Director: Jeremy Webb
Spoilers. As we approach the end of Merlin's fledgling year, "Excalibur" offers something of a Greatest Hits compilation: the return of evil sorceress Nimueh (Michelle Ryan), the arrival of another piece of Arthurian iconography (the titular sword Excalibur), the boy Merlin (Colin Morgan) saving the day behind everyone's backs, another supernatural baddie to defeat, and some back-story about why King Uther (Anthony Head) detests magic...The episode opens with Nimueh using magic to resurrect a corpse in a Camelot crypt, turning it into a "wraith" known as the Black Knight (Rick English). The helmeted wraith then interrupts a coming-of-age ceremony where Arthur (Bradley James) is being officially crowned prince, to literally "throw down the gauntlet". The Black Knight's challenge is accepted by Sir Owain (Kyle Redmond-Jones) in defence of his king; but Owain's unaware his challenger is a supernatural being that can't be beaten by any mortal weapon... until it avenges its own death.
The identity of the Black Knight is what underpins this episode, as Merlin investigates the knight's crest and discovers it belongs to Tristan Dubois, a man killed 22-years ago by Uther. Dubois has been resurrected by Nimueh to avenge the king's slaughter of magical doers -- which we learn was an act of retribution, because Nimueh used her magic on Uther's infertile wife Igraine, so they could conceive Arthur as an heir. Unfortunately, bringing new life into the world necessitated the death of Igraine during child-birth (as a cosmic balance), and Uther's fury at this deception led to his zero-tolerance for magic...
It's an important piece of information for the series, and one that provides a logical reason for Uther's autocratic nature. In some ways it softened his character, which was a shame, but I'm just glad the circumstances surrounding Uther's hatred of magic and Nimueh has a solid, plausible foundation. It's also quite an appealing idea that Arthur was conceived thanks to the magic his father now despises so much.
Also, Nimueh claims she didn't know Igraine would die as a result of Arthur's birth – which, if true, is another interesting way to make her character look quite sympathetic. If she was genuinely only trying to help, and her assistance resulted in the near-extermination of her kind, then her vendetta against Uther is actually quite understandable. I'm once again very pleased to see Merlin deal in moral grey areas, as it gives something for the older kids and adults to chew on.
With a title like "Excalibur", it's fairly predictable how the Black Knight will be defeated from the start, although the origin of the sword takes a massive departure from the legend. Here, it's forged as a regular sword by Gwen's (Angel Coulby) blacksmith father, before being transformed into a powerful weapon by the fiery breath of the Great Dragon (John Hurt), who warns Merlin that only Arthur can wield the sword for good. Inevitably, that doesn't quite come to pass, once Uther decides to replace his son Arthur in a desperate duel with the unstoppable Black Knight...
Strangely, this episode once again ends with the latest Arthurian icon being disposed of. Together with the departure of Sir Lancelot and the escape of little Mordred, it's becoming a very frustrating trope of the series that Arthurian icons are introduced and discarded so quickly. I'm sure Merlin will return to these legendary icons at some stage (it would be beyond foolish not to), but I would have preferred to see some of them provide a recurring storyline. Would it have been so terrible if Lancelot had stuck around for a while? Why not keep Excalibur around to bewitch Uther and, as the Great Dragon warns, encourage him into performing evil deeds?
Performance-wise, there wasn't much to get excited about this week, although Anthony Head continues to be unexpectedly nuanced and compelling as Uther (the most three-dimensional character, by far.) Michelle Ryan was back in a perfunctory reprise of her cherry-lipped villainess, although her scene with Head to explain the origin of their bad blood was an acting highlight. Elsewhere, everyone is basically going through the motions in a fairly straightforward plot -- although it's worth mentioning that Angel Coulby is suffering terribly as Gwen. For a future-queen with a significant role to play in the established legend, she shows absolutely no signs of such an esteemed future. Maybe that's the point, but I think it's more likely the writers aren't quite sure what to do with female characters like Gwen and Morgana.
Overall, "Excalibur" confirms Merlin has reached a consistent level of entertainment, and the revelations concerning Uther and Nimueh were appreciated and reasonable, but this story essentially followed a predictable formula. The arrival of Excalibur (not even mentioned by name in the episode) also failed to sparkle, as it was stupidly taken out of play in the denouement. I would much prefer Merlin embrace the Arthurian myth with both hands, instead of dance around it, treating its mythical icons like in-jokes for the grown-ups.
15 November 2008
BBC1, 7.20pm
Cast: Colin Morgan (Merlin), Bradley James (Prince Arthur), Richard Wilson (Gaius), Anthony Head (King Uther), Angel Coulby (Gwen), Katie McGrath (Morgana), John Hurt (The Great Dragon, voice), Michelle Ryan (Nimueh), Michael Cronin (Geoffrey of Monmouth), Kyle Redmond-Jones (Sir Owain), Rick English (Black Knight), Christopher Fairbank (Black Knight, voice)
