#yes honestly merlin is also evil they should have address that more

[theonceandfutureking6481]

BBC's Merlin Season 1 Episode 6: A Remedy to Cure All Ills Analysis

Spoilers for the show

This episode is interestingly about Gaius, it is his arc we see here, not Merlin's or Arthur's and so this is a very interesting episode to watch because it is a vision of the world of Uther, and a vision of Gaius' own flaws. It is a world Merlin and Arthur will one day change and redeem, but as of yet this is a story more about the past then the present.

Gaius

This is something I believe I will come back to later, I'm pretty sure there's another episode later on that also addresses this idea and that is Gaius' deeply flawed nature. We as an audience love Gaius, he's a good character and Merlin loves him like a father, so we can't really help but love him too. But Gaius is flawed in perhaps one of the most dangerous ways, he is not cruel or even a bad person in any real way, but he is a coward. He is the person who in the face of injustice stands by and does nothing. His flaw is in some ways the most understandable, at least for me, its hard to be brave and to oppose power is not easy. Gaius has been a coward and has been complicit in the pain and deaths of so many in his silence, although arguably there wasn't really anything he could of done to stop it. This is revealed most of all in an exchange he has with Kilgharrah (though the 'blind eye' is also mentioned with Edwin).

Gaius: I will not choose between them (Uther and Merlin)

Kilgharrah: Then turn a blind eye. That is, after all, your talent

This is one of the first times we've seen Kilgharrah openly express emotion aside from telling Merlin about his destiny, its perhaps the first hint that he is more personally invested than he lets on. And its in an interactions with Gaius, and you can hear the disdain in his voice. This dragon has been a mouthpiece for destiny, for everything that's going to happen, he's a mouthpiece for the future and in this you realise that he and Gaius have a past, that there is more darkness in the past then we've previously understood. In this you realise that Gaius has failed to be the person he should've been, he's been a coward, and he has betrayed an entire people in his silence.

Gaius elects to turn a blind eye again by leaving, in some ways he's choosing Merlin but in leaving he's making it so he's not really making that choice, he's leaving whatever will happen in other hands. And Gwen says one of the most powerful lines in the show when he tells her that he has no choice.

"In life we always have a choice sometimes its easier to think that you don't."

Cause we do, Gwen's right. It's dangerous and easy to think that you don't have any choice but one, and everyone in this show makes that mistake at some point. Uther probably thinks that he has no choice but to persecute magic users because they're are evil. Everyone seeking revenge on Uther thinks they have no choice but to do so, and in doing no choice but to let collateral damage happen. Because if you accept that there is a choice then you accept responsibility for your actions, you accept that you are responsible for any damage you cause. You may still make the choice, but you are accepting that it is a choice you choose and the results are one's you have chosen to be acceptable. But I also love Gwen's response when Gaius tells her that he is choosing to leave, its a non-choice and also in Gwen's view its the wrong choice, but she doesn't judge him at all for it. She just says "then I'll miss you." She doesn't expect him to be brave, and she continues to care about him even as he doesn't do the right thing.

There is another note here that will be of more relevance later on. Gaius is and has been a coward, but Merlin is his redemption. Merlin is the redemption for everything Gaius has done (or hasn't done) that has helped facilitate Uther's regime. Obviously in sheltering Merlin, Gaius is already rebelling in a more meaningful way then he has in years but later in the show he will make choices to support Merlin and his destiny that will redeem him, and like so much of the show it is for the love of Merlin that he makes them, emphasising the importance of love once again.

Edwin

In many ways this is an uncomfortable episode for someone who is both not a kid and has already watched the whole show. Out of every villain in the show, Edwin is in some ways set up as the least villainous. He takes no collateral damage, he risks Morgana's life yes but ultimately he gets Gaius fired and tries to kill Uther. He doesn't even try to kill Gaius until the end, his revenge is so proportional, so seemingly justified, he hates Gaius but he doesn't try to kill him. Ultimately the show (in this episode at least) doesn't really address that complexity, they have some last minute making Edwin more evil ( he tells Merlin that they could be all-powerful together, the trying to kill Gaius and Merlin (though that was an under danger from them situation), and his parents having practiced dark magic). This ultimately succeeds, and we can go away happy in the knowledge that good triumphed over evil. This works this early in the show, this early on and we are not really sure how to feel about magic, how to feel about the great purge, how to feel about Uther, so we can accept the shows presentations of Merlin protecting Uther with little questions.

Ultimately I'm not opposed to Merlin protecting Uther, but that's largely due to how the show questions it later, because the show does address it. It does address whether or not Uther should be protected when honestly most of those seeking revenge are at least justified in the killing Uther part of their revenge.

But this has not been addressed yet, so we're left with a villain who ultimately did not seem that evil being killed and then Uther being saved.

This is also paired with this episode being perhaps the first one to truly address the horror of the great purge. Edwin's backstory is chilling, the scars on his face are there because he tried to run into the fire to save his parents when they were being burnt at the stake by Uther. There's also this sense of a barely spoken history between all the older characters, Geoffrey and Gaius don't want to remember that time, Kilgharrah reminds Gaius of how he turns a blind eye, and even in Uther and Gaius right at the end.

Uther: Do you remember them, his parents?

Gaius: I remember them all, sire

This happens, even after everything that has happened in the episode, so the episode itself doesn't even entirely erase the confusion regarding Edwin, and we don't really know who was really right. It's also an interesting moment for Uther, a moment where we see his resolve about magic slightly shift, and there is a hint of unacknowledged guilt there.

The fact that immediately after this Uther apologises to Gaius really cements this, Uther rarely admits he's wrong and he only does so when his own sense of his rightness has been questioned. He doesn't admit he was wrong with magic (and he never will), but that feeling perhaps prompts him to be able to admit he was wrong to Gaius.

Why Gaius serves Uther

Now this is a question that's hard to answer, because ultimately Gaius does serve Uther loyally for much of the show, rarely opposing him and it goes somewhat beyond just not being able to do anything else because Uther's the king, and Gaius both can't do anything but also just isn't a very brave person (though that is certainly part of it). We do find out later that Gaius ultimately doesn't think Uther's a bad king, he believes that Uther on the whole is fair to most of his people (except magic users), he's not great but he's better than a lot would be. And you see the hint of that in:

Gaius: You have always done what you believed to be right

Gaius perhaps sees in Uther a king who isn't purely driven by selfishness, a king who does genuinely seek to act in the interests of the people, and I guess that's probably better than most kings.

I also think there's a warning in that, a warning about doing purely what you believe to be right. And by that I mean acting purely in accordance with your own feelings without reference to the possibility of being wrong. Doing what you feel to be right is not always the right choice, and its something Merlin does often consider, not only because consequences are often far beyond what one person can consider, but because you may be wrong. Every person is blinded by their own experiences, Uther's blinded by his anger and hate and he mistakes that for righteousness.

Also, ultimately I might note, Gaius is physician. Most of the time serving Uther does not ask too much of him, he saves lives, he helps people, he doesn't usually have to participate in the bad. However, that doesn't take away from the fact that he still does occasionally, and he is reasonably loyal.

I enjoyed this episode, but its never been one of my favourites and it's hard to go away from this one entirely satisfied that all right ends have been achieved. The show chooses not to fully address the moral complexity at the heart of it yet, and that's fine this is after all a children's show and we are still so early in it but that does mean that in setting up complexity and not going through with it there is a level of dissatisfaction, as we struggle really to know if right really won here.

#gaius the court physician #bbc merlin #merlin analysis #the adventures of merlin #uther pendragon #kilgharrah #merlin bbc #merlin #merlin emrys #analysis #a remedy to cure all ills #edwin Muirden #Basically I'm confused #Gaius #Arthur pendragon

[coinofstone]

I should probably address the fact that in my previous post I made mention of this episode as tho it were the season finale.

2x12 The Fires of Idirsholas

This shepherd comes thru with a story about seeing smoke at this cursed citadel and goes 'you must know the legend, sire' and Gaius ever so helpfully spells it out😂 but like fr fr Uther gives him supper and a bed for the night so you already know he believes him😂

I do enjoy that this 300b year old story is something Gaius has memorized and doesn't need to look through his books for.

Whyyy did Morgana become so cold to Gwen basically overnight. It's so stupid.

Ok ok Morgana hates Uther and wants to help overthrow him, cool. She's been through this before but *this time* she really means it! 🙄 also is it even possible for her to meet someone and not get manipulated by them?

Gaius starting to bend down to pick up the vial he's dropped, but righting himself before he's got down far enough and saying "I'll pick it up later" is probably the only occasion in the entire series when I've found him to be personally relatable. Tl;dr I'm old and broken

Honestly, Merlin causing the ceiling collapse and saving Arthur from the knights of medhir should've been his big magic reveal. But more importantly, Arthur being so goddamn protective of Merlin. Merlin get out of here, Merlin your clothes are torn let me see your arm. 😍 I also loved Bradley's facial expression when his sword got stuck in the zombie knight 😂

The 'Uther's too heavy to carry' gag was funny but honestly I don't really think this episode needed the levity at that juncture. I felt the same way about the 'or not' then they all turn around and see the Knights of Medhir assembled behind them. I know they are aiming for levity but it honestly felt cheap, and while the Uther gag worked it came very close to falling flat.

"I don't need to listen to you, Merlin, you always say the same thing. 'Help me!!'"

How could the dragon POSSIBLY KNOW that a) Morgana is the source of the spell and b) she's chosen to 'turn against her own'

YES I'M ARGUING THAT THE TALKING DRAGON NEEDS TO CITE SOURCES

Idk man, Morgana knows that Morgause is there with the knights, she knows that she saw Morgause in the woods yesterday and talked about overthrowing Uther then walking up in her bed with no idea how she got there, a few hours before everyone in Camelot started getting sick and falling asleep - everyone except her - AND she just watched as the knight who could've quite easily killed her spared her - and yet she hasn't fucking worked out what's happening? Really?

God help me. "Morgana did not choose to use her gift for good" as if she was ever given a choice, as if you made any effort to guide her, as if Morgause told her how she planned to use her, as if she knew what would happen?

Merlin setting the fuckin dragon loose knowing good and damned well EXACTLY what it's going to do and just being like, "welp, I gave my word so I don't have a choice!"

Jeremy Colin and Katie on commentary

Katie throws a hint about the 'understones' of that first scene with Morgause in the woods, and Colin and Jeremy both go dead silent so she laughs and says they're smirking, Colin says something about it not being suitable for DVD commentary and Katie laughs and goes 'nothing I say ever is' and I really respect her for that.

Katie's visceral reaction to seeing Arthur patch up Merlin's arm, "aww"

Katie half a second later: oh I'm gonna heyyy in trouble if I do stuff that like aren't I?

Jeremy: think of things that are *interesting*

Katie: I think there are those who'd find that very interesting

They make jokes about Tony being carried and the suggestion that they disguise him by dressing him as a woman and they brought up him in Rocky Horror

Katie is #1 Morgana defender and I love it. Hearing her argue Morgana's case and just straight up "and actually, it's your fault that I'm evil" is a beautiful thing.

Colin bruised his coccyx pretty badly doing this episode. Katie said she and Bradley got hurt doing this episode as well.

Katie absolutely railing at the "poor Merlin" reaction to Merlin KILLING Morgana. Love it.

#bbc merlin #bbc merlin spoilers #merlin #merlin spoilers #merthur #2x12 #bbc merlin 2x12 #merlin 2x12 #The Fires of Idirsholas #onceandfuturerewatch

[singuhome]

Final thoughts on the crossover

I think I’ve made most of my thoughts very clear, but this is a final little rant. One major issue I had with the crossover was the need to compare the leading couples in a way that reflects negatively on Olicity. I am quite angry that Iris and Felicity didn’t get bigger parts in the crossover, but I’ve talked about MG’s sexism and personal bias being the reason in other posts. Also, I’m so angry that Oliver decided to not tell Felicity about the body swap. It wasn’t logical, especially when she’s already justifiably mad. What dumb writer decided to have him do the exact thing that made her break up with him in the first place three years ago? I KNOW that Oliver knows better. Come on, do better.

Honestly, one of my favorite scenes was when Oliver and Barry fought Reverse Flash and Malcolm Merlin respectively and then talked about it. I think one failure of the show writers is that the two haven’t continued to talk to each other and dont always have a good understanding of everything the other’s experienced. They live so close on the same Earth and yet rarely mention the other. This crossover was a good opportunity for them to appreciate the other more. I hope Kara gets to know them better in another crossover at some point because I think she could come to a better understanding of who they are, and the reverse is true also. I’d like to see Kara have the leading role next year.

Also I love Lois Lane.

Anyway here’s some thoughts.

Why comparing West-Allen and Olicity is ineffective-A Mini Thesis by a procrastinating college student

The two couples have such fundamentally different relationships, both of which are healthy and loving, but they’ve been unfairly compared in the last two cross-overs in a way that make Olicity look cheap and ridiculous compared to West-Allen. This is the writers fault for not respecting the complexities of Oliver and Felicity’s relationship, but I want to clarify some things.

First of all, I would clarify the two as representing two different outlooks on love. West-Allen represents “meant to be.” Barry and Iris grew up together and Barry has always loved Iris. He states that “[he] loved her even before he knew what the word meant.” It took some time for him to tell her that he was the Flash and for her to realize she loved him too, but they were meant to be. They’re best friends who understand and believe in each other so fundamentally. I can’t even list the amount of times that they’ve inspired each other. I think Barry’s “you’re my lightening rod” sums it up. They just complement each other and recognize the good in each other. From the beginning, they see the hero in one another. They don’t really fight. The only fight I can remember is when Barry proposes because Iris isn’t wearing a ring in the vision of the future and he thinks it will save her from Savitar. She doesn’t want him proposing out of fear.

I would have liked them to deal with their feelings about Savitar being an evil version of Barry and Iris killing him a little more. Sometimes I feel like Barry doesn’t get to discuss how he feels about the trauma he’s been through enough. They had a good opportunity with Nora visiting old villains with Barry recently, but I don’t know if they fully utilized it. Then again, he and Oliver react very differently to similar experiences of trauma.

Oliver and Felicity are very different. Oliver met Felicity as an adult when he was just beginning his journey towards being a hero. He’d just spent 5 years in hell and was trying to fight for his city in a way he wouldn’t realize was wrong until later. It would take Diggle and Felicity being his moral compass for him to start to work his way from the dark. Barry doesn’t have these dark origins. Additionally, part of the reason Oliver starts to fall in love with Felicity is that she represents the light. However, he has a lot of personal growth to do before a relationship with her will work. It took realizing that he was no longer in love with Laurel (because there was no chemistry between the two and it was an unhealthy relationship, get over it comic fans. I still can’t believe her last words were that he was the love of her life...she and Tommy were so much better) and two years for him to admit he loved her. It took another year for her to admit she loved him. He needed to deal with issues of who he was throughout that season. Then they got together at the end of season three and engaged at the mid-season finale of season 4. However, this quickly falls apart because he still has a lot of growth left. Felicity has always loved him, but she can’t marry him if he won’t act as a partner and let her in on decisions like sending his son away. They both grow separately for a while. She comes to a deeper appreciation of why he is the way he is, aka why he doesn’t trust and just makes his own plans, and he becomes a better person and hero. They’re finally able to start working on getting back together when they get stuck in the bunker. Felicity realizes on the island that she loves him and doesn’t want to regret not kissing him, so she does. Then they have to deal with William losing his mother and having Oliver in his life as his father, but they’re able to be together again. Felicity becomes anxious when he proposes because the last time they were engaged, everything fell apart and she was paralyzed. Felicity’s fear of abandonment is a constant theme and something I think should be addressed more often. However, she again realizes she can’t lose him as it’s her greatest fear and they do get married because she believes in their love and their relationship. He always comes back to her whenever the world separates them and she believes he will continue to fight for them. I wish the two couples had separate weddings, but that’s another thing.

Married life is treating them well until Oliver goes to prison. They have their issues right now due to that, but I believe it will be resolved. They have a long history of choosing each other. They love each other and I firmly believe are the love of each other’s lives, but often the world tries to separate them. They’ve very different people, so they have to work to choose one another. And they do. They’ve tried to walk away, but they can’t. They love and need each other too much, so they’ve worked on themselves and fight for their relationship. I’d argue they have consistently made healthy decisions because they spent time apart when they needed to, grew, and now they talk about problems and resolve them together. She sees him for all he is, all the light and all the dark, and loves every bit of it “more than any person should love another person.” He loves her because she is the best part of himself, she’s incredibly smart, and she always fights for what’s right. Is it incredibly annoying when Oliver makes decisions without telling anyone? Yes, but I’d argue they’re no longer selfish (see my previous post) and I put a lot of blame on the writers because sometimes they seem to not know what to do when there isn’t conflict. Part of their problem is not listening to fans, honestly they should hire someone to read their social media and report on it with fan criticisms.

In conclusion, Barry and Iris have their fair share of trials, but their journey is vastly different from Oliver and Felicity. Oliver feels his mistakes deeply, and he has made many. He doesn’t have the support of his city or his team half the time. Sometimes it’s justified when his team questions him and challenges him to do better, but other times it’s just the writers torturing him. For example, one of Barry’s friends would never have sold him out and then not told him. It’s no wonder that Oliver doesn’t trust people. Psychologically they’re such different types of heros. So when comparing the two, which I don’t think we really should do, these differences need to be acknowledged. They’re both great, but for different reasons.

#arrow #the flash #iris west #barry allen #oliver queen #westallen #olicity #felicity smoak #elseworlds #supergirl