This week, warrior sorceress Morgause (Emilia Fox) is back to cause trouble for Camelot, this time by lighting the fires of abandoned citadel Idirsholas, in order to resurrect the dreaded Knights of Medhir (a Ring Wraith tribute act with Doctor Doom's taste in face-wear, wont to riding black steeds in slow-motion.)Arthur (Bradley James) and Merlin (Colin Morgan) are dispatched as part of a reconnaissance mission to Idirsholas after a peasant notices smoke coming from the fortress' chimneys. Concurrently, Morgause has turned her half-sister Morgana (Katie McGrath) into a "source" of powerful magic against her will, resulting in Camelot's population falling into a deep sleep. When Arthur and Merlin return ahead of the resurrected Knights after a skirmish, they're faced with the impossible task of protecting the sleeping castle from the advancing enemy, with Morgana the only person left awake to help...
A wonderful sense of pace and excitement pulsed through this episode, which was actually quite basic in terms of plotting (and perhaps a slight waste of Fox again), but that allowed room for some great moments between Merlin, Arthur and Morgana. Comedy was even provided when Merlin tried to rouse Gaius (Richard Wilson) with various spells that caused him to bolt upright with a rictus grin across his face. There was even a mild sense of farce as Arthur and Merlin struggled to hide King Uther (Anthony Head), by dragging the sleeping monarch around the castle corridors and dressing him as a servant so that the Knights of Medhir wouldn't be able to recognize him once they arrive.
But the comedic aspect didn't overshadow the ticking clock sense of desperation that descended in the final 20 minutes, as Merlin was forced to consult the grouchy Dragon (John Hurt) -- who has apparently developed a sense of humour by pretending to be asleep itself! And this time the Dragon pinned the blame for the situation firmly on "the witch" Morgana, compelling Merlin to take drastic action by poisoning her to break the spell. Of course, what the Dragon chose not to say was how Morgana is just an ignorant pawn in Morgause's plan, making Merlin believe she has chosen to bring this danger on the kingdom. If the writers are going to keep using the Dragon for lazy purposes of explanation, I'm just glad such scenes are now imbued with a deeper level, as we know the beast's conning the naïve boy wizard...
Overall, "The Fires Of Idirsholas" was effective and satisfying storytelling. The show has built enough back-story and developed the characters to such an extent that we're able to feel the repercussions of their decisions and mistakes much more intensely.The scene where Merlin poisoned Morgana was quite intense for a family-friendly TV show (I mean, could you ever imagine The Doctor slipping his companion a cyanide tablet to prevent a Dalek invasion?), and this episode left us with some excellent dangling threads: poisoned Morgana was assumedly cured thanks to Morgause's incantation, but kidnapped (to be transformed into a villain for series 3 now that Merlin tried to kill her?), and Merlin was forced to keep his promise to the Dragon and broke the chain holding him captive -- using a sword stolen from a defeated Knight of Medhir. That latter scene was particularly effective in how it was constructed by writer Julian Jones – a surprising and genuinely tense turn of events, as we know Merlin's making a grave error that will threaten the kingdom, as foreseen in the magical crystal last week.
What more can you say? Merlin's been the biggest surprise of the year for me; it's still a little rough in places and the lack of cohesion between its mythology and standalone episodes can be jarring, but it's ultimately started to take some chances and has learned from mistakes made in series 1. I'm actually pretty excited about next Saturday's fiery finale, which I would never have expected to be just three short months ago.
12 December 2009
BBC1, 6pm
written by: Julian Jones directed by: Jeremy Webb starring: Colin Morgan (Merlin), Emilia Fox (Morgause), Richard Wilson (Gaius), Anthony Head (King Uther), Bradley James (Arthur), John Hurt (Dragon, voice), Katie McGrath (Morgana), Angel Coulby (Gwen), Rupert Young (Sir Leon) & Jem Wall (Joseph)
