Merlin Review: The Witchfinder Comes to Town

After being so perfectly humiliated in the past two episodes, King Uther just can’t take any more chances. When a young woman steps forward claiming to have seen someone performing magic, Uther immediately calls for the one and only Aredian – a famed witchfinder known for his brutal tactics in catching magicians.

The person the woman saw was none other than Merlin – though nobody knows it. Careless Merlin was having a little fun with his powers for once by turning smoke into different animal figures. Completely harmless fun!

Aredian (Charles Dance) is a particularly intimidating figure with a menacing scowl and a flair for drama (“Do you smell it?” are his first words). Aredian is probably the only person who could get away with calling Uther “lazy and idle” and he claims that Camelot has become “rotten to the core” because of all this magic floating around. Like I said – drama!

Aredian’s tactics are rooted in interrogation. He corners Merlin after the woman lists him as a “witness” and while Merlin denies seeing the smoke change shapes, Aredian isn’t buying it. To further prove how corrupt with magic Camelot has become, Aredian brings three other women in front of Uther to confess the horrible magic they’ve seen taking place. Their testimony sounds pretty convincing to Uther, including a claim of frogs coming out of people’s mouths.

After a few days of interrogating people and suspected witnesses, Aredian believes he’s found the sorcerer: Merlin! If you thought this would be the episode Merlin was finally called out for his magic, I apologize for being the bearer of bad news. It’s a close call, but Gaius eventually takes the blame for the magic after an amulet is found in their living quarters by Aredian and the knights.

Not only did Gaius want to protect Merlin by taking blame, no one would ever believe Merlin could be a powerful wizard! Aredian’s accusations of Merlin are laughed at by nearly everyone in court, especially Arthur. After all, Merlin is seen by them as nothing more than a scrawny, clumsy, and lazy servant. Never in a million years could he be a sorcerer, whereas Gaius already had a past with magic.

In this episode, more than ever, the relationship between Gaius and Merlin is really showcased. Gaius is more than just a mentor to Merlin; he’s his only real father figure.  And it’s great for Richard Wilson to receive some more screen time and show off his reputable acting skills instead of his just raising his eyebrow in every episode and scolding Merlin.

Things get really intense when it becomes clear Gaius is about to be burned at the stake, but Merlin and especially Gwen find a way to convince Arthur to halt the execution so they can present to him proof that Aredian is a fraud and Gaius is innocent. Both Arthur and Uther, more than anything, want Gaius to be innocent so they agree to hear out what Merlin and Gwen have to share.

The Witchfinder was a really well structured episode that almost, almost made you believe that Merlin would finally be accused of sorcery. Although deep down I knew that it was far too soon in the series for Merlin’s secret to be revealed, it wasn’t easy figuring out what would happen next and how Gaius would be saved. A somewhat unpredictable episode compared to the rest in the series – I hope the writers can keep that up!

Season 2, Episode 7: The Witchfinder (aired May 14, 2010)

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Fridays at 10/9c on Syfy

Photographs courtesy of NBC Universal and SyFy.