“I know the hatred and suspicion with which men treat those with magic. You and I are not so different. I, too, have learned to hide my gifts. I promise your secret is safe with me.”
- Mordre
We begin with Morgana asleep in her bed. She’s dreaming about being locked in a well with her pet dragon. She wakes from the nightmare and calls the dragon to her for comfort. They are both looking rather worse for wear. The dragon hobbles and its wins are tattered. I’m pretty sure they weren’t meant to be indoor pets, Morgana. Meanwhile, Arthur and Merlin are bickering with each other while being hauled off by the Saxons. As the other captured men sleep, Merlin sits there, staring somewhat vacantly. The burly Saxon taunts him with food and Mordred actually comes to Merlin’s defense, saying they should slow the pace. The following morning, he even offers Merlin some bread and promises to keep his secret. He also delivers a little exposition to Merlin about the key. Since their last encounter, Mordred has learned to hide his magic to make sure he survives. In the cave, the Diamar continues to heal Gwaine (going so far as dimming the torchlight so the guards don’t see him).
Back in Camelot, Gwen’s servant begs Gaius to talk to the Queen and see about putting a stop to the execution. Gaius isn’t hopeful but he does go off to see Gwen. Gwen has guards bring the girl to her but she refuses to change the sentence. Once the servant is taken away, Gwen explains she’s hoping that the girl’s father will come to Camelot to save her so that Gwen can arrest him. She doesn’t actually plan to kill the girl. And it would seem her hope may be right. He tells Morgana that his daughter has been arrested and sentenced to die and Morgana’s reaction is basically “well, that sucks but it was bound to happen”. She feels nothing of his pain. Then again, she’s become pretty cold and heartless since her days as the King’s Ward. She just insists they find the Diamar before Arthur arrives.
Speaking of Arthur, it seems he and Merlin have a little plan up their collective sleeves. Arthur feigns such a deep thirst he’s unresponsive (but he grabs the Saxon’s knife). That is going to come in handy. And it in fact does. Merlin pulls some supplies off a cart, giving Arthur enough time to get free. He and some of the other men stir up a fight and Merlin and Arthur take off with weapons. They have to find the other knights after all. A handful of Saxons follow them and Arthur picks them off one by one. Mordred appears and Merlin cuts a block of ice to keep him from coming across. Instead of killing Mordred, Arthur just turn sand runs. It doesn’t seem like Mordred is that upset to let them go. Finally, after Merlin bitches about Arthur not taking out Mordred when he had the chance, they make it to the castle.
And Gwen is vindicated (sort of). She was right that the servant girl’s father came to rescue her. They make it through part of the castle before the knights surround them and her father is wounded. They make it out of the castle and to the little sanctuary where she found him before but he dies (after sending a note to Morgana via carrier crow). Oh and Gwaine wakes up long enough to get a bit of an info dump from the Diamar. Back in Camelot, Gaius is searching the body of the servant girl’s father when he finds a druid call to victory. Gwen is surprised to find that some druids aren’t so peaceful. And she’s a little shocked to find that some believe Arthur will die at the hand of a Druid (well if what Merlin saw comes to pass, that will be true).
Merlin and Arthur break into Morgana’s castle through the refuse chute (Merlin is not happy) and find Percival. Arthur tasks him with finding the others so they can take out the Saxons and get the hell out of there. Meanwhile, Morgana spots Mordred and she’s kind of misty eyed at seeing him. She feared he was dead. And I don’t know if it was just me but I got kind of a sexual vibe on her end. He’s kind of quiet as they share a meal and he doesn’t really engage when she starts ranting about her brother messing up her plans and how she doesn’t understand that with all her power, he keeps eluding her. But warning bells ring out so she’s got a chance to take out her big brother (as he and Merlin search for Gwaine).
The boys find Gwaine as Percival and his merry band of shirtless men take out more Saxons. Unfortunately, Morgana’s dragon tries to roast Merlin, Arthur and Gwaine like marshmallows. Merlin gets the bright idea to lead the dragon the other way while Arthur and Gwaine meet up with the boys. Obviously, we know by now that Merlin is a dragon lord and he can command the dragon to chill out. And while we don’t know what he says because it’s in the language of the Old Religion, we can guess he pretty much scolds the dragon. And he’s a little hurt at the state of her. And that she can’t talk. Arthur foolishly goes after Merlin and gets caught by Morgana and Mordred. Morgana has a little fun toying with her brother before she kills him. In the end, Mordred stabs her in the back (literally) and rescues Arthur. Merlin is knocked out at this point and the Diamar saves him. And we learn that Mordred may not be Arthur’s bane. Arthur is his own undoing. The gang gets back to Camelot and Mordred becomes a knight, much to Merlin’s discomfort. Mordred professes to Merlin in private that he believes Arthur’s vision is right. That the love that binds people together is more important the power one has. Merlin shares his unease with Gaius over pudding while Morgan and her dragon struggle through a snowstorm after being defeated. I will be interested to see what happens with Mordred as he spends more time in Camelot under Arthur’s influence. It would seem, at least for now, his intent on being a good member of society is genuine.
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