Over the past five years this fantasy take on the Arthurian legend has been a viewing staple at a family-friendly time on Sunday afternoons.
At its heart was a classic tale of good versus evil, and the value of love and true friendship. It is also a cautionary tale about the power of magic and its eternal corollaries, suspicion, fear and prejudice. The underlying message, which becomes clear in the last couple of episodes, is that magic itself is not evil but bad things happen when it is used for evil purposes. It comes from the earth and life itself, so it can never be destroyed and those who are gifted with it should not be persecuted. There are also a couple of dragons thrown in for good measure! The young Merlin grows over the years, both as a person and a physician and a powerful sorcerer. He lives a double life - on the one hand as Emrys (“immortal’ in the Druid tongue), a dragon whisperer and the most powerful wizard who ever lived, and a humble servant and friend to Arthur and his Queen Guinevere. Arthur only becomes aware that Merlin 'has magic' in the final episode in which Arthur meets his fate (as in the legend, killed by Mordred) and not even Merlin can save him. After the Great Dragon delivers them to the shores of Avalon and Arthur is fading into the shadows of death, Merlin throws into the lake the sword Excalibur, forged in a dragon's breath and recently used by Merlin finally to dispatch Morgana, who had devoted her entire energies and magical powers to trying to kill Arthur so she could assume the throne of Camelot, and the hand of the 'Lady of the Lake' rises up to take it into the depths. The high priestesses on the island in the centre of the lake were supposedly the only ones who could save Arthur from the fragment of Mordred's sword (also forged in a dragon's breath) lodged in his chest and working its way towards his heart.
The Great Dragon tells a crying Merlin that Arthur is a "once and future king" and he will return again when Albion needs him most. Merlin places the dead (or dying) Arthur in a boat and sends him across the lake (presumably to the high priestesses).
Abruptly in the next scene a lorry roars by the lake, and an old and wizened Merlin is seen walking along the side of the road, and pauses briefly in silhouette in front of the citadel across the lake, and then disappears into the distance. It appears that he has been alone and watchfully waiting to serve Arthur again for hundreds of years.
Suddenly it was over and gone, and I think on analysis the overwhelming feeling I had was grief and loss. Without seeking in any way to trivialise meaningful grief and loss, it was as if you had both lost some people you had come to know and like and feel an attachment to over time, and not only that but it had finished on such a tragic note. Arthur was gone, his great love Guinevere had been left behind to rule Camelot on her own, and over time Merlin would also have lost everyone else who has dear to him. Centuries later the seemingly immortal Merlin, who considered his life's destiny and purpose to serve Arthur, seems lost and alone and without purpose. One can only hope that one day Arthur does indeed rise again.
I have had this feeling once before when the Scandinavian crime series "The Eagle" unexpectedly finished after three seasons. There had been the same sense of being comfortable with the characters who were on the side of good, and looking forward to finding out what happens next. At the conclusion of the last episode of the third season screened, the troubled and Aspergers-ish eponymous lead character Halgrim Halgrimsson (nicknamed "The Eagle") at last has his own home in Denmark and is sitting in the kitchen bathed in sunlight and sheer white curtains fluttering in the breeze whilst he looks contentedly at a photograph of his baby daughter who lives in Sweden. It is as if there is now closure on a whole chapter of his life and hope for the future. As a result I was disappointed but not surprised to look online and discover that the series had wrapped up on that note. I very much fear that the outstanding Danish series "The Protectors" (which was made by the same team) has met the same fate after only two seasons. Let's hope not!
I suppose it is the mark of a good drama when it draws people in to follow it and to become attached to the characters. Over the past twelve months in addition to "Merlin" and "The Protectors", I have enjoyed watching the other Scandinavian series "The Bridge", the American series "Homeland" and the quirky Australian series "Offspring".
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