Merlin 4.10

[corilannam]

Love this episode! I love the dissonance of the tone, the darkness (of lighting and subject matter), the layers of character development.

Some notes from my viewing:

Awwww, Gwaine is so playful with Merlin. I love it. Salt around the foot of the bed -- don't laugh, Merlin, Gwaine's just been catching up with the SPN episodes on his TiVo. Gaius's scorn of salt circles later was amusing.

Big room for Elyan! And Lancelot had to bunk with Merlin why, exactly? And another good moment for Gwaine with his perfect mix of concern and WTF bro? I like thinking of all the knights living on the same hallway and getting up to shenanigans.

Creepy kid, but still not as creepy as Asa Butterfield. He was even creepy in Hugo, which I saw (okay, mostly slept through) yesterday. I would feel bad for Elyan, but I'm still annoyed with him after last week.

*dies* "Why do you have stew in your hair?" "Because he was reading." Merlin just can't help poking the wounded bear. It doesn't surprise me that Arthur reverts to old habits in retaliation. I love the strained banter between Arthur and Merlin this week - Merlin trying too hard to cheer Arthur up, Arthur stuck in his manpain. Nice continuity from last week. But I also love Merlin grousing about it to Gaius, which I'm sure is very old news.

And it makes sense to me that Arthur takes out his frustrations on Merlin a bit -- Merlin is the one person he can't drive away. It's also the one way Arthur can release any emotion right now, which made me wonder if that's why Merlin kept poking even though he knew Arthur was going to lash out at some point. He's not a big fan of being Arthur's whipping boy, but he's willing to bring it on himself if it helps Arthur through his angst.

I do love that Leon and Gwaine are all protective of Elyan, trying to keep him out of trouble with Arthur. Knightly bros FTW!

Gwaine has a sister? Oh my, fanfic time!

Arthur is listening to Merlin! Over Agravaine! OMG, I love this so much. Arthur has truly learned to think for himself and take the counsel based on whether it makes sense to him. More interestingly, he's learned that Merlin and Gaius give better counsel than Agravaine, to the point that he doesn't bother telling Agravaine about the possession because he knows what Agravaine would say and he doesn't need to hear it. Agravaine speaks with Uther's voice, but that's not appealing to Arthur the way it was when he was so newly crowned. He doesn't want to be Uther anymore, and the advice that Merlin offers is much more compatible with the king Arthur really wants to be.

"I'm following you. What the hell are you doing creeping around in the woods?" LOL! Funny line, and I also like how Merlin just snaps back the retort with no hesitation or deference. Merlin is never scared of Arthur's bad moods. He's annoyed by them sometimes, but it really doesn't matter how Arthur lashes out, Merlin is way beyond ever being intimidated by it. And it's so clear that Arthur wants him there. Not for the first time, Arthur goes to sacrifice himself and needs the comfort of Merlin with him.

Oh, Arthur. Oh, my heart, my king. His sorrow, his guilt, his fear, OMG, so powerful. And I loved the double meta levels of Elyan embracing him in forgiveness, then collapsing into his arms. And how wonderful not only that Arthur swore to change things in Camelot for at least one group of magic users, but that Merlin got to hear him say it. I would have liked a little more reaction from Merlin about that somehow, but it was still awesome.

And at the end, Merlin finally gets a real reaction from his teasing! Yay! All will be well. And who's writing all the fic about what happens when Arthur catches him?

Next week: Holy shit, Gwen gets to do something! Someone must have rubbed her lamp.

Comments

[rane-ab.livejournal.com]

I like thinking of all the knights living on the same hallway and getting up to shenanigans.

Now I'm thinking of them as kids bunking along the same corridor, to the teachers'/supervisors' despair. :D

[corilannam.livejournal.com]

Oh man, a million dormitory fics! Boarding school! Uni! Summer camp! I need it!

[lawgoddess.livejournal.com]

Merlin is never scared of Arthur's bad moods. He's annoyed by them sometimes, but it really doesn't matter how Arthur lashes out, Merlin is way beyond ever being intimidated by it. And it's so clear that Arthur wants him there. Not for the first time, Arthur goes to sacrifice himself and needs the comfort of Merlin with him.

This is a really good point.

I didn't particularly like the way they poked at each other this episode, but it makes sense the way you put it in context.

Can't wait to see how the rest of the season plays out.

[corilannam.livejournal.com]

I found it a little uncomfortable to watch, but it totally made sense to me. Intimate friendship isn't always comfortable, and sometimes when one friend is really hurting, the other just has to be there and take the backlash. It's Merlin's personality to poke at Arthur and it's Arthur's personality to repress until it bursts out.

I thought of it as Merlin performing an emotional medical procedure. Lancing the wound, so to speak (no Lancelot pun intended there).

[lolafeist.livejournal.com]

I just wrote a HUGE comment and then clicked the wrong thing and killed it.

Fuck me.

ANYWAY, I AGREE. AND SOME OTHER STUFF. BOYS ARE PRETTY.

Oh, I started to. But it's gotten angsty.

*

The game of chase doesn’t last long. Merlin’s never been as nimble as Arthur, and on his second dodging leap over the bed, his boots twist in the sheets and he lands hard on his stomach with his arms dangling over the edge of the mattress. Arthur—right behind—hits him in a straddle, thighs heavy over Merlin, and without a word begins tickling him mercilessly.

“Arthur—stop,” Merlin cries out, laughter bubbling out of him traitorously.

[corilannam.livejournal.com]

*squee!* More, more!

And woe for the lost comment! I love your comments. :-(

[wolfangeldeath.livejournal.com]

And it makes sense to me that Arthur takes out his frustrations on Merlin a bit -- Merlin is the one person he can't drive away. It's also the one way Arthur can release any emotion right now, which made me wonder if that's why Merlin kept poking even though he knew Arthur was going to lash out at some point. He's not a big fan of being Arthur's whipping boy, but he's willing to bring it on himself if it helps Arthur through his angst.

This is exactly what I thought. It's how I've always pictured that side of their relationship.

[corilannam.livejournal.com]

Yup, me, too. And I think even moreso now, Arthur needs that release valve. To everyone else, he has to present the face of the calm, controlled king, but with Merlin he can show some of his anger and grief, even if it's misdirected.

[stagarden.livejournal.com]

I really like your insights into their relationship and how it plays out in this episode. I'm going to rewatch with your thoughts in mind. There were parts of their banter that bothered me the first time around, but I had the underlying sense that things were ok between them, and I think it's because of the reasons you describe -- I just couldn't articulate it to myself nearly that well.

[corilannam.livejournal.com]

I do think things are okay between them! I just don't think Arthur himself is okay right now, and Merlin's dealing with that in his usual Merlin-y way (relentlessly annoying Arthur to get a reaction, any reaction, out of him).

It's not a pleasant process for either of them (or for us), but it works. By the end, it seems like the storm clouds are finally clearing and maybe Arthur's ready to let himself start to heal. So we'll see how it goes next week.

[archaeologist-d.livejournal.com]

The thing about the knights all living along the same hallway is a great idea. Gwaine would be sure to get into hijinks and drag them all along, esp Percival with Elyan rolling his eyes and Leon frowning as he's pulled into it, too.

Loved this one. Bradley is just so darn good this series.