Skip to content

Merlin Club S05E04: “Another’s Sorrow” or “Maybe she’s born with it; maybe it’s an aging spell”

Posted in Uncategorized

merlinbanner2

Merlin club is a weekly feature in which Jessica Jarman, Bronwyn Green, and myself gather at 8pm EST to watch an episode of the amazing BBC series Merlin, starring Colin Morgan and literally nobody else I care about except Colin Morgan.

Okay, I lie. A lot of other really cool people are in it, too.

Anyway, we watch the show, we tweet to the hashtag #MerlinClub, and on Fridays we share our thoughts about the episode we watched earlier in the week.

So, here’s a quick rundown of episode four: You may remember Odin from that time he tried to kill Arthur before, but ended up killing Uther instead. Well, he’s still wanting to kill Arthur, so he captures King Rodor and sends Princess Mithian to Camelot to ask for Arthur’s help. To make sure she does what she’s supposed to, Morgana goes with Mithian, disguised as an old crone who looks exactly like Morgana in age makeup. Despite everyone telling Arthur that it’s a trap, Arthur goes anyway. He ends up in the trap, Arthur defeats Odin but doesn’t kill him because honor or whatever Merlin talks about, and then Merlin is like, shit, what if one day Morgana is more powerful than me?

If I had written this episode, I would have changed: 

The thing I loved most about this episode: When Gwen confronts Arthur about the whole set up being an obvious trap, they could have easily written it so that it read that she was just jealous of Mithian. But that aspect never comes up, despite Gwen knowing that Arthur had once considered marrying her. Gwen just thinks it’s a trap, and not like, Mithian’s vagina trap or whatever.

The thing I hated most about this episode: Morgana is clearly Morgana. She is just Morgana with lines on her face and gray hair. And we’ve seen Merlin under the influence of an aging spell. Yet it takes a ridiculous amount of time for anyone to figure out that it might be an aging spell.

Something I never noticed before: Arthur forgives Mithian like, immediately. Oh, she had to do it, because her father, blah blah blah. But Gwen betrayed Arthur by kissing a dude, not leading him to certain death, and he exiled her and took half a season to forgive her? Nah.

Favorite Costume: Gwen’s beautiful nightgown. This episode had two beautiful nightgowns, but I especially loved Gwen’s:

Screen Shot 2015-02-12 at 8.35.31 PM

What object would Bronwyn steal from this episode? Mithian’s bracelet, but less burning.

Screen Shot 2015-02-12 at 8.35.20 PM

What Merthur moment did Jess have the naughtiest thoughts about? The fact that Merlin was able to talk Arthur out of taking revenge on the man who killed his father? That’s super important to the Merthur ship. I know this, because Tumblr told me.

Check out Jessica Jarman’s take on the episode here

Check out Bronwyn Green’s take on the episode here

merlinclub

 

Did you enjoy this post?

Trout Nation content is always free, but you can help keep things going by making a small donation via Ko-fi!

Or, consider becoming a Patreon patron!

Here for the first time because you’re in quarantine and someone on Reddit recommended my Fifty Shades of Grey recaps? Welcome! Consider checking out my own take on the Billionaire BDSM genre, The Boss. Find it on AmazonB&NSmashwords, iBooks, and Radish!

6 Comments

  1. You are correct…I adore that scene. ADORE.

    And I do like that thye didn’t paint Gwen as the jealous wife in this episode. They could have easily gone down that road and it wouldn’t have been shocking. That they didn’t is fairly cool. Good job on that, writers (though it in no way makes up for the rest…seriously)

    February 13, 2015
    |Reply
  2. I love that they didn’t do that to Gwen. Love it. I remember the first time I watched that episode, I kept expecting that to be the path the writers took, and I was amazed that they didn’t.

    OMG – yes! That bracelet. But way less burny.

    February 13, 2015
    |Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *