Merlin: The Poisoned Chalice
Oct. 12th, 2008 11:38 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
janne_dThe slashyness just keeps on coming, doesn't it?
1. Arthur is such a guy - smelly clothes, feasts ending in food fights, deciding that Merlin has to get bored by speeches if he does and planning to get drunk to get through it...
2. How cute was all that uniform interplay? Arthur pulling a face about Merlin's normal clothes and then the little smirk when he went back around the screen, and the look on Merlin's face when he saw the uniform - but it was Arthur's little "oh yes" grin in response to Merlin's denial that really made me laugh. He just lives to torture Merlin. And I would bet a silver chalice that the hat was not a part of the uniform and that Arthur had added it for his own entertainment so he could look at Merlin later and get cheered up - just like he did at the start of the banquet. Because I really don't think lookng over at your servant while big important diplomatic things go on is proper protocol for a prince.
3. Blue is a really, really good colour on Michelle Ryan. She looked totally gorgeous in that servant's outfit. And she knew just how to get to Merlin as well - want Merlin to act? Put Arthur in danger. Even the evil sorcerer knows they are two sides of a coin!
4. It totally works as well. Merlin will absolutely drink his own death to stop Arthur doing it instead - and Arthur will apparently attempt to do the exact same thing to save Merlin. I'm not sure Arthur was convinced there was poison in the same way Merlin was but that was still a very risky move on his part.
5. I loved Arthur charging forward to try and get Merlin out of trouble before that as well. He was obviously thinking "oh no, not again, Merlin just shut up".
6. Poor Bayard. He never even got to do his really boring speech before he got thrown in the dungeon. I did wonder a bit what Nimueh was playing at there but going for chaos and destruction and war does fit.
7. Loved the description of the Forest ofBalrog Balor: really dangerous, poisonous beasts, most people die. Immediately followed by Arthur's reaction of "Sounds like fun". He's such a valorous sweetie. Facing almost-certain death versus losing Merlin? Arthur will take the almost certain death option please.
8. But oh noes! Nasty Uther doesn't care that Arthur is going to lose his BFF - Merlin is just a servant after all. Not that Uther doesn't have a point about Arthur having to accept that people will die for him and I have some sympathy for the whole "if you die, who will rule Camelot?" argument - but Morgana's argument about what kind of king and man Arthur would like to be is a better one.
9. Incidentally, poor Morgana. Everyone deserts her as soon as Merlin goes down - Gwen is too busy acting as nurse and Arthur completely forgets her existence.
10. Silly guards. Do not get in the way of Arthur on a mission to save Merlin. He'll just run straight over you... just like that, in fact.
11. You know, I did wonder when Merlin did his delirious little murmur of "Arthur..." if they were going to go the psychic link route and then dismissed it as a happy little fantasy. When I realised they really were having Merlin that linked to Arthur I may actually have squealed out loud. (Also, Merlin murmuring "Arthur" in bed, looking all sweaty? That's not a feature in any slashy little dreams at all, oh no /sarcasm.)
12. Not bad cockatrice animation, but it is a shame they obviously don't have the budget to show real interaction in the fight. I loved all the sword spinning though - and the look on Nimueh's face when Arthur actually kills it; she was clearly thinking "Damn. I thought that would work".
13. Arthur then has to learn the hard lesson that damsels in distress aren't always as distressed as they appear. Oops. A very intriguing line that it isn't Arthur's destiny to die at Nimueh's hand though - so she apparently can't kill him directly, but indirectly is fine.
14. Arthur must have some upper body strength to hang from a ledge in chainmail by one hand and then pull himself up.
15. I love this show. Merlin isn't just watching over Arthur, he makes a shiny globe of light to save him and show him the way out. I made many happy noises, and more when Merlin is muttering for Arthur to get out and just save himself and Arthur of course takes the time necessary to get the mortius flower.
16. Aside: Arthur goes on a dangerous quest, fights monsters and climbs a cliff, all to bring Merlin a flower. Subtext, what subext?
17. Wow, Uther is a total bastard. I didn't think he'd go so far as denying Merlin the cure to teach Arthur a lesson. And telling him he could get out in a week and "choose another servant" was cold, really cold.
18. I really, really wanted to hug Arthur when Uther crushed the flower. He looked so upset and then he was so desperate to reach it through the bars. *sniffle*
19. I liked the whole charade with the plate of food and how Arthur stayed in arrogant bastard mode all through it - and I liked Gwen smiling at him before she left.
20. Uther is clearly not going to let on what happened with Nimueh until he's absolutely forced. All that about "knowing the heart of one sorcerer means you know them all" rubbish. It was nice that he acknowledged Arthur had done the right thing and said he was proud of him though - he was probably so relieved at avoiding the war (and that must have been an interesting explanation to Bayard) that he got all unusually expressive.
21. And I think that Arthur is even less convinced that all magic is evil than he was last week. Uther can spout off about it as much as he likes - Arthur knows there was magic watching over him and saving his life in the cave, even if he doesn't know who it was yet. (I liked how he didn't brag to Morgana and admitted that he'd had help too. That was nice.)
22. And then Arthur goes to make sure Merlin is okay, and shows concern through being bossy, aaaw. See point number 1 about him being a guy. I adored the moment of mutual thanking too because that is where the sincerity came out for both of them. Lovely.
Hmm. Had a lot to say there.
ETA: And I completely forgot to mention Gaius trying to keep up his "wise old mentor" role by making up proverbs and Merlin calling him on it. Too funny.
I can't imagine what distracted me in the rest of the episode so I forgot that bit...
1. Arthur is such a guy - smelly clothes, feasts ending in food fights, deciding that Merlin has to get bored by speeches if he does and planning to get drunk to get through it...
2. How cute was all that uniform interplay? Arthur pulling a face about Merlin's normal clothes and then the little smirk when he went back around the screen, and the look on Merlin's face when he saw the uniform - but it was Arthur's little "oh yes" grin in response to Merlin's denial that really made me laugh. He just lives to torture Merlin. And I would bet a silver chalice that the hat was not a part of the uniform and that Arthur had added it for his own entertainment so he could look at Merlin later and get cheered up - just like he did at the start of the banquet. Because I really don't think lookng over at your servant while big important diplomatic things go on is proper protocol for a prince.
3. Blue is a really, really good colour on Michelle Ryan. She looked totally gorgeous in that servant's outfit. And she knew just how to get to Merlin as well - want Merlin to act? Put Arthur in danger. Even the evil sorcerer knows they are two sides of a coin!
4. It totally works as well. Merlin will absolutely drink his own death to stop Arthur doing it instead - and Arthur will apparently attempt to do the exact same thing to save Merlin. I'm not sure Arthur was convinced there was poison in the same way Merlin was but that was still a very risky move on his part.
5. I loved Arthur charging forward to try and get Merlin out of trouble before that as well. He was obviously thinking "oh no, not again, Merlin just shut up".
6. Poor Bayard. He never even got to do his really boring speech before he got thrown in the dungeon. I did wonder a bit what Nimueh was playing at there but going for chaos and destruction and war does fit.
7. Loved the description of the Forest of
8. But oh noes! Nasty Uther doesn't care that Arthur is going to lose his BFF - Merlin is just a servant after all. Not that Uther doesn't have a point about Arthur having to accept that people will die for him and I have some sympathy for the whole "if you die, who will rule Camelot?" argument - but Morgana's argument about what kind of king and man Arthur would like to be is a better one.
9. Incidentally, poor Morgana. Everyone deserts her as soon as Merlin goes down - Gwen is too busy acting as nurse and Arthur completely forgets her existence.
10. Silly guards. Do not get in the way of Arthur on a mission to save Merlin. He'll just run straight over you... just like that, in fact.
11. You know, I did wonder when Merlin did his delirious little murmur of "Arthur..." if they were going to go the psychic link route and then dismissed it as a happy little fantasy. When I realised they really were having Merlin that linked to Arthur I may actually have squealed out loud. (Also, Merlin murmuring "Arthur" in bed, looking all sweaty? That's not a feature in any slashy little dreams at all, oh no /sarcasm.)
12. Not bad cockatrice animation, but it is a shame they obviously don't have the budget to show real interaction in the fight. I loved all the sword spinning though - and the look on Nimueh's face when Arthur actually kills it; she was clearly thinking "Damn. I thought that would work".
13. Arthur then has to learn the hard lesson that damsels in distress aren't always as distressed as they appear. Oops. A very intriguing line that it isn't Arthur's destiny to die at Nimueh's hand though - so she apparently can't kill him directly, but indirectly is fine.
14. Arthur must have some upper body strength to hang from a ledge in chainmail by one hand and then pull himself up.
15. I love this show. Merlin isn't just watching over Arthur, he makes a shiny globe of light to save him and show him the way out. I made many happy noises, and more when Merlin is muttering for Arthur to get out and just save himself and Arthur of course takes the time necessary to get the mortius flower.
16. Aside: Arthur goes on a dangerous quest, fights monsters and climbs a cliff, all to bring Merlin a flower. Subtext, what subext?
17. Wow, Uther is a total bastard. I didn't think he'd go so far as denying Merlin the cure to teach Arthur a lesson. And telling him he could get out in a week and "choose another servant" was cold, really cold.
18. I really, really wanted to hug Arthur when Uther crushed the flower. He looked so upset and then he was so desperate to reach it through the bars. *sniffle*
19. I liked the whole charade with the plate of food and how Arthur stayed in arrogant bastard mode all through it - and I liked Gwen smiling at him before she left.
20. Uther is clearly not going to let on what happened with Nimueh until he's absolutely forced. All that about "knowing the heart of one sorcerer means you know them all" rubbish. It was nice that he acknowledged Arthur had done the right thing and said he was proud of him though - he was probably so relieved at avoiding the war (and that must have been an interesting explanation to Bayard) that he got all unusually expressive.
21. And I think that Arthur is even less convinced that all magic is evil than he was last week. Uther can spout off about it as much as he likes - Arthur knows there was magic watching over him and saving his life in the cave, even if he doesn't know who it was yet. (I liked how he didn't brag to Morgana and admitted that he'd had help too. That was nice.)
22. And then Arthur goes to make sure Merlin is okay, and shows concern through being bossy, aaaw. See point number 1 about him being a guy. I adored the moment of mutual thanking too because that is where the sincerity came out for both of them. Lovely.
Hmm. Had a lot to say there.
ETA: And I completely forgot to mention Gaius trying to keep up his "wise old mentor" role by making up proverbs and Merlin calling him on it. Too funny.
I can't imagine what distracted me in the rest of the episode so I forgot that bit...
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(no subject)
Date: 2008-10-12 05:16 pm (UTC)I can so imagine that conversation between Uther and Bayard...
Uther: "Uh, sorry about that, apparently it wasn't you trying to poison my son after all, but this evil witch, who I certainly don't know AT ALL"
Bayard: "A likely story..."
I loved also how Arthur didn't call Uther out on the magic thing by saying something along the lines of "well, actually, magic saved me in that cave, so it can't be all bad" even though he knows that to be true.
And Merlin's hat... none of the other servants had one on, so Arthur was clearly just being hilarious.
(no subject)
Date: 2008-10-13 04:24 pm (UTC)Heee. I'd believe him... (not). Hmm, I wonder if all this secrecy is going to come back and bite him in the arse? *ponders*
I liked Arthur keeping his own counsel there too - I think he realises there is no point in trying to change his father's mind.
I'm totally convinced about the hat thing. It had to be Arthur putting one over on Merlin (and it's funnier that way anyway).
(no subject)
Date: 2008-10-13 04:27 pm (UTC)Yes, I think we're going to see some interesting character development with regards to Arthur and what he thinks about his father's way of doing things in Camelot, which I'm looking forward to.
Hmm, I wonder if all this secrecy is going to come back and bite him on the arse?
Oh, undoubtedly.
(no subject)
Date: 2008-10-12 10:20 pm (UTC)That was pretty much the slashiest plotline ever, right? All it was lacking was a kiss for the hero at the end.
Also, Merlin with his brow all furrowed saying "faster, Arthur, faster"? pretty much made my day.
(no subject)
Date: 2008-10-13 04:29 pm (UTC)I'm not sure we need a kiss when Merlin spent most of the episode writhing in bed and moaning Arthur's name!
And I still can't believe they went for the psychic bonding. I really did squeak with glee at that point. Someone else (I think
(no subject)
Date: 2009-02-02 04:58 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-02-02 09:17 pm (UTC)It's one of my favourite episodes too - just the sheer romance of it all, not to mention Arthur's twirly swordplay in the woods.
(no subject)
Date: 2009-02-02 09:32 pm (UTC)