Title: The Crystal Cave
Written By: Julian Jones
Directed By: Alice Troughton
Special Guests: Karl Johnson as Taliesin, Emilia Fox as Morgause.

Brought to you by OBS Staff Member Karolina

Image from Merlin bbc

Arthur and Merlin run through the forest in slow motion, we hear them breathing hard and intermittently turning their heads to look behind themselves. Suddenly, the scene is at normal speed, and we see that Arthur and Merlin are being chased by very, very angry bandits. They stop behind a rock, and Arthur crows happily that he had told Merlin that they could outrun the bandits, and that Merlin should trust him – which earns Arthur an incredulous look. Suddenly, Merlin and Arthur are attacked from in front of them, and on the run again. When Merlin tries to query where they are going, Arthur bids Merlin to trust him again, which Merlin answers with the same look as before. The boys run into a clearing where two huge statues of king like figures (It seriously looks like something from The Lord of The Rings) stand. Arthur runs towards them, non plussed, while Merlin stops in his tracks abruptly, and softly calls out to Arthur. Arthur sees that Merlin has stopped, berates him, and then pulls him along to pass the two statues, which Merlin stares up at. there is a little maze thing that Merlin and Arthur walk through, which Arthur tells Merlin is the Valley of the Fallen Kings – and Merlin asks if it is cursed. Arthur states that it isn’t , unless someone is superstitious. He assures Merlin that the bandits will not follow them into the valley, and, as an after thought adds ‘trust me’, causing Merlin to whisper ‘If you say that one more time … ‘ through clenched teeth.

Once again Arthur is wrong, and the boys run for their lives. This time, an archer shoots an arrow – which catches Arthur in the back. Merlin calmly tells Arthur what has happened before Arthur passes out, and Merlin drags him to temporary safety. He proceeds to do anything to make Arthur regain consciousness – magic, and even calling him every derogatory name he has called Arthur in the past (“Dollop head”, “Listen to me, clot pole- I don’t care if you die. There are plenty of other princes. You’re not the only pompous, supercilious, condescending , royal imbecile I could work for. The world’s full of them.”) Nothing rouses him, and Merlin , defeated, moves to a little pool of water where he washes Arthur’s blood off of his hands and starts to cry. Suddenly, an old man stands over Merlin, and asks him why he is crying. Merlin answers that his friend is dying. The old man states that his tears are wasted, as it is not Arthur’s time to die. The man moves to stand over Arthur. He introduces himself as Taliesin. Merlin starts to introduce himself, but Taliesin stops him, stating that he knows who he is and that their meeting is a long time coming, and calls Merlin ‘Emrys’. He kneels beside Arthur and uses magic on him. Arthur grunts lightly. Taliesin tells Merlin that Arthur is asleep and will be healing in a few hours, if memory serves him correctly. He tells Merlin to follow him and leads him into a cave. Merlin protests lightly , but follows anyway. Taliesin leads them into a cave, full of crystals. Taliesin tells Merlin that in this cave, Magic was born. Merlin looks around hesitantly, and sees an image in one of the crystals, of Morgana, as she is now, on the throne, wearing a crown – and himself as an old man. Merlin quickly looks away. He states that he has seen something like this before, in the crystal of Neahtid (Merlin S2 ‘The witches quickening’). He is informed that the crystal of Neahtid started it’s life in this cave, and is urged to look into the crystal again, Taliesin telling him to use the power for good. As Merlin looks, he sees Morgana standing near a rearing horse, followed by the image of Morgana walking down a hallway, Morgana unsheathing a bejewelled dagger, a hand dripping with red liquid, and a fire with himself screaming. Merlin quickly turns away from these images, only to have them repeat in another crystal, with the addition of Morgana holding the bejeweled dagger over a sleeping Uther, and thrusting it downwards, and Uther waking violently. In the cave, Merlin falls to his knees, distraught and gasping for breath.

Merlin is back with Arthur, staring off into space. A now awake Arthur thrusts Merlin’s coat at him, and tells him that he looks like a startled stout. Merlin fired back with telling him that at least he doesn’t look like a bone-idle toad, and that maybe Arthur will one day magically turn into a handsome prince, but with the outlaw on magic, that would probably never happen. He distractedly tells a completely confused looking Arthur that it’s time to go, and heads off.

On the way back, Merlin marches in front of Arthur – ignoring and deflecting Arthur’s attempts to get him to talk. Merlin informs Arthur that the arrow didn’t pierce his armour, and that he knocked himself out when he fell. He also doesn’t answer Arthur when he begrudgingly acknowledges Merlin, and when he suggests giving Merlin a reward, Merlin answers that all he wants is some peace and quiet. Once the boys are back in Camelot, Arthur reports back to his father, and gives credit to Merlin for getting them away from the bandits. Uther tells him that they were worried Arthur wouldn’t make it back for Morgana’s birthday feast the next day.

Merlin tells Gaius that he can’t get rid of the images he saw in the crystal cave, and Gaius stresses that Merlin was lucky to have seen what he saw – that before the great purge, wizards would speak of the cave with great reverence. Merlin also finds out from Gaius that Taliesin, who had been a seer, died 300 years ago. Merlin deduces that the images he saw must be imminent, and that Morgana must be planning to kill Uther soon. Gaius heeds caution, saying that the crystals are treacherous, and that there is nothing to suggest that the goings on are imminent, and there is probably more to the story that Merlin realises. They begin to eat their dinner, and Merlin questions what the soup they’re eating is. Gaius answers in a cheeky way that sometimes it’s best not to know.

READ THE REST OF THE REVIEW OF ‘THE CRYSTAL CAVE’ HERE
This was a really interesting episode – some key factors of the legend were mentioned and appropriated (Arthur and Morgana actually being related, the crystal cave, Merlin and Morgana’s struggle). Again, we see the grey aspects of both Merlin and Uther’s personalities. Merlin being too loyal to the people around him to do ‘what must be done’ and Uther struggling to be who he is, and a king. Merlin and Arthur are going strong, with Arthur sharing ideas with Merlin and worrying about him; Gwen and Arthur … well, still needs some work, but they’ll get there, I always have had a weakness for trying to prevent future events from happening, but causing them instead story lines anyway, so this was an intriguing take on the legend and that idea.