Merlin stuff

[hils]

While I was capping The Poisoned Chalice for my icons I noticed a quite glaring continuity error


When Merlin is gawping at Nimueh he is dressed like this


A few moments later and his cloak has suddenly vanished! *gasp*

Re-watching this episode has actually got me thinking about a couple of things. Do you think Uther knows that Gaius dabbles in magic? I mean it's been established that they've been friends for a long time, presumably back before the days of magic being banned when it would have been ok for Gaius to practise magic. Or maybe he didn't start dabbling until after The Great Purge. Just something I was wondering about

I'm also curious about Arthur and Morgana. I mean in the early episodes it was pretty obvious they were going for sexual chemistry between the two of them, with Morgana wearing her slutty dress to get Arthur's attention and things like that. But by the end they seem to be going for a brother/sister sort of relationship. Do you think they've just abandoned Arthur/Morgana as a romantic pairing?

Similarly Gwen's crush on Merlin seems to have vanished without a trace. We saw her get all flustered when she offered to do anything for Merlin but I think that was the end of it if I'm right. Next thing she's kissing Arthur's hand.

Just stuff to think about. I'd love to know your thoughts

Comments

[siobhan-w.livejournal.com]

I think Uther only sees what he wants to see - he wants to see Gaius as being completely against magic so, as far as he is concerned, Gaius is. I think it's part of Uther's blindness when it comes to what magic is and can be and part of the arrogance of being king. Also, even if Gaius did do magic on a regular basis I get the impression that he really wasn't that good at it so he abandoned it to move on to something that he good do well, such as healing and science.

As far as Arthur and Morgana are concerned, I do think they started off with more of a sexual vibe between them but I just don't think the chemistry between the actors really works that way and perhaps the show-runners realized that. They play off each other much better as brother and sister then as potential lovers. Of course, I could be completely wrong and in a year the show will decide that Arthur and Morgana are destined for true love and decide to ignore the entire first season of successful brother/sister interaction -- Er, sorry...I think my Smallville continuity bitterness took over for a bit there. *g*

[solar-cat.livejournal.com]

I've been wondering about the Gaius thing myself. I mean, it's fairly apparent that Gaius was a practitioner of magic back in the day. I was sort of thinking that perhaps, given that he's obviously promised to be loyal to Uther, somewhere back then there was a me-or-them moment and Gaius chose Uther, and perhaps even gave up practicing magic until Merlin came along? He's obviously kept the book and so on, but as siobhan_w commented, he doesn't give the impression of having been that good at it (or perhaps he's simply very out of practice). So my thought is really that he chose to remain loyal to Uther at the cost of his practice of magic. Though that really leads me to question Gaius' ethics, considering he has apparently not done much of anything while Uther executed every magic user in the kingdom. :\

I hope they gave up on Arthur/Morgana as a romance (it seems even more apparent now, since Morgana is now... um... crazy). I agree that they definitely seem to have more of a sibling thing going on, despite the early attempts at sexual tension, and I like them better like that. They have that friendly banter I-knew-you-when-and-I-kept-the-photos sort of thing going, which I think suits them very well.

As far as Merlin/Gwen, I believe (as someone else once commented, though I forget who) that ended in 1x09 when Merlin got the sword for Arthur and Gwen commented that he actually was proud of Arthur, and, let's just face it, Merlin was so completely smitten and trying to hide it, and Gwen saw and gave up. There's just no way anyone is going to outrank Arthur in Merlin's affections, regardless of whether you look at it in the slashy way or the just-friends way. Arthur is just it for Merlin; sign it, seal it, done. Merlin is totally and completely devoted to him. And I totally and firmly believe that Gwen finally got that and realized that, yeah, she could try, but she would never get that from him the way Arthur already had. (Even if he doesn't appreciate it, stupid git... >.> ) XDDDD


*ahem* Sorry, I hadn't had my Merlin meta yet today, and I think I just went off a bit. ^^;;;

[mariamme.livejournal.com]

I have wondered this too, about Gaius and Uther. I think Gaius was practicing magic and gave it up in an "me or it" moment, just as solar_cat said. But I've always wondered if Uther definitely knows, because of Gaius and Igraine. Now, admittedly, I've only watched the episodes once so I might've misunderstood, but didn't Gaius use Nimueh to give Igraine a child? And does Uther know this? I figured that might've been why he turned against magic. But does he view that as Nimueh's fault since she's the one that cast the spell? And Gaius hid his own knowledge? I'm not sure. I've been pondering. *g*

I didn't think as much about the other pairings...I was mainly happy for them to go away. *g* I think the current system of Arthur and Morgana as "siblings" and Merlin and Gwen as friends works much, much better. *g*

[hils.livejournal.com]

Oh, God, I know what you mean. Smallville has done so much bad work to my psyche that it's totally damaged the way I look at other shows. LOL!

I like your thoughts about Uther and Gaius though. It makes a lot of sense :)

[hils.livejournal.com]

Oh, I love the thoughts about Gwen and Merlin. That absolutely makes sense to me.

You do have to wonder about Gaius don't you? Like did he help with The Great Purge to save his own neck? Or, like you suggest, did he simply choose Uther over magic? Either way, dubious ethics, as you say. I hope we'll learn more about this in the next series

[hils.livejournal.com]

As far as I recall (and I've only seen the episode once too) it was Uther who asked Nimueh to give Igraine a child. I don't think Gaius was involved much beyond knowing about it

[solar-cat.livejournal.com]

More of the history between Gaius and Uther (and Gaius and Hunith, for that matter) is definitely one of my big wishes for the next series. The bits of Uther characterization they've given us have been pretty damn good so far, on the whole, and I'd love to have more backstory and motivation for him and Gaius both.

(And the Hunith thing--WHY did she send her über-magical son to GAIUS, if he's been standing by while Uther executes people? I mean, he isn't (in my view of canon) at all the type of person to just hand him over to Uther, but still. I want to know why she trusted him that much, given his role (or non-role) in the Purge. *ponders things*)

[hils.livejournal.com]

So much to think about! We should make a long list and send it to the writers ;)

[thisissirius.livejournal.com]

Thinky thoughts!

OMG ERRORS. i never noticed that before, lol.

jdksjfkds. this makes me wonder some things.

[hils.livejournal.com]

It does! I am having thinky thoughts *g*

[stealingpennies.livejournal.com]

Continuity error: I've read at least one fic that has noted this and has Merlin hurridly stuffing his cloak behind a pillar or some such. :)
Such glitches just add to the LOVE.
As to Gaius - definitely a murky past there. It wouldn't be so bad if he had previously dabbled in magic (which seems to have been practiced pretty openly and been widespread before the whole Nimue baby bargain) and then given up on Uther's command but Gaius seems to have actively helped in the suppression and is due some kind of karmic payback. To give him his due, he does seem aware of his failures and admits his life has mostly been wasted before Merlin came along. :(

[hils.livejournal.com]

I suppose at least he tried to make it right by offering his life for Hunith's to keep Merlin safe