MERLIN CLUB: The Eye of the Phoenix

MERLIN CLUB: THE EYE OF THE PHOENIX
Or One of the Ones During Which Jess Has Dirty, Dirty Thoughts

Hello, Merlin Clubbers. The next couple weeks’ posts are going to be short ones. I’m so sorry. I’m not going to do a full recap, but will answer my questions like a good girl. Why? Because time is not my friend. At all. I’m trying to get this week’s and next week’s posts done because I’m leaving on vacation in 3 days. To England!

I’m so excited but stressed packing and planning and trying to get everything done. So I’m alternating between this…

and this…

😀

So onward to Merlin Club, yeah?

The basic gist of this episode is Arthur is off on a mystical solitary quest to prove his worthiness to sit upon the throne of Camelot some day. He’s chosen to go into the Perilous Lands to retrieve the golden trident of the Fisher King – who was a sorcerer (please contain your gasps of shock, eh). But then Morgana gives him a bracelet “for luck”. But it’s enchanted and stuff to slowly drain the life from him during his journey. Merlin figures this out and goes after him to help – enlisting the help of Gwaine (!!) along the way.

They’re given nifty nicknames from Grettir…

who guards a bridge they must cross.

In the end, all is well. Merlin saves Arthur using some Dragonlord skills on wyverns (cousins of the dragons apparently), helps the Fisher King who gives him water from the lake of Avalon, saying it will help him in his time of need which is coming soon, and Arthur gets the trident. All are happy.

Oh except Morgana, who is quite put out when Arthur comes strolling back into Camelot. Oops.

If I’d written this episode, I would have changed…I agree with Jen in that the quest actually being about Merlin rather than Arthur was BS. I’d have found some way to make it about both of them. Arthur being superfluous in the grand scheme of things was unacceptable, IMO

Thing(s) I loved about this episode—I loved that Gwen is on to Morgana. That she sees things and investigates. She’s hella smart.

GWAINE! And the general Merlin-Gwaine dynamic. When Gwaine says Merlin’s his only friend…Le sigh. And they would have TOTALLY kissed at that campfire if not for stupid cock-blocking “pheasants”. (Or what I assume to be wyvern making noise in the night.)

Merlin + Dragonspeak =

I mean…come on…

Can you blame me? *fans self*

Thing(s) I hated about this episode—That Arthur never questioned what was happening to him. He didn’t even have to connect it to the bracelet or anything, but to suddenly feel like he’s dying and having trouble even standing? Why didn’t he question WTF was happening to him?

Something I never noticed about this episode before—So Morgause uses an aging spell to speak to Morgana in the lower town. She’s clearly using a different spell than Merlin does when he uses an aging spell later on in the series. One, she says the enchantment won’t last long. Merlin’s did. Either it’s a different spell or he’s just that much more powerful? But I’m leaning towards different spell because the thing I didn’t notice before – when we see her hands, they’re not aged. Merlin’s spell? Everything is aged, man. And when Gwen catches a glimpse of her in the mirror, she sees Morgause as she is now-relatively young-but Merlin’s aging spell, he looks at himself in the mirror and sees his aged self. A little thing, yeah, but I didn’t notice that before. I had just assumed she used the same aging spell Merlin later uses and then I noticed these things.

Proof of some head canon I’ve created—I’m convinced that Merlin and Gwaine had a thing. The chemistry between them…very evident in this episode. Though I’m also convinced Merlin could have pretty much wanted to get it on with anyone and it would happen. 😀

Favorite costume—Arthur when he does his vision thing to figure out what quest he should do.

What would Bron steal from Camelot in this episode? I think she’d love some water from the Lake of Avalon. 🙂

What made Jen lose her shit (in a good or bad way) in this episode? That Gwaine had to explain what wyvrens are to Merlin who is a Dragonlord. (Though I will still argue that he didn’t know because of his dad dying and all before imparting Dragonlord-ish wisdom.)

Bron’s Merlin Club: The Changeling Post
Jen’s Merlin Club: The Changeling Post

Next week 9/29 at 8pm EST, we’ll be watching S03E08 Love in the Time of Dragons. We’ll be on Twitter with the hastag #MerlinClub

Wednesday Randomness: What Makes Me Happy

Happy Wednesday! Today, we’re talking about what makes us happy.

The list is plentiful for this girl so I’ll limit myself. I’m fairly easy to please, I swear. LOL

My family-That goes without question, yeah? They can drive me insane sometimes – 4 teenagers in the house, people – but I coudn’t do without them. And my extended family is included in this. They make me smile.

My friends – They are the absolute BEST. Seriously. They get me, every aspect, good or bad. Can’t beat that. And when I get to talk to them, or even better SEE them, I burst with happiness.

Books – This has always been a guaranteed way to make me happy. Books, books, books. Curling up with a good book is essential in my life.

Writing – I may bitch, I may procrastinate, and drive myself insane, but I chose to do this for a reason. When I don’t write…it’s evident in my mood. To myself and to everyone around me. It’s necessary. Plain and simple. And despite all the ups and down, bottom line is it makes me happier than anything other career path I could have chosen.

Writing Retreat – Yes, one week of the year makes the list of what makes me happy. It is to the point that, when the current retreat is barely over, I’m already counting down to the next one. It’s my light at the end of the tunnel when things get crazy and overwhelming. I get to spend a week with people I love beyond reason. I actually write but also find time to just have fun. It’s pretty damned amazing.

And a list about what makes me happy wouldn’t be complete without…

No one is surprised by this, are they? He just makes me happy. I told you I was easy to please!

And just to be fair, this guy makes me pretty happy too (and since making other people happy makes me happy…you’re welcome, Chris. 😉 )

Make sure to go and check out waht makes happiness abound for the other Wednesday ladies.

Bronwyn Green • Gwendolyn Cease • Kellie St. James • Kris Norris

Until next week!
Hugs
~J

MERLIN CLUB: The Castle of Fyrien

MERLIN CLUB: THE CASTLE OF FYRIEN
Or The Attack of the Smirk

RECAP: The episode opens with Gwen finishing up her duties and going home. Once inside the house, she is confronted by a man, and she picks up a metal poker to defend herself, but another man grabs her from behind and covers her mouth and nose with a cloth, clearly doused with something that makes her pass out. Morgana watches from her window as the men take Gwen away on horseback.

The next morning…one of my favorite scenes ever, even though this episode doesn’t rank in my top ten fave by any stretch of the imagination. Just watch it. It’s adorable. 🙂

While eating breakfast, Uther asks a trouble looking Morgana what’s wrong. She says that Gwen didn’t show up for work this morning. While Arthur seems a bit worried, commenting that it isn’t like Gwen, Uther is utterly undisturbed. Well, that’s not quite true. He doesn’t like that a servant isn’t performing as they should and promises Morgana that they’ll just find her another maid. Because it’s way beneath him to spare a thought or consider that perhaps a woman who has to walk alone super late at night may have been harmed or something as crazy as that.

Hey, Uther…

Arthur tells Merlin to go to Gwen’s house and see what’s wrong. When he gets to the empty house, he finds the drugged rag on the floor and sniffs it. Luckily not too closely, but enough that he realizes it IS drugged and Gwen must have been taken.

Then we see Morgause with Cenred. They look into a cell and there is a young man in there. Cenred tells her that the man was exactly where Morgana said they’d find him.

Gwen is brought to Cenred and the prisoner is brought in. Turns out it is Gwen’s brother, Elyan. They hug and Elyan tells her that he was taken from his forge and he doesn’t know why.

Cenred tells Gwen that she is to return to Camelot and if she doesn’t come back with Arthur—who will obviously do anything for her—within a week’s time, he will kill Elyan.

Merlin shows Arthur the rag from Gwen’s house, and Arthur doesn’t get why it’s important. Merlin insists he smell it, and Arthur, bless his heart, just takes a big ol’ whiff of it and pass out. Merlin uses magic to move a chair to prevent his boyfriend the prince from falling and hurting himself. When Arthur comes to, after a bit of prompting from Merlin, he realizes that the drug was likely used to knock out Gwen.

Arthur tells Uther that he believes Gwen was kidnapped and wants to send out a search party. His fater is reluctant but eventually agrees to send guards to search the lower town because, after all, she was Morgana’s (his favorite child’s) maid. But he refuses to do any more than that.

Hey, Uther…

The next morning , though, Gwen is back. Morgana acts surprised, but we know she’s not, and Gwen makes up a story about being sick. Shortly after, she bumps into Merlin in the hall. He’s relieved she’s safe and confused why she’s lying about where she’s been. He notices the rope burns/bruising on her writes and eventually gets the whole story out of her. He convinces her to tell Arthur, who, like the good prince and knight in shining armor he is, immediately decides he must go rescue Elyan. He’s fairly certain that the place Gwen described is the Castle of Fyrien.

Morgana sneaks out to meet her sister. Their plan is going just as they knew it would. Morgause tells Morgana that they will kill Arthur when he comes and Morgana will be the heir to Camelot’s throne.

Arthur goes to Uther the following day and makes up some story about losing a bet to Morgana. He says he needs to travel to get silk for her winnings. Uther, who was upset Arthur was gambling because he disapproves of such things, is now amused that it’s Morgana Arthur lost to. He encourages his son to hurry, not to cross Morgana. Hahahaha. Seriously. Fuck you, Uther.

Hey, Uther…

Merlin shares his suspicions with Gaius—that Morgana has a role in all of this. Gaius is all Mr. Skeptical Pants, which is just stupid. He gives his warnings, blah blah, Merlin assures him he’ll keep Arthur safe and off he goes. Outside the castle, Merlin is less than happy to find out that Morgana is coming with. In fact, she insisted on coming. Shocker. So it’s Arthur, Merlin, Gwen and Morgana off on a (likely deadly) adventure…Can’t wait.

When they stop to camp for the night, Merlin goes off to collect firewood—at Arthur’s urging since Morgana was already doing the chore. He wanted some sweet alone time with his lady love. There’s some sweet moments between them here.

Merlin reminds Morgana how much Arthur and Gwen care about her. Her response is basically to tell him to butt out. Merlin says he’ll do anything to protect them, and Morgana stomps back toward the campsite.

That night, Morgana sneaks away to tell Morgause how Arthur is planning to sneak into the castle via some caves. Her sister gives her a magical ring to place near the entrance that will guide Cenred’s men to it.

The next day as they continue their journey, Merlin tries to stop Morgana from coming with them by scaring her horse with a snake as they ride. The horse throws her (FFS, Merlin!) and her ankle is injured. But she’s not left behind as Merlin hoped.

As they enter the caves, Morgana leaves the signal behind, and soon the four are surrounded by Cenred’s men and brought up into the castle. After an initial confrontation with Cenred, they are separated—Gwen is put in with Elyan, Arthur and Merlin are put in another cell, and Morgana is now with her sister.

Arthur and Merlin escape…

…rescue Elyan and Gwen, and Arthur tries to send them on their way as he goes back for Morgana. Merlin totally disregards this and follows him.

Having heard the prisoners escaped, Morgana plays the innocent held at knife point by Cenred with Arthur comes in. Morgause creates a column of fire to kill Arthur,

but Merlin kinda throws it back at them, causing a magical explosion that knocks Morgana, Cenred, and Morgause back. Merlin and Arthur are able to grab Morgana and flee. Morgana plays up her hurt ankle, but she really just wants to make sure her sister is okay. Merlin knows it, we ALL all know it. But Arthur just picks her up (ROWR) and carries her out.

They meet back up with the siblings and they all head back to Camelot.

Back in Camelot, there’s a lovely scene between Arthur and Gwen where she thanks him, and he replies that it’s what you do when you love someone.

If I’d written this episode, I would have changed…Not sure there’s anything I would change that’s specific to this episode. *shrug*

Thing(s) I loved about this episode—Merlin waking Arthur up. 🙂 Love. And Arthur doing what he thinks is right regardless of Uther’s opinion (though arguably he did it for Gwen, but still…I think he still wanted to do what was right. LOL)

Thing(s) I hated about this episode—The overabundance of smirks. I have no objections to Katie McGrath’s gorgeous face, mind you, but this is just sampling for this episode and I didn’t get them all…

Yes, we get it, Morgana is evil now. Thanks for reminding us again and again.

Something I never noticed about this episode before— When they’re returning to Camelot, why on earth is Elyan riding with Merlin? Wouldn’t it make more sense for the siblings to ride together? It just seems weird. I don’t know.

Proof of some head canon I’ve created— Got nothing this week

Favorite costume—Morgana’s outfit.

What would Bron  kill to have in this episode? A castle by the sea, of course.

What made Jen lose her shit (in a good or bad way) in this episode? I don’t even know this week. I’m at a loss. I know there was little shit that was annoying and she’s not a big fan of episodes set outside of Camelot.

Bron’s Merlin Club: The Castle of Fyrien Post
Jen’s Merlin Club: The Castle of Fyrien Post

Next week 9/22 at 8pm EST, we’ll be watching S03E08 The Eye of the Phoenix. We’ll be on Twitter with the hastag #MerlinClub

If I Die…Please Wipe My Internet History…

Happy Wednesday, you lovely, lovely people.

If Anyone Saw My Internet History…

Well, here’s a list of things I’ve searched for online recently. In no particular order.

• Whether one could cause an explosion with photo developing chemicals.
• Availability of prescription drugs without prescription.
• Abuse of prescription drugs
• Withdrawal symptoms
• D/s lifestyle
• Subspace, subdrop and aftercare
• Hand-fasting ceremonies
• BBC Merlin & related searches (this pops up a lot doing Merlin Club. Looking for screenshots or double checking the order of what happenened during an episode if I can’t rewatch it at that moment)
• Colin Morgan MAY be heavily searched. Perhaps. I cannot confirm that at this time.
• Same goes for Bradley James to a slightly lesser degree.
• Breathplay – safety, the dangers, etc
• Swordfighting (lots of videos here)
• Knights of King Arthur
• Arthurian legend (several searches about this and aspects of the legend – sword in the stone, lady of the lake, etc)
• London (Lots of searches on places in and around London while planning for my upcoming. This has been steadily increasing each day.)

Most of those searches are researching for a book. Some not. But there are people in my life who would probably be horrified to see those sites pop up on the screen. Good thing no one is allowed on my computer, yeah? Well, the hubs will sometimes check something quick, but I really don’t think anything I search for is going to shock him at this point. LOL

Wonder what the other Wednesday ladies are looking up!

Bronwyn Green • Jenny Trout • Gwendolyn Cease

 

Until next week!

Hugs

~J

MERLIN CLUB: The Changeling

MERLIN CLUB: THE CHANGELING
Or The One Where Uther Is Way Into Elena’s Dad & We See What Jenny Trout As A Princess Would Be Like

First, let me apologize for the brief post this week. A bit annoying for me since this is one of my fave episodes, but this week has gotten away from me and time isn’t my friend at all! But I’m not bowing out, simply keeping it short and sweet, because I have too much mad love for Merlin and Merlin Club. 🙂

So quick and dirty recap? Uther has invited Lord Godwyn and his daughter Princess Elena to Camelot. His basic plan is to get Arthur and Elena together. Elena, though, is possessed by a Sidhe and watched over by a pixie nurse in league with the Sidhe. Now, the Sidhe want what Uther wants— marriage between Arthur and Elena. Their endgame, however, is quite different – once married, the Sidhe inside Elena would completely take over and Camelot would belong to the Sidhe.

Uther is a douchcanoe and puts massive pressue on Arthur to marry Elena. Arthur is in love with Gwen though and wants to marry for love. Eventually, though, after talking to Gwen (who is even more convinced that she and Arthur can never be together because of a conversation with Morgana), Arthur proposes to Elena

Gaius and Merlin figure out that Elena is a changling and work out how to expel the Sidhe inside her. After killing Grunhilda (who ends up a pile of pixie dust), Merlin and Gauis get Elena to take a potion that releases the Sidhe and destroy the creature.

Merlin goes to Arthur and tells him that he’s mad for marrying someone that will make him unhappy in the end.

Then comes the wedding… But before it can proceed, Arthur calls it off. He and Elena both agree they don’t love each other. Uther is pissed off. It’s not one of his finest parenting moments (not that he has many, let me tell you.)

Godwyn and Elena depart. There’s the requisite scene between Arthur and Gwen to end the episode.

If I’d written this episode, I would have changed…I actually really liked this episode. I loved Elena. And how Arthur was strong enough to defy his father. So I wouldn’t change anything big. There’s a few things I bring up later on from the episode, but they aren’t specific to just this episode, more things I’d change in the series overall.

Thing(s) I loved about this episode—Arthur and Merlin banter. As usual. I adore Elena. Seriously. I love, love, love her. Georgia King did an amazing job.

Two scenes I loved from this episode…

Of course marrying for love? That’s more of a modern concepts, especially amongt nobility, but never mind that. I love it whenever Merlin goes off on a rant like this. 🙂

Merlin’s reaction to Grunhilda liking Gauis…Love it.

Okay, and when Merlin is describing Grunhilda’s pixie tongue after he saw her catching bugs with it…he says it was “this long” and grabs this:

Um, WTF. Why is there a HUGE dildo just sitting on Gaius’ table??? Seriously! But it made me laugh so hard so it goes under things I liked about the episode even though I don’t want to even know… 😉

Thing(s) I hated about this episode—I talk about what I hate in other questions. How Morgana treats Gwen. The way things are left hanging/unexplained. I thought Uther was particularly douchey. No shocker there.

Something I never noticed about this episode before— So the whole Uther pressuring Arthur to marry Elena… Arthur is determined to marry for love but Uther is vetoing that all over the place. While I completely understand that marrying for love is a relatively modern thing, but Uther himself married Igraine for love – or that is the strong implication. It just seems that every time he’s telling Arthur to ignore his feelings or start feeling somehting for Elena (because that’s how it works), he’s basically diminishing what Arthur’s mother meant to him. Does that make sense?

Proof of some head canon I’ve created—I’m more convinced than ever that Morgause used the mandrake root on Morgana. The conversation between Morgana and Gwen… Morgana was quite cruel to Gwen. While the anger she has towards Uther is very understandable, Gwen has always been Morgana’s friend. They seemed so close, and this was so totally out of character. It’s either bad character development on the part of the writers (which is quite possible) or Morgause did something (mandrake root!) that changed Morgana in a very drastic way.

Also, I said in the one episode that Uther seemed to have something a bit more than friendships with the visiting kings… This episode solidified that theory for me. I think, Uther goes above and beyond to keep the peace. O.o The dynamic between Uther and Godwin was confusing and seemed more than just friendly. I think perhaps Uther and Godwin wanted to unite their families for several reasons. Mm hmmm.

Favorite costume—It’s a tie between Elena’s wedding dress Arthur in chainmail and cape. Rowr.

What would Bron steal from  Lord Godwin’s home in this episode? Princess Elena’s cradle.

What made Jen lose her shit (in a good or bad way) in this episode? The fact that no explanation is given to anyone about what happened to Grunhilda. Godwin wonders about it but Uther just blows it off, saying he’s sure she’ll turn up. Jen made a good point that Elena is always going to wonder what happened to her nurse – who, no matter her motivations, was good to Elena. She was the mother figure in Elena’s life since her own mother died soon after she was born. So this poor girl is going to have no clue what happened, or think that she was abandoned. Surely Merlin and Gaius could have come up with something…

Bron’s Merlin Club: The Changeling Post
Jen’s Merlin Club: The Changeling Post

Next week 9/15 at 8pm EST, we’ll be watching S03E07 The Castle of Fyrien. We’ll be on Twitter with the hastag #MerlinClub

WEDNESDAY RANDOMNESS: Best School Memories

Happy Wednesday, all! This week, in honor of the back-to-school season, we’re talking about our best school memories.

I feel really odd about this topic, like I’m lacking somehow, because no memories come immediately to mind. I mean, I remember school – it wasn’t THAT long ago! – and everything, but I guess I don’t have anything that was so significant, so mind-blowing that I think Wow that’s on my Best School Memories list.

I guess it’s the teachers I think of – teachers who definitely influenced me and memories of them have stayed with me. Two, in particular.

My AP English teacher – she just made me fall even more in love with reading and literature and writing. She is a big reason I started writing the stories in my head down and believing that I could actually become a pubished author.

My Government/Econ teacher… Let me tell you, not my favorite subject, but it was one of my favorite classes becasue of how he taught. He made you *think*. A lot. To this day, I have no clue what his political leanings are/were. Because if you argued one side, he’d come back with the other. And do it so convincingly. He taught us if we are going to make a statment or take a stand on an issue, we’d better be ready to back it up, and back it up well. A lesson well learned…and remembered.

Honestly, though? That’s about it for me. I remember classes and friends and hanging out, of course, but usually when I think back to my school years, it’s usually the teachers I think about. *shrug*

Visit the other Wednesday Randomness Girls & see what school memories they’re sharing. 🙂

Bronwyn Green • Gwendolyn Cease • Kris Norris 

Until next week!

Hugs,
Jess