tardis_stowaway (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
tardis_stowaway) wrote2011-10-09 01:05 am
tardis_stowaway) wrote2011-10-09 01:05 am
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Merlin: The Darkest Hour 1 & 2
So, I've been watching Merlin. As long as I pretend Morgana is a completely different person than she was in the first two series, I'm enjoying it. If I try watching it with no more than canon explanations for the changes in her character, I keep getting distracted by the urge to approach Morgana and say, "What, what, WHAT are you DOING? Look at your life! Look at your choices!"
My fanon is that sometime during the year she was with Morgause between S2 and S3, Morgana got attacked by an evil spirit or a magic user who had been horribly wronged by Uther or something like that. The attacker imprisoned Morgana a long way away, magically impersonated her, and took her place. That evil spirit or person with no ties of love to anyone in Camelot is who we've been watching for S3 and S4 so far. The real Morgana eventually escaped her imprisonment and tried to get back to Camelot, but before she got there she realized that she quite liked the freedom of not being a noblewoman and not having to hide her magic. She is currently living in a small village in the middle of nowhere, growing vegetables, helping the villagers out with small charms for healing and finding lost goats, and sometimes wearing fabulous dresses for no reason whatsoever. Occasionally she dreams of Camelot and the nastiness perpetrated by her imitator, but the closest the real Morgana has come to being evil is deciding that it's Not Her Problem.
Meanwhile, back in the world outside my head, I have thoughts about The Darkest Hour (1 & 2). In no particular order:
-This definitely had a darker tone that we're used to. I thought it worked quite well, though I hope the rest of the series strikes a balance, keeping a bit of the sense of danger and tragedy without entirely losing the silly romp qualities that we're used to.
-The friendship between Merlin and Lancelot is a thing of beauty. It is such a relief for Merlin to have someone other than Gaius that he can be open with about his magic. There is a a lot of trust and respect between them. So of course the show decided to take Lancelot away. ;_: That CAN'T be permanent, but it makes me really sad anyway. I want Lancelot's hotness and nobility in every episode.
-Oh my, the Merlin/Arthur is on display strongly in these episodes. They still take the piss, but the respect and caring underneath the teasing has never been more clear. I love that Arthur actually had Merlin write a speech for him. Merlin stepped into the path of a dementor for Arthur. (The spirit things' real name has slipped my mind and I can't be bothered to go check, so dementors they are.) Arthur was just about ready to turn that whole quest around to have a chance at saving Merlin's life. We get lots of intense chats in the dark. Awww.
-Gwen was amazing standing up to Aggravaine. That's my Queen right there. ♥ ♥ On a more shallow note, her hair looks amazing, and the outfit she was wearing in part 1 was super flattering. Not that someone that pretty needs much flattering. Anyway, I am convinced that the reason she asked Lancelot to look after Arthur was because she needed both of them for the threesome she was planning when the quest group got back.
-THE GIANT NAKED MOLE RATS WERE BACK!!! Yay! One of them licked Gwaine.Giant naked mole rats are now representative of fangirl desires?
-Apparently Percival's arms are too large and impressive to be contained by sleeves. I keep laughing, but I'm not complaining.
-Not liking Aggravaine so far. He would have been far more interesting if they'd let us go at least a few episodes unsure about whether he was a villain or not.
-At least Morgana looked somewhat tormented about killing Morgause, even when Morgause asked her to. I really have difficulty believing that the real Morgana would attack her Gwen like that, though I'd guess she'd hardly be the first person in history to have love turn into furious vengeance. Ah well, I am firm in my belief that we're not watching the real Morgana. Also, now that she's away from the court Morgana appears to be going through a Goth phase where she wears all black and doesn't brush her hair often enough. It doesn't stop her from being ridiculously good-looking.
-Having lots of knights around all the time is doing nothing to change the fact that my shipping preference for this show tends to be orgy.
-Arthur, Merlin, and Lancelot all trying to sacrifice themselves for each other broke my heart. It's like they were at the Stone Table and everybody wanted to be Aslan. Oh Lancelot, please resurrect shortly.
My fanon is that sometime during the year she was with Morgause between S2 and S3, Morgana got attacked by an evil spirit or a magic user who had been horribly wronged by Uther or something like that. The attacker imprisoned Morgana a long way away, magically impersonated her, and took her place. That evil spirit or person with no ties of love to anyone in Camelot is who we've been watching for S3 and S4 so far. The real Morgana eventually escaped her imprisonment and tried to get back to Camelot, but before she got there she realized that she quite liked the freedom of not being a noblewoman and not having to hide her magic. She is currently living in a small village in the middle of nowhere, growing vegetables, helping the villagers out with small charms for healing and finding lost goats, and sometimes wearing fabulous dresses for no reason whatsoever. Occasionally she dreams of Camelot and the nastiness perpetrated by her imitator, but the closest the real Morgana has come to being evil is deciding that it's Not Her Problem.
Meanwhile, back in the world outside my head, I have thoughts about The Darkest Hour (1 & 2). In no particular order:
-This definitely had a darker tone that we're used to. I thought it worked quite well, though I hope the rest of the series strikes a balance, keeping a bit of the sense of danger and tragedy without entirely losing the silly romp qualities that we're used to.
-The friendship between Merlin and Lancelot is a thing of beauty. It is such a relief for Merlin to have someone other than Gaius that he can be open with about his magic. There is a a lot of trust and respect between them. So of course the show decided to take Lancelot away. ;_: That CAN'T be permanent, but it makes me really sad anyway. I want Lancelot's hotness and nobility in every episode.
-Oh my, the Merlin/Arthur is on display strongly in these episodes. They still take the piss, but the respect and caring underneath the teasing has never been more clear. I love that Arthur actually had Merlin write a speech for him. Merlin stepped into the path of a dementor for Arthur. (The spirit things' real name has slipped my mind and I can't be bothered to go check, so dementors they are.) Arthur was just about ready to turn that whole quest around to have a chance at saving Merlin's life. We get lots of intense chats in the dark. Awww.
-Gwen was amazing standing up to Aggravaine. That's my Queen right there. ♥ ♥ On a more shallow note, her hair looks amazing, and the outfit she was wearing in part 1 was super flattering. Not that someone that pretty needs much flattering. Anyway, I am convinced that the reason she asked Lancelot to look after Arthur was because she needed both of them for the threesome she was planning when the quest group got back.
-THE GIANT NAKED MOLE RATS WERE BACK!!! Yay! One of them licked Gwaine.
-Apparently Percival's arms are too large and impressive to be contained by sleeves. I keep laughing, but I'm not complaining.
-Not liking Aggravaine so far. He would have been far more interesting if they'd let us go at least a few episodes unsure about whether he was a villain or not.
-At least Morgana looked somewhat tormented about killing Morgause, even when Morgause asked her to. I really have difficulty believing that the real Morgana would attack her Gwen like that, though I'd guess she'd hardly be the first person in history to have love turn into furious vengeance. Ah well, I am firm in my belief that we're not watching the real Morgana. Also, now that she's away from the court Morgana appears to be going through a Goth phase where she wears all black and doesn't brush her hair often enough. It doesn't stop her from being ridiculously good-looking.
-Having lots of knights around all the time is doing nothing to change the fact that my shipping preference for this show tends to be orgy.
-Arthur, Merlin, and Lancelot all trying to sacrifice themselves for each other broke my heart. It's like they were at the Stone Table and everybody wanted to be Aslan. Oh Lancelot, please resurrect shortly.
no subject
no subject
I admit my own feelings about the show are somewhat mixed, largely because of the way they've handled Morgana, my favorite character in the early seasons. It's clear from the mythology that she was going to end up going down a different path from the others, but it's possible to set a character in opposition to the others without actually being evil, or at least to make a turn to evil believable. The show didn't manage that, IMHO. I also sometimes get frustrated with the reluctance to break status quo in some aspects (the number of times Arthur has gotten knocked out just before Merlin did magic is absurd). Still, there is a lot that I adore about the show as a whole, and I think S4 is off to a very strong start.
no subject
Word on the Morgana thing.
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My frustration at the lousy handling of Morgana's character arc can seriously interfere with my enjoyment of the rest of the show. I've got people on my flist who have stopped watching Merlin for mostly that reason. I don't want to stop, so rejecting a bit of the canon reality and substituting my own enables me to do less raging at the screen and more appreciating the things the show does well.
no subject
The opening two-parter was probably objectively the best Merlin has ever been, at the same time it is now a show entirely about boys and their feelings, which is not something I was ever going to have any great fannish or emotional investment in. So I can have it on while I do the ironing and find it... fine but nothing more than that. Which is probably better for me than being constantly angry at it for not being what I wanted it to be, and means I get more ironing done.
no subject
Having a show to watch while doing dull chores is useful! I can still get fannish when it's almost all boys, but damn it's frustrating. I REALLY wish they would get Gwen somebody else with ovaries to talk to, but I'm not getting my hopes up.