"The Once and Future Queen" Season 2 Episode 2 of Merlin

 BBC's Merlin is a modern adaptation of the Arthurian stories from medieval times. The series follows the main character, Merlin, and his adventures while serving as Prince Arthur's manservant. Merlin is however not a normal human as he possess the power to move objects with his mind. With the help of his host, Gaius, Merlin must keep his powers a secret while also doing everything possible to protect the future king. 

In this weeks episode...

King Odin of Albion hires an assassin named Myror to kill Prince Arthur because Arthur killed Odin's son. Meanwhile, Arthur learns that people treat him differently and "go easy" on him during jousts because he is the future king. There is a tournament the following day and Arthur enlists the help of Merlin and Guinevere to help him prove that he is not just the king's son, but he deserves to be respected because of his talents. To do this, Merlin finds a farmer that no one in Camelot would recognize, and the group turns this farmer into someone who could pass as a knight. At the tournament, after Arthur succeeds in defeating his opponents he goes into a tent and switches places with the farmer. The farmer then exits the tent without a helmet pretending he was the jouster who just won. All is going very well until the final day of the tournament when Myror learns of Arthur's identity and kills the opponent who was supposed to joust against Arthur in the final round. Myror takes this knight's place and then uses a special lance with a blade at the end of it to puncture Arthur. Luckily, Merlin takes notice of this special blade and uses magic to make Myror fall off his horse. Prince Arthur proceeds to win the jousting tournament but lets the farmer take all the credit. King Uther learns of the assassin and says that they must strike back at Odin, but Arthur says that is foolish because there has been enough bloodshed.

Myror and his bladed lance (3)

Characters

The main characters of the episode, from
left to right, Guinevere, Prince
Arthur, Merlin, Myror (1)

Merlin represents many of the Arthurian Legend characters, such as Guinevere, Arthur, and then Merlin himself. In this adaptation, Guinevere is a maid to lady Morgana, Merlin is a servant, and Arthur is a prince. While the roles of the characters are not the same as the legend, the episode shows values and traits of the characters that are similar to the original stories. Season 2, episode 2 proves this point. Guinevere is both kind and giving in the original literature and Merlin. In this episode, she allows Arthur to stay at her house and keeps it a secret so Arthur can prove he is more than just the king's son. Guinevere's actions represent the importance of hospitality in the medieval period. After Prince Arthur wins the joust, he allows the farmer, who pretended to be him, to take the credit. Arthur says he did this to show humility. Humility was a characteristic of good knight and good king in the Arthurian legends. Merlin also shows the medieval values of trust and doing anything for royalty. Despite Merlin's stress at home trying to balance doing his chores and hiding his powers, Merlin manages to keep Arthur's identity hidden as well has find the assassin that is trying to kill Arthur.

Storyline

This episode centers around a joust to crown a champion. Prince Arthur goes undercover so that no one would recognize him to win and gain respect. This is similar to how Lancelot disguised himself and entered a tournament in Le Morte d'Arthur (2). Their reasons for entering the tournaments were different in each story, but it is obvious how the writers of Merlin might have drew an aspect of Le Morte d'Arthur and put it into Merlin.                

 

Contemporary Elements

In Merlin, Prince Arthur is a selfish "prat." In the original literature, characters who are often evil stay evil throughout the story and characters that were humble and kind, stayed humble and kind. However in Merlin, Prince Arthur starts out the episode as being clearly annoying and selfish. When he learns that people treat him differently because he is a prince, he decides he wants to change that. He enters a jousting tournament and hides his identity. Once he won the tournament, he would take off his helmet and show that it was really him who deserved the glory and respect. However, once Arthur defeated his final opponent, he chose to be humble and let the farmer take the credit for winning the joust. This quick change of character was not a component of Arthurian literature in the medieval times, but it is common for storylines of today. Media of today loves to show how people with character flaws can change to become better, such as Darth Vader saving Luke, or the Grinch saving Christmas. Prince Arthur's change of character is truly representative of current plotlines in media today.

Before                                 After
The farmer's transformation (3)

The writers of Merlin also added a comedic element to the story. Arthur and Merlin loved to tease each other and their banter was funny. Also, when the farmer was introduced, Arthur asked if he looked like a knight and then the scene cuts to a funny looking guy in desperate need of a makeover. Nothing like that would ever happen in medieval literature. Another example of the comedic element would be when King Uther asks the nature of the beast that Arthur is going to go kill at the northern border. Arthur responds, "It is said to have the body of lion, wings of and eagle... and the face of a... bear." The comedic timing was perfect and was sure to make viewers chuckle. Even Merlin agrees! (see image below). None of these purposeful comedic elements would be found in the original stories. 

Prince Arthur (top) and 
Merlin (bottom) (3)

Impact of Merlin

Merlin is a fascinating show with components of original Arthurian stories with a modern twist. By adding interesting plotlines that are relatable to people in the 21st century, the show introduces Arthurian elements to people who may not have read the Arthurian legends of the medieval times. Adding contemporary components peak interests of new viewers which, in turn, brings
more attention to medieval literature. This broadened awareness brings new values, new perspectives, and awareness of past literature which helps create a more knowledgeable population. 

Works Cited

(1) Gadgets, CHAE(LLA) - Widgets &. “Merlin 2 - 2: The Once and Future Queen.” Widgets & Gadgets, 30 Dec. 2010, widget-and-gadget.blogspot.com/2010/12/merlin-2-2-once-and-future-queen.html.

(2) Malory, Thomas, and Helen Cooper. Le Morte d’arthur: The Winchester Manuscript. Oxford University Press, 1998. 

(3) Overman, Howard. “The Once and Future Queen.” Season 2, episode 2, BBC, 2009.