Merlin and the upkeep of a legend…

Who is that man in the pointy hat, the one dressed in royal purple and covered in golden stars and moons? Does he stand there with his long white hair and his long white beard – staff in hand – looking down on the greatest kingdom known to man? Is he Merlin?

There is no pointy hat and Merlin is just a mere boy and then there is Camelot – which IS Camelot but ISN’T Camelot…

I’m still getting there – I wish they would have taken these stories and just changed the names. You know…to protect the identity of all folklore known about the once and future king and the man that guided him through life, who was very much many, many years older than him… Otherwise, I LIKE this show.

BUT I am a fan of the whole knights and spells kinda fantasy storybook world.

The two episodes that aired this evening on NBC took us on a journey and introduced us to the very reason Uthur [Anthony Head] will not allow any sort of magic in his great land of Camelot and her name is Nimueh (or Kara) [Michelle Ryan]. See, it takes one woman to ruin it for the rest of us!

Nimueh (who I half starting to believe is Arthur’s mother) first attacks Camelot in The Mark of Nimueh by enchanting a monster that poisons the drinking water of Camelot. Guis and the king know that there is magic behind the poisoning but are not sure who is responsible for it, that is until Gwen’s father is magically cured… by Merlin. Then Gwen is accused of being the witch. So Merlin attempts to turn himself in but Arthur gets him out of a death sentence by convincing King Uthur that he (Merlin) is in love with Gwen.

Are they in love with each other? Maybe.

Lucky for Gwen, Merlin speaks with the dragon [John Hurt] who tells him that both Merlin and Arthur will have to work together to kill the evil beastie that is killing the fine people of his future kingdom.

Tagging along with them into the depths of Camelot water ways and sewage is Morgana [Katie McGrath], the princess that King Uthur is left in charge of. When the time comes and it’s Arthur against the beast (that is made up of water and earth so they will need fire and wind) Merlin has to use his magic to help defeat the beast.

Lucky for MERLIN no one is overly observant.

This episode leads directly into the next one, The Poisoned Chalice, where Nimueh is wicked pissed that Merlin thwarted her plans to destroy King Uthur and Camelot – so she decided to take it out on Merlin by poisoning him more specifically this time. Granted where is the fun in that? Especially when you can STILL take down the king and destroy a treaty he just made with a waring kingdom – and it nearly works… but Arthur defies his father, finds an antidote to save Merlin who was forced to drink from a poisoned chalice to save Arthur and in the process Guis discovers that the servant girl, Kara, was really Nimueh in disguise.

Camelot is in ruins and Merlin nearly died and now… NOW Lancelot is joining the team… 

Not really too worried about that though – Richard Gere killed Lancelot for me many moons ago. Yes, First Knight. 

Next week is a week off for everything because it is a holiday! So everyone go and enjoy your 4th of July! But in the mean time… yes, watch some TV!