Scribulations

decision to move things on Never did I think I would literally shudder to read those words when it came to Merlin. Yes, we want things to move on, BUT NOT IN THE OPPOSITE DIRECTION TO WHAT NEEDS TO HAPPEN! Such an euneasy feeling about it...

Not sure how I feel about Howard Overman. He wrote Queen of Hearts, but he wrote Labyrinth of Gedref. And Sins of the Father. This ep is going to be so hard to watch. Oh, God.

We hadn't done all the things we were meant to do! Oh, you just HAD to pout that in there, didn't you?

Downton Abbey: NO.

D'=

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archaeologist-d.livejournal.com

I was thinking 'moving things on' had nothing to do with Gwen and everything to do with Uther.

I'd wait and see what they mean by that.

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Noooo, sorry that wasn't meant to be about Gwen, but about Arthur being King! I think it means they ARE actually killing off Uther (weeps) and then the coronation pics etc are actually real because Arthur and Gwen can get married, but Merlin is still a servant :(

I just want Merlin to be recognised, although episode two was a very nice start.

It sounds like the show is changing in a big and permanent way and I just can't think what else that would mean.

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At this point, I think I care less about A/G being official than about Merlin having more crappy things happen to him. I just want him to be happy! Colin breaks my heart when he is sad.

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entangled-now.livejournal.com

No, I don't want this weekend's TV to frustrate me with unhappiness. You're moving things on in the wrong direction Merlin, stop it at once :(

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Yes, on the one hand those last two were brilliant episodes, on the other... Queen of Hearts.

Need I say more.

I'm sure this can't be as bad as we're all thinking, it can't. But I still worry, I thought we were DEFINITELY getting another reset, it's what they're good at after all. I don't want Merlin to be stuck as a servant, not if Arthur is King.

ooooh unless Uther is in a MAGICAL COMA or something and so Arthur has to take over on a more official basis? That doesn't seem likely though.

As for Downton, WHY MUST IT BREAK MY HEART? I just want Matthew and Mary to get married and be happy forever.

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They are! But they always have, some things get rushed from 0-60 in one episode, whereas other things stagnate FOREVER.

Downton is also concerning me greatly, why must my heart be broken? Why can't some of the characters be happy?? I can't think who else they mean with that war comment but Matthew, he's the only one fighting apart from William and I'm not THAT attached to William.

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OTOH he did write Lancelot & Guinevere. IDK he just gets all the main romance episodes while the other writers drop subtextual hints the size of Camelot in their scripts? ~~coughJulianandBencough~~

I'm just scared that Merlin is going to become Dragoon, try to save Uther's life, fail, but Arthur thinks it's Dragoon's fault he died. Uther ver2.0. And that'll make it harder for a reveal because Arthur will never trust Merlin again or just order for him to be killed on the spot.

A coma? Maybe... Merlin can't heal him but he can keep him alive until he figures out a way to make him better?

Also Gaius: why is he telling Merlin Uther will never thank him for healing him with magic - he ordered Merlin to in A Remedy to Cure All Ills and Uther ordered Gaius to use magic to heal Morgana- oh,wait. . . But still. Gaius!! *would like some consistency in his character as well as Gwaine's*

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archaeologist-d.livejournal.com

Oh, okay. I'm not sure they are killing Uther off, though, at least not yet. If they did, they'd have no reason at all for Merlin to keep the magic secret.

I didn't get a vib that Gwen was queen when I saw them filming in June. I suppose they could do a coronation scene at the end of the series, though.

I'm very curious to see how they are going to play the whole season actually. Besides, Colin is good at breaking peoples' hearts. He broke mine in Parked.

My guess is that they kill off Uther at the end of this series, Arthur becomes king and Merlin tells him about the magic and then all hell breaks loose. Cliff-hanger! Of course, my last guess was wildly wrong!

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I'm just scared that Merlin is going to become Dragoon, try to save Uther's life, fail, but Arthur thinks it's Dragoon's fault he died. Uther ver2.0. And that'll make it harder for a reveal because Arthur will never trust Merlin again or just order for him to be killed on the spot.

That is EXACTLY what I just said to mirimione in an email! That will be their clever reason for still keeping it secret. Unless it is connected more with Morgana, that would be better. I wish there were glimpses of Uther later so we would know. Saturday feels so far away and I have 4 more horrible days of work in which to speculate wildly.

I hadn't thought of that Gaius thing before... GOOD POINT. Also, since Uther can use magic to help Morgana, why didn't he suggest using it for Arthur in series one??

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That would be an AMAZING cliffhanger! And can you imagine how it would hook people back in for series 5?? Just as long as we didn't get another "a year has passed... Merlin is now living in the woods somewhere and Arthur is brooding..." because that would be annoying.

I guess I have discovered that I feel really strongly about Merlin still being a servant and not telling anyone about his gifts once Arthur is actually King. I always thought that if we couldn't have a reveal as part of the ongoing plots, then at least it must happen once Arthur is King and Merlin can take his rightful place and together they defeat evil. Not that I've thought about it a great deal.

I don't think I could watch Parked, the trailer alone made me cry and I couldn't get it out of my head for ages. It was too unbearably sad.

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Because Morgana had never ever done anything wrong in her life but Arthur took Ygraine from him? ...I am a HORRIBLE person.

Actually, no, Uther you are really the most hypocritical bastard I've ever had the displeasure of knowing. Wow, I hate him even more now.

Although there wasn't supposed to be a cure for the questing beast, was there? Gaius said there wasn't one, and I guess Uther didn't know that you could go and offer up your own life to try and save someone else.

How would they connect it to Morgana? Arthur knows she's... gone absolutely off the rails. Uther doesn't really seem to know what's going on at all anymore.

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I'm just scared that Merlin is going to become Dragoon, try to save Uther's life, fail, but Arthur thinks it's Dragoon's fault he died. Uther ver2.0. And that'll make it harder for a reveal because Arthur will never trust Merlin again or just order for him to be killed on the spot.

This is pretty much exactly how I think the episode will go. All that in interviews about how Merlin gets his best chance ever to change things and reveal his magic and something terrible happens. That is what it will be.

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DDDD:

I want to think we're all wrong ::crosses fingers and toes::

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a year has passed... If they do that... No, they CAN'T do that! EVERYTHING we've been waiting for for the past 4 years cannot just be skipped over. I don't think I'd be able to watch s5 if that happened. We want the fallout! We want to know how Arthur reacts, how Merlin reacts, how they deal with it. I guess flashbacks wouldn't be too bad, but...

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Uh... wow. Looks like speculation is over then! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.

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psst. Did you see the link wolfangeldeath just posted below? O_O

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There has to be something go wrong next episode to make it impossible for Merlin to tell Arthur about his magic yet. Because otherwise if Arthur becomes king (and I'm pretty sure Uther will die next episode) what's to stop him? I agree that it will be really painful to watch Arthur become king and Gwen become queen with Merlin stuck as a servant. He has to at least become an advisor, even if the magic takes a little longer to reveal. I think with a fifth series confirmed there might well be a magic reveal with cliffhanger in the finale.

I can't imagine that they will kill off Matthew in Downton. I would predict him going missing and presumed dead only to turn up at the last minute or too late once Mary has already married Sir Richard. Except that that sort of happened last week. But surely the whole Matthew/Mary plot is the main draw of the series, they wouldn't just kill the ship dead... would they? My money has been on William to die since the war broke out.

The Sybil/Branson stuff last week disappointed me - she should steer well clear since he started being dismissive about her work. I'm also disappointed with the lack of gay this series. Thomas is back but hasn't even tried to get it on with any of the soldiers and all my hopes for wartime lesbian romance have come to nothing...

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Oh god and with that glimpse we got of Dragoon using magic against Arthur? (Well, the trailer makes it look like that. It cuts from Dragoon using magic to Arthur being flung across a room in the castle. I really hope it's just been ~artfully edited)

#IWANTEDTHEOPPOSITEOFTHIS

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I share your disappointment with Sybil and Branson. They seemed so much more romantic last series! This series he seems a bit of an idiot, and yes, I didn't think much of his attitude to her work, or her friends and family. Clearly he is only for social and gender barriers coming down when it suits him :/

I do get worried about the Matthew/Mary thing, in several interviews the actors seem to suggest they will just move on! I can't tell if they're just being deliberately mysterious or not. They're my favourite couple on there. The other mention in RT says to "expect to sob as the horror of war hits home. Hard." Maybe it is just William. Sorry William, but better you than Matthew!

I have a bad feeling that whatever Merlin does in this episode will turn Arthur against magic, and that's why Merlin can't tell him. Maybe Morgana kills him but it looks like Dragoon did it?

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Maybe Matthew will get injured. In such a way that prevents him fathering any heirs for Downton with Mary of anyone else.

I don't put too much stock in interviews like that. I think a lot of the time the actors don't necessarily know where the story is going - who knows what will happen next series? Often they're interviewed before filming is even half way finished and only printed near the airdate. And sometimes they're instructed not to give too much away (unless they're Katie McGrath or Bradley James of course in which case they just say what they like...)

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Not sure how I feel about Howard Overman. He wrote Queen of Hearts, but he wrote Labyrinth of Gedref. And Sins of the Father. This ep is going to be so hard to watch. Oh, God.

Queen of Hearts wasn't half as bad as I thought it would be from the 'next time' trailer the week before, though. And maybe this episode won't be as bad as we fear either. And even if it is... well, there has to be some conflict, it's only episode 3. It's not going to be all Arthur ruling wisely and Merlin doing magic and them holding each others hands. ~~Yet~~.

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LJ is finally working again :)! Sorry for butting in here, but I'm follwing the lovely discussion here and you said you sent me an e-mail? Because I didn't get anything in my inbox, just as a heads-up :/.

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"a year has passed... Merlin is now living in the woods somewhere and Arthur is brooding..."

BWAHA! I know it's bad, but I just burst out laughing at that! It would be sooo typical of the show though! At the rate this is going Merlin really WILL look like Dragoon by the end of it all! Plus, if they do all these time skips, why do they bother with the plot at all? So much gets explained away, because of "all that happened in the year we didn't show". Well, thank you, but I don't watch a show to NOT see the important developments!

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archaeologist-d.livejournal.com

Well, I guess my cliffhanger guess is out the window. :(

Also, a spoiler I heard back in April would verify that. But I'll believe it when I see it.

Edited Date: 2011-10-11 07:48 pm (UTC)

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Sorry for butting in AGAIN but THIS Maybe Morgana kills him but it looks like Dragoon did it? would fit in so perfectly with Morgana wanting to get rid of 'Emrys'. Because maybe she figures if Arthur will accept him at her side, she will never get to be Queen of Camelot again! So better turn him against Dragoon/Emrys/Merlin.

Sorry William, but better you than Matthew!

I agree. Even though I really like William! Plus, it would give Daisy a pretty easy way out of her dilemma!

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:( <---- my face.

I am watching Doctor Who: The Christmas Invasion to cheer myself up, and I noticed for the first time that the space probe is called Guinevere 1!

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Well, thank you, but I don't watch a show to NOT see the important developments!

<3

It's like Harry Potter, you'd think as summer came to an end, Arthur and the gang would start getting pretty nervous - since all the big dramatic death and peril stuff happens between September and Christmas, and all the emotional character development happens January to August ;)

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I'm sure she's going to stuff up Merlin's attempts to save Uther somehow, and then Arthur will hate magic...

GOD THAT IS SO LAME PTB. WHY DO YOU DO THESE THINGS? I don't even like fanfics where that happens. Why do they have to make Arthur such an easily manipulated idiot? Anyone with half a brain cell (which Arthur has when it suits them) could see that magic can be good AND bad and that it's the person, not the power that counts. Was the unicorn evil? Was Dragoon last series? If they have Arthur carrying on the purges in some way, I will be so upset.

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If they have Arthur carrying on the purges in some way, I will be so upset.

I really don't know that they could get away with that. If Arthur starts killing innocent people where is the show's moral ground? Might as well have Morgana on the throne. It was bad enough when he held a child at swordpoint last series :(

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Haha! Oh dear, that is SO TRUE! :D But it must suit Arthur that it is like that - after all, we know that he doesn't like to show emotion. Maybe he's the one who was secretly advocating for the reset button in the past!

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Why do they have to make Arthur such an easily manipulated idiot?

Because they gave him one too many whacks on the head and they decided they'd go with consistency in that aspect? Surely nobody can live through that many hits to the head and not suffer SOME repercussions.

Seriously though, I absolutely agree. Arthur is such an ambivalent character - he's written to be the biggest idiot one time and the really smart and strong leader the next, depending on what the writers need him to be for this episode's plot. Character consistency = 0

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Just- I-! Stand there, 'cause I'm gonna hug you.

~~cheered me up an unreasonable amount~~ =)

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colacube.livejournal.com

Downton!!

I will cry if Matthew dies. And if William dies. Ok, if anyone except Thomas dies. I love this show too much. :)

Edited Date: 2011-10-11 09:21 pm (UTC)

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That is very true. I'll be interested to see how he deals with any magic users that appear in the show though, unless Merlin is going to start smuggling them out of Camelot (which would just be MORE SECRETS and distrust).

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Thomas can die, that's fine by me although he keeps getting these little moments of redemption that confuse me!

I really REALLY do not want Matthew to die! He has to marry Lady Mary!

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And it looks like we're getting some idiot Arthur this week with the whole 'apple in mouth' ridiculousness. The problem with having him be so stupid sometimes is that when he suddenly has these noble moments, I feel some of the impact is lost :( Also I am less likely to cheer him on in his brave moments if he's just been throwing things at Merlin and being a prat.

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Imagine if Arthur starts hunting Dragoon too! DDDD:

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It's not going to be all Arthur ruling wisely and Merlin doing magic and them holding each others hands.

BUT THAT'S COMING UP, RIGHT?

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Yes, what's definitely missing is a sort of continous character development - Arthur suffers so many resets, it's not even funny anymore :/ It makes it harder for me to cheer, because I just feel like 'Weeell, is he really being noble because he came to a realisation or is he PMSing again?'

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How would they ever come back from that? How? If Merlin were to ever reveal his magic and that he is Dragoon, I can't see Arthur ever getting over it - not in the show. It'd be too painful. Merlin's been his friend for so long and yes Arthur knows there's something, but that might be too much.

DDDDD=

Or maybe Arthur will remember all the times he's had a 'guardian angel' protecting him for the last five? six? years and be fine. ~~Fic fixes EVERYTHING!!~~

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colacube.livejournal.com

THEY MUST GET MARRIED. I really hope they'll be together by the end of the season but I sorta suspect they won't. :(

Thomas is just mean. Even when he's being nice, least O'Brien is mellowing. (I won't see the next ep until Monday which is just not on!)

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I have no clue how on earth they are going to do the magic reveal :/ It has become so massive! Then again, this show rarely bothers to deal with wider or complex consequences so maybe it won't be as terrible as we think... ::hopes::

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It's like you said in your email re. the Once and Future Queen episode, I can't believe in his nobility and sterling character when we've just seen him act like a spoiled brat to Merlin!

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