Merlin — The Crystal Cave: Now I’ve had some time to think …

You know, I’ve got to confess, I’ve been watching last night’s episode of Merlin, again.

It’s not like you’d’ve guessed I’ve a thing about Katy McGrath, would you … ?

Ahem!!!!!

Let’s get a little serious, shall we … ?

I’ve got to admit, I’ve got back from dinner at my families, and with nothing else on?

Felt the least I could do was watch it, again.

I swear, one of these day’s I’ll borrow a copy of Misfits, and see what all the fuss is about.

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Yes, quite …

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But, twenty-four hours on, though … ?

Twenty-four hours on, The Crystal Cave still comes over as a darn good episode: or, at least, darn good, in my humble opinion*.

Which I think you’d’ve worked out, if you’ve read yesterday’s post about the episode.

One thing I thing I mentioned, yesterday, was the simple fact that we’ve seen something of a revelation about Morgana’s exact parentage.

There’s a scene — after Merlin has attacked Morgana, in a desperate attempt to prevent killing Uther — showing us Uther, at Morgana’s death-bed, ordering Gaius to save Morgana’s life by any means necessary: including, if needed, by sorcerous ones, the same one’s he’d outlawed many years earlier.

And then tells Gaius exactly why he’s prepared to go to those lengths.

Morgana is Uther’s daughter, fathered on his best friends wife, years before.

Gaius — and Merlin, who’s been gently listening in at the door — agrees to keep this secret very much that: secret.

But as he tells Merlin, near the end of the episode, it is a disaster waiting to happen: especially if, as they suspect Morgana know.

After all, it doesn’t take much to cause trouble in a monarchy, even the fairy-tale one that is Camelot.

A disputed throne is usually the ticket.

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That’s not the be all and end all that this episode shows our hero.

After all, I think I’ve mentioned in recent Merlin posts, that this series is relying less on the Dragon as the God in the Machine it always seemed to be in the first two series.

But last night … ?

Last night saw the return of the Dragon.

Did you ever read the Wade Davies book, The Serpent and the Rainbow?

Just some up, it covers part of the career of ethnobiologist, Wade Davies, the who claims to have discovered the various folk medicines Haiti witch-doctors used to turn people into zombies: the key ingredient to all being a strong poison extracted from a Haitian relative of the Japanese Fugu fish.

My point is that — and please bear in mind, it’s been a while since I’ve read the book, so I may be wrong, here — Davies says in one or two chapters that the big difference between ‘good’ and ‘bad’ magic is the attitude of the practitioners: the ‘good’ ones won’t practise ‘black’ magic, but study it to help their clients and temple members to combat it.

The ‘evil’ ones will happily lay curses, do ‘black’ magic and turn people into zombies.

When hired to do so.

And making it very clear as part of the ritual that they only do so at their clients insistence.

And with the proviso that — should what they do be disapproved of by the powers that be — it’s not them that gets the bad karma for the deed.

The reason I mention all of this?

Is because I personally was reminded of that, when I saw the scene where Merlin demands a cure for Morgana, from the Dragon.

The Dragon is obliged to do so.

But is also obliged to warn of dire consequences …

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Now, I think I’m going to leave that, there: I think it’s getting late enough to make my bed, very attractive.

But so far … ?

Series Three of Merlin isn’t disappointing … !

* OK, granted, I don’t actually think anybody has a humble opinion, me in particular. But the phrase doesn’t hurt, occasionally …