday with my own little corner of the fandom, true_statement. I showed her my Pendragon socks, which are coming along nicely :) Of course, most of the time was spent going "Nawwwww!" and "His little FACE!" at the season opener. But it made me think...
Stuff I'm wondering about how/whether they'll do it in Merlin, or looking forward to,
Merlin's father.
We've met his mum - and interestingly, he's the only one of the OT4 to have a mum - but what of his father? In some versions of the legend Merlin has no father; in others his father was an incubus. I don't know that they'd be able to go the incubus route for a family timeslot but I'd like to believe that they are going to touch on it in some way. Hope it wasn't just some passing nobleman or something.
(I find it rather interesting that Gwen, Arthur and Morgana either have or have been strongly influenced by their fathers but have had dead or absent mothers, whereas Merlin is the other way around with a living and very influential mum but no dad)
Morgana's origins, her future and how/whether she is related to Mordred.
We know that Morgana is the daughter of Uther's close friend and comrade Gorlois, and that Gorlois extracted a promise for Uther to care for Morgana. He seems very close to her - certainly closer than he is to his own son. He seems to treat her as an adult more than he does Arthur - it's almost as if he values her counsel, even while he patronises her. Are there reasons beyond his promise to a friend? There's also the question of the bond she feels with Mordred. Are they related, as they are in some versions of the legend? If so, how?
And as for Morgana's future; I love that she's a real person in this. Feisty-woman characters are so often giant failures in historical shows (see Marian in the recent Robin Hood as a prime example). I don't know whether it's the writing or the fact that the actress projects likeability and humour as well as strong personality, or both, but Morgana is a giant WIN and I'm glad that they're progressing her story without making her Teh Evil Woman. I am intrigued with where they'll take her from here. It's got to be connected to Mordred in some way.
Gaius' past.
It's murky. He knows magic and has been willing to not just condone Merlin's use of it but has performed a little himself in the past episodes. He is fervent in his pursuit of knowledge, and one gets the impression that his nurturing of Merlin's talent was almost a scientific endeavour, at first anyway. He's fascinated by Merlin's abilities and probably a little envious. He knew Nimueh and apparently he was silently complicit in the Great Purge even though some of those killed were known well to him. He has served Uther for many years and is trusted by him although Uther has been known to treat him with contempt at times. Was it only fear for his own life that made him give up magic, or did he become something of a Believer in Uther's One True (Without Magic) Way? How evil *was* the magic that had overrun the kingdom? Uther and Gaius' relationship almost strikes me as Arthur's and Merlin's gone wrong.
Gwen and Arthur.
I really like Gwen as a character, and I'm wondering how they will progress things here. I don't think they're going to go as fast as some people believe (and as the trailers would have us believe). For instance, in the trailer when Merlin's voiceover says something like "Can't you admit your feelings for Gwen?", I reckon he's talking to Lancelot, not Arthur. He sounds too intimate/soft/friendly for it to be Arthur, with whom he does still have some reservations in conversation (remember that stilted sleepover conversation in The Moment of Truth, when Arthur is trying to talk to Merlin about his childhood and his reasons for coming to Camelot but doesn't really seem to know how, and Merlin isn't really able to be honest with him because of the whole magic thing, and then Arthur makes him blow out the candle when it starts getting a bit honest and intimate?)
I think also Gwen is good for Arthur, grounding, in a way Merlin can't always be because he's a bit all over the place a lot of the time. I love that mostly she's the one who stumbles over her words and puts her foot in her mouth, but Arthur is beginning to do that himself around her, and she gives him that "you're an idiot" look. I don't know how they'll get around the whole maidservant-can't-be-queen thing but I suspect Arthur is going to introduce a more egalitarian Camelot where nobles and common folk sit together round the Round Table, and she is going to be a living symbol of that. Whereas for Gwen, I think Arthur's going to be a shining hope, given what Uther did to her father, and that's what will attract her to him. I'm also looking forward to seeing how the Lancelot stuff progresses. Especially given that the series is fairly light-hearted for the most part.
Whew, where did all that come from?
true_statement. I showed her my Pendragon socks, which are coming along nicely :) Of course, most of the time was spent going "Nawwwww!" and "His little FACE!" at the season opener. But it made me think...Stuff I'm wondering about how/whether they'll do it in Merlin, or looking forward to,
Merlin's father.
We've met his mum - and interestingly, he's the only one of the OT4 to have a mum - but what of his father? In some versions of the legend Merlin has no father; in others his father was an incubus. I don't know that they'd be able to go the incubus route for a family timeslot but I'd like to believe that they are going to touch on it in some way. Hope it wasn't just some passing nobleman or something.
(I find it rather interesting that Gwen, Arthur and Morgana either have or have been strongly influenced by their fathers but have had dead or absent mothers, whereas Merlin is the other way around with a living and very influential mum but no dad)
Morgana's origins, her future and how/whether she is related to Mordred.
We know that Morgana is the daughter of Uther's close friend and comrade Gorlois, and that Gorlois extracted a promise for Uther to care for Morgana. He seems very close to her - certainly closer than he is to his own son. He seems to treat her as an adult more than he does Arthur - it's almost as if he values her counsel, even while he patronises her. Are there reasons beyond his promise to a friend? There's also the question of the bond she feels with Mordred. Are they related, as they are in some versions of the legend? If so, how?
And as for Morgana's future; I love that she's a real person in this. Feisty-woman characters are so often giant failures in historical shows (see Marian in the recent Robin Hood as a prime example). I don't know whether it's the writing or the fact that the actress projects likeability and humour as well as strong personality, or both, but Morgana is a giant WIN and I'm glad that they're progressing her story without making her Teh Evil Woman. I am intrigued with where they'll take her from here. It's got to be connected to Mordred in some way.
Gaius' past.
It's murky. He knows magic and has been willing to not just condone Merlin's use of it but has performed a little himself in the past episodes. He is fervent in his pursuit of knowledge, and one gets the impression that his nurturing of Merlin's talent was almost a scientific endeavour, at first anyway. He's fascinated by Merlin's abilities and probably a little envious. He knew Nimueh and apparently he was silently complicit in the Great Purge even though some of those killed were known well to him. He has served Uther for many years and is trusted by him although Uther has been known to treat him with contempt at times. Was it only fear for his own life that made him give up magic, or did he become something of a Believer in Uther's One True (Without Magic) Way? How evil *was* the magic that had overrun the kingdom? Uther and Gaius' relationship almost strikes me as Arthur's and Merlin's gone wrong.
Gwen and Arthur.
I really like Gwen as a character, and I'm wondering how they will progress things here. I don't think they're going to go as fast as some people believe (and as the trailers would have us believe). For instance, in the trailer when Merlin's voiceover says something like "Can't you admit your feelings for Gwen?", I reckon he's talking to Lancelot, not Arthur. He sounds too intimate/soft/friendly for it to be Arthur, with whom he does still have some reservations in conversation (remember that stilted sleepover conversation in The Moment of Truth, when Arthur is trying to talk to Merlin about his childhood and his reasons for coming to Camelot but doesn't really seem to know how, and Merlin isn't really able to be honest with him because of the whole magic thing, and then Arthur makes him blow out the candle when it starts getting a bit honest and intimate?)
I think also Gwen is good for Arthur, grounding, in a way Merlin can't always be because he's a bit all over the place a lot of the time. I love that mostly she's the one who stumbles over her words and puts her foot in her mouth, but Arthur is beginning to do that himself around her, and she gives him that "you're an idiot" look. I don't know how they'll get around the whole maidservant-can't-be-queen thing but I suspect Arthur is going to introduce a more egalitarian Camelot where nobles and common folk sit together round the Round Table, and she is going to be a living symbol of that. Whereas for Gwen, I think Arthur's going to be a shining hope, given what Uther did to her father, and that's what will attract her to him. I'm also looking forward to seeing how the Lancelot stuff progresses. Especially given that the series is fairly light-hearted for the most part.
Whew, where did all that come from?
