Merlin Rewatch: The Dragon's Call

Season 1 Episode 1

I have been wanting to do a proper rewatch of Merlin, starting from the first episode to the finale. Merlin is one of my go to shows when my mental health isn't great, so I do rewatch a few episodes a year. When I created this blog, primarily meant as a place to post some of my work since 2013, I thought it might also serve as space for one of my favourite activities when I have free time, rewatching. 

Interestingly, this time that I chose to start my Merlin rewatch also happens to be a time of great personal stress. I could barely concentrate on this single episode; I paused it several times, and even after I hit play, I found myself almost compulsively scrolling through my phone, a sure sign of stress for me. Since Merlin is also one of my cures for stress, I hope this rewatch, and writing about my rewatch, will help calm me and give me some much needed focus.

A few things my severely stressed mind noted on this rewatch of the first episode of Merlin:

■ The first thing Merlin saw upon his arrival in Camelot was the execution of a young man for the crime of practicing sorcery. Merlin's mother Hunith sent him to Gauis because she knew, without guidance, it was only a matter of time before someone noticed Merlin's powers. Yet, Gauis's home Camelot was the nerve centre of sorcery suppression.

■ Morgana was appalled by Uther's unilateral decision to execute someone for no other crime than practicing magic (presumably, whatever this magic was did not harm anyone). Gauis has been giving Morgana a potion supposedly to help with her nightmares.

■ It was really nice of Gauis to give Merlin a bedroom whilst he slept in the common area of their home within the palace.

■ Merlin was shown to slow time and move objects with his mind. I can't recall if we ever saw Merlin slow time again in the succeeding episodes.

■ It was almost like the writers were testing out a possible pairing of Merlin and Gwen, and Arthur and Morgana, in this episode. I'm fine with Merlin and Gwen but Arthur and Morgana are [redacted for spoiler reasons].

■ Arthur was a pompous bully, but there was one scene that showed some hope for him. After he and Merlin sort of fought (it was mostly Arthur trying to hit Merlin and Merlin using his magic, until he saw the disapproving Gauis), he told his guards to let Merlin go. 'He may be an idiot, but he's a brave one.' 

■ The first time Arthur and Merlin clashed, Arthur was bullying a servant and Merlin intervened. Arthur had Merlin hauled to jail. Merlin was eventually released after Gauis intervened, but he was placed in a pillory.

■ I don't find Merlin placed in a humiliating position and pelted with vegetables amusing. 

■ When the mother of the young man who was executed screamed that the only evil in the land was Uther, she has a point. Uther was willfully killing innocents, just because they could do magic. I'm fairly certain I'll return to this in the succeeding episodes.

■ It's pretty amazing to see how Gwen was in these early days, when she was a sweet servant who could not have known where fate and love would take her. I look forward to watching how Angel Coulby slowly morphed Gwen into [redacted for spoiler reasons] that she eventually became.

■ I came across an interesting fan theory, that the Great Dragon lied to Merlin about his destiny (lied about a lot of things, really). I am sticking a pin on this until I complete the rewatch. 

Hey, look at that, I was able to finish a post despite struggling with my mind. Here's to better mental health for all of us! 

Note: The image on this post is a screenshot from Merlin, streamed via Netflix.