Merlin (TV miniseries): Difference between revisions

A television miniseries released in 1998 that retells the legend of [[King Arthur]] from [[Perspective Flip|the perspective of the wizard Merlin]], starring Sam Neill in the title role. The story covers not only the rise and fall of Camelot, but the phase in the legendary history in Britain that precedes it.

 

 

 

 

 

* [[Absurdly Sharp Blade]]: Excalibur. So sharp that just parrying a regular sword will cut the lesser weapon in two, which makes you wonder what Mordred's axe was made of/how heavily enchanted it was.

** According to the novelization, the axe was a form of the black sword Caliban, an [[Artifact of Doom]] that Mab helped Mordred retrieve, which shapeshifted to become a weapon more suitable to Mordred's desires and is an Absurdly Sharp Axe

* [[Badass Boast]]

** Vortigern apparently (and amusingly appropriately) didn't seem to think his through:

** The Rock of Ages does better:

** Mordred, in typically chilling fashion.

* [[Badass Normal]]: Arthur, Uther, Vortigern, Lancelot, Nimue, {{spoiler|Frik after he loses his powers.}} Special mention also goes to Ambrosia, who declares that if Mab harms Merlin in any way, “Magic or no magic, I'll have her guts for my bootlaces.” Arthur in particular goes up against Mordred, a bonafide [[Super Soldier]], and still manages to handily defeat him, only getting killed in the process because he hesitates to land the final strike.

* [[Bastard Bastard]]: Mordred, so very much.

* [[Decapitated Army]]: Vortigern's army surrenders and fighting stops after their king is killed. Of course, he ''was'' killed by a [[Justified Trope|freakin' wizard using a magical sword to seal him under the surface of a frozen lake]].

* [[Deceased Parents Are the Best]]

* [[Demoted to Extra]]: Galahad, Gawain.

* [[Dialogue Reversal]]: Played for a laugh when an eight year old Morgan le Faye says a trick of Merlin's isn't real magic, "anyone can do it." Merlin challenges her to perform it, which she does. Merlin admits "you're right, ''anyone'' could do it."

* [[Dirty Coward]]: Lailoken, Vortigern's soothsayer. Somewhat justified in that he has seen many of Vortigern's previous soothsayers executed.

* [[Don't Explain the Joke]]: One of Frik's many quirks.

* [[Dreaming of Things to Come]]: Merlin's ability to tell the future comes in either visions or in dreams.

* [[Driven to Villainy]]: The decline of the Old Ways has forced Mab to abandon her compassion in the desperate struggle to preserve herself and her people.

* [[Evil Matriarch]]: Mab.

* [[Evil Twin]]: Miranda Richardson is [[Acting for Two]] as both Queen Mab and her sister, the Lady of the Lake,

* [[Face Heel Turn]]: Lord Lot.

* [[The Fair Folk]]: The Fey, of whom Mab is the queen of.

* [[Heroic Bastard]]: Arthur.

* [[Heroic BSOD]]: Merlin, after he {{spoiler|loses Nimue and Arthur}}. He gets better shortly after.

* [[Humans Are Flawed]]: A recurring theme. Merlin comments about how his largest problem with judging men was that he always expected too much from them, always saw the good in them without seeing the bad. Later, the Lady of the Lake makes a short speech to Merlin after he learned that [[Nice Job Breaking It, Hero|he picked the wrong person to be the guardian of Camelot]]. “It's human to make mistakes, Merlin, and part of you is human . . . the best part.”

* [[If You Kill Him You Will Be Just Like Him]]: As Vortigern kills King Constant and takes his crown in the prologue, Merlin makes some commentary to this general meaning. “One tyrant smoothly passed the crown to another, even worse.”

* [[I Did What I Had to Do]]: Mab.

* [[Incorruptible Pure Pureness]]: Subverted, as no one is without their faults and entirely pure. When the Lady of the Lake tells Merlin that he needs to find “a man pure in heart,” to protect the throne from Mordred, he quips, “I've tried to find him before. He doesn't exist.”

* [[Instant Oracle, Just Add Water]]: The Lady of the Lake.

* [[Ironic Echo]]: King Constance is introduced with the line "Kill the prisoners!", emphasizing his madness. Uther utters the same line after becoming corrupt and losing Merlin's trust and aid.

* [[No Ontological Inertia]]: {{spoiler|Mab's spells slowly lose their power after she vanishes, and eventually fail.}}

* [[Not So Different]]: Mab tells Merlin that she is fighting and causing evil because she must save her people, and the ends justify the means. Merlin later gives the same excuse after helping Uther seduce Igraine, causing Sir Rupert to grumble, “Now, where have I heard that before?”

* [[Oh Crap]]: {{spoiler|Vortigern's last expression.}}

* [[Only the Worthy May Pass]]: The Rock of Ages will only let a truly good man draw Excalibur.

* [[Our Gnomes Are Weirder]]: Frik. He claims that gnomes come in all shapes and sizes, and he's “the tall kind.”

* [[Our Gryphons Are Different]]

* [[Parental Substitute]]: Ambrosia, to Merlin, as he notes in his narration.

* [[Perspective Flip]]: From Merlin's point of view.

* [[The Power of Love]]: As pointed out by Ambrosia, this is one of the attributes that Mab no longer possesses- having presumably lost it in her struggle to survive. Merlin also explicitly states that magic cannot create love.

* [[The Philosopher]]: Merlin, even as he narrates.

* [[Plucky Comic Relief]]: Frik.

* [[Plucky Girl]]: Nimue. Getting Merlin out of Vortigern's dungeon is probably [[Crowning Moment of Awesome|the best example]].

* [[Samus Is a Girl]]: In ''Merlin's Apprentice.''

* [[Sapient Steed]]: Sir Rubert.

* [[Scars Are Forever]]: Nimue's disfiguring scar cannot be healed, even by Merlin's magic, though Mab is able to make it vanish temporarily. {{spoiler|Subverted right at the end, when Merlin finally manages to heal it and simultaneously restore both their youth.}}

* [[Screw Destiny]]: Both Mab and Merlin take this approach.

* [[Shoot the Dog]]: Merlin assisting Uther in seducing Igraine with his magic.

* [[Smooch of Victory]]: Merlin gets this from Nimue twice. The first time, it's his “reward” for giving her and her party directions. The second time, it's part of the aforementioned [[Rescue Romance]]. Nimue's companions find it amusing, and Nimue herself [[Lampshade Hanging|Lampshades]] it the second time.

* [[Stab the Sky]]: Arthur, after pulling Excalibur from the stone.

* [[Super Strength]]: Implied with Mordred.

* [[The Magic Goes Away]]: {{spoiler|At the end of the series, after performing his final act of magic to restore his and Nimue's youth, Merlin states, “That's the end of magic.”}}

* [[The Time of Myths]]

 

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