*Pokes thread* Anybody here?
Sorry for the double post, but let's get this started again! Hmm... does anyone have any favorite and least favorite episodes? What about favorite seasons?

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In no particular order (most of them are first and last episodes of different seasons), my favorite episodes are The Poisoned Chalice, The Lady of the Lake, Sweet Dreams, The Last Dragonlord, Goblin's Gold, The Eye of the Phoenix, A Servant of Two Masters, The Darkest Hour (part 1 and 2), The Sword in the Stone (part 1 and 2), Arthur's Bane (part 1 and 2), With All My Heart, and The Diamond of the Day (part 1 and 2).
As you can see, I have a LOT of favorites... most of them involve wonderful Merlin/Arthur moments, and I get a kick out of the comic relief episodes. Gotta love british humor! The farting, and Arthur's donkey ears...

Least favorite... I don't know, there's not many that I really hate. The ones I can't stand are Lamia (that episode has absolutely nothing to do with the overall plot, it's poorly written, and the knights were being so mean to poor Merlin! ), Beauty and the Beast (the humor didn't outweigh the pure weirdness of it all), and The Dark Tower (mainly because I have a problem with evil Gwen).

Favorite season? I couldn't really say; they're all great! The one thing I did notice is that, especially early on, there didn't seem to be a coherent story line and the seasons would just be a bunch of episodes piled together like "now we're fighting this magical monster!" "Now Merlin has to do this random thing!" etc. If I had to choose, I'd probably go with Season 4, because we've gotten to know the characters, it's chock full of Merlin/Arthur moments, and Merlin's not so obsessed with preventing Arthur's fate yet. Season 3 is pretty good too. Heck, they're all great, what am I saying?

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It is the small, everyday deeds of ordinary folk that keep the darkness at bay, small acts of kindness and love.married Mr. Darcy 6/14/2012

My favorite seasons are 3 and 4 because, like Ari said, we get more character development of the knights and such--plus GWAINE ARRIVES! XD And I liked the first half of season 5 before it got too sad...

I have too many favorite episodes to list! In order...The Poisoned Chalice, The Beginning of the End, The Moment of Truth (love how they all band together to help Merlin's mama!), The Once and Future Queen, Lancelot and Guinevere, The Sins of the Father, The Last Dragonlord, Gwaine, The Castle of Fyrien, The Coming of Arthur Part 1 and 2, Aithusa, Servant of Two Masters, Sword and the Stone part 1 and 2, and Arthur's Bane part 1 and 2...yeah, it's most of the series! XD

Honestly the only episodes I don't like (or at least don't enjoy as much) are Beauty and the Beast, The Witchfinder (that one made me so angry!), Darkest Hour part 1 and 2 (but only because we lost Lancelot), and The Disir...and I didn't enjoy the evil Gwen arc. XD

EDIT: Forgot to say that I hate Queen of Hearts because of what Morgana tried to do to Gwen, even if I love it for the first appearance of Dragoon the Great. XD

Honestly though, Lancelot and Guinevere and The Castle of Fyrien might be my two favorites simply because they're the first episodes I go to when I'm in need of a Merlin fix! I just ordered season 4 on DVD (it gets released next week in the US finally) so I'll have them all soon on DVD except for s5

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Mmm, yeah, I'm a big fan of Lancelot and Guinevere too. It's such a good episode! The right amount of humor and action and characterization. My all-time favorite though is Eye of the Pheonix. I'm not exactly sure why, I think it has to do with Gwaine returning, Merlin getting more recognition from the magical community, and Gwen being smart about Morgana.

I also really like The Coming of Arthur, the beginning and end of season 1, and the Sorcerer's Shadow. Season 3 was my favorite - I was really liking the way they were building up the main plotline. I only wish it had ended with the crowning of Arthur so we could've gotten on to the golden age of Camelot already without spending another season on the same stuff.

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Any Americans legally this time re-watching the season as it airs on Syfy? They showed Arthur's Bane part 2 tonight...back when we had no idea what it was we were in for.

Also lots of pretty Mordred

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Yes, I definitely agree. Old Merlin is brilliant -- he's such a sassy old man. I love it when he's caught and basically trash-talks the whole court. Especially when he tells Arthur "I have heard how you..... mistreat your servants!" and Arthur's like huh?

But on the same subject, why does no one in the show bother to look at "Dragoon's" boots? Literally NO ONE else in the show has boots like Merlin's, and yet it still takes them forever to figure out who Emrys is.

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It is the small, everyday deeds of ordinary folk that keep the darkness at bay, small acts of kindness and love.married Mr. Darcy 6/14/2012

I literally never thought of the boots thing before, Ari! Now I'm gonna have to go back and re-watch to see if anyone's looking at Merlin's feet oddly.

My Season 4 DVDs should have arrived by now but I haven't gotten them yet...I am displeased. Anyone besides me tuning into The Death Song of Uther Pendragon tonight on Syfy?

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^ Is that the one when Uther's ghost is haunting Camelot? It actually wasn't one of my favorites from season 5... I didn't really like all the suspense stuff they tried to do with that one.

BUT I did watch A Servant of Two Masters this morning while I was eating breakfast, which is in fact one of my absolute favorite episodes, even though Merlin was enchanted for most of the episode. (The fact that it's the one with the REAL, ACTUAL HUG we'd been waiting 3 whole seasons for might have a little something to do with that... I'm a sucker for Merthur moments.)

Speaking of Merthur, what do you all think of that shipping? I personally think that it's a really strong, wonderful bromance, but I've heard a lot of different opinions, and the writers definitely play around with Arthur and Merlin's relationship in the show. And I love that even Bradley James says that Arthur's bromance with Merlin is stronger than his romance with Gwen. Here's the interview for proof: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_hvItmFQD54

Also for a weekend treat, take a look at Colin Morgan's bloopers from all five seasons of Merlin:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pLIfgQHx4OA
This has been one of my go-to youtube videos this week, just because it's all so wonderful. I especially love the "you think too much, man" moment with Bradley, the camera/snowbank, cartwheeling into the tavern, and Colin's come hither "hello" at the very end. Brilliant! With that hello, he doesn't even need a pick-up line...

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It is the small, everyday deeds of ordinary folk that keep the darkness at bay, small acts of kindness and love.married Mr. Darcy 6/14/2012

Yep, that's the one. It wasn't my favorite either, but I'm gonna watch it anyway XD



First of all, those bloopers made my life! I love how witty and funny and just silly the cast is.

Secondly...I'm actually not a Merthur shipper. Actually, that's not really fair. I ship the BROmance, I ship them as best friends and brothers and confidantes, , as people who would do anything for each other because their friendship is so strong, but I don't ship them romantically for a handful of reasons including the fact that I don't really see it going that far, and it's clear that Arthur's love for Guinevere is clear for all to see (even if we didn't get a single kiss in season 5! What's up with that?) Plus, there's always my guilty-pleasure ship of Merlin and Morgana, which I shipped hardcore in series 1 and 2. The kindred spirit-ness of it all, the stolen glances and looks and "I'll never forget this"... Even Colin Morgan has admitted in interviews that he believes Merlin had feelings for Morgana at one point, and it's such a tragic "what if" relationship. I like to think if he had been able to share his secret with her things would have turned out so differently...

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YES. Everything about this is me exactly. I love the strong friendship between Arthur and Merlin, but I dislike Merthur. And Merlin/Morgana is forever my favorite ship in the show even if it's doomed and never canon.


I liked Death Song of Uther! Well, sort of. I liked Merlin's revelation to Uther. I'm pretty sure I squeed about it earlier on here when the episode first came out. But I love that he just got the chance to be all, "IN YOUR FACE" to Uther.

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COLIN MORGAN WON BEST ACTOR AT THE NATIONAL TELEVISION AWARDS, BEATING OUT MATT SMITH AND BENEDICT CUMBERBATCH!! I am so proud of our pasty Irish boy!

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AAAAAAAHHHHH I saw that! I am so, so, so glad he was able to get the recognition he deserves. Going up against Benedict and Matt cannot be easy but I think it's wonderful that people have seen how fantastic an actor he is.

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And all Merlin fans around the world burst into applause... way to go, Colin! It's especially nice because Merlin can go out on a high note, even though they lost the best drama award to Downton Abbey. But hey, there were 4 fantastic nominees for best drama, and I would honestly have been happy with whichever show won in the end.

Also, a little late, but I'm definitely a Mergana shipper. Their relationship is so complex, especially towards the beginning, and it had so much romantic potential. (remember the sweet, awkward flowers scene?) I really think that they could have understood each other if they were just honest with one another. Morgana's line is always "you don't have magic, how could you hope to understand," but if Merlin just told her... maybe it would go something like this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ctOrx2dJ9U
Or at least it would in my imagination. And then that might have changed everything...

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It is the small, everyday deeds of ordinary folk that keep the darkness at bay, small acts of kindness and love.married Mr. Darcy 6/14/2012

Oh my gosh Ari that video is gorgeous! It made my shipper heart explode!

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I've recently been rediscovering my love for season 3!

I think the main reason that I like it so much is that the characters are in a really interesting place in their development... they're on their way to becoming the "famous" versions of themselves (if that makes any sense).

I also feel like this season does a really excellent job of setting up the personal conflicts that Merlin faces in serving Arthur as a sorcerer (e.g. whether he is betraying himself by hiding his magic). -->
This clip from The Sorcerer's Shadow is so beautiful... it's one of my favorite moments. I feel like it's the best description we get about what Merlin deals with.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ft56HhGAHkI
"It's... lonely. To be more powerful than any man you know and to have to live like a shadow. To be... special, and to have to pretend that you're a fool."
(Now why couldn't he have said that to Morgana?!? That would have been perfect, and I really think that she would have understood.)
(And I didn't have any idea that the actor who plays Gili played Dudley in Harry Potter!! Mind blown...)

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It is the small, everyday deeds of ordinary folk that keep the darkness at bay, small acts of kindness and love.married Mr. Darcy 6/14/2012

SEASON THREE IS THE BEST. OHMYGOODNESS. No really, I love it so much and not only because Gwaine is introduced. Pretty much the only thing I disliked about that season was that Morgana wasn't given much development, it was more "Oh, bad now! Smirk!" But the rest of it is so fantastic and there's so much getting prepared for the future, as you said. I think everything was going perfectly story-wise up through season three. Merlin is growing and pushing more, Arthur is preparing to run the kingdom and is fully realizing how unjust Uther can be, Gwen is perfect as usual and being awesome in figuring out Morgana is a problem....it's so great. I just wish they'd basically skipped how season 4 was and made it all about the golden age and now I'm getting away from myself but SEASON THREE YES.

Also, I love love LOVE that scene. It's one of my favorite scenes ever because Merlin meets someone who a) doesn't want to kill Uther/Arthur with his magic and b) understands, challenges, and accepts Merlin for who he is. It's so beautiful and you can see the relief in Merlin for showing himself.

I was just watching a bit at the end of Tears of Uther Pendragon today, when Morgana and Merlin are arguing about how she's trying to bring down Camelot. And she yells about how she has magic, he doesn't understand, he doesn't know what it's like, and UGH. If "WE COULD'VE HAD IT AAAAAAALLLLLLLLLLLL" has ever applied to anything, it applies to those two. There was SO MUCH POTENTIAL THERE. *weeps*

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Oh I agree, Gwaine is the best! His little flirtations with Gwen were wonderfully awkward. I also love "the trio," although they only really had that for one episode. "Strength, Courage, and Magic"... doesn't get better than that.

I don't really know how I feel about Morgana's development. I think that they did try to make her more complex in the second season, for example when they had her plot to have Uther assassinated but then changed her mind because she realized that he really cared for her. But once they got to the third season, I agree, it was like she was just evil right off the bat.
(Grrr, you just got Adele stuck in my head, Nurr. Oh no... )

Side note: I'm also a big fan of "funny Uther" scenes. For example:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YE4PIsAtsBA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hF-Y05ElXO0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pL4ejJ0ge-Q

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It is the small, everyday deeds of ordinary folk that keep the darkness at bay, small acts of kindness and love.married Mr. Darcy 6/14/2012