Hello my fellow Merlin fans!
I thought that it was only right that for my first proper post on this blog, I should write about the title character, Merlin, played by the incredible Colin Morgan.
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As you should already be aware from my introductory post, I've always had a thing for Arthurian legend, and always have I been intrigued by the wizard Merlin and the relationship that he holds with Arthur. In many versions of the legend that I've seen/read Merlin is merely a trickster, not possessing any real magic. Versions of this include the book "Here lies Arthur" by Philip Reeve and the 1960s TV show The Adventures of Sir Lancelot. However, I've always believed that Merlin did possess magic, a more powerful magic than any warlock before or after him and so we have Merlin - a boy born with magical talents that even Gaius can't explain.
One of my favourite parts about this twist on the character Merlin is that we see him as a young boy when we first meet him, probably about late teens and him being young means that so many young people who watch the show can relate to him. The boy who is different, an outcast who thinks he's a monster, who comes to realise that his talents are unique and make him who he is.
After this, the next thing that I love about Merlin is his desire to see good in people and to always do the right thing, even if it did mean that Morgana turned out to be a dark witch and that Boredon nearly got hold of the last Dragon egg. This is because even though these lovable traits of Merlin mean that some of his plans can go wrong or disastrous things can happen, Merlin always manages to do the right thing. Showing that even if something appears to be going wrong, you can still turn it around by doing the right thing, such as when Merlin nearly killed Morgana in ‘The Crystal Cave’ when she was going to kill Uther and then saved her to prevent everybody’s grief whilst still managing to save Uther’s life. Without this desire to see the best in people, Merlin wouldn’t have been able to help Freya also, and even though he couldn’t help her to live, he stopped a painful death at the hands of Uther and he made her feel loved and I don’t think that Freya could have asked for more. “The lady of the lake” also showed a much more sensitive side to Merlin, a caring side that you don’t necessarily see in his comical relationship with Arthur.
Merlin’s powers would be enough to make anybody want to have power over everyone else. As has been shown with the characters of Cenred and Gilli, but Merlin is more than content to keep his magic secret and be a humble servant to Arthur, fulfilling his destiny.
“It’s lonely to be more powerful than any man you know and have to live like a shadow. To be special and have to pretend you’re a fool.”But as much as this is one of my favourite quotes that Merlin says, I don’t think that Merlin is shown to pretend to be a fool. He’s gained the trust and respect of Arthur even though he is just a servant. He’s wise but reserved, not a fool – even if he does continually ruin the hunt for Arthur! Even Arthur realises that Merlin is special and although he doesn’t know that Merlin has magic he sees that Merlin is probably the truest friend he could ever have, risking his life time after time to save Merlin’s. Merlin is such a beautifully written character and a perfect role model for the younger generation and older Merlin fans alike.
The costume that Colin wears as Merlin is one of my favourites from the show, and one that I often try to imitate. (I have a brown jacket, blue shirt and a red scarf!) It’s instantly recognisable and iconic, and probably one of the shows selling points for young people and although people complain that Merlin doesn’t have many different costumes, the fandom gets excited whenever we see a new shirt. Tumblr and Twitter alike go absolutely crazy. The same goes for whenever Merlin gets hurt or is happy, it’s infectious on the fans.
I could go on for a while about Merlin, but I’ll use this last paragraph to sum up why I love Merlin. He’s caring, trustworthy, humble, wise and always does the right thing. Colin, is an incredible actor and honestly deserves a BAFTA, if not an Oscar, for his incredible performance. For someone so young, Colin Morgan is so talented and deserves more recognition than he gets.
And for all you Merlin fans out there, remember, being different is nothing to be scared of.
Jessie of Camelot
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