#I ultimately went with Merlin but idk if I should have done Arthur | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

aspiring-wildfire · 5 years

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Okay not to be Merlin on main in 2019 BUT i think what kills me the most about this stupid show and keeps me coming back to it is that it had so much potential and it was so underutilized

Like seriously every character arc had the potential to be so incredible and so many of them fell so flat- and don’t get me wrong, i love the show, i love how fun and funny it was, and there are definitely some really good moments that have the epic legendary feeling to them (Arthur pulling the sword out of the stone, Merlin fighting Nimueh, Merlin killing Agravaine, the coronations, some of camlann, etc) but like. There’s so much more they could have done, both plot/legend-wise and character-wise

Merlin deserved to actually have his powers explored (if Cornelius Sigan could make the tides roll back MERLIN CERTAINLY COULD- he’s the most powerful sorcerer ever and he can do magic just by instinct and the most they have him do the whole fucking show is blast some lightning, and only twice!! This boy was supposed to be made of magic and able to harness the LIFEFORCE OF THE EARTH come ON there were SO MANY FUCKING CHANCES TO HAVE HIM BE SERIOUSLY POWERFUL and they diDNT USE ANY OF THEM)

Arthur deserved to have a consistent fucking characterization (and yes, i get that he’s noble and good AND a prat and that those aren’t mutually exclusive but they yo-yo his relationships w people around SO MUCH, especially his relationship w Merlin- I think the most glaring example is the scene in season 5 where Arthur Merlin and mordred take Gwen to the ‘sorceress’ to cure her and Merlin disappears to go, y’know, become the sorceress, and Arthur’s so clearly worried and protective but then as soon as they get Gwen back he like??? Just forgets about Merlin??? And that’s not the only time but they flip between them having this really meaningful relationship and it just being played for comic relief like ‘oh haha Arthur doesn’t care abt merlin’ and it makes me so uPSET also he should have had so many more ‘Once and Future King’ moments)

Morgana deserved a FUCKING REDEMPTION ARC (or at least part of one i mean fucking come on she’s not even the ultimate villain in a solid chunk of Arthurian legend and she was such an interesting and complex character and idk this is less a writing thing and more just an ‘i love morgana and desperately wish we got to see more of her and Arthur as siblings ESPECIALLY w how toxic Uther’s parenting was’ thing)

Gwen deserved not to have her character flattened in season 5 (i love her she’s my girl and I’ll defend her to my dying breath but once she became queen it became so much less about her and her symbolic importance as representing the people of Camelot and so much more abt how she affected Arthur and it makes me mad- she lost a lot of the endearing awkwardness and level-headed moral compass that made her so wonderful in the first place)

And i could go on!! Mordred deserved to be able to choose good, Arthur should have found out abt Merlin’s magic WAY earlier (personally I’m a fan of the ‘Arthur’s always known bc Merlin SUCKS at subtlety’ route but that’s just me), Gwen and Arthur should have had a better developed relationship (they were cute and all but there was no real substance to it? Like idk they just... didn’t really understand each other as much as like, Gwen and Lancelot did or Merlin and Arthur), Aithusa should have been so much more important to the story (and so should Kilgarrah tbh), we should have seen SO MUCH MORE of the knights, we shouldn’t have just skipped over the golden age come ON, Lancelot shouldn’t have died so soon and definitely shouldn’t have been brought back as a shade to romance Gwen like wtf, morgana shouldn’t have turned on Gwen (her dearest friend) in a split second over a vision of her as queen, the magic=gay analogy should have been explored further (just TRY to tell me its not a metaphor), and Arthur (and Morgana imo) should have healed all the hatred and pain that Uther caused and been a better person than him

Idk yall im just sad and frustrated about how much potential went unrealized

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coinofstone · 4 years

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2x11 The Witch's Quickening

Hey Arthur, remember last time you were on a manhunt in Camelot and it led you to Morgana's chambers, and she talked you out of searching them and later admitted that she'd been hiding a fugitive in there? Have you learned NOTHING

And Merlin too, he doesn't like, double back and confront Morgana or suggest Arthur do that?

Why is Arthur yelling at Merlin so much in this? Who wrote this episode.

::Coin watch the show instead of playing on her phone challenge::

Morgana being manipulated by a nine year old

Why is Arthur insulting the food as if Merlin cooked it himself? Every other meal he brings up is from the palace kitchens but on this occasion Merlin cooked himself? Ok.

Even the fkin dragon is OOC in this ep

Morgana is so much more intelligent than this.

Gaius needs to bring this to Uther in the throne room like a member of the public? He couldn't get a private audience with the king? Ok.

I really don't remember this episode being so terrible, maybe I'm in a bad mood.

You know, not for nothing, but from Mordred's perspective Merlin is being an absolute dick, not only siding with the oppressor but actively working to sabotage their plans and hurt their people. As we, the audience, are privy to the reasons behind this, WE don't necessarily questions Merlin's actions, WE know he's after the crystal because he's trying to prevent Mordred and Morgana from teaming up and bringing harm to Arthur - that's all good and well but like... Merlin could never bring himself to kill Mordred because he's just a boy, but yet he's allowed the boy to go off and become somewhat radicalized (I say 'somewhat' because honestly, it's not all that radical to plot to overthrow the king that has been waging a genocidal war against your people for twenty fucking years) without ever trying to bring him into the fold. If Merlin had explained his and Arthur's destinies to the boy, made an argument for waiting out Uther's reign in the hope that Arthur's reign will bring peace and magic back to Camelot, but which may not happen if he sees his father killed by sorcerers, and explained his reasons for hiding who he is from Morgana, regardless of Mordred's ultimate destiny to be Arthur's doom, Merlin would've at least had a shot at cultivating an alliance or at very least an understanding between them. Instead, all Mordred sees is this supremely powerful sorcerer who isn't even a druid, serving the very people that would bring an end to their entire race if they could. Although, it seems as tho Mordred has forgotten who exactly snuck him out of the castle and back to the druid camp in three first place. Makes you wonder if Morgana never explained to him that she was believed to have been kidnapped when they found her with the druids last time, and that she went along with that lie for her own safety.

Tl;dr: communication is important kids!

Do I even need to point out how much sense Morgana's little tiff with Uther did not make? Or her sudden distrust of Gwen? If anything she should think Gwen would be an ally considering a) her father was killed by Uther, as an innocent victim of Uther's war on magic, b) Gwen was party to Morgana's previous involvement in aiding and abetting a druid fugitive, c) Gwen L-I-T-E-R-A-L-L-Y sacrificed herself to save Morgana from Hengist's men, the is zero reason to question Guinevere's loyalty to Morgana, and d) Gwen has never said a WORD against sorcery or hinted at any kind of prejudice against druids or anyone with magic.

I looked up the writing credit for this, it's Jake Michie who is also credited with some fantastic episodes like Lancelot, Beauty and the beast, and the Lamia to name a few. It was directed by Alice Troughton who has also done some good eps, including other eps written by Jake Michie, so like I really don't understand what went wrong here.

Oh God there's a commentary track on this episode. I don't wannnnnaaaaaa but maybe I'll learn something, like why it turned out the way it did.

Commentary by Julian Murphy, Alice Troughton, and Katie. I do not have high hopes.

Katie right off the bat explaining shit that's important to note, God I love her on these tracks. Apparently, this was one of the last things to be shot (Merlin films everything out of order and films several episodes concurrently, depending on filming location.) and it was being shot while three other episodes were being wrapped up - so they had FOUR episodes filming concurrently and a lot of THIS episode was directed by Julian Murphy, and Jeremy shot some of it as well. This COULD explain a lot of the inconsistency, but I question how much since Julian seems to be involved in filming lots of scenes in lots of episodes. But I guess it's possible that just that on top of the rush to finish and the pressure of so many spinning plates in the air right at the end. They've just said that for this episode they had the least amount of days to shoot it out of all the episodes they've done, which is partly why they had so much going at once. It's as good a reason as any to explain it being so off, but I don't really see that explaining the wildly off characterization.

Katie going on the whole thing about Alvarr-as-revolutionary and Alice picks up on Morgana's sort of desire to be in that position and they're having a quite meaningful discussion then Julian:I think she just thinks he's hot 🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️

Katie says the script changed a lot even as it was filming, and that things were being changed as it was filmed so I'm kind of thinking for whatever reason this entire thing was a mess and that's why it came across looking so disjointed to me.

At least Julian realize the soup scene was terrible.

Idk why they're ganging up on Katie over the chemistry between her and Alvarr. She says she wasn't playing it that way and that she wasn't feeling it and they're just like "yea uh huh sure."

They're talking about having two units filming like a few feet away from each other in the forest, while there is another two units going in France.

Julian says they had added Alvarr's girlfriend in because they wanted to dramatize his charisma and calculation... but it's not manipulation - ?????????? Someone get the man a dictionary. 'We added a random blonde in four him to kiss so that the audience knows he's got a girl already, who sees him working his charm on Morgana and comments on it 'you played her well', but Alvarr isn't actually manipulative' ??????????

They've just pointed out two entire significant beats within a sequence that was constructed on set and off script. Arthur's confrontation with Alvarr in the forest and Merlin's slow motion tracking the crystal to show its got a powerful draw. The more they describe the specifics of filming the more it sounds like an utter disaster which kind of makes me feel bad for being so harsh on the episode.

I keep having to rewind to focus on what they're saying and I feel like I've been watching this episode for about 4 hours.

Awkward bit of prop-exposure there. Trying to work out what LK could even stand for.

Idk everyone's really happy with this scene between Morgana and Uther and I'm still sitting here thinking the dialogue was utterly ridiculous.

They talked about changing that final scene, where Uther clearly knows/suspects it was Morgana who helped Alvarr escape, so that it doesn't prematurely push the story too far ahead. They cut a look Morgana gives Merlin which, rightfully so, because it would've been too much too soon. The ending to this episode still feels wholly unsatisfying to me. I understand the little tag with the dragon yelling for Merlin to release him, I don't mean that, but the ending to the main story where Alvarr just escapes and Uther not only accepts that but also accepts that Morgana must've helped him. Overall Uther's been entirely sort of neutered throughout this episode, which I understand that partially has to do with it being Morgana, but like, in previous episodes when she's been so defiant against him, he's had her by the throat and locked her in a dungeon overnight. So I just doubt understand him being so subdued here, especially since he directly threatened her when he found pr Mordred escaped, and now another druid's escaped and he essentially knows she was involved given how she spoke to him, yet he doesn't do anything? Just wildly inconsistent behavior.

Anyway apologies for overanalyzing this episode, I realize I tore it apart pretty thoroughly during the commentary and the post became quite long. I wish there was a way to add a cut on mobile but there isn't. I'll have the S2 finale post up in a few hours - I might hold off on posting until I've watched the extras, I didn't do that for S1 but then I felt the extras didn't quite warrant a whole post on their own, so I might just tack on any thoughts I have to the 2x12 post. We'll see.

#bbc merlin #merlin #bbc merlin spoilers #merlin spoilers #merthur #2x11 #bbc merlin 2x11 #merlin 2x11 #the witch's quickening #onceandfuturerewatch

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jbuchanan · 6 years

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Ten Shipping Questions

i didn't want to do this because it looked HARD

but i was peer pressured by both @girlbookwrm and @padmedala so i guess im doing it (thanks guys ily really)

Ultimate OTP: *screams*

I DONT KNOWWW i dont know i can't pick im SORRY

its a mix of literally every one i mention below. i left this one last and realised i had none of my main ones left so all of the ones below im sorry im cheating

deal with it

Ship you’ll always love: my heart is FOREVER BROKEN for these two.. Merlin and Arthur

they're just SO STUPID and DISASTERS and im sensing a theme

Current obsession: Steve and Bucky and yeah 100% @girlbookwrm‘s fault

I did love them way back when the first two films just came out but man this past year they've went from one of my ships to MAIN i just i love them. and its crazy how little screen time there actually is of them so GOD BLESS YOU @girlbookwrm you've done all of us a Great Service.

:( i love them such morons

Ship you never thought you’d like: OK so. im going to say.. Aaron and Robert from Emmerdale because,,,, it was Emmerdale. ( A british soap for those not in uk) So usually its something like my gran watches but i always liked Aarons storyline with his coming out and accepting himself etc. and then they give him a New Rich Boyfriend who is MARRIED and listen,, its so problematic and overdramatic (hydromatic) and there is cheating and murders and kidnappings and it just ridiculous sometimes...

but they're also really sweet and love each other a lot but also when they're not together/fallen out they can be Hilarious and i just,, love them sm. They're the Definition of Disaster Husbands. and 4 years later they're actually MARRIED and i just yeah. That was Unexpected for me to get into. (i think their storyline is still on youtube if anyone wants to check it out but im not sure) (you should)

Ship you liked but don’t anymore: does this even count?? ian and mickey only really because i cant watch shameless anymore?? the storyline got ruined and yeah its a shame

the show just,,,ruined it for me. sad. im still fond of them

Ship that should be canon: Steve/Bucky. Because????? it just makes sense from a storytelling point (basically what everyone else said) but its just ridiculous. Bucky is Steves motivation in all 3 movies and sigh

Canon ship you hate:

she's peggys niece????????? she is PEGGYS.NEICE she's-

Pair I’ve been shipping for years: The Doctor and Rose...still not over it

they're also dumb

Ship everyone loves but I don’t: I’ve been trying to think of one for ages and all i can think of is when Sterek? was a thing? i didn't watch a LOT of teen wolf in all honesty but i watched enough that i was confused about this one. it was like everywhere?? all i ever saw was those gifs in a swimming pool? was that the moment idk but if you ship it i cant really say anything look at the messes i ship

Favorite rare pair: LISTEN

i was ROBBED by this show!! these two :( i loved them sm Merlin broke ME

I tag (if you wanna): um im going to leave this open to anyone who wants to do it? literally anyone i TAG YOU ALL and maybe @recalibrates @vaerona @peteparkr @crimson-winchester221??

( shout out to @canliveforevr though just because im pretty sure ive ranted to you about all of these ships over the years for an annoying long amount and i want to apologise, sorry. you dont have to do the thing)

#tag game #a LOT of ships #tag meme #idk i forgot what i call these #long post #sorry about that i get carried away

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