Episode III.III – Goblin’s Gold
Join us for what is (and most likely will remain) the shortest ever epsiode of Destiny & Chicken, epsiode 3 of Season 3 of BBC Merlin!
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18th July 2021 @ 5:30 am
I am extremely late to this party, as I found this podcast only in the past month and am now binging in hopes to be done before y’all start Season 5. I just wanted to jump in to note as a Jewish watcher that I appreciate the thoughtful commentary on the ah, unpleasant undertones of the goblin. These types of conversations are important and weirdly encouraging as people didn’t always have them and hopefully leads to less of this sort of thing in the future:)
Hopefully will catch up soon. Thanks for your great discussions!
23rd July 2021 @ 11:11 am
Hi Sam!
We’ve had to delay the start of S5 due to personal reasons, so you’ve got a couple of extra weeks to catch up. Hope that helps!! 🙂
Thank you for taking the time to comment on this episode and for letting us know that you felt the conversation was handled well. It’s much appreciated!
Xx
18th July 2021 @ 5:28 am
I am extremely late to this party, as I found this podcast only in the past month and am now binging in hopes to be done before y’all start Season 5. I just wanted to jump in to note as a Jewish watcher that I appreciate the thoughtful commentary on the ah, unpleasant undertones of the goblin. These types of conversations are important and weirdly encouraging as people didn’t always have them and hopefully leads to less of this sort of thing in the future:)
15th October 2020 @ 4:25 pm
Goblin’s gold wasn’t my favorite but I must admit I like fart jokes and silliness so it would go higher than say the one where Morgana goes with Uther to her father’s grave to kill him, the Alvarr one.
However, I didn’t even remember Uther throwing Merlin into jail and Arthur not really doing anything about it scene. Whoa. Arthur, honey, we’ve got to talk! Merlin must have been traumatized and it was even more of a reason NOT to tell Arthur about his magic.
As an aside, I was there when they were filming Gaius walking through the lower town in that cut scene and I remember watching them rehearsing it first. I was so lucky to see so many of the scenes that later made it into the show or the deleted scenes.
19th October 2020 @ 12:37 pm
To Kill the King honestly is one of those episodes, that is higher than I think of it in my head, because while I dont much enjoy watching the episode and wouldn’t ever go out of my way to go back and watch it, when looked at in detail, it’s a pretty solid episode, so it gets a higher rating than “expected”. very much like Valient.
Equally, having just said that, they are respectively at place 21 and 22… which is firmly the bottom third of the list, so really not very high at all lol
7th October 2020 @ 9:17 am
i missed this episode i know but i have to say some stuff because I must have watched it at least 5 times over lockdown because my 10-year-old sister loves the look on Gaius’ face when he licks the gold coins. she made me take a video of the farting scene in the courtroom so she could watch it everyday and she took so many pictures of the stupid moments. She also took a lot of pleasure in reenacting the scene where goblin Gaius wacks Uther on the head, luckily she can’t slap too hard.
Ok so first point: why on earth did no one notice that Gaius was acting strange? if you spent every day around someone and they suddenly changed, coincidentally when odd things start happening but never to Gaius. surely at least one person would have noticed because apart from Uther who is just pathetic, none of the characters are that thick.
the second point: does Arthur just believe everything that people tell him? because it feels like merlin could be right in front of Arthur but if Gaius tells him that he is in the tavern Arthur will believe him. it makes no sense because Arthur should know merlin well enough by now to know that he doesn’t really go to the tavern at all. it’s just so annoying that Arthur appears so gullible because he is a really strong independent character most of the time.
LESSONS:
Merlin yet again fails to learn that mysterious items are probably better left alone, especially if it is a talking box. with his magical knowledge he should at least think before opening it.
Gwen learns that Arthur is a lot less emotionally strong as a donkey.
Arthur learns that if someone isn’t acting normal then don’t trust them because he will get turned into a donkey.
13th October 2020 @ 3:21 pm
While I am SO SORRY that you had to watch this episode over and over during lockdown, it makes me very happy that this episode makes your sister so happy! there clearly is a target audience for it, and it’s kind of awesome to know that the target group actually is appreciating the episode in the way it was intended! haha
–surely at least one person would have noticed because apart from Uther who is just pathetic, none of the characters are that thick.–
i really really wish they had all been magically affected by the goblin magic, as it would allow them to have the same level os slapstick, without selling out every single one of their characters to do it 🙁
–the second point: does Arthur just believe everything that people tell him? because it feels like merlin could be right in front of Arthur but if Gaius tells him that he is in the tavern Arthur will believe him–
true. very true. I guess arthur is more willing to believe things that result in ‘merlin is useless’, especially when he is annoyed with him… but yeah, arthur is more intelligent than that!!!
–Gwen learns that Arthur is a lot less emotionally strong as a donkey.–
LOL being a donkey makes arthur fragile. awwwww….
29th September 2020 @ 3:05 am
Don’t worry about mispronouncing my name, everybody does. It’s French. My parents thought they were being so clever giving me a name nobody can pronounce or spell correctly. Lol.
I have to say, this is one of the bottom tier episodes, but I definitely think it’s better than Beauty & The Beast, personally. Honestly B&B made me nauseous the first time I watched with all the farting, dung, rotting food. Urgh. Goblin’s Gold also has some… questionable farting jokes but much less and I do appreciate some of the funny scenes like Uther being bald and Arthur’s donkey ears. I probably love the scene with Leon way too much (but who doesn’t love Leon, more Leon please). So, I could enjoy it even though it’s not stellar by any stretch of the imagination. Meanwhile I didn’t enjoy B&B at all, I struggled to get through those two eps and was just thinking “wtf” the whole time; their only redeeming quality being the potion/poison scene.
I’m soooo excited for next episode! 😉
29th September 2020 @ 3:48 pm
thank you for forgiving us for, I am sure, butchering your name 🙁
I guess we can all agree those episodes are awful, the orcder of awful is down to personal preference, I think mostly based on how much you like sarah parish vs how much your stomach turns at magots, dungs eating, and incessant farting. but whether you think it should be bottom of the list or second from bottom of the list… eh. it’s all much of a muchness, isn’t it? but I’m pretty certain we are now past… this type of disgusting nonsense episode. I may be surprised in future, but I think this is it. fingers crossed!!!
M Xx
28th September 2020 @ 1:54 am
But yeah…. not the best episode. I don’t really enjoy the humor other than a few moments, like donkey ears Arthur. Morgana’s character really irritates me in this one like a lot of her character she’s inconsistent. Gwen is a bit odd too but I love seeing her friendship with Merlin.
I love the library though! And I never thought about it before,(mostly since I don’t like to think about this episode) but now that you pointed it out it bothers me that they never use that room again. But I can’t wait till next week!
28th September 2020 @ 1:37 am
Lessons game.
Merlin learned(hopefully) to not open random talking boxes.
Gwen and Arthur learned about that weird point in a relationship(?) where you’re humbled and embarrassed but you learn to overcome it and that you’re both human.
Gaius learned to be more wary of little magical firefly creatures.
27th September 2020 @ 8:38 pm
LESSONS:
1. Merlin learned once again that he can rely on no one else for help, and that’s okay because he’s been conditioned by now to see himself as worthless (or “worth less” as it were). As viewers we learned that no matter how low we think Merlin’s Self Esteem can sink, it can always sink lower. This has been developing a while, and as the series goes on {spoiler spoiler spoiler}. Keep an eye on that situation.
2. Arthur showed that he actually did learn his previous lessons, about how not to help people accused of magic. You’d mentioned on the show that Arthur didn’t protest Merlin’s arrest in court, and didn’t send him away and pretend to go after him. But the last time he did the former, it didn’t do anything to help Gwen or her father, and when he did the latter, Catrina and Uther called him out on his lie. This time Arthur tried the “I’ll do it myself” option, but subsequently learned that this will only earn him donkey ears. Let’s hope he makes better choices next time. 😉
3. As viewers we learned that Arthur definitely has a Glass Jaw. His repeated head trauma over his life (from the dragon? from the griffin? from a swat to the head by the Castle Cook when he was 5?) has resulted in an easy knock out as a result of any blow to the head. (Okay, okay, I know Arthur Getting Knocked Out is actually just lazy writing — but the “glass jaw” phenomenon is a real thing, and yes, if you hit that “button” when you punch someone, the person goes down like a sack of wet cement.)
4. Lastly, I as a viewer learned that growing up watching the Three Stooges and Lucille Ball and The Monkees and all those other absurdist slapstick american sit-coms has turned me into someone who happily found this episode to be *hysterical*. I cried laughing at the fart scene in the council chamber. Seriously — Uther’s expression when that last teeny tiny fart squeeked out! PRICELESS. I regret nothing. Please pass the whoopie cushion. 😉
28th September 2020 @ 10:06 pm
–PRICELESS. I regret nothing. Please pass the whoopie cushion. 😉–
and all power to you!!! 😀
M Xx
27th September 2020 @ 5:51 pm
also I think if you wanted to bulk up that episode a little, we’d all have been pretty happy to hear Howard’s thoughts!
28th September 2020 @ 10:27 am
I swear, between Howard the chatty cat, and Peaches the baby goat, most of our listeners would welcome a farm based podcast… haha
M
28th September 2020 @ 7:41 pm
awh now I’m thinking about the baby goat!!
I think we need a farm episode… That’s so cool that you work on a farm! But don’t you live in London? Are there farms in London? I mean where else would they keep all the baby animals I guess
28th September 2020 @ 8:31 pm
yeah, there’s 15 city farms within the M25, ranging from 1.5 acres, to 43. we’re all hidden gems tucked away amongst sky scrapers and round the corner from busy tube stations. here’s just some of them
https://www.google.com/search?rlz=1C1CHBF_en-GBGB882GB882&sxsrf=ALeKk00djiQ2vdW1lcF81pqOYYRJ3EAytA:1601321462301&q=london+city+farms&npsic=0&rflfq=1&rlha=0&rllag=51524284,-55278,1179&tbm=lcl&ved=2ahUKEwjfyrmny4zsAhUxRxUIHSGxC20QtgN6BAgPEAc&rldoc=1#rlfi=hd:;si:;mv:[[51.560946099999995,0.0549146],[51.400016799999996,-0.19805599999999998]];tbs:lrf:!1m4!1u3!2m2!3m1!1e1!1m4!1u2!2m2!2m1!1e1!2m1!1e2!2m1!1e3!3sIAE,lf:1,lf_ui:2
🙂
27th September 2020 @ 5:47 pm
Ok wow, that was awful… but
-the library is gorgeous!!!! I love the amount of light pouring in onto the sun-bleached, ancient looking wood
-the books in Merlin are always so beautifully designed!! I love those little drawings and lettering
-I agree that Gwen’s demeanour through the whole thing is off. Other than her new shallowness, she is so serious and confused (her comment towards Merlin about the necklace seems almost angry and certainly disapproving rather than humorous) and I wonder if Angel hd something against the ridiculousness of it all, but either way I think that is certainly how I felt watching it.
LESSONS
In Morgana’s conversation with Goblin Gaius, he asked her if she is scared and she replies with ‘It’s you that frightens me’, I think from this the audience learns that from her little gap year, Morgana is no longer afraid of her magic. She barely even worries about being found out, what she is scared of is her friends finding out, disliking her for it and then betraying her before she is ready (I think she wants to have a big reveal I would call her a drama queen but I think that would add too much depth to her character considering how poorly she’s written!), and maybe this is why she chooses to betray them first- before they can betray her.
Thanks so much for the point last week! I was so chuffed hearing my name and my Dad ended up listening (his remark was “I did like the level of detail they discuss it with” (-he is a massive movie nerd). Looking forward to Gwaine next week! Man that episode was the perfect balance of fun and serious to be ep.3, but alas…
27th September 2020 @ 5:58 pm
Oh yea sorry to add again to the onslaught of comments (loved reading them btw) but I do want to defend Arthur’s reaction to Merlin being arrested (even though it’s ridiculous).
Arthur has defended merlin in the case of theft, however magic as a crime holds a lot more weight for Arthur, being the thing that he believes killed his Mum, not to mention other people and the Great Purge.
Merlin’s would-be-crimes were not really harmful, but coming from him they would’ve seemed really hateful, because they certainly weren’t funny and I’m sure Arthur didn’t think Merlin thought they were. However he still should’ve talked to him, or at least we could have some scenes of Arthur fighting with Uther (maybe replace some gross gold-licking with that?)
28th September 2020 @ 10:31 am
it’s interesting that there is a cut scene, where arthur takes merlin to the dungeon and merlin tries to reason with him, and arthur’s… like, not angry at merlin, but also not angry at uther… weirdly enough, while I was complaining that arthur doesn’t seem to care about merlin being sentenced to death, I actually completely understand why that scene was cut. it just doesn’t make any sense, tonally, because of the rest of the episode. Arthur can’t seriously behave like he’s about to watch his best friend burn at the stake, he can’t seriously take against his father, he can’t seriously investigate the goblin and win… rock hard place rock, really. urgh! this episode is just THE WORST!!
M
28th September 2020 @ 7:38 pm
Yes! I would really love to see all the cut scenes and behind the scenes, but until I do I will not understand why they couldn’t just… do better…
I just don’t get the angle of this episode- its just not absurdist enough if that’s what they’re going for.
28th September 2020 @ 10:08 pm
couldnt’ fit it into the podcast, but please say hi to your dad from us!! 😀 😀
27th September 2020 @ 3:53 pm
Hello ladies!
So it took me a while but I finally binge listened my way to the current episode. I have learned many excellent lessons from your insightful witty discussions, but the primary one was likely unintentional, because it is this :
“If you binge-listen to all episodes of Destiny and Chicken you will get the theme music stuck firmly in your head, and will need to learn how to play it on the piano, and then figure out how to combine it with the Merlin TV Theme music into a song”.
It’s posted on my tumblr, and I’ve tagged your blog. 😉
Enjoy and consider it a thank you for your hard work!
27th September 2020 @ 5:33 pm
oh my god, I can’t believe you did that for us. that is amazing!!!
let me take this to email, but just.. WOW!!!!
26th September 2020 @ 5:15 am
Lessons ( I think 😅)
I’m not very good at thinking of actual lessons they learned in the ep more so what they should of learnt but somehow it never sticks.
My number 1 is that Morgana needs to stop acting like she’s so much smarter than everyone and why would she need to kill someone especially when they Practically just said they know your evil plans just hurry up and kill them … that’s something that does annoy me about villains they take there sweet time over actually doing anything about the good guys they have them right where they want them but take to long saying how much better they are and that gives the good guy plenty of time to win .if I were a villain just kill them fast and get it over with easy 😂😂
My number 2 Merlin needs to stop touching things that he don’t know what they are because you never know when you will release a goblin that almost destroys you life and tries to get you burned at the steak ..
And I think I learned that fluffy ears are very cute ( example “ Arthur normally very cute” .. “Arthur with donkey ears extremely cute”) and the way to a donkey Arthur’s heat is by scratching behind his ear
27th September 2020 @ 2:43 pm
Abbie, I think the greatest lesson for all of Merlin, as you pointed out, is that they never learn their lessons. 🙂
It’s not too different a reflection of all of humanity…Right now, for example, I am already wondering how long it will take us all after the pandemic to no longer be thankful for our nurses and doctors or to not appreciate the time we can have with our friends or family. We learn and immdiately unlearn. Like hamsters.
We had a hamster who’d fall off his platform in his cage down to the lower levels. Then it would sit for 5-10 minutes shivering in a corner. Then it would climb on the platform again and fall off again.
On the subject of animals, what wouldn’t I give to get to scratch Arthur’s donkey ears and make him all happy. 🙂
28th September 2020 @ 10:34 am
london is currently covered in posters that are literally just ‘you celebrate us now, let’s make sure we don’t go underappreciated in the future’ and it’s all about obviously NHS staff but also people who deliver groceries, and cleaners, and public transport workers and all the currently seen as ESSENTIAL jobs, that pay minimum wages…. SIGH.
M
28th September 2020 @ 10:34 am
also hamsters are REALLY dumb. I’d put Arthur’s intelligence on par with at least a gerbil….
30th September 2020 @ 6:45 pm
Or a donkey? 😀 Actually, I think donkeys are actually very smart animals. And yeah, hamsters are dumb. I know. We first thought he was just suicidal but then we talked to other friends with hamsters and…they can’t all just be suicidal by nature, right?
30th September 2020 @ 7:37 pm
dunno. they’re quite closely related to lemmings so… maybe? lol
26th September 2020 @ 5:09 am
Lessons:
Finally we gain some clarity on what happened in the one year between season 2 and 3: Uther had some library extensions done.
Geoffrey must hate his job: he wilfully frustrates library visitors and gives vague directions, possibly with the aim of making them get lost forever among the tomes, hoping that he will never have to deal with them again and be left in peace. In season 1, he was ‘only’ named as the court genealogist (‘Lancelot’) and I can imagine Uther giving him the librarian’s job because he ‘read a lot’ and knew stuff about words or some similarly ignorant reason. And Geoffrey resented it, even after the library extensions were done. And seeing how badly he is treated by Merlin and Gaius later on, I am not surprised.
We have learned in 2.3 that Merlin had some super-locating powers to find anyone within at least Camelot without proper address. Now it is revealed that these powers ‘come and go’. He doesn’t know where East is but finds one book among thousands of volumes with only the vaguest directions. And then he, of course, stumbles upon a hidden chamber with magical items. Maybe it’s not super-locating power; maybe it’s just a pull he experiences into the right direction, like Arthur’s horse in ‘The Sins of the Father’. Still doesn’t explain why Merlin wanted to go the wrong way in the library.
We learn that not only does Arthur keep a chest with gold under his bed, he apparently also moves it to a new hiding place regularly. The goblin searches under Arthur’s bed and asserts that there is ‘none under here’. Later, that is exactly from where Merlin steals Arthur’s chest of gold! Also, the goblin completely ignores the 21st-century hot water bottle which, as an item of the future, would have been worth a fortune back then.
We learn that although Gwen is powerless to stop Merlin’s arrest (at least we’re not shown her reaction), she will believe the best of him and will willingly risk her life for him when she harbours him after his escape. It is actually rather surprising that Merlin is arrested for magic in this episode. I am rather surprised he isn’t arrested for stealing. Gwen catches him with Morgana’s jewellery and, somehow, illogically, jumps to the conclusion that he is looking for a nice necklace for himself rather than confronting him about, you know, possibly helping himself to some of Morgana’s pearls! Later on, Merlin really does steal from Arthur. At the very least, when Morgana’s healing bracelet goes missing, Gwen ought to have suspected Merlin. Then she hears that Arthur says that he has also been a victim of the numerous instances of theft in the castle and again, the most obvious man with an opportunity would have been Merlin. At least, have Gwen watch Merlin a little suspiciously. But no, she must play dumb and clumsy during the episode anyway. But at least she remains faithful to her friend.
We learn that in Camelot, people, at least those working at court, have national health insurance. The scene when Gaius sells Gwen the fake medicine makes me wonder why he has never charged her for medicine. I’m not sure about the other people in town but it is interesting that we are shown Gaius collecting lots of money and before we have NEVER seen this. That must mean that Uther pays for all his citizens’ medical bills via their taxes, aka, ye olde NHS, with Gaius being the entire NHS, right? That seems oddly generous and progressive of the king.
26th September 2020 @ 2:57 pm
Good points about Geoffrey! The poor man doesn’t know how to be a good librarian, that’s true (to be honest, he reminds me a bit of all those academics who just care about their research, ignoring anything else, so that when they are given any other job – like teaching, for instance – they are just terrible at it and they don’t even care; after all, “Le Morte d’Arthur” won’t write itself! 😛 ). But he’s treated appallingly. I forgot to mention it in my original comment, but there was such an odd moment between Merlin and Geoffrey. When Goblin!Gaius insults Geoffrey, at least we know it’s the goblin. But when Merlin wants to distract him to get to the magic chamber again, he throws a chandelier ONTO HIS FOOT about which Geoffrey specifically complained before that IT HURT ALREADY, and then SMILES WITH SATISFACTION when Geoffrey cries out with pain! What happened, my compassionate Merlin? 🙁
As to Merlin not knowing East from West and yet being able to find an obscure book in an obscure wing of the library – I would actually defend that. In general, I’m a big fan of the fact that in this show, Merlin-clumsy-ass and Merlin-the-greatest-sorcerer are both equally true characteristics of him. Because, oddly, it’s very realistic and relatable for me. They are people in this world who are highly intelligent, and yet, they can’t distinguish between left and right. They are people, like me, whose minds work weirdly, so that they see the tiniest details around them, all the while ignoring the most obvious things (I would be one of the people who’d miss the Eiffel Tower in Paris but notice a weird detail in some tiny street). As to Merlin super-location powers, I always felt it was really similar to the horse guided by Morgause. I don’t know if it’s spoiler-y to mention that we’ll be given a visual representation of how this works for Merlin later, in which he kinda walks the route super fast in his brain… I always got the impression he’s being guided without necessarily realizing how it’s happening.
And Gaius being the NHS – LOL, I laughed so hard 😀
26th September 2020 @ 5:51 pm
Danuta: “They are people in this world who are highly intelligent, and yet, they can’t distinguish between left and right.”
I know someone with a masters degree (possibly a PhD by now, I haven’t seen him in a long time) in something to do with physics and engineering, but who for a very long time couldn’t read an analogue clock. And frankly, I’m about to do a masters in literature but if someone said to go “east” or “west” I would only have a 50% chance of getting it right. So Merlin’s actions here are 100% believable to me! I really like your spoilery interpretation, but I also think we can interpret it as Merlin having looked for longer than is literally shown.
More generally, I also really like the clumsy/wise combination we see in Merlin – I think we have enough evidence over the course of the show to interpret Merlin as having a really good head for lateral thinking, creativity, and stuff to do with how people work, and maybe also spatial awareness on a larger scale, but worse than average spatial awareness in a more detailed sense (it’s hard to explain, but I mean the difference between knowing your way around a large city vs being able to dance without knocking your elbows on every piece of furniture), less than average understanding of social cues (or ability to recognise them, at least – you can understand in theory without recognising them when they’re happening), and he’s not the biggest fan of book learning as far as I can tell. That’s my own extrapolation from what we see, at least. I think he’s a big-picture guy, good at abstraction, intuition, and systems, and less detail-oriented.
And Mary: Gaius as the entire NHS is a hilarious image. It got me curious though, so I did some research. According to E.A. Hammond, in the Medieval era, “Certain eminent physicians could command enormous fees from their well-to-do clients while even disdaining to offer their services to the suffering poor, but most appear to have gauged their fees on a reasonable scale with allowances being made for the total economic incompetence of some patients.” “Since English medical practice in the two centuries following the Conquest was largely the work of church men, there developed a prevailing influence which exhorted the physician and surgeon to give of his services freely to the poor.” Henri de Mondeville (in the 1200s), a physician to King Philip the Fair of France, recorded his opinion on the matter: “The first class are paupers who must be treated for nothing: the second class are a little better off and may send presents of fowls and ducks; they pay in kind. The third class are friends or relatives who pay no fixed fee, but send victuals or presents in token of gratitude but no money . . . Then there is a class embracing those who are notoriously bad payers, such as our nobility and their households, government officials, judges, baillies, and lawyers whom we are obliged to treat because we dare not offend them. (In fact the longer we treat these people the more we lose. It is best to cure them as quickly as possible and to give them the best medicines.) Lastly there is a class who pay in full, and in advance, and they should be prevented from getting ill at all, because we are paid a salary to keep them in health.” It varied a lot amongst different physicians and surgeons and such, but if you were super rich you could pay a physician an annual amount, for example, instead of for each individual remedy. So, “royal physicians, having gained status at court, were extremely well paid and generally occupied positions of political and social prestige.” (all of that is from here: https://www.jstor.org/stable/24620701 )
THEREFORE, if we’re assuming Camelot is meant to be a fantasy version of Medieval England, then a reasonable explanation for the medical situation in Camelot is that Gaius is paid a fairly large annual amount by Uther for his services to the court, which presumably covers himself, Arthur, and Morgana. It MIGHT cover the knights – it would certainly make sense that Uther would want his army kept healthy. Gaius has presumably decided that he is paid enough by Uther to make charging average citizens for his help unnecessary. Possibly he would charge another rich family for his services, but we never see anyone in Camelot except the Pendragon household and peasants, aside from other noble families who only popped over for a visit and almost certainly have their own physicians. As guests of the king I expect Uther would consider it a breach of hospitality to allow Gaius to charge them for his services, and adjusts his annual payment accordingly!
Sorry to ramble there, but I randomly got curious and figured someone else might be too.
27th September 2020 @ 2:03 pm
Wow! Someone really did their homework. No, someone really did MY homework. I was just having a little laugh but thank you so, so much for looking up all that information. I had a little skim-read of the article as well (thank you free uni jstor login!)
I loved the different categories described by Henri de Mondeville. Sounds like a guy with a lot of experience with both paying and non-paying patients. 🙂
I think another thing you found out also throws an interesting light on the show and how it portrays fantasy medieval England. If, as the article says, the ‘majority of literate physicians of England were monks or priests’, I find it quite revealing about Gaius and his connection to the Old Religion, being a ‘retired’ sorcerer and all this extra knowledge about magical things he has stored away in his head and books that have nothing much to do with medicine.
I think we have had a really lengthy discussion about religion, especially the Old Religion, in Merlin before, but Gaius and in how far he reflects real medieval physicians, could link the medieval church and the Old Religion. I believe in the Middle Ages, the only real centres of learning were church monasteries and convents and possibly it would have been quite risky for a secular person to take up healing as well as they might have easily been accused of witchcraft. A physician priest or monk was more untouchable in that respect. However, there is no official religion in Camelot – only the outlawed one. Could we then say that for Gaius, it kind of worked in reverse? He became more untouchable as an ex-magic user through his role as a court physician?
Now, presenting Camelot as a very atheist society with a hatred or at least a strong suspicion of the Old Religion and their practitioners (magic users? druids?) is, for me, one of the most modern aspects of the show and the greatest departure from the majority of Arthurian legends where Christianity is woven so firmly into the very fabric of the stories and characters.
Dispensing with it in the show and portraying a modern atheist society with an at best ambiguous relationship to the religion/magic it has outlawed is really quite telling. And then of course, they tell the story from Merlin’s point of view, with Gaius being the father/advisor figure. Both of them have strong (the strongest!) links to magic and by extension, the Old Religion. (I’m not going to go into the difference here – we had a long discussion about this before. What remained for me from that was mainly that magic is kind of like a personal connection/ faith whereas the Old Religion could be seen as the more institutionalised practices and rituals of that faith. Maybe I don’t remember correctly though.)
Okay, basically, the Old Religion or religion in Merlin in general is very confusing. The producers/writers seem to be just as puzzled about whether or not it is trustworthy or worthy to be reinstalled in Camelot as their characters and as we are. And, of course, Merlin and Gaius are not really trusting of it either. But they do trust magic.
But, you know, all this hangs upon the threat of maybe/ possibly a link between the church in Medieval England/ Christian faith so prevalent in the legends and the Old Religion/ magic in the show. Maybe there isn’t a link or not one that they intended. (If there is, I find it interesting to keep in mind when we will be discussion how they chose to end the entire show, i.e. which side of the confusion about religion/magic triumphs and which side ultimately loses. Interesting choices made here, for sure. But we can’t talk about that yet…Michelle, this is your music cue!)
But, if nothing else, it has always struck me as interesting that the society they presented was ruled by atheist laws which, at no point in Medieval history, could have been said to have been the case. There was always some kind of religion officially practised, pagan, Christian etc.
I’ll stop now…Thanks Esmé for giving us so much food for thought! 🙂
27th September 2020 @ 2:49 pm
In relation to medicine in the Middle Ages, let’s also not forget about the universities, and, earlier, cathedral schools. While it’s true that the Catholic Church was THE major center of learning back then, and that all the universities were nominally supervised by the clergy, there were also secular masters at the universities and medicine, being one of the “natural sciences”, wasn’t as strictly supervised by the Church as, say, philosophy, and especially theology. So while it is true that the earliest hospitals would have been essentially run by religious congregations, the so-called “court physicians” might have often been laymen, educated in one of the European universities (heck, in Italy we have records of women physicians who actually attended universities! Love you, Italy). I guess that would be a more plausible option for Gaius if we were to take the show realistically. Still, Gaius’ “magical” past also does fit in there, as the universities taught from books written by Greeks and Romans, i.e. pagans, as the medieval scholars found their knowledge useful if taken out of the pagan context. That is why for me, still, the show’s Old Religion works as a metaphor for paganism of all kinds (Celtic, Greek, Roman, Norse etc.), while the absence of any “New Religion” is, I guess, a nod to the fact that Christianity is still widely practiced and references to it would be confusing in a fantasy show. Well, it doesn’t always work out so neatly… yeah, the religion is handled pretty confusingly.
Maybe New Religion is the Religion of Librarians, after all, when Uther married the troll, the marriage ceremony was held by Geoffrey of Monmouth 😀
27th September 2020 @ 4:45 pm
Lol, I forgot that Geoffrey of Monmouth has that role as well. He’s a man of many talents that should be treated with more respect. Oh, and he crowns people as well, doesn’t he?
I think there are basically five kinds of people in Camelot. 1. Royalty 2. Faceless nobility and counsellors 3. Servants 4. Gaius the physician 5.Geoffrey the man for every other job that needs a recognisable face and reputable name.
If there had been cold baptisms in Camelot or naming of ships, Geoffrey would likely have been the man for the job as well.
I always thought he was the old generation version of Merlin as a court sorcerer, a finger in every pie and unquestioningly trusted by the royalty. Just without magic.
I never even knew that there were secular universities. I always thought that schools/universities were all pretty much founded by the church and only afterwards attracted some secular patron funding and university masters.
But yeah, the oldest uni in Europe (I believe) Charles University in Prague, was founded by the Emperor Charles the IV, wasn’t it? But then church and state weren’t really separate anyway. He was ‘The Holy Roman Emperor’ so yeah.
Good for Italy to allow women to study medicine. 😊
I think the old religion in Merlin is certainly more obviously linked to paganism. After all, they seem to have gods and goddesses and also Fate-like beings. I just drew the connection between the religion in Merlin and Christianity because of the article Esme posted.
27th September 2020 @ 7:01 pm
Yes, the lack of separation between church and state definitely makes it difficult to say that a given medieval institution is purely secular or purely ecclesiastical 🙂 They were often founded by kings / emperors, co-funded by the Church, then there were individual departments which had their own funding as well… complicated 🙂 but as a more-or-less general rule, if you studied medicine, or the Liberal Arts (anything apart from theology or church law, really) you could be a lay person. Not that everyone was, many of the students were members of religious congregations already, but it wasn’t a requirement. It can be misleading, because we often see students depicted in medieval iconography wearing robes which we’d now classify as ecclesiastical, but it didn’t really mean they were part of the church. For the teachers, it was much more common, but still, not obligatory, to be clerics / priests.
27th September 2020 @ 10:13 pm
Mary: “Merlin and Gaius are not really trusting of it [the Old Religion] either. But they do trust magic.”
I went back to find our previous discussion on magic vs the OR (it was on the Last Dragonlord episode) and yeah, it’s a complicated issue. I think you’re right that, regardless of whether the show separates them, Merlin and Gaius see them separate and don’t trust the OR anywhere near as much as they trust magic. Although, it makes me wonder if destiny is a force associated with the OR or if it’s just magic – as in, do people like Arthur or Uther or other people who know magic exists but don’t believe in/follow the OR believe in destiny? Is it an objective fact of the show’s universe, or a doctrine?* ANYWAY, yeah, it’s tricky. Maybe you could make a distinction between magic as a science and magic as a spiritual force? Or if not a distinction, at least a spectrum – with what Gaius does, potions and such that are most likely mundane (herbs etc) but knowledge of how magic works on a practical level, on one end, the high priestesses of the OR on the other end, with their spiritual devotion to Magic-with-a-capital-M, and Merlin somewhere in the middle, unsure as yet where he fits precisely (in awe of magic but not the type for worship in the way that Nimueh is, and like you said distrustful of the OR based on the followers he’s met so far).
“a link between the church in Medieval England/ Christian faith so prevalent in the legends and the Old Religion/ magic in the show.” – and you suggested the world of the show was governed by atheist laws.
I actually think that Camelot is governed by fairly Christian-coded laws – not Christian spiritual beliefs, but simply being based on the Arthurian legends (which, as you said, were heavily Christian) means that they can’t escape a lot of the Christian subtext (especially later, *foreshadowing music cue*!) I don’t think it’s just Camelot; I think the underlying morality and assumptions in the show itself are at least compatible with Christianity more than any other beliefs – which makes sense given the world we live in, obviously! It’s hard to explain precisely why – I guess it’s obvious stuff like the chivalric code, but also the way the show treats gender, family, marriage, etc. And there’s ideas of needing to “have faith” and to be faithful, to be loyal. Uther’s right to the throne is never questioned as far as I know – the show takes as read that we all still agree with the divine right of kings, I guess?! It would be interesting to imagine a Camelot governed by genuinely atheist laws. Maybe less importance placed on bloodlines (especially via the father’s line) would be one change. Pagan beliefs, which as Danuta said are clearly linked to the OR, all have different beliefs on these sorts of things and someone more knowledgeable than me could probably suggest which, if any, the OR is most closely based on ethics-wise.
Anyway, right, Gaius. I think I agree with Danuta that he would likely have been educated in a secular university, because of his openness to magic and basically any practice or tool that could do the job. It’s as if he was educated in precisely what Danuta described! A Christian teacher who instilled certain values in him (charity, support of Uther as king (divinely ordained?) even if he disagrees with him and goes behind his back) and certain patterns of thought and action, but not necessarily believing himself, thus allowing him to practice magic as a tool but seeing its use through a Christian lens. Again, there’s no actual Christianity in the world of the show, but it seems like the dominant culture of the kingdom is coded as Christian in the same way “British values” are very Christianized, while, like you said, the OR is some form of paganism, and magic is… something else, something worshipped by the OR and sanctioned by some, while distrusted by others due to its association with the OR.
*(I’m currently really interested in an interpretation the show in which destiny straight up doesn’t exist, and the Emrys/Once and Future King/uniting the lands thing is just a story told for centuries and passed down by followers of the OR – that makes the show a tragedy in which Merlin is manipulated and turned against his better judgement and morality by a powerful story – you could get really meta about it, with the Arthurian legends and the idea of the chosen one narrative and everything – I kind of want to read it as a critique of the Hero’s Journey trope?!)
28th September 2020 @ 3:18 am
To the last comment about destiny: It’s an interpretation that’s really close to my heart. I would read anything, no matter how lengthy, on the subject – if you know of anything that exists already just let me know 🙂 there might also come a time when I can’t hold it any longer and will write a multi-parter on that somewhere 😀
28th September 2020 @ 10:56 am
I haven’t seen anything about it yet but I may well end up writing something! Or I’d totally be interested to hear your thoughts!
28th September 2020 @ 10:56 am
well, this has all spiralled into UBER ANGST very very quickly… O_O
M
28th September 2020 @ 10:46 am
–Interesting choices made here, for sure. But we can’t talk about that yet…Michelle, this is your music cue!)–
seriously, I was reading the entire paragraph and the back of my brain was going du-di-du-di-du-di-du-di, getting louder and louder as it went on, until I got to this bit hahahahahaha
30th September 2020 @ 6:50 pm
😀 You’re welcome. And no, I wasn’t reading your mind. I think.
28th September 2020 @ 10:41 am
this is so fascinating!!!
27th September 2020 @ 1:18 pm
Thank you for your thoughtful comments. Always nice to know that someone finds my brainwaves mildly interesting also. 🙂
“What happened, my compassionate Merlin?” Unforunately, as Merlin himself will say in a later episode (SPOILERS!) the compassionate Merlin grows up. And I already weep for his loss. However, the whole scene with Geoffrey and dropping something heavy on his foot is also just another instance of the show wanting us to laugh about something that in real life would be a terrible thing to do. It’s like 2.10 wanted us so badly to laugh at King Alined’s abuse of Trickler and that felt so uncomfortable.
“I always got the impression he’s being guided without necessarily realizing how it’s happening.”
So…I and my entire family are hopelessly confusing left and right. All the time. In my driving test, the examiner asks me to make a left turn and I, with full confidence, turned right. His comment was: “That’s certainly another way to go.” Lol, I was so shocked.
With Merlin, I think if we adopt the ‘guided like Arthur’s horse’ theory, we could say that he is still in a stage where is is less aware of some of his powers and thus, willingly or unwillingly, relies on his more human powers and skills which are definitely more fallible. So, heading off straight away into the wrong direction when Geoffrey tells him to go East, he is simply being human boy Merlin who thinks, “Okay, let’s try this way.” He probably has the ‘right direction’ pull already within him but he isn’t expecting guidance from it nor is he yet tuned in enough to always perceive it. Later on, however, it everntually, probably without Merlin being aware of it, guides him to the right book.
We could also stretch this theory a little bit and call this pull ‘destiny’. Merlin here is still at a stage where he sometimes tries to fight destiny and not go along with everything it wants him to do and let happen (cue 3.5). So, going into the wrong direction might be an unwitting mini act of rebellion against where destiny pulls him, an attempt at maintaining some of that human Merlin and his autonomy. However, in this particular episode, it makes me wonder what destiny was thinking (actually no, I usually wonder what the heck destiny is thinking) guiding Merlin to the secret chamber and to release the goblin. Unless destiny intended for Merlin to be arrested for sorcery and get a taste what it would be like if that happened in a less absurd setting. So, basically, destiny tried to traumatise our Merlin, make him give up hope? Make him grow up? I feel like I am digressing from reason but I have a massive issue with destiny in Merlin!
27th September 2020 @ 2:56 pm
Oh, yes, the destiny… 😀 I always wonder how personified the destiny is (as in all those pagan myths about Fates, Norns or whatever) and how much of it is just Kilgarrah and his whims. Well, fantasy shows usually assume destiny exists and fighting against it is futile (hello there, the newest Witcher), so I assume it’s real, but it still doesn’t make it *right*. Well, pagan destinies were often cruel b******, so technically, Merlin’s destiny kinda fits this trope. But I still wish there was some more worldbuilding done around it, something to more clearly indicate if Merlin’s attempts to fight his destiny are all futile or not.
28th September 2020 @ 10:59 am
Probably one of the best (if not only useful) things my driving instructor told me before my test was that they will ask you to turn left or turn right, but if you turn correctly (based on driving regulations) but in the wrong direction, they will not punish you for it. that was very very good to know beforehand!! haha
26th September 2020 @ 5:03 am
Golly, everyone is keeping their comments so short. I honestly promise I have tried my hardest to cut them short. I even removed everything I thought people had already said here (apart from some bits I NEEDED to say). I’m sorry – it’s still really long. But you have my absolute permission, nay, encouragement, to butcher what I say and take the bits you want to discuss only. So…
It actually felt almost painful listening this week because I could feel you (especially Ruth) struggling to remain critically objective and come up with something to say. Sorry we’re putting you through this. I hope you had a big dose of cat + tea + biscuits later on.
That being said I simply cannot help laughing about some bits of this epsiode. I really wish I could see the outtakes from the scene when Uther is slapped on his bald head by Gaius.
If the goblin is only after gold, why does he go after the tavern? Why would a goblin have a taste for human-brewed drink anyway? I think this is supposed to emphasise the depravity of the goblin even though I am not even sure the goblin is that evil. Maybe, in the goblin community, he’d be really respected for his behaviour and dedication to mischief and gooold. He is just doing what a good goblin is supposed to do yet instead of showing some sensitivity to the goblin culture and lifestyle, we are made to laugh and despise the goblin’s behaviour.
I think you mentioned this in the podcast as well but I really like the scene between Morgana and Gaius because of how it actually manages to link pre-season 3 and post-season 3 Morgana by finding at least some consistency in her character. In my opinion, this line is most revealing about Morgana’s general attitude: “I am the king’s ward and you shall do as I ask.” This doesn’t really stem from her betrayal of Camelot and turning towards the dark side of magic. If this scene had happened before, I think she may have reacted the same way because she has always been privileged and has grown up expecting her wishes to be done and her words to be obeyed. Again, had they textualised this as the place where her ‘turning’ started, the entire Morgana arc would be so much more effective and believable. (Incidentally, there is an additional scene after Gaius is back to normal when he returns the bracelet to her and she questions whether Gaius remembers what he said during his possession. Then we get to see a Gaius smirk. I can’t help but think the writers have put these smirks in the actual script. Surely, at least a seasoned actor like Richard Wilson is capable of more subtlety than that!)
I agree with everyone: the scene when Merlin is arrested and condemned for sorcery is just SO WASTED on such an episode. It actually makes me angry! This has so much narrative, emotional potential. So, so much could have been done here in terms of relationship dynamics, revealing true intentions, attitudes and feelings about magic etc. And all that potential is wasted in an episode and scene where everything is absurdist and nothing is taken seriously. Even the actors seem to act more light-hearted than would befit such a pivotal scene. But the fact remains that once you’ve had a ‘Merlin is brought before the king and condemned to death for sorcery’ scene, you can’t really do that again. And they chose to do it here?! Perhaps it has, mistakenly, been slotted into the wrong episode and at the wrong point structurally for the overall narrative? Maybe they didn’t notice?
By the way, there is an additional scene when Arthur takes Merlin to the dungeons and they have the one-to-one talk that you guys pointed out we so desperately needed. Merlin asks Arthur to believe him and Arthur, at first, is put out by the hard evidence of that book of magic. When Merlin says that it isn’t his and asks to be released, Arthur returns that he can’t because his father has passed sentence. But he promises to talk to ‘him’. In the scene, it seems like he means his father but later that’s apparently Gaius? So, even though he locks him up, he still listens to Merlin promising to do some investigating. The way the scene was played by Colin and Bradley was slightly more in keeping with what we would expect from a situation where Merlin is arrested for magic; however, for me the severity of the situation is still underplayed. It seems more like Merlin has been jailed for spilling some wine etc. Also, even though Arthur, rather belatedly, does speak to Gaius, Merlin never finds out about this. So, yeah, at the end, he should be completely traumatised, even more so since Arthur promised to talk to ‘him’ and then never appeared to do something about it. I also have no idea why they chose to cut the scene. Maybe because it was too intense and not light-hearted enough for the goblin episode?
You’ve pointed out how pretty much everyone had to check their character at the door, especially when you were discussing Sir Leon in the tavern. I wonder whether this implies that Gaius’ reason and character is what sets the tone and establishes normalcy in the castle, i.e. with Gaius gone haywire, nothing in the castle works according to reason and logic anymore? Possibly, this is why they never kill him. In a really convoluted way, was this the producers’ attempt to help us appreciate Gaius more? If so, they failed rather miserably.
Something else that really bothers me in terms of character/ relationship inconsistency is when Merlin screams at Gaius, “Wake up, you stubborn old goat”. I don’t think it reflects what we have seen of their relationship so far. Of course, they are close but they aren’t mates. Gaius has always been Merlin’s elder and mentor and there is a clear difference is status between them as Gaius gets to order Merlin around, even within this episode. I think an exclamation more reflective of their relationship wouldn’t feel so incongruous here.
However, even if it is only for that, I am grateful this episode exists because it gave us Bradley James as a donkey and isn’t he just precious?!
Oh, and that scene between Arthur and Gwen at the end when they both feel so terribly awkward: I love that. I love how Angel and Bradley play it, how gentle and sweet they are with each other, their expressions. 😀
Lessons to follow in separate post in an obvious attempt to hide how much I have written altogether.
26th September 2020 @ 5:14 am
Found a youtube link for the additional scene between Arthur and Merlin (at 0.30). It also has the final Morgana/ Gaius moment I talk about above.
https://youtu.be/SBQzZGZF4ro
28th September 2020 @ 11:13 am
–If the goblin is only after gold, why does he go after the tavern? Why would a goblin have a taste for human-brewed drink anyway?–
seeing as we are just discussing season 2 of Buffy over on Thinky Thoughts my brain instantly went “that’s because alcohol is bad! just like smoking, sex before marriage, and…” then I realised that was all things buffy was repeatedly highlighting as bad, not Merlin lol but the point stands, really. Is just a super lame way of telling us that the goblin is a lazy no good creature. it’s also why we’re constantly using ‘Merlin’s in the tavern’ as an excuse as to why he’s not here, and it infuriates me every time in the (near?) future Gaius will say this to Arthur, because he can’t think of anything better. argh!!
–(Incidentally, there is an additional scene after Gaius is back to normal when he returns the bracelet to her and she questions whether Gaius remembers what he said during his possession. Then we get to see a Gaius smirk. I can’t help but think the writers have put these smirks in the actual script. Surely, at least a seasoned actor like Richard Wilson is capable of more subtlety than that!)–
hah! esme (I believe) had sent us that youtube clip for the arthur and merlin in the cell scene, and I watched that and the goblin gaius collecting coins from villagers scene, but clearly turned off before the morgana gaius scene, as I didn’t watch it until last night, before reading your comment just now, and I watched it and totally went OMG GAIUS SMIRK!!!! hahahaha though I actually quite liked how it was just a tiny little smirk, like he can’t help himself, and it kind of goes along with his superior superturfuge when dealing with morgana earlier, and I really like when we cut back to Morgana. Katie’s doing a very nice modified version of the ‘evil morgana’ face, with a sort of… element of trepidition I guess. I found myself surprisingly charmed by that scene…
— I also have no idea why they chose to cut the scene. Maybe because it was too intense and not light-hearted enough for the goblin episode?–
I talked about this somewhere else in this comment section (lol) and I think we’ll talk about it on the podcast tonight, too, but yeah, i absolutely think they had to cut it, having watched it, because it would not fit into the episode, any which way you play it. and it makes me hate the episode even more!!
–In a really convoluted way, was this the producers’ attempt to help us appreciate Gaius more? If so, they failed rather miserably.–
god I hope not because yes, as you say… mASSIVE FAIL!!! I kind of feel the same about the stuborn old goat line as I do this, as I did the A&M in the cell scene… they just had to twist things beyond recognition to make them fit the tone of the episode… when they should have just scrapped the tone of the episode!!
–Lessons to follow in separate post in an obvious attempt to hide how much I have written altogether.–
LOL we love and appreciate you and all of your words, please don’t ever let us make you feel otherwise!!!
M Xx
29th September 2020 @ 2:20 pm
“esme (I believe) had sent us that youtube clip for the arthur and merlin in the cell scene, and I watched that and the goblin gaius collecting coins from villagers scene”
nope, not me! if you mean on discord it was Abbiegail wylie
29th September 2020 @ 3:12 pm
thank you! 🙂
I could have totally gone and checked discord but i was being lazy *cone of shame*
M
30th September 2020 @ 6:57 pm
“we love and appreciate you and all of your words, please don’t ever let us make you feel otherwise”
Aww, thanks! 😀
Also, about the ‘Merlin is in the tavern’ excuse, implying how terrible a person he is: I despise it so much. And it makes no sense that Arthur or anyone else is buying it for all those years since a tiny bit of research would suffice to reveal that Merlin is practically NEVER in the tavern.
30th September 2020 @ 7:39 pm
I don’t know whether fanfic invented the ‘merlin is a lightweight’ or whether we actually get an on screen reference to how little he does in fact drink… but yes, so many reasons for why it’s nonsense!!!
30th September 2020 @ 8:43 pm
“The Moment of Truth” Gaius to Merlin: Be careful with the wine. You know what you’re like. One whiff of a barmaid’s apron and you’re singing like a sailor.
🙂
2nd October 2020 @ 11:50 am
perfect, thank you!!
25th September 2020 @ 11:37 pm
We’ll keep this in tweet-sized format:
LESSON:
Merlin (should’ve) learned to
stop snooping and exploring forbidden random rooms and touching (very obvious) magical items with no knowledge. He’s literally been snooping since episode 1 with Lady Helen’s room. It never ends well!
(From future season knowledge, I know this lesson will never be learned. Not even the threat of execution can stop Merlin’s desire to snoop)
24th September 2020 @ 9:25 pm
It was actually quite cathartic to hear you rip this episode to shreds after I had just spent the entire thing pacing round my room and wringing my hands in frustration…
Some good things, for my own sake:
– I’m glad we got to see more of the library, just because I love a good old library and it was nicely designed (BUT a servant should NOT be allowed to just touch any old book! Books were so expensive and precious in the middle ages! Sometimes they were even chained to the wall to keep them from being stolen! Why was Merlin allowed to just wander around?!)
– Like you guys I appreciated seeing Merlin and Gwen get some screen time together, because I love their friendship (or at least the potential their friendship has)
– Arthur thrashing around in his bedsheets and curtains did make me laugh, regardless of my opinions on it as a plot point and a character issue
Ok, now I’m just gonna rant for a minute because WOW that was worse than I remembered. I mean it was never an episode I particularly liked but I’d managed to forget most of that.
– antisemitic stereotypes in the goblin (there was a even an moment when I could have sworn the music was stereotypically Jewish-sounding)
– fat jokes (Goblin!Gaius insulting Geoffrey) AND gender nonsense (“I’m not sure it suits you Merlin”) which just made me sad tbh
– using a magic reveal as a plot point HERE of all places just angers me for the all the reasons you already stated, plus the feeling that, given later seasons, the writers were just taunting us with what we actually wanted to see
– there was a huge wasted opportunity to have Arthur genuinely react to the idea that Merlin had magic, and that’s infuriating. He didn’t question it, he didn’t even seem to feel bad that Merlin would die.
– this is the second time Uther’s seen Merlin be accused of magic, so isn’t he getting suspicious by now?
– Merlin catching the goblin in his mouth shouldn’t work, surely? Like how was he stopping a tiny magic creature from just forcing its way down his throat?!
– WHY was Gwen more concerned with being heard to fart in front of Arthur (when it was already established there was magic at play) than with Merlin’s IMMINENT EXECUTION?!
– why did Merlin have to remind Gwen to give Gaius the antidote? The dropping the bottles thing is stupid but I’m less angry at that than Gwen, who is usually so sensible and calm in a crisis, forgetting her ONE JOB on which Gaius’ LIFE depends.
– the entire plot relied on everyone losing every shred of common sense and I hate it.
So many things could have been fixed, like Michelle said, if they’d just been under an enchantment. Especially Arthur’s treatment of Merlin. Or for him to not be the one to arrest Merlin, and to not know anything about it until he was already suspicious of Gaius anyway (and knocked out). Or make it obvious that he was arresting Merlin because he had to but intended to let him out anyway. A simple scene where he briefly whispers “your lie about the goblin is proof you’re not smart enough to have hidden a secret that big from me, just stay put until I can deal with it” could have worked, since he was worse than useless in the end anyway. That at least would have been better than these events that should by rights have left Merlin traumatised, terrified for his life and entirely doubting that he mattered in the slightest to the guy who has been the centre of his life for the last… three years?
LESSONS
– If the writers had any intention of consistency, then Merlin would have learnt that Arthur’s hatred of magic apparently comes before any feelings of friendship he apparently had for Merlin, and that he absolutely cannot trust Arthur with the knowledge of his magic. So that’s sad as hell.
24th September 2020 @ 9:53 pm
You make many, many good points and I agree with all of them, really! And ah, yes, the “Jewish” music – as me and Mae wrote above, there is something very stereotypically Jewish about the goblin’s features and preferences, but you’re absolutely right, it’s even there in the soundtrack! The clarinet is an instrument commonly associated with klezmer music, and the tune also did sound very klezmer… I love klezmer music, but it’s appearance in a dumb “funny” form here is HIGHLY. PROBLEMATIC.
(and yes, just to clarify, I’m not Jewish myself, so I can’t speak for Jewish people, but having grown up in Poland in the 90s, where, at some point, souvenir shops were full of antisemitic stereotypical bullshit right next to the Holocaust remembrance sites, I’m veery sensitive to that)
24th September 2020 @ 11:22 pm
Ah that’s why it sounded stereotypically Jewish! Thanks for explaining that!
25th September 2020 @ 9:39 pm
your note about the book has just given me very serious flashbacks to a school trip we made to a monastry in… germany I believe? anyway. they had loads of old books under glass (as you’d expect) but also some with chains. I had totally forgotten that. And don’t we also see it in Game of Thrones? When Sam goes to learn stuff about… stuff? (you can tell I totally paid attention when I watched GoT, can’t you? lol)
–-Arthur thrashing around in his bedsheets and curtains did make me laugh, regardless of my opinions on it as a plot point and a character issue–
I completely agree. I think this show gets away with so much of it’s complete stupidity because Bradley James has fantastic comic timing and this absolute comitment to whatever he is doing, even if what he is doing is falling of a bed, wrapped in curtains, like a complete and utter idiot. I said this a bunch of times during S1 and I’ve stopped saying it because I’m always worried people are going to take it the wrong way, but I jsut adore that Bradley is not afraid to look stupid. I think it is in the top three most delightful things about him as an actor.
– antisemitic stereotypes-
we will 100% pick up on this at the top of next week’s episode
–-there was a huge wasted opportunity to have Arthur genuinely react to the idea that Merlin had magic, and that’s infuriating. He didn’t question it, he didn’t even seem to feel bad that Merlin would die.–
it could have been a really good “trial run” on how Arthur would react, though I think if we got a full reaction and emotional arc, it would be very hard to come back from that… which is why I don’t understand why the writers wouldn’t have used the “it was all a dream/spell” get out of jail free card that was right in front of them!! argh!!!!!
–A simple scene where he briefly whispers “your lie about the goblin is proof you’re not smart enough to have hidden a secret that big from me, just stay put until I can deal with it” could have worked–
ooooh, cute! I like that!!
26th September 2020 @ 6:03 pm
“if we got a full reaction and emotional arc, it would be very hard to come back from that” – that’s fair, I don’t think it’s the right time for it (so why did they even try?!)
and I totally agree with you about Bradley’s comic timing and not being afraid to look stupid!
24th September 2020 @ 6:18 pm
So, my comment to this episode might be the shortest in my career to come 😀 I basically agree with everything you said, including the fact that Merlin and Gwen’s relationship is the only redeeming feature of this episode, as well as that donkey Arthur is the cutest. And yeah, Morgana should have killed Gaius. And Arthur should have cared more about Merlin.
Straight to the LESSONS:
Arthur and Gwen learned that they are both human and therefore, capable of not always being the prettiest or most perfect, which, taken out of the context of this episode, is actually a valuable lesson if you want your love to get real, and not only idealistically romantic.
Merlin learned that as things stand, his magic reveal to Arthur might not end well. He would basically either totally not believe him, or reluctantly agree for him to be executed. Which, as you remarked, should leave Merlin rather traumatized.
Also, we learned that when Gaius says to Merlin “what are you waiting for, stupid boy” or “you are an idiot”, it’s slightly over the top, but not surprising enough for Merlin to suspect something is clearly wrong with the man. GAIUS IS THE WORST.
25th September 2020 @ 9:45 pm
love that it appears to be mostly unanymous that morgana should have just killed gaius and be done with it lol
24th September 2020 @ 3:12 pm
It’s interesting, too, that the goblin can’t get itself out of the container. I have a vague memory about it being lined with lead or something, but it seems strange that while it’s textually shown to be white powerful, it can’t get magic itself out of s box.
25th September 2020 @ 9:46 pm
yeah, the box is lead lined which… stops goblins and apparently all their magic? I may have preferred it if they’d gone with something a bit more fantasy classic, like cold iron that repels magic and the fae in most fiction… but I guess it sort of works
26th September 2020 @ 6:01 pm
It can’t escape a lead-lined box. So goblins are radioactive?!
27th September 2020 @ 2:10 pm
The question is: are all magic users radioactive? You know all that fanfiction where Merlin’s magic is suppressed by some kind of manacles or collar with runes on it? Or all those questions being asked about why sorcerers, when condemned by Uther didn’t just magic themselves out of cells and escape (if strong enough)?
Maybe all it takes is a lead-lined cell or any kind of leaden thing to suppress the magic. Maybe that’s why Merlin completely forgot to catch the goblin with magic when he was anywhere near the box and instead tried catching it by hopping around like an overlarge kangaroo, the box in his hands. 😀
27th September 2020 @ 6:53 pm
Ok, new headcanon accepted: the Old Religion is the worship of recently-discovered but not-yet-understood radioactive material, dragons and other creatures are victims of severe genetic mutations caused by prolonged exposure, and “magic” is just real weird radioactive science!
28th September 2020 @ 10:14 pm
canon accepted!
30th September 2020 @ 7:02 pm
I’m laughing SO MUCH right now. Lol. So, is Merlin a victim of severe genetic mutations or, since he IS magic, which radioactive element is he?
That canon actually make sense when we consider what happens to Merlin at the very end. Seem in line with radioactive elements and their…longevity.
Also, if Merlin is one element, are there other elements like him out there? Will he find them and then they can have a bit of a community (aka we are not alone as radioactive elements)?
24th September 2020 @ 3:08 pm
LESSON: A lesson that we as an audience learned was that both the story and Arthur aren’t at a point where a magic reveal wouldn’t end with major damage done to Merlin and Arthur’s relationship, or even Merlin himself.
Arthur still seems to be living under Uther’s thumb, not as much as he was in the first two seasons, but enough that he hasn’t really formed any concept of magic besides ‘magic is inherently evil.’ This mindset is, of course, not helped along by the fact that apart from Merlin’s ball of light in I.IV, Arthur hasn’t really seen any other instances of *good* magic, and almost every other episode the idea that magic is bad continues to be cemented, even in this one. (We also learn that lobbing things 6 ft into the lake is the tried and tested way of getting the of unwanted magical items.)
24th September 2020 @ 2:35 pm
I think honestly my biggest issue with this episode (aside from the episode itself, of course) is the design of the goblin. To me, it feels *VERY* anti-Semitic, although I myself can’t speak for any Jewish fans. Let’s just say that some decisions were made, and they were definitely lacking in cultural sensitivity. Coupled with the goblin’s strange attraction to gold…. yeah. It’s not the best.
24th September 2020 @ 6:07 pm
I got the impression that visually, the goblin was some weird mix of “Jewish” features and “Hindu” makeup (both in quotes, because of course they are very stereotypical). And yes, it was pretty problematic.
24th September 2020 @ 9:02 pm
Danuta and Mae, I felt exactly the same – I’m also not Jewish so can only comment based on what I’ve heard/read from actual Jewish people, but… yeah. That was a whole mess of antisemitic stereotypes as far as I can tell. That’s all I could think when the goblin was on screen. I genuinely don’t understand what the various symbols on the goblin’s face were supposed to be if NOT based on either Hindu or Muslim imagery.
27th September 2020 @ 2:29 pm
Danuta, Mae and Esmé: Your discussion has uncomfortably reminded me of some things I have experienced. You know, I think there are some places where anti-semitic sentiments are still surprisingly prevalent in everyday references or assumptions or speech. I think there probably are historical reasons for it and I am not really sure whether it shows real anti-semitic attitudes or a remainder of attitudes that have lost any real connection and are simply used as expressions in speech (or design in TV shows) without most people being aware of the implications.
I mean, in the UK most kids, at some point, are made to study Dickens or any other number of writers with very, very strong ideas that now are very, very wrong. Not now – always were. But now the majority agrees. But the rhetoric remains. Similarly, this happens in other countries with their own art and literature.
My German grandma sometimes had this way of talking about people from other countries that she would have been taught in her childhood. I usually tried to call her out and she was always really gracious with me. But she did say that she didn’t mean anything by it and it was simply the way of speaking she had picked up in her childhood.
Now, my own experiences with this weren’t really anti-semitic. But during a college social, some drunk people proceeded to draw swastikas all over everyone’s foreheads and I was…a little shocked. And that’s an understatement.
Another interesting experience was when I was working in a summer camp and I didn’t know a girl’s name. So I asked for the girl with the ginger hair to come forward. Don’t remember why. But I was told off later: apparently you can’t call someone ginger because somehow it implies that they are ugly or draws a link to witchcraft. I had NOT been aware of that and it seemed to medieval and ludicrious, I actually at first thought that they were kidding.
Anyway, what the show did with the design was by no means okay and they should have had more sense than to perpetuate something like that. But, especially in that particular episode, they basically went out of their way to appeal to the most basic idea of humour and that, apparently, includes ignorant culture-coding and ancient reliques of racial attitudes. And not well-done culture-coding either as I agree that the goblin seems to be somewhere between a Hindu demon and someone Jewish.
27th September 2020 @ 3:17 pm
I am far from being an expert in sociology, but I agree with what you say about speech patterns / way of thinking taken from school which is hard to eradicate afterwards. Generally, I am all for reading the classics with a suitable commentary / guidance from the teacher. If the teacher is capable of asking the right questions, or showing how the language has changed, or what false stereotypes / logical fallacies have led to a certain way of thinking, it can actually teach the kids a valuable lesson. But yes, sadly, it was often lacking in many people’s education, including mine.
The additional problem with antisemitism, at least in some parts of Europe, is that there aren’t many actual Jewish people living there anymore. In Poland, the whole community was wiped out during the war, then the communism came with its own flavor of antisemitism and the still remaining survivors left for Israel. It’s probably even easier to create an enemy out of someone who exists mainly as a hearsay rather than a real person next door (there are, of course, various techniques to transform your neighbor into a scary creature cut from stereotypes, but it’s much easier if the neighbor isn’t there in the first place).
Okay, enough of my ramblings 😀 I never thought I would enjoy the discussion under the goblin episode so tremendously! 🙂
27th September 2020 @ 4:28 pm
Discussing the goblin episode is definitely more fun than watching it. But I think it goes back to the title of Ruth and Michelle’s podcast. We HAVE TO talk about the things that fascinate us. And maybe even more so about the things that frustrate us. Anyway, this episode was frustrating on many levels and all our conversations here are deeply fascinating. That’s why it’s so cool to have them.
27th September 2020 @ 7:02 pm
Danuta, regarding lots of people having limited experience with actual Jewish people – some family friends of mine are Jewish, and they had people say very seriously that they thought Jewish people had horns. Like, that’s a myth started hundreds of years ago that some people STILL believe. I thought they were joking when they told me but no, the prejudice really goes that deep. I don’t know of anyone at my school who was Jewish, but I doubt they would have felt comfortable speaking up given all the Holocaust jokes and money/greed-related stereotypes that were prevalent. But it’s no surprise if family-friendly shows like this perpetuate it too, and so thinly veiled! Mary’s right, they should have known better than to use such a basic, ignorant form of “humour.”