An Introduction To BBC’s Merlin

As Merlin has already started its third season, here’s the sitch: This is an introduction post to the series, which will catch you up on the concepts. Then, recaps of seasons one and two will be posted in short order, and from there, I’ll start recapping individual episodes.

Merlin's Colin Morgan

The first rule of Merlin is, don’t talk about – Oh. Sorry. That was a movie. This is not the Tyler Durden you were looking for.

Seriously, though – the first rule of Merlin is that you should forget everything you know about Arthurian legend. All of it. In fact, what you most likely know is wrong anyway; the tale is far older than you think. It’s older than Joan Rivers, and it’s had about as much cosmetic surgery.

To give a short history, the story of Arthur and his knights started out as kind of a cool campfire tale of a rogue band of warriors. When they got so good that pulling off regular raids started to suck, they started raiding the realms of the other creatures – the fae, elves, whatever they could get. The story was basically “look how cool these guys were”, a sort of Bruce Willis and his “yippee-ki-yay, motherfucker” millenia before the words “Die Hard” were invented.

Yeah, I know. That sounds nothing like the story you know, does it? Where’s Guinevere? Lancelot? Merlin?

Well, this particular tale stuck around, and it became whatever the age it was being told in needed it to be. Britain began to become overrun by foes, and Arthur got a makeover; he became a great defender, and the story became about a great military leader. Christianity invaded the pagan religions, and Arthur was made the king who made a stand against it – and then, as Christianity won out, the story changed again. He became the contrite convert, and the champion of the new faith.

Then chivalric romances became fashionable, and Guinevere was added. A king needs a queen, right? And because there just wasn’t enough drama, Lancelot had to go get himself added to screw things up, and Arthur had to become a king upholding the best of morals in the face of utter betrayal. Somewhere in here, magic was tossed in to boot, and Merlin was born, guarding the greatest of kings, and being tasked with bringing this shining monarch back in the hour of England’s greatest need.

That sounds better, right?

Well, toss it all out. Most of it, anyway.

BBC’s new series Merlin does what every other adaptation of Arthurian legend has done – pick bits and pieces of it out, and outright discard others. It’s the main criticism of the series. Hey, wait – this isn’t the story I know!

In this adaptation, Camelot already existed well before the birth of Arthur. Uther Pendragon, his father, rules with an iron fist, and magic usage is not allowed. Prince Arthur lives for his father’s acceptance, and no matter how much martial prowess Arthur has, he just can’t seem to get that approval. Also living with Uther and Arthur is Morgana*, a girl of Arthur’s age that Uther has promised to raise. She’s given the title of “Lady Morgana”, but she’s practically a princess. Guinevere is there, too – in the guise of Morgana’s servant.

L to R: Uther, Arthur, Merlin, Gaius, Morgana, and Guinevere

That’s right. There’s no Queen Guinevere here. There’s only plain little Gwen, the blacksmith’s daughter. Major departure? Oh yes.

And into all this, Merlin arrives. He’s near Arthur’s age, which is somewhere around eighteen, and he is young in so many ways. The actor himself was perfectly cast; he’s got giant blue eyes that sparkle with innocence and wonder at the majesty of Camelot, and adorable ears that stick out from the side of his head and make him look like a five-year-old in awe at Disney World. Merlin is, of course, a magic user, and that’s where the problems start.

His mother has sent him to her old friend, Gaius, who is King Uther’s personal physician, for his own protection. Merlin’s instinctual magic has made him stick out in his small village, and this is bad. Very bad. “King Uther will kill you for it” kind of bad. Gaius understands, though, and makes a promise to Merlin’s mother that he will protect and hide the boy, right under Uther’s nose.

Soon, Arthur (who’s quite the little prat) and Merlin are joined together by destiny, through Merlin’s successful attempt to save Arthur’s life. Neither Arthur nor Uther know that Merlin used magic to do it, but they do know that Arthur is still alive due to Merlin’s interference. And what’s Merlin’s prize? He gets to become Arthur’s manservant. Oh, boy.

The show demonstrates the best of BBC programming – smart dialogue, good plots, solid acting, amazing CG, and that lovely feeling post-show where you almost feel bereft as the credits roll… Like your best friend in the world just walked out your door. Thankfully, Merlin’s not going to stop coming back any time soon, and he’ll bring his friends with him.

*Cool story, bro: Morgana’s actress, Katie McGrath, started out her television career on The Tudors – not as an actress, but as a costuming assistant. She’d had two very, very small roles beforehand, but muscled her way into the costuming job, and then annoyed the Tudors director until she got an on-screen role in the series. That small on-screen role led to her “discovery”, and to the coveted lead role of Morgana on Merlin. And that, folks, is how it’s done.



Related posts:

1. Merlin, 3.11 – “The Sorcerer’s Shadow”
2. Merlin, 3.10 – “Queen of Hearts”
3. Merlin, 3.02 – The Tears of Uther Pendragon, Pt. 2
4. Merlin, 3.01 – The Tears of Uther Pendragon, Pt. 1
5. Merlin, 3.08 – The Eye of the Phoenix