Merlin: The Sword in the Stone Review

I like Merlin, but I also forgive poor characterization, plot holes, and general stupidity when it happens. The acting and the beautiful cinematography usually make up for it. Unfortunately, I was doing a lot of forgiving for the finale.

Spoilers after the cut.

First, the good things. These last two episodes did an excellent job of dividing time between what's happening in the castle and what's happening with Arthur and Merlin. I didn't feel like anything was rushed or slowed down.

Tristan and Isolde were a nice addition to the story. Their love serves as a parallel for Arthur and Gwen. They're two excellent warriors and they were fun to watch in battle.

Merlin made logical decisions in these episodes. Calling for the dragon to fight Agravaine's men. Killing Agravaine (finally). Setting up the legend of Excalibur. Turning into Dragoon to taunt Morgana and drain her power. One mistake (and here comes the forgiving): he should have checked that Morgana was dead. She got away again and my guess is she'll attack Camelot again next year.

Another thing I'm forgiving: Arthur contradicted himself. He went from not being able to trust Gwen to marrying her at the end of the episode? I would have liked to see him ask Gwen to stay in Camelot and then have the chance to rebuild their trust. Or, Arthur should have forgiven Gwen already and then set up the wedding in this episode. Instead the writers gave us a wonderful scene where Arthur tells Merlin that he needs to be more careful about who he trusts, and then Arthur quickly forgives that Gwen cheated on him and asks her to be Queen. I'm disappointed in the writing but not by what happened. At least Gwen is supposed to be Queen.

The biggest disappointment for me this season was that Arthur still doesn't know about Merlin's magic. Again in this episode, there were opportunities for a reveal. Merlin could have openly used his magic during the battle. When Arthur told Merlin that they have no match for Morgana, Merlin could have revealed his power.

I would have been happy with a quiet, low-key reveal. There in the forest when Merlin was telling Arthur about Albion, he could have said something about a powerful wizard at Arthur's side. Merlin could have told Arthur who he really was and all he needed was a small show of proof. Merlin could have conjured flames in the palm of his hand, exactly what he did with Gilly. But no. Merlin strategically used his magic to save Camelot and Arthur didn't know anything about it.

Hopefully the magic reveal will happen early in season 5. I think there's potential for great storytelling and character development, and it'd be nice to see the writers take advantage of that.