Meeerrrrllliiin

Well... I suppose... another good, solid ep, but as always it's about this time we start working up towards the finale. Except this time it really is the finale, of everything. 3 more eps to go. They really could do anything, and considering their track record they probably will try and do just that. Not sure why, but this week I was very much aware of that.

Although I knew it was coming, it had to, I still had that slight sinking feeling when Gaius officially confirmed that the last stage will be the great plain of Camlann.

Thing is, even before this series, I've always loved the tales of Arthur and Merlin. And it's always been the most heartbreaking thing that no matter what, you know that at the end Arthur must and will die in that final battle, and then it will all go to shite. (Unless of course you're watching Clive's Owen's King Arthur which, whilst entertaining, I don't count as a 'real' Arthur tale.)

The difference this time round is that the BBC's King Arthur is most definitely my King Arthur. I've got through watching/listening to him die in all the other tellings because, frankly, he's never been my favourite character. It's always been Merlin or the Saxon warrior or frankly whoever else was telling the tale. They loved him, so I loved him.

But this time round, well, even with the donkey ears and prat falls, I love all our leads equally, all in their own right. I couldn't bear to lose any of them come episode 13.

Still. Back to the ep!

"Don't trust the druid boy."

Hmm. I don't trust Mordred, but it seems far too straight-forward to have him in the end just be revealed to be the villain as he's been in all the other tellings. I hope they find some twist to keep this part of the story new.

And the slash dragon. Slash dragon, nooooo! I hadn't realised how upset I would be if you genuinely snuffed it until they dropped that anvil on our heads this week.

And Merlin, MERLIN. Oh poor lamb. I do like how by now anyone who vaguely knows him, knows that the best way to get him to move is not to say "If you value your life," but rather "If you value your king." One thing this series has most definitely convinced me of is how much Merlin and Arthur care for each other, and how for Merlin he feels so overwhelmingly responsible for keeping his friend safe for everyone's sake (love aside, of course).

Quite frankly the writers will have to come up with some way to twist/re-spin the ending of the battle of Camlann, because the Merlin they have created in this series I don't think would actually survive properly losing Arthur.