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coinofstone · 4 years

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3x01 The Tears of Uther Pendragon pt 1

(Since there's commentary for this episode, I will not be combining 3x01 and 3x02 into a single post.)

The double fisted callback shots are interesting. First, Arthur & co walking into a deserted camp only to be ambushed, complete with whizzing crossbow bolts (have you learned NOTHING) which is essentially the same exact scene as in 2x11 The Witch's Quickening when they come upon Alvarr's camp. It's a neat nod to the audience, who already know that Morgana wasn't exactly captured, she was (from Morgause's perspective anyway) rescued after Merlin tried to kill her. So calling back to that ambush sequence is a nice way to signal to the audience that Morgana is once again knowingly and willfully colluding with Uther's enemies in a plot to destroy him, despite all the dialogue giving the impression that she needs rescuing. That Morgana had in fact aided in setting the trap for Arthur & co is both further pushed by and contrasted with the second callback, when she emerges from the woods looking like a hot mess. This references 2x04 Lancelot and Guinevere when Morgana had in fact been actually captured, but she managed to escape and find Arthur who'd been out looking for her. The difference of course being that Morgana is full of shit this time, but repeating that moment is a clever way of demonstrating Morgana's intent to trick everyone into believing she's the same damsel in distress she'd once been, while we, the audience, know she isn't.

Uther's unquestioning acceptance of Morgana's return is irksome. I know it's been over a year but has he just forgotten that she helped Alvarr escape? It was made perfectly clear that he knew and that they were at odds with one another, yet it's like none of that ever happened. He's just thrilled to have her back and has no memory of any of those events.

Drunk!emo!Uther is amusing as hell. Also a little odd that they're worried about explaining Uther's behavior at the well as tho they didn't have the perfectly viable excuse of him having been drunk off his ass and emotional about Morgana's return.

Morgana being a dick to Gwen even as she tries to convince everyone else that she's back to her old self is just as confounding as Uther's lack of suspicion.

I love Tom Ellis. Everyone loves him for Lucifer, and you can definitely see some early shades of Lucifer in Cenred, but he will forever be Gary to me. Idk why Lucifans aren't all over Miranda, I mean just look at what you're all missing:

What's not to love?

I can understand Morgana leaving the sentry alive by accident, but why in God's name would she leave her dagger after stabbing him?

You'd think the king would have better security while he's ill, and servants competent enough to notice motor oil dripping onto the floor under his bed.

I cannot adequately express how much I LOVE Morgana's calling out Merlin after he's followed her to her meeting with Morgause. "Did you really think I was that stupid, Merlin?" YES HE DID, BECAUSE EVERYONE ELSE INEXPLICABLY SEEMS TO BE. Merlin is clumsy as fuck and yet somehow he's the stealthiest dude in Camelot. I looooove Morgana calling that shit out 😂

I know she's evil and stuff but Morgause is so cool.

Merlin rockin the wackest shibari of all time. It's a little hard to see but they've got it wrapping his legs as they're bent too. That can't have been very comfortable to film in.

Roasted scorpion, offical delicacy of Camelot.

I know it's stupid to question the summoning of a talking dragon via a magical language but honestly I can't help myself wondering whether Kilgharrah hears Merlin or if it's like, dragon-radio where wherever that language is spoken by a Dragonlord, every dragon can hear it? Cuz either way I still have questions.

Commentary by Bradley and Katie.

They've made comments about the weather during the first scene and then promptly forgotten they're supposed to be doing commentary 😂 apparently it's they were brought in to do this very early in the morning during the last week of filming, which probably explains why they're so quiet.

Cracking jokes on shirtless Arthur, and how Gawain puts him to shame later on, then going on about how he's got the best hair in Camelot.

I love that Katie asks how Bradley did the blindfolded swordfight then doesn't let him answer😂 I would've liked to know how exactly they coordinated that

So for S3 they built additional corridor stages in Wales to reduce the amount of time they spend shooting in France. Katie's disappointed by that, but Bradley was happy it meant he got to go home to watch more of the world cup, except that England did horribly that year - Katie is surprised to learn the world cup happened that year 😂

I normally love Katie on these things but I think because Bradley's not entirely awake his storytelling is a bit slower or more drawn out, and Katie keeps cutting him off so he keeps like, dropping stories halfway told. This annoys me for two reasons: I'm a woman whose friend group is mostly men, who do this to me irl ALL THE TIME and it's INCREDIBLY annoying, so I'm over-relating to Bradley in this moment. And also, because I really would've liked to hear the rest of these stories! What did Tom Ellis do at the read through! Why does it make no sense that Sir Leon is alive? I counted bodies of least two knights that didn't get burned. HOW DID THEY DO THE BLINDFOLDED SWORD FIGHT. Let the man speak

Bradley makes fun of Colin for being overly excited by how great the music was during the episode screening they did.

They've talked more about Bradley having a stretch than they did about the entire episode.

He's got a really irritating laugh, not in general but like just this one particular sort of shrieking bark that irks me.

You can tell they were DONE with the commentary because they wrapped it up before the credits actually started 😂

#bbc merlin #bbc merlin spoilers #merlin #merlin spoilers #merthur #bbc merlin 3x01 #merlin 3x01 #3x01 #the tears of uther pendragon #the tears of uther pendragon pt 1 #onceandfuturerewatch

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