I know we have a fairly active BBC Merlin thread on the Movies & TV board, but now that the show is over, I thought we might like to have another place to discuss everything related the wonderful tv series and the legends that it was based on. So just post if you'd like to join and I'll add you to the list so we can start a conversation!

Members
Ariadne394 (founder)
Shadowcat
Arabella Baggins
Feanor
Nurrantiel Mashiara
Alatáriël Telemnar
Eruant

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It is the small, everyday deeds of ordinary folk that keep the darkness at bay, small acts of kindness and love.married Mr. Darcy 6/14/2012

I'm a bad fan and I haven't really watched since the middle of season 3 (with the exception of the first two from the 5th season), but I'm still joining this club, because I do have a tender spot in my heart for the boys.

Which, okay, doesn't leave much room for discussions here.

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- married fingon fingolfinion 6/4/13 -
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Yes yes yes sign me up! Merlin has become my favorite show over the last year and I have no idea where I'd be without it, to be quite honest. (Okay, thats a bit of an exaggeration but I still adore it to no end)

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I'll add you two to the list! (And Skitty, swooning over the cast is also acceptable... I am extremely partial to Colin Morgan's cheekbones. )

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It is the small, everyday deeds of ordinary folk that keep the darkness at bay, small acts of kindness and love.married Mr. Darcy 6/14/2012

Whereas I am partial to Bradley James' everything...

All right, to get some discussion going, shall we go around and say who everyone's favorite characters are? Mine is Arthur for about a thousand reasons, but I have a very complex love/hate relationship with Morgana. Probably because Katie McGrath is a flawless human being...

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Sounds good!

Well, I obviously love Merlin, partly because there's a lot of focus on him since he's the main character and we really get to know him over the series. He's quirky and brave and funny and talented and dedicated... just great in general. I also agree with Ara that Morgana is a good character. I really like the complex portrayal of her in this show; in the legends it's never really explained why she hates Arthur so much other than wanting power. (I do feel like they almost over-emphasize the whole hating Arthur thing later on... it's such a dramatic character change from season 1.)
(Speaking of Katie McGrath, did you know that she has a history degree? Just found that out today...)

My least favorite character is probably Gwen -- I never really warmed to her and her position is just so different from the legends.

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It is the small, everyday deeds of ordinary folk that keep the darkness at bay, small acts of kindness and love.married Mr. Darcy 6/14/2012

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- married fingon fingolfinion 6/4/13 -
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I just now saw this... I want to join! Merlin is definitely my favorite show.

Hmm... my favorite character. For most of season five, before they made his character totally flat and evil, it was Mordred.
At first it was Morgana, until she turned completely evil.
I've always liked Arthur too, and Merlin... except for the times where he tries to kill someone because the dragon says they're evil.

My least favorite character now is Morgana, cause she's just so... annoying and childish, it seems. And Gwen, she just gets on my nerves for some reason.

Me me me please!

Haha Skitty, it's okay. I like Gaius alright, but I feel like he should've been killed off in an earlier series. Would've pushed Merlin to confess his magic sooner.

As for a favorite character.....Merlin! No, Arthur! No wait, Gwaine! But what about Mordred? And Gwen as queen is just so awesome....Yeah, figuring out which is my absolute favorite would be hard. Awww, sad no one loves Gwen. I think she's great. Though I suppose I ought to clarify - I tend to love the characters for all the potential they could display, and not necessarily for what was actually shown on screen.

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I love Guinevere! She's come so far over five seasons, from serving girl to awesome strong queen. The only times I think I've ever disliked her character was when she was enchanted by Morgana! And Angel Coulby is amazing, if you've listened to the cast commentary on the DVDs or watched the video diaries...she deserves a medal for putting up with those crazy boys!

And guys. Can we TALK about Mordred? I was so prepared to hate him when s5 started. I hated the young version of him played by Asa Butterfield. I was SO READY for him to be evil and awful when season 5 started and then Alexander Vlahos waltzed in with his amazing acting and his tears and his tweets about his kitten named Doctor Watson and his FACE and his EYES and I fell in love with Mordred and I kinda hate myself for it.

....This has been a very fangirly post. My apologies.

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I never did understand how someone could 'fall in love' with a tv character.

I kind of liked Gwen before she became queen... and a bit after, once she stopped always whining to Arthur that he was gonna die and stuff. And it was cool that she figured out that Merlin had magic all on her own.

Everyone will be added ASAP!

I definitely agree that Gwen has come a long way since the first season and makes for a strong queen (maybe she'll be responsible for making magic legal in Camelot?). But I think that the writers made a huge mistake by making her evil later on, especially since they reverse it about three episodes later. As a character in the show she's just fine, but I guess I'm not a huge fan of their take on her.

Skitty mentioned Gaius... yeah, I think he's mainly there from a technical standpoint. He knows a lot, so he can always explain what's up with whatever magical thing they're fighting at the moment so everyone's not completely confused.

And yes, Mordred! I wasn't expecting to like him, but in the first few episodes of season 5, he won me over. But I don't feel like the writers did his 'turn' against Arthur justice. If they expect us to believe that Mordred would turn because Arthur killed a girl he likes, they would have needed to explain their relationship more for me to be convinced. Mordred deserved better than that. But definitely, Alexander Vlahos is still wonderful!!! He did amazing work with the little screen time he got.

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It is the small, everyday deeds of ordinary folk that keep the darkness at bay, small acts of kindness and love.married Mr. Darcy 6/14/2012

Exactly how you fall in love with anyone else. Except usually easier since they're generally pretty too.





MORDRED MORDRED MORDRED MORDRED!
Okay, when he first came on screen in season 5 I was sold, and then he was all ambiguous and killing Morgana and being friendly and I was just like "I LOVE YOU WHO ARE YOU ARE YOU EVIL OR GOOD I DON'T EVEN KNOW AND IT'S SO EXCITING!"

*ahem*

I love Mordred. I don't think they did his character enough justice (but that's the same for every single character in the show) but the potential that was there was enough to make me fall for him. Ari, I see it as less of turning because of a girl and more turning because he felt betrayed by Arthur. Like, he believes that Arthur will accept those with magic, but then he sees someone he believes to be good getting sentenced to death. (He really needed to be told that she tried to stab Arthur, come on guys, think. It might change his perception. But I digress.) And then he doesn't know that Arthur was lenient and offered her a chance to repent. All he knows is that they were going to run away and stay out of everything (which would've failed spectacularly), then they were recaptured, and he feels betrayed by Merlin and Arthur both. Kara was only one catalyst, but there could've been many possibilities that would cause the same result.

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Sort of off-topic, but GUYS!! I realized today that I totally 'missed' Colin Morgan's birthday -- it was on January 1st! I don't even know how old he is now... but I'm still a fan. So, happy late birthday to Colin Morgan!

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It is the small, everyday deeds of ordinary folk that keep the darkness at bay, small acts of kindness and love.married Mr. Darcy 6/14/2012

Colin is twenty-seven now! It's so funny to think he's the baby of the cast (or he was before Alex joined the cast because he's only 24)

Also, Ariadne, your sig could not be more perfect for this thread!

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Well then, hopefully Colin's enjoyed his first few days of being twenty-seven! You can definitely tell he's gotten older... it really stood out to me that his voice gets super low in the later seasons compared to season 1. And I had no idea that Alex was so young - he certainly doesn't look it.

Thanks, Ara! I've been on a graphic-making hiatus for a while, but I just got the free trial of photoshop lightroom a few days ago and of course got to work making some Merlin-related banners. I absolutely adore Merlin's silly smiles (and wish we got to see more of them in season 5)!

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It is the small, everyday deeds of ordinary folk that keep the darkness at bay, small acts of kindness and love.married Mr. Darcy 6/14/2012