5x10 The Kindness of Strangers

The episode was definitely dense and emotional, with a lot of intrigue and double-crossing as well as rushing against time as to who would be the first to reach the mysterious woman Finna. Luckily, it is Merlin who gets to her first and he manages to get the secret box from her. Both Alator's and Finna's loyalty to Merlin is amazing, as they hardly know him as a person, only know him as the great sorcerer from the prophecy and yet they are willing to lay their lives for him.

Though the behaviour of Gaius when he goes to inform on the woman Merlin met in the forest seems a bit out of character. He did it to protect Merlin, but knowing him for so long, Gaius should have been aware that Merlin is going to meet her no matter what he told him, so by telling Arthur about the sorceress he endangers Merlin as it is clear that Merlin would be in dire straits had he been caught conversing with her.

It is again emphasises how much Arthur trusts Mordred as he chooses him to lead the secret mission to capture the sorceress. Mordred started to be suspcious of Merlin and began to mirror the enmity Merlin has felt for him so long, and yet he helps Merlin escape and promises to cover for him if the knights ask about him. However, from how Mordred behaves, it seems like he understood that Merlin would never be his friend, and started to share the negative emotions Merlin has for him. Mordred is now more like "I know your secret and I can use it when I choose, now I choose to help you but it may not last so be careful."

Merlin turns out to be incredibly strong as he can take quite a long trek after being seriously wounded. He looks really unbreakable. I wonder why the sorceress Finna did not heal him of the wound, as it is possible to heal such things with magic? It would be easier for Merlin to escape.

It is really sad that the dragon is dying, maybe he used the remains of his power to heal Merlin? The dragon really looked bad in the episode. I hoped he could have helped Merlin in the battle of Camlann but it seems that the poor creature won't live that long. It is a great loss because he is the last dragon apart from Morgana's dragon and hence there will be no more dragons in the world as they would not be able to breed.

The prophecy Merlin got in the box from Finna does not tell him how to save Arthur, on the contrary, I got the impression that it stated that Arthur's death is something inevitable and Merlin really cannot do anything that watch the events unfold. Gaius tells Merlin to trust in his powers but from what is written on the page from the box, it really seems Merlin can do nothing to stop the prophecy from being fulfilled. It seems Merlin realises that and this is what makes the whole ending of the story so tragic. Nothing Merlin can do will avert the inevitable. And in the last scene it is clear that "the board is set, the pieces are moving," to quote from LotR.