Merlin: Uther’s Bane

Apologies to the two of you reading these reviews, but I was indisposed last week and missed the episode of Merlin (and my subsequent commentary).  Well, I wouldn’t say I’ve been missing it, Bob, but you get my point.

So onward and upward to this week: Nimueh summons some dead knight back to life, which puts a real damper on Arthur’s ceremony designating him crown prince of Camelot.  The Dark Knight is upset he wasn’t invited and crashes into the great hall, where he throws down the gauntlet (literally) and Sir Owain accepts the challenge to the death.  Merlin and I share a moment with a look of utter confusion on both our faces.  Gaius clears up all of the confusion because he recognizes the Dark Knight’s crest as belonging to Tristan Dubois, who Uther killed 20 years ago.  Oh wait, now magic agnostic Uther is confused because dead is dead.

During the break, I see a preview for Joel McHale and Chevy Chase‘s new show, Community, about a lawyer (Joel McHale) who needs to go back to get his degree.  Chevy Chase is on the faculty, and I’m tuning in to at least one episode because it’s Chevy Chase and he’s still funny.

Back on Merlin, Merlin and Arthur are trying to teach Owain how to fight.  Some would say he’s not a very good knight if he didn’t already know this.  Anyway, no one is surprised when the Dark Knight kills Owain.  The knight again throws down the gauntlet and an actual (as in ethnically) black knight takes up the challenge.  Merlin, as always, suspects foul play because he saw Owain deliver a fatal blow to the knight, only it didn’t take.  So Merlin and Gaius travel into the crypts under the castle and find that Tristan Dubois’s grave has been broken open.  Per Gaius, Tristan challenged Uther to a fight, Uther won, and Tristan cursed Camelot until he can take his revenge on Uther.  He accomplishes more “revenge” by killing knight number two, and this time more people see that the Dark Knight is impervious to attack.  Arthur missed that because he was flirting or something, and so he picks up the gauntlet and will fight the next day.

Gaius tells Uther that the Dark Knight is a wraith (not to be confused with a ringwraith) and he wants Uther to tell Arthur not to fight.  We learn that Tristan is Uther’s brother-in-law and he blamed Uther for his sister (and Arthur’s mother) dying in childbirth.  While this is going on Merlin again uses magic, but this time it doesn’t work: his ring of fire does not stop the Dark Knight (see, I told you he wasn’t a ringwraith).  Merlin warns Arthur but Arthur will not hear it.

On the other side of the castle, Nimueh approaches Uther and reveals that she conjured the Dark Knight as revenge for being banished from court.  And why was she banished?  Because she used magic to allow Uther’s barren wife conceive, but the wife had to die once Arthur was born.  Nimueh is glad that Uther will see death because of what he’s done to others.

Supersleuth Merlin works with Geoffrey of Monmouth for weapons that can kill wraiths.  The answer? A sword blessed by a dragon.  And here’s how John Hurt gets his paycheck for a few minutes of voiceover work.  To make a long story short, Merlin gets the weapon but only on the condition that the sword be used only by Arthur for its powers are great and will lead to great evil in the wrong hands.

Uther, in a moment of selflessness, gets Gaius to drug Arthur so Uther can fight the Dark Knight.  And it’s an intense battle but in the end Uther wins, of course, using the magical sword.  The Dragon is not pleased that Uther used the sword and he orders Merlin to hide the sword and its awesome magical powers.  Merlin throws it into a lake, where the sword remains until Deagol finds it during the Third Age.

So, I liked this week’s episode (by comparison, of course).  We had an interesting backstory,  some action, and a not completely hokey special effect when Tristan blew up.  And with only four episodes to go, it’s about time something picked up here.

For another take on this episode, check out Revenge of the Fallen by Stephanie Jaar.

Season 1, Episode 9: Excalibur (August 2, 2009)

For more on Merlin, click here.

Sundays at 8/7c on NBC

Photographs courtesy of NBC Universal, Todd Antony, and Mike Hogan