I checked, and I think that it may not air here until next week. Because the DVR states "Darkest Hour" for both HD and regular channel. (I tend to do HD exclusively too - because I have an HD TV and want it to fill the entire screen.)
So What sort of metaphors did you see in the episode?
I need to come back to this. Just finished doing an meta on tonight's Once Upon a Time - a Jane Espenson written episode about Rumplestilskin.
Off the top of my head? *the cold and hot bit. Fire being a protective entity - which goes back to the Dragon, and to Merlin's biological father - the Dragon Lord. And Merlin's own power - which is flames. He uses fire or will light the torch. (Reminds me a bit of Harry Dresden..who I'm missing at the moment, damn, Butcher, I want another Dresden novel). Morgana on the other hand - has always been identified with cold, or water. That's also male and female traditionally. Female is the moon, the tides, the cool north, while male is the sun, the desert, the heat. * Morgana's match is Emeris (or is that Amaris?) Merlin...he shadows her. He will walk in her shadow. Fire and Ice. He's her doom. She opens the door to the spirit world, and he holds inside him the means of shutting it. She sacrifices Morghaust (her sister) to obtain power, Merlin wishes to sacrifice himself to save Arthur (while Arthur wishes to sacrifice himself).
There's also the father/son parallels...with Guise and Uther. Uther/Guise, Arthur/Merlin. You can see them echoing each other.
The ghosts or spirits of the dead...throughout the series the characters carry the baggage of those poor souls that Uther tortured and killed for the greater good. Morgana is who she is in part because of that. They represent the magical world that Uther wishes to seal away, and repress. Uther is locked in a cold despair...and the cold spirits of the dead ravish the earth in his wake...because he seals away and represses magic. Merlin hides his magic and is frozen. The repression of magic...symbolized by the spirits attempting to break free.
I think the Arthur story - at least in the Celt and Welsh tales - was really one about the war between the old religion and the new one. Or the shift from superstition to enlightenment. My father's been reading this non-fiction book called Swerve - about how the world changed during the Renaissance. The German invasion pushed the world into the Dark Ages, after the Romans fell out of power, the Germans less educated, then there was a resurgence of science and art. I think the Arthurian legend is in part about that conflict. Here - we see it shown in the battle of spirit and flesh, fire and ice, male and female. Arthur uses a sword, Morgana uses magic and manipulation. Same deal with Merlin - Merlin uses his wits, intelligence, while Arthur is brute strength. The series shows how you need both, not one or the other. Merlin needs Arthur as much as Arthur needs Merlin. Morgana's weakness is she doesn't have an Arthur, well maybe Argvaine...
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branchandroot
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Date: 2012-01-09 03:33 am (UTC)So What sort of metaphors did you see in the episode?
I need to come back to this. Just finished doing an meta on tonight's Once Upon a Time - a Jane Espenson written episode about Rumplestilskin.
Off the top of my head?
*the cold and hot bit. Fire being a protective entity - which goes back to the Dragon, and to Merlin's biological father - the Dragon Lord. And Merlin's own power - which is flames. He uses fire or will light the torch.
(Reminds me a bit of Harry Dresden..who I'm missing at the moment, damn, Butcher, I want another Dresden novel). Morgana on the other hand - has always been identified with cold, or water. That's also male and female traditionally. Female is the moon, the tides, the cool north, while male is the sun, the desert, the heat.
* Morgana's match is Emeris (or is that Amaris?) Merlin...he shadows her.
He will walk in her shadow. Fire and Ice. He's her doom. She opens the door to the spirit world, and he holds inside him the means of shutting it. She sacrifices Morghaust (her sister) to obtain power, Merlin wishes to sacrifice himself to save Arthur (while Arthur wishes to sacrifice himself).
There's also the father/son parallels...with Guise and Uther. Uther/Guise,
Arthur/Merlin. You can see them echoing each other.
The ghosts or spirits of the dead...throughout the series the characters carry the baggage of those poor souls that Uther tortured and killed for the greater good. Morgana is who she is in part because of that. They represent the magical world that Uther wishes to seal away, and repress. Uther is locked in a cold despair...and the cold spirits of the dead ravish the earth in his wake...because he seals away and represses magic. Merlin hides his magic and is frozen. The repression of magic...symbolized by the spirits attempting to break free.
I think the Arthur story - at least in the Celt and Welsh tales - was really one about the war between the old religion and the new one. Or the shift from superstition to enlightenment. My father's been reading this non-fiction book called Swerve - about how the world changed during the Renaissance. The German invasion pushed the world into the Dark Ages, after the Romans fell out of power, the Germans less educated, then there was a resurgence of science and art. I think the Arthurian legend is in part about that conflict. Here - we see it shown in the battle of spirit and flesh, fire and ice, male and female. Arthur uses a sword, Morgana uses magic and manipulation. Same deal with Merlin - Merlin uses his wits, intelligence, while Arthur is brute strength. The series shows how you need both, not one or the other. Merlin needs Arthur as much as Arthur needs Merlin. Morgana's weakness is she doesn't have an Arthur, well maybe Argvaine...