Derren Brown Would Make A Fabulous Merlin Villain-Of-The-Week.

[rionaleonhart]

Once again, Twitter provides the best theories:

[Derren Brown] didn't hypnotise you last night! Rather he stopped time, came round to your house and applied glue to your chair. cad!

Apparently his time-stopping powers did not work for quite long enough for him to get around to me, which was a shame, but at least three people on my flist have fallen victim to Derren's chair-gluing ways.

And now I am going to talk about Merlin!



Merlin is so delightful and I don't know why! (I think what I missed most about Merlin in its absence was Bradley James' ridiculous faces. They are a joy.)

I was very amused that, a mere couple of minutes into the episode, Merlin was going 'HMMM, BETTER INVESTIGATE THIS MYSTERIOUS TOMB AWAY FROM WHICH GROWN MEN WERE JUST RUNNING AWAY IN TERROR'. Merlin, you are such a Gryffindor.

I was also amused by the fact that it took even less time for the episode to have Merlin and Arthur together in Arthur's chambers at night, Arthur shirtless. (This episode had a great deal of gratuitous shirtless Arthur. Merlin is not a story; it is a big pile of fanservice on a plate.)

To return to the running in terror from the tomb, here is a thought: as the sorcerer presumably wants to be released from the glowy blue heart, why did he set up those traps to kill people who disturbed his tomb? NOT REALLY THE BEST PLAN THERE, SIGAN. You may be able to turn day into night and bring gargoyles to life, but I find your powers of logic wanting.

In spite of Sigan's self-sabotage, he managed to be freed, and thus we learnt that Merlin uses black irises to indicate possession! Not quite the completely-black-eyes effect of Supernatural, but close enough to please me. SIGAN HAS RETURNED. CALL IN THE WINCHESTERS.

I thought the scene in which Merlin first sees Cedric post-possession was hilarious. MERLIN FACES THE GREATEST AND MOST TERRIFYING SORCERER EVER. WHAT WILL HAPPEN? If you guessed 'there will be a very silly slap-fight and Merlin will chase the terrifying sorcerer under a bed', you are correct!

I liked that Merlin had the presence of mind to magic himself out of the dungeon. Merlin, you are not a complete idiot! And then, as _afterism points out, nobody wonders how he escaped. But I can forgive Merlin all its plot holes. Merlin is not supposed to be a triumph of storytelling; Merlin is silly and fanservicey and fun, and watching it makes me happy no matter how fragile the thread holding the plot together is.

Speaking of the fragile thread holding the plot together: that ending was not entirely solid. Merlin is possessed OH WAIT NO Sigan's soul is back in the jewel! As far as I can tell, the fact that Merlin was carrying the jewel with him wasn't even indicated beforehand, which would have made it make at least a little more sense. Such a cop-out, Merlin! (I still love you anyway.)

And I see that Merlin is beginning to steer in the direction of Arthur/Gwen. On the one hand, I am sort of intrigued by the pairing. He is the crown prince! She is a handmaiden! On the other hand, I 'ship both Merlin/Arthur and Morgana/Gwen so much that I can't help being a tiny bit sad. (Merlin does seem quite aware of its fanbase, though, so I'm sure the Merlin/Arthur and Morgana/Gwen subtext is here to stay.) If the writers develop Arthur/Gwen properly, I am sure I shall be entirely in favour.

I smirked a little when Arthur said 'You always surprise me' to Gwen during their little bonding moment. Arthur, if memory and Google serve, says 'You never cease to surprise me' to Merlin during 'The Labyrinth of Gedref'. Therefore, Arthur is in love with Merlin. My logic is flawless. (Everything Merlin does is for Arthur! Aww. Awwwwww.)


On the subject of the series trailer (or at least I assume it was a trailer for the entire series, because otherwise next week's episode is going to be an extremely action-packed forty minutes)

Arthur: Nothing can ever happen between us!
Merlin: When you're king, you can change that.

Totally, totally deliberate. Oh, Merlin.

(I still want an episode in which Morgana and Gwen do all the day-saving. Arthur and Merlin are both unconscious due to the latest mysterious ailment besetting the kingdom, and so the episode is all about Morgana and Gwen, being adorable and awesome. It will be great.)

Comments

[loz]

Why did he set up those traps to kill people who disturbed his tomb?

I live in hope that it was the previous king's plan to use Sigan's own dungeon traps to keep him entombed, not knowing for sure if he could return, but not wanting to take the risk either. Because SOMEONE in the narrative of this show has to not be a moron, at some point. Any point. It'd be good.

(I still want an episode in which Morgana and Gwen do all the day-saving. Arthur and Merlin are both unconscious due to the latest mysterious ailment besetting the kingdom, and so the episode is all about Morgana and Gwen, being adorable and awesome. It will be great.)

YES!

[rionaleonhart]

I live in hope that it was the previous king's plan to use Sigan's own dungeon traps to keep him entombed

I am going to adopt this theory! It really is the only way in which it makes any sense. (I am also perplexed by the fact that Sigan apparently arranged to have 'WARNING: REMOVE THIS HEART AND I'LL BE FREED' carved into the tomb. But perhaps that was an alphabet that he would expect only sympathisers to be able to read.)

[loz]

Yes. It has to be for sympathisers. I'm sure he had some, at the time. And quite possibly the king who was not a moron was aware of this and set Sigan's dungeons up as one giant trap. And perhaps wanted to rid himself of some petty thieves in the process.

[derryderrydown.livejournal.com]

Hurrah, you've found a way for it to make sense! I am also adopting this theory.

[th-esaurus.livejournal.com]

WHY DOES NOBODY IN YOUR HOUSEHOLD EVER PICK UP THE PHONE )8

as the sorcerer presumably wants to be released from the glowy blue heart, why did he set up those traps to kill people who disturbed his tomb?

lolllll.

[rionaleonhart]

What? When did you try to call? (We were out all day yesterday. If you tried to call today, our phones must be acting up.)

Staines should be fine. What time?

[th-esaurus.livejournal.com]

I tried yesterday and today, both your home phone and your mobile )8 CAN YOU RING ME PLEASE NOW.

[wanttobeatree.livejournal.com]

I wanted to watch Derren Brown glue me to my chair, but it turns out my parents DO NOT LIKE HIM! And this after having watched him rub his face in glass. :( I just don't understand.

[rionaleonhart]

I don't understand how anyone can resist the fascination of watching it! Who doesn't want to see whether a creepy man is capable of affixing them to their seats via their television screens?

[wanttobeatree.livejournal.com]

EXACTLY! I tried to explain the necessity of it to them, but my dad just made a disgruntled noise and waved his hand in a 'pssh' sort of way. Where did I go wrong /o\

[kadrin.livejournal.com]

Last night I dreamed Derren Brown decapitated me with the age-old "put head through portal, close portal" trick.

Never even seen Derren Brown except in still pictures.

Blaming you.

[rionaleonhart]

I am laughing uncontrollably. I'd say I'm sorry, but, given the previous sentence, I'm not sure how convincing it would be.

[kadrin.livejournal.com]

Twice now I've been able to identify Derren Brown in unrelated conversations BECAUSE OF YOU. You are an amateur Derrenbrownologist. It is a VIRUS.

[serriadh.livejournal.com]

Did Twitter happen to reveal to you whereabouts this supposed picture of Derren tied up was subliminally flashed? Because devoted as I am, I'm not watching the whole hour frame-by-frame, but if such a picture DOES exist, I would very much like to capture and share it with everyone. For science. Or something.

[rionaleonhart]

I have looked the picture up on YouTube, and must report, to my distress, that I don't think it was Derren Brown. It was just a line drawing of some guy.

I think everyone should write fanfiction in which Derren is tied up to alleviate the disappointment.

[serriadh.livejournal.com]

GO AWAY I HAVE ENOUGH WEIRD DERREN THINGS TO WRITE ALREADY.

You should write some tied-up fic. I think it would fun. I like the idea that Derren is just planning all his shows so he can explore all his kinks and then dressing it up as various 'events' and 'experiments'.

I had a dream that Derren was a psychic spy. He was like James Bond, but with a cape. Very, very odd.

[newbie1990.livejournal.com]

we learnt that Merlin uses black irises to indicate possession
Not always! Remember in The Gates of Avalon when Arthur's irises were red?

[rionaleonhart]

That's more 'under a spell' than 'possessed by a separate entity', though, isn't it? In any case, at least one case of possession resulted in black irises, and that's enough excuse for a Supernatural crossover for me!

(I am using this icon because it is appropriate for the topic at hand, not because I am angry!)

[amy-wolf.livejournal.com]

I love how you always specify quite sweetly that your icon choice is not anger, but making a point of "See Ruby's eyes?" or "YOU MUST HAVE A DOG!" or something else friendly.

[newbie1990.livejournal.com]

Also! You 'ship Morgana/Gwen! I mean, yay you 'ship Merlin/Arthur, but EVERYONE 'ships Merlin and Arthur, so that's a given. THEY ARE SO UNBELIEVABLY CUTE. Apparently they become closer this season! Hopefully this involves a great deal of being awesome and also possibly more hugging.

[amy-wolf.livejournal.com]

I'm just going to stare at your icon for a million hours, if that's okay with you.

(She's VERY pretty.)

[newbie1990.livejournal.com]

FEEL FREE TO STARE. Hey, and here is another icon of her out of character! JUST TO OCCUPY YOUR DAY.

(I knowww. I felt so guilty thinking how pretty she was in that scene, because she is clearly ill (the paleness! It rivals Merlin omg) and also GOING SLOWLY MAD, but it is RIGHT THERE how am I supposed to ignore it?

Is - is it enough to convince you to watch Merlin? SHE HAS AN UTTERLY CHARMING RELATIONSHIP WITH HER ADORABLE MAIDSERVANT GWEN, WHO BRINGS HER FLOWERS AND HUGS HER WHEN SHE WAKES UP FROM HER NIGHTMARES. Also she gets to be fierce as hell in spoilery ways. Including swordfighting whilst looking ridiculously good in armour (srsly I am not sure how it is possible).)

[reipan.livejournal.com]

Merlin, you are not a complete idiot! And then, as [info]_afterism points out, nobody wonders how he escaped.

I think that as plotholes go that's a fairly explainable one, actually - it's not like everyone wouldn't have had other things to think about, what with the city being destroyed by gargoyles and all.

I WANT MORGANA/GWEN SO HARD. THEY CUDDLED AND IT WAS ADORABLE AND ALSO MERLIN WAS CLEARLY WORRIED THAT CEDRIC WAS GOING TO TAKE OVER HIS ROLE AS BEDWARMER.

[rionaleonhart]

That is a fair point! Perhaps they assumed the gargoyles were responsible for the destruction of the doorhinges.

I loved how petulant Merlin was around Cedric! And, yes, Morgana and Gwen are almost absurdly adorable.

Random Compliment Time!

[amy-wolf.livejournal.com]

I just have to tell you that my absolute all-time favorite passage of any Top Gear fic, and one thing that makes me laugh like a loon every time I read it is this:

i have just realised that i can probably type a lot faster if i dont use any punctuarion of capitals and actually who cares about spelling mistakes WHY DO YOU CARE ABOUT SPEELING MISTAKES ITS A BUGATTI LOOK AT IT ITS RIGHT THERE LOOK AT IT

GOD YOU AWANT A BUGATTI DONT YPU

YES YOOU DO YOU ARE LYIN

BUT YOU CANT HAVE IT BECAUSE IT IS MINE

I WANT A BUGATTI WHY DID VOLKSWAGED TAKE IT WAY THEY TOOK IT AWAY FROM ME

I SHALL NOW WRITE A POEM

OH BUGATTI
PKEASE COME BACK
OH YOUR BODY SO SHINY AND BLACK#
YOU COIULD EVEN MAKE TOWING A CARAVAN SEEM GOOD MAYBE BH UBUT IF Y IF SOMEONE ATTACHED A CARABAN TO YOU I WOULD KILL THEM BECAUSE IT IS A VEYON A BUGATTI VEYRON WHY WOULD YOU SHAME IT BY ASSOCIATING IT WITH A CARAVAN I HATE YOU

I HATE YOU AND I WILL KILL YOU

I WANT A BUGATTI.

Particularly YES YOOU DO YOU ARE LYIN and I HATE YOU AND I WILL KILL YOU.

That fic makes me so happy.

That is all.