TV
'Merlin' S01E11: 'The Labyrinth of Gedref'
Published Sunday, Nov 30 2008, 17:00 GMT | By Ben Rawson-Jones | 13 comments
Arthur's callous slaying of the poor unicorn, and his subsequent lack of remorse, do initially feel like a betrayal of the supposedly good-natured character. His unconvincing actions are obviously a catalyst for the storyline, but at least the moment of redemption at the end of the episode manages to be both heartwarming and credible. It's a lovely touch to see the unicorn being brought back to life as well.
As the more consistently behaving Merlin, Colin Morgan unleashes his best performance yet and exudes humbleness and compassion. His magic powers effectively redundant, the appealing wizard nicely imparts a spot of clever thinking with the poisoned goblets. Also, there's a neat role-reversal in which Gaius is the one begging Merlin to use his powers to cure the Camelot famine, but to no avail.
Merlin, despite the occasional blip, has grown in strength throughout the season. Fingers crossed the impending season finale delivers in style.
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I think that this series of Merlin is brilliant. I was originally not going to watch this programme but now I am tatally addicted!! I will be soo dissapointed if there is no 2nd series. GO MERLIN WOOHOO!!
Once again a compelling episode. This series has gotten better and better. Merlin works best when there's actual drama and danger. We saw that Arthur felt for his people and that we cans see his future heroic self. Bring on the finale.
Having known many hunters as many of the men in my family are, I could understand Arthur's beginning actions. Arthur was ignorant of the special nature of the Unicorn; he didn't know they were "pure of heart". To him it was like killing a deer or a pheasant. But he obviously learned his lesson. I think it was perfectly in keeping with what we know about Arthur, that he's somewhat spoiled and arrogant but basically true hearted. The ending was amazing!
Yup, review right on target.
My only hope is that the characters grow and adapt after Arthur & Merlin make these descsions. I want to see the friendship and bond grow not get a mostly reset relationship like in Robin Hood.
Another great episode... I specially liked the fate of the Unicorn! I also liked the "running out of food" story lines which was very interesting to see the different things happening like the food going rotton and the water turning into sand but the best bit was when Aurther had to face some very different tests which was interesting to see them actually connected by one man in two of them and then their was the final test. I can't wait for the next episode and to try and perform one of the magic tricks that Merlin shows you on the website.
Best yet. Bit concerned to start with that it would be one trial after another that Arthur passed to regain Camelot, but seeing him fail the test was a good twist to it, and you really started to wonder how things could be resolved. Marvelous stuff.
Hooray. Finally a review that I agree with. I really liked this episode. I do agree that the beginning, with the killing of the unicorn, is kind of silly. But it just got better as the episode went on. The idea of testing Arthur actually feels more like the legends. The final test was a very good ending. So far, my favorite episode of the season.
Toatally agree with oyur review this week. And a great episode of merlin. My hopes are on a second series.
Yes, the beach was kinda trippy:) Very dreamlike. I hope there's a second series.
Awesomeness:) It actually felt like a legend. I liked a lot:) COntinued to be amazed by Colin Morgan, aswell^^
I loved this episode. Yes the beginning was unconvincing (why would anyone ever shoot anything that looked like a horse?) but the legendary feel- the three tests and the slow emergence of Arthur as a possibly great man have me gripped. When the series first started I was afraid that this would just be "Arthur and Merlin- the High School Years" but is turning out to be truly epic. Plus the back and forth between the two leads is spot on, great chemistry between the two.
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I can't believe the series is nearly over, no more Bradley James :-( The labyrinth of Gedref was very good, i liked the fact that arthur would die for his friend. I don't see it as a gay relationship though. It could be but i don't see it.