MERLIN: "The Last Dragonlord" (2x13)

[rj_anderson]

Oh, show. You give me John Lynch being... John Lynch, and Colin Morgan turning in one of his most brilliant and heartbreaking performances (the fact that he can hold his own with John Lynch, and that Bradley also does it to a less obvious extent with ASH in this episode, is really impressive) and more Arthur/Gwen goodness and CGI that isn't dodgy at all, and then you tell me I have to wait another year for S3. WHY. WHY MUST I WAIT.

The Knights of Camelot are like the redshirts in TOS, only worse because instead of them getting offed by ones and twos, they get toasted by fives and sixes, or in this case, twelves. HARSH.

Yay for the Morgana mention! (I miss Katie McGrath already. I know she wasn't the greatest actor in the cast, but she wasn't that bad and she was always so lovely to look at. I hope they find more uses for her next season.) And for Gaius and Gwen having that lovely conversation. I <3 Gaius. There are so many brilliant actors on this show, all around.

I was pretty sure the dragon wasn't going to die. I'm kind of glad he didn't, actually, because I can see Useful Plot Things he could do later on -- but I'm also glad that they've now broken out of the formula of "Hey, Merlin, got a problem you can't solve? Go down and visit the dragon!" It'll be interesting to see how Merlin solves things next season without benefit of the Draconic Oracle.

Also, that last pre-battle conversation between Arthur and Merlin? Heartbreaking. I really thought for a moment Arthur was going to tell him to look out for Gwen for him if anything happened (which would have been a little misguided, but sweet), and then he spouted that heroic nonsense about no man being worth tears. Idiot. And yet... that's Arthur. And Merlin's joke about the armor was so Merlin. I love their friendship. Loved the scene in the inn where Arthur was clumsily trying to get Merlin to open up, too. He's such a giant meathead sometimes.

...Do I really not have a MERLIN tag? Is this actually the first time I've posted about this show I've been watching (first skeptically, then indulgently, and finally with delight and deep affection) for the last two years? Wow. Okay then.

And why do I have no icons of Colin Morgan?

Comments

[di-br.livejournal.com]

THIS EPISODE WAS SO FULL OF EPIC GOODNESS!!!!!!
Oh, I love the dragon! And I love that he didn't die and that Merlin is now his Lord.
Arthur/Merlin are the best thing about the show and they continue to have one of the best friendships in TV. I love watching them together and I don't think that will ever change.

Arthur/Gwen own my heart and I'm just so happy that they shared such sweet scenes this episode. I wasn't expecting them to. ♥

I miss Katie too. Hopefully, she'll appear more next season, I love Morgana's character.

GAIS IS LOVELY AND I LOVE HIM SO MUCH!!!!! :) And he knows about Arthur/Gwen now, too, which is just so sweet!

"and then you tell me I have to wait another year for S3. WHY. WHY MUST I WAIT"
I. KNOW!!!!!!
*is already counting the days til s3, even though I've no idea when it's supposed to air, but whatever, that's not the point*

[rj-anderson.livejournal.com]

I know! I wasn't expecting there to be a whole lot of Arthur/Gwen either, so that was lovely. I feared for a while that she'd put her feelings for Arthur aside or that they weren't as real as her feelings for Lancelot, but obviously she hasn't and they are.

[commentcat.livejournal.com]

Is this the Merlin with Anthony Stewart Head that CTV played this summer? The Merlin that was so slow and boring we gave up after 2 episodes because we didn't like any of the characters? (We only watched because we were seriously missing Giles...) If it is, I didn't even know there was a second season!! Does it get any better?

[http://users.livejournal.com/shing_/]

*butts in* Yes, it is. 2nd season just ended its airing in the UK. No idea whether or not it will be broadcast here again as I believe the ratings were not terribly good.

[rj-anderson.livejournal.com]

When I started watching the show in S1, I thought it was silly and even kind of embarrassing at times, and nobody but ASH stood out as a particularly great actor to me. But I wanted to see if it got better (as most shows do, given a few episodes to hit their stride) and I didn't have anything much else to watch at the time, so I kept watching.

I can't remember exactly what episode finally hooked me and convinced me that these characters and this story was worth watching -- it might have been as late as "To Kill a King", which is a Uther and Morgana episode that showcases ASH at his best. But by the end of the season I was really looking forward to S2, and this season completely sold me.

All of which is a very long way of saying, yes, it's the same Merlin you watched, and yes, it does get better. :)

[http://users.livejournal.com/shing_/]

Colin Morgan rocked this episode!! So many times I wanted to reach through the computer screen to smush him.

they've now broken out of the formula of "Hey, Merlin, got a problem you can't solve? Go down and visit the dragon!"

So true. Now they just need to break out of the "Merlin needs to do magic, knock Arthur unconscious!" formula.

It's criminal how little Morgana was used this season.

[rj-anderson.livejournal.com]

WHY CAN'T MERLIN HAVE NICE THINGS?! *weeps*

And yes, Arthur conveniently being out of the way or unconscious or injured whenever Merlin does magic is getting absurd. I hope that in S3 they'll finally let Arthur discover Merlin's secret so we don't have to do that any more.