Episode II.III – The Nightmare Begins
Join us for episode 3 of Season 2 of BBC Merlin!
#DestinyAndChicken
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19th April 2020 @ 11:02 pm
I wasn’t happy when Morgana got back and didn’t tell Uther that the Druids had kidnapped her. She must know that Uther wouldn’t kill her for it. She could have spinned something about going for a walk and getting lost and them helping her? Anyway, not one of my favorite episodes.
21st April 2020 @ 9:22 am
I am very often not happy with the things they make morgana do, partially I think because they just didn’t know what to do with her (see how little she is in some episodes and how often she gets overlooked, as a character) but mostly because they just clearly didn’t work out how to actually get her to transition from good morgana to what she becomes in the legends, so they (consciously or not) seem to have decided to go for ‘we’re just going to make her incapable of using her brain and making any decisions, until she’s so tangled up in fear and drama, she has no choice but to act out’. And in certain episodes, that really works, but in others it just does not…
25th February 2020 @ 8:14 am
Yay, lessons for last week’s episode:
The viewers have learned that Merlin has some amazing powers of navigation? Or stalking? Not sure. The list of individuals under suspicion that Merlin reads literally says the person’s first name, then something nondescript like ‘Lower Town’ and then their supposed crime. My question is: How does Merlin find Florridel so quickly? Does he know her and know where she lives? Then why is she threatening him with a sword and literally asking him, “Who are you?” Did Merlin ever have a reason to spy on this particular woman? Do Camelot houses have doorbells with first names and he just happened to read hers one day and now he knows? I can believe the guard keeping a map of where everyone lives and knowing the town inside out. But Merlin? Conclusion: Merlin must have some extra super-locating-magic that we’re never directly told about.
Morgana has learned that Merlin is either not very good at giving directions (“Go into the vast forest of Essetir and the Druids are there somewhere.”) or that she definitely needs to go on a journey with a little more than a conspicuous red cloak and dress. No food, no water and how long does Morgana wander through the forest? She leaves at night, then we see her walking through the day, then she gets attacked by the serkets again at night. Even Merlin brought a bed roll and is shown to rest by a fire when he follows her. But either Morgana is too pretty for such petty things as sleep, food and rest or there’s something really wrong with the timings.
Viewers have learned that serkets are really very inept and/or fair predators. They give you hours of ominous noises as warning before they arrive. So, Morgana had every chance to turn back or arm herself properly. Also, serkets seem to be nocturnal. So, are we assuming that the ominous noises Morgana hears during the day are made while they’re asleep? Are they maybe having a serket nightmare? Did we misunderstand the entire episode and the nightmare that begins is actually the one of the serkets?!
We might have discovered a reason why Morgana has trouble sleeping: she sleeps too much during day and has no set routine. When Merlin brings flowers, she sleeps even though it’s the middle of the day. Before she and Aglaine ever have the conversation she came for but after she had already woken up once and met Mordred, Morgana sleeps for the rest of the day. The next day, after her conversation with Aglaine, when Merlin arrives in her tent, she’s in bed again. That girl needs a proper routine!
We have learned that the Druids are really THE nicest, noblest and best-hearted people in Camelot. I think my favourite line of the episode is when Aglain tells Morgana, “You shouldn’t be scared of Uther. You should pity him.
… he’s a broken man, consumed by fear. His hatred of magic has driven goodness from his heart.” In a show with loads of impressive magic and awesome powers, I think this attitude, the power to emphathise, pity, even forgive your greatest enemy, is more incredible than any fancy tricks! It really reminded me a little of the persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire. And I like that the show takes time to dwell on this a moment. It’s like a reminder that, magical or not, this is how people should be to each other. And then tragically Aglain gets killed very soon afterwards and it almost becomes symbolic for that kind of attitude literally being killed off throughout the series. I know you can’t discuss this yet, but this becomes more and more apparent in later seasons when Merlin and finally even the Druids become more murderous, unrepentant and unforgiving. Maybe this is the real reason the nightmare begins: not because ‘the witch’ learns of her powers but because that which would foster good to flourish in her is slaughtered. And the dragon and Gaius both, probably due to their traumatic experiences during the Purge, can no longer see or believe that such an attitude exits or could win over Uther’s fear and hatred. Merlin who naturally exhibits these attitudes is still to young and reverent to have a chance against their cowardice and cynicism. I remember when I first watched this episode and I understood Gaius’s actions but thought Merlin was right. But then, at the end, Merlin was shown to be the repentant one and I was confused. What was the message of this episode? To kill off or penalise all good and right instincts because actions of kindness and forgiveness couldn’t prevail in the real world?
23rd February 2020 @ 9:48 am
I’m going to defend Gaius. His attitude about magic just reminds me so much of the attitude of older Black American during the civil rights movement. The fear of challenging status quo in the knowledge of how bad things could get. Watching people be terrorized and lynched by White people who have all the power just made older Blacks scared that their children where challenging the system.
Going back to the opening sequence of S1:E1 when the man is beheaded for merely using magic. Gaius has watched years of Uther just terrorizing anyone with magic. Unfortunately Gaius’s way of dealing with it is to hide it.
*spoiler alert
Looking at Gaius through this lens also makes it uncomfortable when Gaius asks Merlin to use magic to protect Uther. But we’ll have that discussion after part I of one of the funnest episodes.
BTW I’m loving this podcast. Looking forward to you coming on board #TeamLancealot next week. 😉
21st February 2020 @ 7:34 pm
Ok I loved ‘The Nightmare Begins’ so much more than I thought I would from the first few minutes. My heart broke for Merlin doing the morally right thing (I mean telling Morgana about his magic would have been ideal but I think that’s a step further than he was capable of going under the circumstances) but not knowing how to without causing problems. He stood up to Gaius even though he found it really difficult, and he said what we were all thinking all along (that Morgana shouldn’t have to be alone and Gaius was wrong), and although it hurts that Merlin says “we both were [doing what we thought was best]” at the end I think it’s true to their characters. Gaius is a coward but he was fearful both for himself and for Morgana, and for Merlin. Also, the crack in his voice when he says that BROKE me. I agree 100% with what you said about the “she can’t even be your friend” scene and I loved Bradley’s choices in that and it broke my heart. What I love most is that Merlin is really TRYING, even though he doesn’t get it right, he is conflicted and struggling and he’s so alone (because Gaius is clearly wrong and the stinky dragon won’t help) and he doesn’t know what to do but he knows he has to do something.
Although I find Gaius’ actions upsetting, I do feel like his behaviour is sort of a symbol of the effects of Uther’s actions on those who lived through that time, through a literal genocide. The effects of the trauma then get passed down to Merlin, show by how he is scared to tell Morgana even when she outright says “I just need to hear someone say it” – he’s been told his whole life magic is a death sentence and Gaius has reinforced that and while his silence is not great I do understand it. Aglain might be who Gaius could have been if he hadn’t been so close to Uther for so long 🙁 Maybe also Merlin’s lack of ability to fully confront Gaius is like Arthur’s failure to fully confront Uther: the reasons are different but as Merlin said, he was so lonely before, and Gaius is the first person to tell him he’s ok as he is.
Merlin’s (and Morgana’s for that matter) lack of forethought on the druids plan makes perfect sense to me – he’s so unsure about his actions and so just saying “look there are these druids maybe they’ll help but I don’t know” and letting Morgana do what she will makes sense. It’s a sort of panicked compromise between wanting to tell her he has magic and wanting to obey Gaius. I don’t think he actually said to her (if I remember correctly anyway) “hey you should leave in the middle of the night,” he just pointed out that they might be able to help. Morgana’s lack of forethought makes sense with her panic and desperation for answers. Even Merlin being easy to track is ok with me; he’s panicking and in a hurry and I totally get that. The only part that’s inexcusable (and, more annoyingly, out of character) is Morgana refusing to go home even though Merlin said a huge number of people would die.
I wonder whether Arthur’s “remember, the king said take no prisoners” might be partly for the benefit of the druids: like he’s trying to communicate to the druids, “if you have Morgana, give her up because the king ordered that we take no prisoners” but he obviously can’t actually warn them.
The biggest way the episode could be improved in my opinion would be if I didn’t have to see Kilgarrah the stinky lizard 😛
(also heads-up in case my comments get used again, my pronouns are they/them not she/her – no hard feelings, I know my name is traditionally female, it didn’t occur to me to mention it before)