Reaction Post: The Tears of Uther Pendragon

[themadpoker]

It's been awhile since I've done one of these. :)


- Oh man, I can’t even describe my feelings when I saw Morgana stumble out of the woods. I mean I knew it would happen? I saw it in the trailer? BUT OH MY GOD MY GIRL I MISSED YOU.

- ONLY TO BE ECLIPSED BY MY FEELINGS UPON ESPYING GWEN’S FACE OH MY GOD OH MY GOD OH MY GOD. –CLUTCHES AT SCREEN-

- HER HAIR. HER CONCERNED FACE. AGAIN HER HAIR. NINE MONTHS WAS FAR TOO LONG A WAIT. ♥♥♥

- Oh no! I mean Morgana’s plotting obviously but do you know how much I wanted a proper no holds barred confrontation between her and Merlin? HE TRIED TO POISON HER.

- Haha, gratuitous shirtless Arthur came early this year. xD Sorry bb. I watched Oh My Lady, compared to Sung Min Woo this is nothing. You’re going to have spend a significantly larger amount of time sans top to match the sheer hilarity and gratuity of Oh My Lady’s fanservice. Also umm work out a little more, I’m sorry! –hides-

- :/ Morgana’s wearing white again. I do not like this, I saw what the White Dress of Passivity did to her last season.

- Oh Merlin, you are so SUBTLE with your looks of evil. xD Ehh, I don’t mind, it wouldn’t be our show if they didn’t make their points with all the subtlety of a hammer.

- So uhh, still super practical with your choices of clothing Morgana? xD I’m kind of amazed her horse didn’t trip over that cloak, he must be really well trained.

- Okay I’m having fun, really I am, but where’s Gwen? D= It’s been nine months show. NINE MONTHS. I need to see a little more than a two second reaction shot while Morgana rests.

- Oh there you are! Now for some lines. Or if that’s too much to ask, at least more than a one second glimpse as the camera sweeps behind Morgana and Uther’s hug.

- ...0_o!!! So uhh I’m guessing there isn’t going to be a redemption plot for Morgana huh? You don’t get forgiven for killing non-magical people on this show.

- =( I could have done with a more substantive scene between Gwen and Morgana there. I fear all my apprehensions on whether the show would actually bother to show us their relationship’s deterioration were well founded.

- “You’re a woman of great courage Morgause but I do not think with my sword”. I...what...mind overloading with all jokes I could be making. –explodes-

- I. What. Seriously? If they start to lose faith in him? The man committed genocide! I don’t think there are all that many with faith in him to start with! Afraid sure but faith?

- She didn’t even look under the bed when retrieving the mandrake? Didn’t hear a thing when Merlin hid? I think I forgot how much this show relies on the Law of Convenient Coincidences.

- So Morgause did tell her they’re sisters! I wonder how Morgana took that bit of news? You’re ficcing that now, right fandom?

- I take it back, she did notice! \o/ That was a pleasant change, it's about time someone caught lurker Merlin.

- Oh my gosh, is Morgause going to find out Merlin's magic? That could be a really interesting plot turn for the show! -crosses fingers- Come one, come on, yes there's something he's not telling you, think it over I know you can do it!

Okay so now I'm done. Let's try for some post-ep feelings now.

+ So primarily this episode leaves me wanting some fic. Briefly: i. the fic that details Morgana and Gwen's relationship breakdown starting with season 2 and giving us some missing scenes from 3.01, ii. the fic covering Morgana and Morgause's Year of Evil, particularly Morgana's feelings on finding out she has a surprise!sister, iii. fill in the gaps fic on Uther's quest to find Morgana. There were a lot of dead bodies there at the beginning, who's been killing them? Does Morgause have that many men? Are people using Uther's quest as a prime opportunity for some Camelot revenge? Someone explain it because I'm sure the show won't, and iv. Gwen during the year gap. What's she been doing? Was my post 2.13 theory about her working under Gaius correct? It seems like it could be possible, she answered to him when they brought Morgana in. And if so, how does she feel about going back to being Morgana's maidservant again?

+ I...do not know how I feel about evil!Morgana? I was hoping for some shades of gray there but this was the premiere. 2.01 didn't show the characters at their best either, I can only hope they write her with a little more complexity as the season passes. Even just a hint that she's feeling anything more than 'must destroy Uther and take over Camelot, don't care who I gotta cut on the way' would be good. And maybe tone down the evil smirking a bit. Really Morgana, your secret will be out by next episode if you keep this up.

+ I loved the ghosts. Seriously, I want so much exploration of Uther's psyche via visions in the next episode. Ygraine in the well? The dripping child? Fantastically creepy and potential for so much character exploration. The way he reacted to the child tells us so much right there. Guilt? Shame? Nope. What are you doing here, I will kill you again if I have to. I guess I can almost understand why they're playing things up so black and white with evil!Morgana because otherwise how can you convince the viewers she's wrong? Uther should die, the man utterly loses his head when it comes to magic. I want Arthur to step up sooner rather than later.

+ Holy anachronisms Batman! I forgot how strange the dialogue on Merlin comes across at times. Sometimes it fits into Ye Olde Magical Kingdom setting but then suddenly it's like Camelot High. Idk, it just brought me out of the episode a couple of times. Someone should check the scripts for tone consistency.

+ It seems Merlin and lack of appreciation is going to be a thing this year? They mentioned it quite a few times. I don't know where they can take that though, they already had him almost leave last year. Or well, I do know where they can take it, they could have Arthur finally finding out but something tells me we won't get that until season five if ever. :l

+ Other developments it looks like they're pushing: Uther as Morgana's father? That's how I read the scene with Gaius anyways. I'm curious as to where that leaves Morgause though. Is she her half sister through Uther or through her mother? It looks like we can add cheating on to Uther's list of sins. Seriously, I don't understand why we're meant to root for this guy to live.

Okay, I'm done now! Going to check the flist for your reaction posts, I just wanted to get out my ~pure~ uninfluenced feelings first.

Comments

[thornyrose42.livejournal.com]

Pretty much "Yes" to all of this.

Glad I'm not the only one who is wondering where all the red cloaks are coming from. Do they spawn fully formed in the armoury or something? Doesn't Uther object? :-)

As for Uther... again, as you said, why are we sympathetic to this guy again? The show really needs to get its morality sorted out. I assume that they are trying to go for shades of grey. But it does seems that Uthur has gone from a regular antagonist to the woobie. While the magic users continue to be presented as the Bad Guys. Which, considering the shows' set up, really doesn't make a whoe lot of sense.

[themadpoker.livejournal.com]

At this point, I'm just assuming he's hiring out. He has to be, by all logic he should have depleted Camelot's reserve of knights midway through season 2 at the latest. Maybe that's why he was so excited about the treasure in 2.01; Camelot's treasury is probably running low.

Merlin has such utterly inconsistent moral standards it makes my head spin. Magic users are evil! Because they want to kill Uther Pendragon! Who canonically committed genocide! Killing people is wrong except for when Merlin does it, then it's not, it's just necessary. Besides magic users aren't human! (Still not over that interview post season one where Johnny Capps said things were cool because Merlin hadn't killed anyone human yet. Wtf? Sophia wasn't human? Neither was Edwin? Nimueh? ARGH, just stop talking please)

And like you said it keeps trying to play the gray morally ambiguous card with Uther but it just jars because they don't do the same with everyone else. If I'm supposed to sympathize with Uther I Drown Children Pendragon than I sure don't see why I'm meant to take Morgana as the "hatred to [Merlin's] love". =_=

See show? This is why you need to give Gwen more scenes, without her around I have nothing to distract me from your issues!

I'm so glad it's back . . . I feel rested.

[mustbethursday3.livejournal.com]

- ONLY TO BE ECLIPESED BY MY FEELINGS UPON ESPYING GWEN’S FACE OH MY GOD OH MY GOD OH MY GOD. –CLUTCHES AT SCREEN-

THIS SO MUCH.

The less they give us the more i want.

- Oh no! I mean Morgana’s plotting obviously but do you know how much I wanted a proper no holds barred confrontation between her and Merlin? HE TRIED TO POISON HER.

LOL, the entire apology/confrontation had me laughing . . . she's very focused. I'd have dropped hints that I KNEW and freaked him out for a while first XD

I. What. Seriously? If they start to lose faith in him? The man committed genocide! I don’t think there are all that many with faith in him to start with! Afraid sure but faith?

*laughs* Okay. Uther's not the kinda guy you want living next door or being your employer . . . or your King. That would suck. But no matter what they think of Uther personally I think the peoples generally respect his power, think of him as strong and solid . . . so all this craziness is unfortunate.

And the way I reason it is that Magic took something that he loved (okay, his fault) and he's desperate to protect himself and all he has left (arthur and morgana) from it at any cost . . . I think losing either of his kids would destroy him. He loves them and he tries to be a good father.

But as a ruler, no . . .he needs a little A LOT OF work.


He's the guy who's locking down the facility for a contagion that doesn't exist/can't be stopped.

Re: I'm so glad it's back . . . I feel rested.

[themadpoker.livejournal.com]

*laughs* Okay. Uther's not the kinda guy you want living next door or being your employer . . . or your King. That would suck. But no matter what they think of Uther personally I think the peoples generally respect his power, think of him as strong and solid . . . so all this craziness is unfortunate.

Then again, there was that time he married a troll. xD /cheap shot

I suppose with Uther it depends on perspective. I wish the show would give us an idea of how much of a minority the magical population is. Like are we talking 1 in 10? Are most pople likely to have a magical relative or friend or acqaintance? Or are they very rare? With the first I could see alot of underlying resentment in the kingdom. Like people accept him at of fear but there's going to be one hell of a party on Arthur's coronation day. With the second there's probably alot more people buying into his propaganda. And I'm certain that either way there's a huge sense of paranoia, how much do you want to bet tons of people have been falsely accused and killed? (Hi there Tom! Miss you T_T)

And the way I reason it is that Magic took something that he loved (okay, his fault) and he's desperate to protect himself and all he has left (arthur and morgana) from it at any cost . . . I think losing either of his kids would destroy him. He loves them and he tries to be a good father.

I think so too! It just...doesn't change my opinion on him? Like I don't really care about his motivations, he's a mass murderer. =( Merlin is just weird sometimes. I've never seen a show that argued so much in favor of an oppressive status quo.

LOL, the entire apology/confrontation had me laughing . . . she's very focused. I'd have dropped hints that I KNEW and freaked him out for a while first XD

Oh Morgana. xD Maybe she was worried about her acting skills not being strong enough to pull it off. I mean she can't even resist the urge to smirk evilly every time no one's watching, she'd probably end up going too far if she started messing with Merlin.

[tamed-fox.livejournal.com]

Yessss to all of this, especially to Uther being Morgana's father. If/when this happens, we can totally say "I CALLED THAT SHIT".

I'm glad I'm not the only one who saw tons of innuendo with the Morgause/Cendred talk. I wad pretty much giggling like the 12 year old boy I not so secretly am the entire time.

Also, can I just say: DRAGOOOOOOOOOOOOOON.

[thornyrose42.livejournal.com]

Kind of puts the whole: "No higher honour than to be a Knight of Camelot" in to perspective. Sure a couple of seasons ago Lancelot couldn't get in and now they'll hire nay old thug off the street. "Can you wear a cloak and die easily? Excellent, here is your sword and crappy death benefits. Have fun serving with Knights of Camelot TM."

He actually said that? Jeeze Louise that is just all kinds of wrong. It is quite sad that at this point I have absolutely no faith in the writers ability not to fail. On the plus side I'm always pleasantly surprised when they don't but at the same time... There is a reason why I never read any of the interviews.

[themadpoker.livejournal.com]

Maybe they're noble thugs. With forged family coat of arms. ;)

Ugh yeah he did. I remember now, it was in the context of a question on why Merlin made such a big deal about whether to kill Uther in 1.12. I normally do avoid writer interviews but somehow I managed to catch that one. >_>

[themadpoker.livejournal.com]

I'm glad I'm not the only one who saw tons of innuendo with the Morgause/Cendred talk. I wad pretty much giggling like the 12 year old boy I not so secretly am the entire time.

Haha, man, how could you not? If anyone says their mind didn't go there I'll think they're LYING.

[thornyrose42.livejournal.com]

Or maybe there aren't actually any knights left (apart from Sir Leon and Arthur) and all of the red cloaks we see are the castle guards.

Merlin: making very little sense since it began. :-)

And actually Merlin himself is an odd duck. Because he very definitely hasn't allied himself with the other magic users, in fact he rarely shows sympathy with their motives, but with Camelot and Arthur. If I was being kinds I'd say that a lot of the WTFness of the show's morality stems from that. But again, its a case of the writers not bothering to stop and think once in while about the message that they are putting across.

[heather.livejournal.com]

+ Good catch re: Gwen possibly working with Gaius. I had attributed that to him simply being in Morgana's chambers, but that's more interesting.

+ SO with you on wanting fic. Lots of it.

+ Really conflicted on Evil!Morgana. She's fun to watch but really flat right now. There's time for that to change, though, hopefully in a different writer's hands. I'm similarly conflicted on this whole Team Evil thing. I kind of don't want either side to win. I'm Team Make Gwen Queen Immediately As She's The Only Person Not Severely Morally Compromised At The Moment. Arthur can help.

+ Merlin! I hope they don't make his lack of appreciation into a thing this season, unless it's to do with his hiding magic and leads toward someone finding out. Because it was such an overriding theme last season, as you say.

[themadpoker.livejournal.com]

+ I'm hoping we get at least a few more hints there! I think Gwen might actually make a pretty good apprentice for Gaius and it'd let the show keep its constant flower scenes but make them something practical (medical supplies! =D). Also then we might get some more Merlin/Gwen scenes.

But I'm worried the idea that we might care about what Gwen's been up to during the hiatus won't occur to the writers and she'll just go back to being Morgana's maidservant and nothing more. :(

+ I can really understand the Team Evil thing if only because I am firmly Team Why Is Uther Still the Ruler of Camelot Ugh and if they actually succeeded in a takeover it would be interesting to watch. I doubt they'd necessarily be all that much better for Camelot though. I don't get the sense either Morgana or Morgause are much concerned about the people. :/ So yes Team Make Gwen Queen Immediately!

+ Probably Arthur won't but maybe Morgause? She did put him in those magic resistant ropes, it seems likely she's got some sort of clue. That or she thinks he's working with someone who does have magic. Actually that seems more likely, the way she dismissed him for being a servant and the fact she didn't actually make sure he died makes me think she believes someone's pulling his strings. I guess we'll find out more in Part 2.