This was a pretty average episode by all accounts. There was a load of pretty decent build up throughout but the resolution was pretty disappointing. Although I am still interested in Morgan's plan I hope it bears some fruit soon enough because at the moment I'm starting to get bored with the consistent slow pace of the show as well as some of the illogical choices and decisions made by the characters that plagued this episode.
The opening scene was a little strange with one of Morgans men perving on her while she was taking a bath, but I like how she turned the situation to her advantage, using the man's lust and loyalty to her to further advance her plans.
I really can't understand how almost everyone now seems to trust Morgan completely, especially Arthur. I know she is his sister but does he not remember what she was like at first towards him? He is far too overconfident and underestimates her and what she is capable of. They all seem to have fallen for Morgan's facade except for Merlin, who gladly still has his wits about him and to a lesser extent Igraine who is also suspicious of her motives. Her speech wasn't particularly convincing either, declaring her undying loyalty to Arthur just seemed hollow considering she wanted him dead a while ago.
The scene with the dancers was great, the tension and excitement was palpable and when they drew the swords I fully expected a bloodbath! Sadly, it was just a pretty show to impress Arthur and his people but I can't help but think it would have been a great way for Morgan to wipe out all her primary opponents in one fell swoop instead of the complex and somewhat overcomplicated game she is currently playing.
Its great to see that Merlin is not fooled by Morgan but I can't help but question his choices. He is playing with fire, rather than advising Arthur against seeing Morgan he lets him go to her, hoping to learn more about her plans. It seems that he too underestimates her abilities, while being overconfident in his own. It'll be interesting to see how he reacts when he discovers Morgan has outwitted him.
It was good to see some action when the fire began and I liked seeing everyone work together to save the girl, brave and stupid is definitely an apt description of Arthur's actions here. Although what he did was brave he acted reckless once again and he really needs to learn that as King he cannot be putting himself in the line of fire all the time.
At this stage I was getting excited for what this episode had in store for us, I was interested in seeing what Morgan was really up to and I was expecting some intriguing developments. Sadly the pace of the episode began to drag after this scene.
I liked how Igraine seemed in command when she was with the girls and explaining how their men needed them to be there to remind them what they are fighting for. It's easy to forget that Igraine was a Queen as she hasn't really shown much authority so far in the show so this was a nice reminder of the woman she once was.
Guinevere on the other hand I found extremely annoying here, her attempts at trying to get involved in the story just seemed forced, and her talk with Morgan highlighted her hypocrisy and I can't help feeling sorry for Leontes who is growing on me as a character and is developed nicely in this episode.
I was thrilled to finally see a confrontation between Merlin and Sybil, who along with Gawain are my favorite characters in the show. It was great to see them try and outfox and outwit each other and its obvious that both knew the other was up to some. Both are really intelligent characters, but I think Sybil won the first battle of wills between them as we can see the frustration on Merlin's face when he cannot discover what she or Morgan is up to.
Nothing much exciting happened after that, one moment I liked though was Morgan allaying Igraines suspicions of her. Despite my complaints about how no-one suspects her, in a one to one situation Morgan is well capable of putting on a friendly face and I could understand how Igraine believes she might actually be genuine. It was good to see Igraine confronting her though, at least someone was questioning Morgans motives.
The fight scene between Gawain and Leontes was great and livened up the pace of the episode for a brief moment, it was exciting and well choreographed and it was nice to see Leontes hold his own against Gawain. Once again though the pace of the episode really slowed down when it should have been building to a crescendo. There were some nice scenes, I liked how Merlin finally confided in someone that Morgan was responsible for Uther's murder but it makes no sense that he doesn't tell Arthur. With that piece of information he had the power to keep Arthur away from Morgan who he must realize is planning to take the throne still yet he doesn't take any action. I know the shows aim is to keep Merlin mysterious but sometimes they take it too far.
The scenes with Leontes did a good job of developing his character. It was interesting to see his conversation with Sybil, and its apparent that she will use the information to her advantage. What is clearer here though, is that Leontes is more a person of faith than Sybil is and the scene shows more than anything how far Sybil has fallen from what a true believer should be like. His monologue about his mistakes in life gave us a better insight into his character and these scenes did a good job in developing Leontes. They however did slow the pace down to a standstill and I think it would have been more apt to develop Leontes earlier in the series.
Without a doubt, my least favorite scene of the episode was Arthur's confession of love to Guinevere. Nothing about their relationship has been particularly convincing for me and the whole scene just felt off. It also turned out to be pretty pointless as it ended up that there would be no battle after all. It was a pretty disappointing resolution to the episodes story as all the build up at the start of the episode was wasted.
Morgan's plan did seem to have an obvious flaw though in that there would be no bodies and I'm glad to see at least Merlin showed some semblance of sense by saying he wanted to see the bodies first before he believed the story. I'm interested to see how Morgan gets out of this one, because it was plain stupid of her if she thought no one would check to verify her story. I guess will have to wait until next week to see how it all pans out though.
Morgan's capture of Igraine and transformation was an intriguing development but as a resolution to the episode it was pretty underwhelming. The episode was ok in general with some good scenes scattered throughout but an uneven pace, lack of action and some questionable character decisions makes me worried about the direction of the show in general. Here's hoping we finally get to see Morgan put her plan into action next week and that the season will end with a bang rather than a whimper.
Review Score: 6.5/10
Just a note to people, sorry about being slow with my reviews this week, its been hectic, but I'll do my best to have my Game of Thrones review up tomorrow.
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