The episode is full of absurdities and illogicality, the most profound of which is Arthur and Merlin's successful attack on Morgana's stronghold and the knights fighting the Saxons shirtless instead of stealing some armour as Arthur and Merlin did (a callback to Sam and Frodo dressing as orcs in Mordor). The whole plotline with the alien does not really fit a fantasy show as the creature must have come here from "Doctor Who" and waits for the Doctor to take him to his home planet. It is great that he saves our favourite characters but he is quite literally alien here. All the time I was wondering when the Tardis will appear to pick this stray alien.
The parts set in Camelot are much more interesting, as Gwen turns up to be quite a sophisticated player of the game of thrones, with her plot to catch Sefa's father. This part is very "Game of Thrones" in its mood thanks to Liam Cunningham, and it even features a scene with raven post service :) It may be due to the actor playing this role, but when Ruadan came to Camelot to free Sefa, I really wanted them to escape even though they are actually baddies in this show as they oppose Arthur. The scene when Ruadan dies in Sefa's arms was very moving...
Mordred is a very interesting character as we know from the Arthurian legends (and Merlin knows from the vision he saw last episode) that he will be the one to kill Arthur but so far he has been helping him, saving him from the Saxons' cruelty. In his scenes with Morgana, at first it seems that there may be a special relationship between them, maybe Mordred would be the person that Morgana finally loves, but as it turns out later, she is incapable of love as she is consumed with hatred for Arthur which drives her mad. In a surprising plot twist, Mordred saves Arthur's life by stabbing Morgana as she is about to kill the king. As I was watching this scene, I was sure he killed her for good, but apparently she must have been healed by the dragon later on. When Arthur knights Mordred, it is a bit sad that he had never thought of knighting Merlin. Merlin has not trained to be a knight, but neither has Mordred, so it looks unfair. And it is not the first time that Arthur has been unfair to Merlin. As for Mordred, it seems to me that as at this time he is not plotting to kill Arthur and will have his Face-Heel Turn later on. He has to become a trusted person for his betrayal to sting much more than it would had he been a suspicious person from the start. I suppose he will try to use his position at court to further the Druid agenda and win the rights for Druids and other magical peoples, and when he realises that Arthur does not really intend to change the law, he will turn against him. Wonder if I would be right.
Review by ladysherlockianBlockedParentSpoilers2020-09-13T16:16:48Z
The episode is full of absurdities and illogicality, the most profound of which is Arthur and Merlin's successful attack on Morgana's stronghold and the knights fighting the Saxons shirtless instead of stealing some armour as Arthur and Merlin did (a callback to Sam and Frodo dressing as orcs in Mordor). The whole plotline with the alien does not really fit a fantasy show as the creature must have come here from "Doctor Who" and waits for the Doctor to take him to his home planet. It is great that he saves our favourite characters but he is quite literally alien here. All the time I was wondering when the Tardis will appear to pick this stray alien.
The parts set in Camelot are much more interesting, as Gwen turns up to be quite a sophisticated player of the game of thrones, with her plot to catch Sefa's father. This part is very "Game of Thrones" in its mood thanks to Liam Cunningham, and it even features a scene with raven post service :) It may be due to the actor playing this role, but when Ruadan came to Camelot to free Sefa, I really wanted them to escape even though they are actually baddies in this show as they oppose Arthur. The scene when Ruadan dies in Sefa's arms was very moving...
Mordred is a very interesting character as we know from the Arthurian legends (and Merlin knows from the vision he saw last episode) that he will be the one to kill Arthur but so far he has been helping him, saving him from the Saxons' cruelty. In his scenes with Morgana, at first it seems that there may be a special relationship between them, maybe Mordred would be the person that Morgana finally loves, but as it turns out later, she is incapable of love as she is consumed with hatred for Arthur which drives her mad. In a surprising plot twist, Mordred saves Arthur's life by stabbing Morgana as she is about to kill the king. As I was watching this scene, I was sure he killed her for good, but apparently she must have been healed by the dragon later on. When Arthur knights Mordred, it is a bit sad that he had never thought of knighting Merlin. Merlin has not trained to be a knight, but neither has Mordred, so it looks unfair. And it is not the first time that Arthur has been unfair to Merlin. As for Mordred, it seems to me that as at this time he is not plotting to kill Arthur and will have his Face-Heel Turn later on. He has to become a trusted person for his betrayal to sting much more than it would had he been a suspicious person from the start. I suppose he will try to use his position at court to further the Druid agenda and win the rights for Druids and other magical peoples, and when he realises that Arthur does not really intend to change the law, he will turn against him. Wonder if I would be right.