4.07: The Secret Sharer

[ctg]

Morgana joins forces with the enigmatic wizard Alator to uncover a secret that could change the future. With allies on both sides of the castle walls, can anyone stop her before Merlin's greatest secret is revealed?

 

[Jo Zebedee]

Can I just say in advance i couldn't understand a word the torturer was saying and I think he supposed to be from down the road from me.... good luck, all. Good episode, though, a bit more depth, but the plot holes, dear me. And as a king, Arthur really needs to take a crash course in suspicious uncles.

 

[Dave]

...can anyone stop her before Merlin's greatest secret is revealed?

You can't mean...? He wears a thong? He has a fetish for shoes? He has pink bed sheets? No, he's not a train spotter!

I'll be watching this later to find out.

 

[Dave]

...but the plot holes, dear me.

Does Lord Agravaine have a teleportation device? He's with Morgana and the Torturer, then he's in Camelot saying how odd it is Gaius left in the night, then he's back with Morgana, then with the Torturer, then he's back in the Castle again, all before the morning. Either that or he can stop time. Or maybe he has bionic legs?

Also, we asked why Merlin didn't say anything about Agravaine to Gaius last week. Well, maybe he did, but Gaius said this week that they could never tell Arthur. Why exactly? Would he say, "I doon't believe it!" The identity of the traitor is still unknown, but the list of suspects is now down to about one person. I mean, who else could it possibly be?

And as a king, Arthur really needs to take a crash course in suspicious uncles.

Well, quite!

As an aside, with my geographical hat on, it was interesting to me that the ocean is only a few hours ride from Camelot, as we have never seen it before. I assumed Camelot was landlocked and had enemies on all four points of the compass. Obviously, that only applies to three or less points of the compass. It is all part of the question that has been asked of whether this Camelot is meant to be a fictional or a historical place, though the dentally-challenged hamsters really answered that question for me already.

 

[TL Rese]

haha - the comments on here are hilarious!

i've been catching bits of this series here and there, so not sure if i've missed something. what's lord agravaine's motivation in all this? i kno that morgana wants the throne, blah blah blah - what else is new for a villain. but what's agravaine got to gain? is he just pure evil?

 

[TheEndIsNigh]

haha - the comments on here are hilarious!

i've been catching bits of this series here and there, so not sure if i've missed something. what's lord agravaine's motivation in all this? i kno that morgana wants the throne, blah blah blah - what else is new for a villain. but what's agravaine got to gain? is he just pure evil?

As to his motives. I think it's because technically, Arthur is the only thing between him and the thrown. Plus he may know how Arthur came to be born, and thus stopped him becoming king.

As for this episode - haven't seen it yet, so doubtless I will have more to say

 

[Mouse]

I liked it, though I'm really not getting why nobody's saying/doing anything about Agravaine.

I could understand Alator, springs, but had no idea what accent he had/was doing!

 

[ctg]

I don't know what to say about Arthur or about Lord Agravaine. I really don't, and I wish I would know what the little people think about the relationship of those two; as it's obvious that the older audience are face-palming, when Arthur blindly refuses to see the reality.

I would have understood all this during Uther's time, but now with Arthur the reality is slipping from the grasp of producers. The whole betrayal part could have been written better by increasing tension every week and letting the audience to think who's the person, but no, we have to watch Agravaine watching Merlin slipping out from his chamber without him saying anything.

Surely someone in his position could just use his powers or even frame Merlin in the front of the guards. He could have pulled out the chest from under his bed and said that Merlin planted the books there in order to frame him as the enemy, but no he has to go around like a marionette. But then again even if he would be one, Morgana certainly isn't playing the game as a puppet master.

However, maybe that is the thing, maybe we expect a bit too much from the series that has been produced for whole family.

I don't know and I wish that Arthur would be blessed with a bit more wisdom that one would expect to see from the great king.

 

[Ursa major]

The actor playing Alator, Gary Lewis, is from Glasgow. I've seen him before (New Tricks, amongst other shows), using the same accent, so I assume that it's his own.

 

[TheEndIsNigh]

Well, this was a bit of a lone ranger/ hop along cassidy episode, what with old Aggy dashing here and there at all times. The only difference being it was usually Kemosabe that did all the dashing about not the baddies, but when they dragged Silver out of that stable, well...

I'll resist pointing out all the places the socks needed darning, but I have to say at the end between Alatar's bit and where old Gaius was doing his death bed, ( but not just yet scene), I found myself for the first time in the whole sad saga, with a few hairs standing up on the back of my neck.

So in that small way - I suppose it was OK

 

[Dave]

According to that renowned resource and font of all knowledge, merlin wiki:

As he was Ygrane's brother, his reasons for joining Morgana most likely stemmed from her death as Uther went to Nimueh and made her use magic to make her give birth to Arthur, costing her life. Uther also killed his brother, Tristan and had an affair with his sister Vivienne, who later disappeared. Because of this, Agravaine grew to hate Uther and blamed him for destroying his family and joined Morgana many years later to take his revenge. He also partly blamed Arthur for Ygraine's death as his birth caused her death which caused him to plot against him as well as Uther.

So, fair enough really, he has a few axes to grind there. However, he would seem to have more reason to hate Uther than Arthur - it isn't really Arthur's fault that he was born! What it doesn't explain is why Arthur doesn't know any of this.

 

[ctg]

Oh my, TEIN are feeling all right? Your comments are the best, but I lift my hat to your decision and say that if you need, just say what's wrong as I for one really like to read your thoughts on the plot-holes.

What I would like to see more is these characters Merlin comes up, and him getting more involved with other magic users as I do wonder on when he is going start meddling with the druids and their kind. Do you agree?

And in the regards on what Dave revealed, I wonder on when they're going to give this information to the audience? Is it going to be in this season or in the next one?

 

[Jo Zebedee]

Actually the Wiki has a point here, but there was no doubt in the myths that Agravaine carried the feud over to Arthur. Vivienne on the other hand focused more on Merlin and is traditionally the one who imprisoned him, not Morgana, who was more traditionally Arthur's enemy.

Over time the two became more interchangeable but if they bring in the Vivien character then there is a lot more, perhaps less obvious, play within the magic. It also opens up the Lancelot du lac story as Vivienne not Morgana is the traditional lady of the lake.

That's what I love about a good retelling of Arthur, particularly one with Merlin as a focus, there is so many ways to go. Which makes all the plot holes a pity 'cos there's no need, there's so much to play with.

Sorry I'll stop grumbling and boring you all now.

 

[Mouse]

I think Arthur's asked about his birth and his mother a few times, so maybe they'll expand on it at some point. Or maybe there's no point now Uther can't reveal it? Or maybe Morgana will tell him??

 

[Dave]

Sorry, I didn't mean that to be a spoiler. I thought that info had already been dumped at some point in the series already and I had just forgotten it. I'm certain that Uther spoke about his wife dying in childbirth with Arthur and about going to Nimueh to get a son. I don't remember his affair with Vivienne being mentioned though.

As for the myths, was Agravaine Arthur's uncle? I thought he was Arthur's nephew - son of Morgause. Anyway, it doesn't really matter, following strictly to the legends has never bothered them before. What bothers me is that they introduced this annoying uncle who we had never seen before just at the point we finally lost the annoying father.

I think Arthur's asked about his birth and his mother a few times, so maybe they'll expand on it at some point. Or maybe there's no point now Uther can't reveal it? Or maybe Morgana will tell him??

If Agravaine were top mention it in passing, that would make the most sense actually.

 

[ctg]

What bothers me is that they introduced this annoying uncle who we had never seen before just at the point we finally lost the annoying father.

Does it mean that we have start the "Annoying Uncle Must Die" club now that we got rid of the old king?

 

[Jo Zebedee]

You're absolutely right, Dave; in the legends Agravaine is one of the sons of Lot and Morgause/Morgana, but then again so is Gawain... I'm that sad, I just went and looked it up

Oh and they've used Nimue as Vivienne, not that that rules her out neccesarily, given the above.

 

[TL Rese]

oo, thanks for the info, dave! that definitely clears things up. but i think it's true that it prob wasn't revealed in the series - or at least not often enough, 'cause it just seemed to me that agravaine was randomly evil. there are so many diff versions n retellings of the myth, that i can't keep track!