EPaws The real issue is, it is showing on both men. Neither is bothering and they are no longer putting the slightest bit of effort into it. It is so obvious. You would have to be a complete moron not to recognize it. Most of the crew I hang with have noticed and we were all discussing it and to a man and woman each felt the same way after the first two episodes. Merlin and Arthur are completely flat and going nowhere evolutionarily at this rate and it is sad. You have two people who could do so much better putting up with the same tired flippant dialogue. Yawn worthy.

EPaws Oh and final note...what is with Gaius' wig this year? That is all.

ellarose88 I hate Gaius wig. About A/M banter, I still find it amusing to watch and its clear that Arthur cares for Merlin and vica versa. But yeah, it has yet to move from that which is frustrating.

faithlessducks Arthur made Elyan, Lancelot, Gwaine, and Percy knights! He just met Percy at the time! On a side note, I do think not a Noble in Camelot will mess with Queen Guinevere!

EPaws That wig is disasterous, Millie. No, we do not like it. LOL! @Faithless....we are in total agreement. Off with their heads!

ellarose88 Yeah but Percy, Elyan and Gwaine are good knights, loyal so that wasn't a bad decision. They proved that they could fight. But with Merlin, that is more complicated (made more complicated by the fact that Arthur doesn't know that Merlin has magic) because what position can Arthur give Merlin exactly?

EPaws Oh and just for SandGs...riddle me this more than valid point brought up by a wonderful individual I rather like in France? The very smart Merlin writers (sarcasm) made Aithusa dumb so it won't tell Morgana that Merlin is a dragonlord with magic, but then how does Morgana know that the dragon's name is Aithusa since the dumb dragon couldn't tell her?????

kbrand5333 ^Shu mentioned that above!

EPaws Sorry, apologies Shushu!

faithlessducks I think their "captors" might have cut the baby dragon's tongue.

EPaws Oh and no week is complete without one of my favourite peoples stream of consciousness who shall always remain anon. Maybe, maybe at the end of season, I will share who it is, but not til then. LOLOL...here goes. Good night all. Just watched the last episode, it seems I didn’t miss much. Let’s be methodic: The Queen: Angel’s performance is beyond perfection. The Queen was just GLORIOUS! The whole Albion should be thanking God everyday for such smart, wise and perfect Queen! Without her the whole country would fall into ruin, Uther should be proud and grateful to his daughter-in-law rather than trying to kill her, but that’s another story ;) I think that the druid’s death was fair, though I will miss Liam, the man is epic. The King: I didn’t like the way Arthur was presented in those two episodes; bighearted, noble, brave…but too oblivious, too naive almost inapt to make a good king, I mean Hello! Arthur do you remember why you had to save Mordred’s life?!!!…. YEEEEES, he has magic…you get it! But this again is the legendary reset button at work…sigh and how can he beg or expect mercy from a murderess who killed and starved children and women without the slightest regret, a sadistic monster who tortured her prisoners for sheer entertainment in 4x13/4x13! This hag doesn’t have the slightest piece of humanity in her, how could he have brotherly feelings for her after her betrayals, after witnessing her massacres of innocent women in children?! But then it’s just to show us that Arthur’s breaking point with Morgana will be her attacking Gwen later in this series, he can overlook everything except messing with his Gwen, this he will never forgive and then he will see his sister as the lost cause she is and will hunt her down to have her head, thought I wish they present Arthur as a wise, worthy and proper souvereign soon. Merlin: Really Good, he is my only hope to keep an eye on that wily Mordred, I don’t trust that kingslayer at all. At the moment I feel Gwen and him should rule Camelot alone!…Arthycake is really frustrating these days. Gaius: I usually like him but I wanted cut his head when he pleaded for Sefa’s life, the girl is a traitor, her actions cost the lives of many men, where were you when Gwen was sent to exile for a mere kiss that you more than anyone should have recognised as a result of an enchantment cast on the poor girl since Lancelot was a shade and Gwen, the girl you knew all her life, would never do such thing on her own volition?!!! I liked it when he called Guinevere “My lady” and when she said “My husband” while referring to Arthur, CUUUUTE. Sefa: seriously, what was she expecting when she gave Arthur’s position to her revengeful and full of anger father, that he will intercept the King and ask him to play tennis, poker or go to a movie! She knew he will try to kill him, she really deserves to be executed, being cute is not an attenuating circumstance! She really is lucky that The Queen has the biggest hear in the world and unless there is a writing miracle (very doubtful with Merlin writers) Sefa will become another revengeful-crybaby-villain because her father got a fair punishment, while Guinevere whose father was unjustly killed remained true to herself and never sought revenge…if only half of this world was like you my Queen…sigh Morgana: someone should tell Katie that there are different ways to express feelings apart from screaming, whispering or clinching your jaw! Seriously this is getting ridiculous, She can’t even convey emotions while speaking normally! As for Morgana, if the show purpose is to make us have some sympathy for her becaue “The poor girl was imprisoned in a dungeon for two years” then it didn’t work, sorry but I can’t have sympathy for a children murderer who tortured her prisoners for mere entertainment, what happened to her is not even the beginning of the punishment she should get, but the hag’s mind is totally screwed, nothing left to save! Mordred: I still don’t like the boy, seriously to see him kill Arthy put an end to any possibility of compromise between us, though I owe him one for saving hubby Arthy and stabbing that crazy hag (he should have finished the job properly) though I believe he didn’t finish the job purposely, he wanted her to live, I don’t like him, obviously he isn’t trustworthy, but he is interesting, I hope he will be the long awaited proper villain that this show needs desperately. We will wait and see what his real goal is ;) Sir Shirtless Knights: Perfect as always ;p Sir Leon: is it me or he entered the Queen’s chambers in the middle of the night without knocking!!!!! Leon, we all know that The Queen is your old flame and you didn’t get over her yet, but the King is very possessive, he will have your head! LOL, I love Rupert, he made up all this story about Leon being in love with Gwen and Arthur taking her away from him , LOL. He could make a story about Leon and Morgana, but Naaaa he chose Gwen, it comes from the heart ;) everybody loves you my Queen! Arwen: I know Arwen will come eventually, but it’s getting on my nerves a bit, that we didn’t see them exchange a word or being by themselves in two weeks! It’s a bit too much of Arwen eviction from the writers, it’s getting too obvious that they are doing it purposely….sigh, I know, I know we will have Arwen soon and to our heart content ;p Even if there won’t be much Arwen next week, I bet we will at the very least get some Arwen discussing the Uther’s topic in the royal chambers, which is far better than what we got until now! Just to see the Queen/Angel being her epic self is a good reson to watch a Merlin episode, since it’s the beginning of the season, I will concede the next episode, but this will be the last one, after that I swear to God they will hear me on twitter !!!!

VampyreFey Biggest issue with this episode (among a bunch of things): But why did the King of all Kings BEG FOR HIS LIFE? Arthur would never bow down and he would much rather die than EVER beg for his life. He was pleading with her- the whole "Morgana please... We are brother and sister after all." That's not my golden boy. That was just bad writing. Very bad writing. Okay, let's see. What was up with Merls? "OMG Why didn't you kill him? You're such an idiot. You should have killed him." Hello. One could ask the same of you Merlin all those years back when you chose to spare him. He knew then of the prophecy. Poor baby Aithusa :\ I was really moved by the scene with Aithusa and Merlin (and the ones with Aithusa/Morgana.) I was wondering how Aithusa would react to Merlin, and I think that scene was quite emotional. I love seeing that sacred connection between Merlin and the dragons. Mordred is brilliant. God, I love that boy. He was phenomenal this episode- and Alex...just wow! Such amazing acting from him. I was very impressed. And Queen Guinevere of course. She had barely any screentime, but she was still fantastic. And so clever and strong. Next episode looks really good, though. Very horror film-esque. And I really want to see the super emotional father/son moments. As well as some Uther/Guinevere and Uther/Merlin scenes. Ooh, Stacey. That was one strong review from this anon. The Queen was indeed glorious. As always. AND WE NEED ARWEN NEXT EPISODE. Did I mention that I was fangirling over the fact that Gwen referred to Arthur as "my husband" because that was the closest mention of Arwen we got this episode? SO PLEASE. At least one scene is all I ask.

HumbleQueen This has been so much fun sitting here reading all your reviews/comments while eating my late snack after being gone all day. I think I'm on the same page with most of you. I did watch it again after my initial comment early after the airing and did feel better about it after taking my time and carefully digesting it. Alex's performance still stands out to me. Mordred is just the best character to come along in ages. Words cannot express how much this has been my most pleasant surprise of the season. Cannot wait to see how this all plays out. And you watch. The dynamics between Alex and Colin are going to be DY-NO-MITE. Things will get better with Arthur. They have to. Bradley definitely deserves better and hopefully he won't allow for his character to continue to be the clueless king whose neck is constantly saved by Merlin without his knowledge and by quite a few others, in this case Mordred. And trusting people too completely without learning a lesson. Remember his words to Merlin in 4x13 about that. Surely, they are not that off with continuity? Right? All you guys reviews are great, but wow, that person anon, Stacey. Just wow. Isn't it interesting that they got the impression that Arwen being left out is purposeful because I was thinking the exact same thing last night. The writers/editors seemed to make a point of no interaction between kingy and queeny except that brief little scene at the very beginning of the first episode. They have their reasons and to be honest, I think they had similar issues early on last season, especially episode 3. But in the long run, usually it's because we have a lot coming up in the future! About Athuisa and how Morgana knew her name. Is it possible she told Morgana early in the beginning of their relationship and whatever cruel thing which happened to her happened after that. About Leon breaking into the queen's room. IMO it was a security issue re the queen's safety. To me, if ever an alarm is sounded there should be at least one knight who is assigned to go straight to her chambers (or wherever she is) to ensure that the queen is safe and to stay by her side as a protector. Perhaps Leon was "on duty" in this regard because he was not with the other knights who confronted Ruadan. I would think, I would HOPE some knight would be with the queen AT ALL TIMES whenever security has been breached. All this if she's not with the king. I think the Sefa story line continuing would be a great one. If this is the last we see of her I'm going to be greatly disappointed. Lovely scene though with her and her father. Both were good characters and the young lady put in a good performance. Forget the actress' name. I think Katie did reasonably well. I felt a touch of humanity here and there with Mordred. Now that he's attempted to do her in, this should be an interesting turn of events, ya think? BTW, where's she going? Is she no longer able to stay in her "place" where she's been living At lot better than the hovel of last year. Saw a funny comment on YT last night. Somebody mentioned that she's been wearing that same dress for four years and even sleeping in it. Wonder what it smells like, lol. One last observation. It looks like Arthur has given up crowns. Guess he decided if he had to wear that monstrosity, he'll do without.

EPaws Bang on HQ and that is all I will say.

EPaws OMG yes, the begging crap. I was livid. Livid. Livid with Arthur. Yes, I spent a lot of time clouting him this episode. He should have a concussion by now lol.

ellarose88 What is wrong with Arthur begging? Hell I would be doing the same thing too, if someone I considered my sister a long time ago went evil. I can understand why Arthur did it, he knows his sister is evil and wants him dead, but a part of him wishes that she will change back because she wasn't always evil. And maybe this is his downfall, being too trusting of everyone who saves his life.

HumbleQueen That's true Ella. That's probably the very reason that Arthur's Bane is himself.

sportyshuie WOW ... this is one helluva review, i must say and i love it all. I have nothing to add except for one thing i recalled while sleeping last night. When Merlin asked Arthur to kill Modred, i would have loved if Arthur said, he didnt want to because he promised not to kill anymore druids (remember the episode Elyan gets possessed?) and it would have been better if Modred can hear it. Who knows that may change his mind about Arthur. And that will also show how Arthur still keeps his promise to the druid spirit. But alas ... Well, overall it was action packed and love the fight sequences, the slow mo and all that. Looking forward to next and they better, better have an arwen scene. IF NOT ... stacey, i'm with you!!!

Bonne-Bell The begging annoyed me as well, ugh. I'm really not liking how they've written Arthur so far in this season. I hope it changes soon. Arthur would never plead or beg with anyone for his life. Puh-lease. And where has his intelligence gone? Somehow he doesn't suspect that Mordred might have magic even though he's a druid and most druids have magic and he has Merlin doing magic right in front of him and he still doesn't notice that he has magic. Humph.

Pocketgal a comment and a question .... I agree with the comment about how the banter is suffering because Bradley and Colin aren't into it. So here is my question ...Bradley has said in many interviews that he will continue as long as he is having fun. What if he isn't anymore? This season could be the end of Arthur, the show is called Merlin afterall, what happens after Arthur's final battle? What happens when Merlin goes to live in his cave. Could the show continue without Camelot?

EPaws No! His bane is him getting in the way of himself. Two Arthur Pendragon does not beg, he is not you Millie. He is a classic hero,not joe blow. Just not done. It is also extremely OOC particularly to the batshit crazy individual in question. The begging was not even a ploy, it was plain weakness. That is not on. Arthur needs much better writing and asap because this is the worst I have seen in years. I am sure the writing for him will improve soon. Oh it is self evident to anyone with eyes that neither is feeling it at all.

lailastar I am reading the reviews and some comments are directed towards Arthur for not showing appreciation towards Merlin whom has saved his life several times. People forget that only us the viewers and Giaus knows of Merlins good deeds. How can Arthur appreciate Merlin when he has no idea that Merlin is saving his life. The writers are to be blame for this, there have been many opportunities where Merlin could have taken credit for saving Arthur without admitting to magic, the episode Cornelius Sigan was one, the spear and the boar, Merlin never came forward when Arthur asked who threw the spear and the servant playing sigan took that credit. Ealdor was another where Will took the credit for saving the moment. My other problem is the magic issue, even when magic is used for good, it still comes across as bad, example, Dragoon saves Gwen in Queen of Hearts but the reason given to Uther and Arthur was it was done to embrass Uther because if Arthur fell in love with a lowly servant girl it would cause embarrassment to Uther. Even Colin had problem uttering that line. They should have had Dragoon admitting the real reason to Arthur and then vanish and Arthur would have known he had an ally in Dragoon. The next example is Uther's death, they should have allowed the magic to work but kill Uther in another manner, maybe another assassin from Morgana. This act again would have confirm to Arthur he has a scorcerer on his side These good acts of magic would have had Arthur rethinking his views on magic. Finally they should have a group of Druids come to Camelots aide the next time its attacked to show their support for Arthur and camelot, this would help in Arthur's decision and also the people of Camelot will see they have friends in the Druid community. None of this has ever happened therefore how can Arthur be convince and able to convince the people of Camelot that some magic folks are good, when all they have had is suffering from vengeful witches and warlocks. Yes I agree they have been writing Arthur badly, this started in season 3, they had him braying like a jackass and season 4 became even worst. It was humiliating to watch. I said it sometime ago, I have never seen a show humiliate one of its leading stars as TPTB has done to Bradley/Arthur in Merlin. The shame is the actor fits the part so well and yet they would rather turn him into a village idiot instead . They need to keep the character, strong, fearless, a warrior, brave as legend has portrayed him. What they are doing to him is disappointing the fans and the actor himself. There are times you can see Bradley trying to push forward that pride and power in his performance that made Arthur the mighty king of history.

EPaws They are foresaking Arthur the epic hero for the sake of some emo, pain in the ass not even half worth his salt portrayal of a shitty warlock. Yes, sorry guys, I feel this way. That last episode encapsulated everything wrong the show runners are doing to two of my favourite characters of lore.

lailastar I am with you EP, I feel sad for Bradley sometimes ,because he could do a really good Arthur of legend,if they would only give him with some good writing. There is nothing wrong with some banter but keep it light and do not allow it to take away the fearless hero of legend. I have been so disappointed since series 3, series 1&2 was not bad but from season 3, the respect for Arthur, went into decline. Merlin ridiculed him, Tristan also made fun of him and last but not least, they castrated him without `even using a knife by showing him the woman he love wrap around another man, the night before his wedding. That was awful for the character, this betrayal/enchantment should have been presented in another manner not the night before his wedding. The writers really screwed up in that, they have no imagination, and that enchantment should have been revealed and put behind them by the end of that episode, that was another huge error on their part.

EPaws Laila, I agree with all. Incredibly lazy writing and I sincerely hope they do better for Arthur and Merlin respectively and soon.