Merlin 4.04

[corilannam]

I'm time limited this week, so I'm just sort of liveblogging my thoughts as I watch.

Hello, Crazy James Callis! How I've missed you. I kind of love the scene where he shows up at Gaius's door in the middle of the night for a couple of reasons: 1) It shows that Gaius has been consistently into shady magical business since long before Merlin showed up, and 2) I would never miss a chance to see Merlin in his jim-jams.

I am so loving the relationship between Kilgarrah and Merlin this series, especially that Merlin can barely wait before running right to Kilgarrah with the news about the egg. Totally love Kilgarrah manipulating Merlin by setting up a Balinor v. Gaius Daddy Guilt Deathmatch. I mean, yeah, manipulative, but for the first time in over a quarter century, the man dragon just got a glimmer of hope that he might actually get laid again someday, so you can't totally blame him.

Woodworms! I will never stop loving the way that Merlin just pulls these random excuses out of his little butt and Arthur just accepts them.

OMG. OMG. Can't breathe. OMG. Well, now. That could hardly be bigger fanservice. Merlin pulls down Arthur's trousers and then instantly jumps on him and wrestles him to the ground in front of the entire council. I know he just wanted the key, BUT DON'T EVEN TELL ME HE DIDN'T GET IN A GOOD GROPE OF THOSE GORGEOUS THIGHS WHILE THEIR LIMBS WERE FLAILING EVERYWHERE.

(though in the midst of my giggling, I did get a little thrill hearing Merlin call Arthur "Your Majesty" for the first time)

That thing looks exactly like a trivet I saw in a shop at the Renaissance festival.

WOODWORMS! OMG, show, stop catering to me this way, it makes me nervous. Merlin draping himself across Arthur's bed -- while Arthur's in it? Seriously, what's going on here?

I love that while Gaius knows instantly what Merlin did, it never occurs to Arthur that all of Merlin's weird behavior in the vicinity of Arthur's keys could be connected to the thief that just walked right into the vaults. Either Arthur trusts Merlin so fully that it would never occur to him -- or he's just so used to Merlin being incredibly weird that this just didn't stand out enough to be noticeable.

Wow, I just almost got really upset at Arthur and the knights for eating all the dinner and then taunting Merlin about it. But they saved him a plate! They are such frat boys, but I like the rough and tumble humor and affection. I took a special moment of enjoyment from Gwaine's lingering hand on Merlin's shoulder as he praised Merlin's cooking. I'm going to assume (because I want to) that this whole scene was Arthur's revenge at being woken up twice by Merlin's woodworm detection quest -- oh, and being de-pantsed in front of his own council while he's trying to be kingly and authoritative.

None of the knights snore. That seems so unlikely, somehow. Though not quite as unlikely as none of them standing watch.

"Sense is not a word I associate with you, Merlin." Well...okay, fair enough! But now the knights are all impressed with Merlin's instincts, yay! And so is Arthur, even if there's no way he'll admit it out loud (at least until the next time one of them almost dies). But, note that Arthur's the one who asks Merlin where they're headed in the caves. R-E-S-P-E-C-T. Oh, show, why are you giving me everything I've wanted? I don't know how to trust you anymore, but oh, I want to.

Just as a side note, I really love that all the knights call him "Arthur" instead of "sire" or suchlike.

Oooh. Hello, wet Arthur. Hellooo, wet Merlin. Hello, wet everyone. Wanted more wet knights, but I suppose I have no real right to complain here. That silhouetted flip of Gwaine's wet hair was yet another moment of pure fanservice.

Oh, sure, Percy's fine. A little CROSSBOW BOLT THROUGH THE LEG is hardly anything to worry about for him! I was amused by the considerable effort Leon expended in "getting him to safety."

And as always, people can shoot at the knights all they want, but when Arthur's the target? Merlin ain't having that! "Maybe he ran out of bolts." Sure, or maybe Arthur's sorcerer boyfriend just smashed his crossbow into a tree. Which one is *actually* more plausible?

Squee!! Aww, Arthur yelling at Merlin to be careful and pulling him to safety! Mutual protectiveness! I am so happy right now.

LOL over Arthur loving Merlin's cooking. "Guys, you have to try this!" Now a whole pack of hungry men are descending onto Merlin with ravenous expressions. And now Gwaine's moaning into Merlin's ear. And then they all pass out afterwards. I HAVE READ THIS FIC BEFORE. But not often enough (hint, hint).

OH NOES IT'S POISON. Now it's really on, Crazy James Callis! But man, how freakin' hot was it when Merlin was magically healing Arthur? Rrowr.

I think the moral of this episode is "always listen to Merlin." Note that Merlin doesn't waste any magical healing power on Crazy James Callis.

Dude, Merlin already has a dragon at his command. And he'll have this one, too. Crazy James Callis really should have done his research better. Love Merlin's philosophy on dragons -- I guess he wouldn't consider freeing Kilgarrah a mistake anymore. He's really growing into his powers and his role, both as Arthur's right hand and as Emrys.

"I am the last Dragonlord, and I am warning you: leave this egg alone." OH HOLY SHIT. OH YEAH. YES YES YES. Ahem. Maybe I have a thing for BAMF Merlin... Man, even his quiet little "no" to the demand that he turn over the egg was so full of power and authority.

That being said, it's a damn shame Merlin never saw any Indiana Jones movies.

"Are you sure?" Arthur turning to Merlin for the final judgment on the situation! OMG, love this so much.

The scene between Gaius and Merlin at the end is great. The silent conversation while Merlin tries to keep a straight face is so cute. And I love this continuation of their evolving relationship -- Gaius gently chides Merlin for his recklessness, reminds him of the consequences he so narrowly averted, but then deliberately passes the responsibility to decide what to do with the egg to Merlin, trusting his judgment.

I would love to know where Merlin got the name "Aithusa." But I can't think about that for a moment, because OMG BAAAAABY DRAGON!! Officially the cutest thing ever on this show.

"For you and Arthur and the land that you will build together." Okay, I just started to cry, no joke. Oh, Merlin's face. Oh, my heart. And now I love the meaning of the name, and how symbolic it is for Arthur's reign and the way it fits in with Arthur's place as a sun god figure and the dawn of a new age and oh look, next week Arthur's going to fuck it all up again. Well, can't win 'em all.

This was just fantastic. All I wanted last year was for Merlin to get some love and respect, and this delivered exactly what I had in mind. And what a great way to continue building the mythology within what seems on the surface like another standalone bad guy-of-the-week ep.

Comments

[corilannam.livejournal.com]

I have absolutely no textual evidence for it, but it works for me! Merlin being the butt of the knights' humor kind of discomfits me, but I do love the idea of Arthur setting it all up as way to get back at Merlin for humiliating him in front of his councilors. Arthur did seem awfully pissy when he ate the last spoonful of stew in front of Merlin, then seemed to chill out a bit (depending on whether we see his praise of Merlin's cooking the next night as sarcastic or not -- with Arthur it can be hard to tell!)

Mmm, head canon!