Valiant, ain't he great?!

Okay, it took me 5 minutes to notice the snakes protruding from his shield, because I was staring at Arthur, and I actually jumped out of my seat. Urgh, I'm getting shivers.

Alright, to begin, this episodes starts with some very eerie implications. There is a man, obviously unimportant, who seems to be charming some sort of shield. Then a sort of brutish man appears and the unimportant man presents him the shield. They exchange words and it all seems relatively mundane, when the snakes on the shield actually COME TO LIFE!! They're hissing and being all snake-y, and the unimportant man tells the brutish man that "they", I really hope he doesn't mean the snakes even though that seems unlikely at this point, will do whatever his buyer wishes. The brute smiles, as though impressed and I note something significantly off with this man, and then orders the snakes to "kill him", meaning the man who just made the shield. As I flinch at the loud noises of snakes attacking their creator, my flinches are interrupted by beautiful sound of the Merlin theme. Thank Goodness!

Not one of his best facial expressions.

Now, my screen is filled with the image of a reluctant Merlin being forced into armor and having to defend himself, rather pathetically, against Arthur. Arthur, the golden, seems to be practicing for something as he encourages Merlin to fight back, he also briefly mentions an upcoming tournament. At this I can't seem to help my imagination running wild with visions of wicked sword fights and jousting tournaments. By the time my musings are finished, Merlin has been knocked flat on his sweet little behind by Arthur, it appears that they have not yet eliminated their prominent dislike for one another, destiny predicted by dragons aside.

(Insert scene where Merlin is stretched out by Gaius, who is still a physician, Merlin ponders the importance of the upcoming tournament. Gaius mentions the pressure Arthur is under by his father. Merlin realizes that his small town boy ways have no knowledge of the customs of court activities, such as trivial matters like, say, putting armor on someone. Which is something he'll have to do for Arthur some the next day.)

Next, Merlin is seen gathering armor and Gwen is seen placing it upon him. She goes through quite a few pieces and since I didn't listen, they shall be void of this entry. Although Gwen has made quite a few appearances so far, I have yet to feel any connection to her character. It is clear that she is helpful. Offhandedly mentions that she is the daughter of a blacksmith. But she also seems to act quite friendly towards our Merlin. Quite friendly. Hmm...

 Finally, the tournament begins. I am met with the sight of various men, all knights, gathered together in a type of arena. King Uther, the magic hating killer, goes on a bit about the prize for the tournament, which is a lot of money. And then among these men, I find the man with the shield of snakes. With this, I feel just the slightest bit of apprehension and hatred of snakes. And then the fighting begins.

My eyes and ears are filled with clashing swords, yelling men and battles with two consistent victors: Prince Arthur and Knight man-with-snakes. Deductible reasoning forces me to thin, and dread, the fact that Arthur and Snake-knight could very well come into combat. And the Snake-man could win, possibly killing our golden boy in the process. 

And now to continue with scheduled programming, I am now in the courtroom as a ball seems to take place. The lovely Morgana is seen having her hand kissed by each knight from the competition, next to Uther who nods at each man, with Gwen, who is her handmaiden, just a little bit behind her. Finally the creepy snake man, who I've learned is named Knight Valiant, is given praise by King Uther. Than, he engages in some rather obvious flirting with Morgana and Arthur is seen in the background, looking displeased. 

When Arthur reaches the line, Arthur and is distant and cold towards his father and quite sensitive to Morgana's little barbs. Fortunately, Arthur's further embarrassment is saved when Morgana is seen dreaming. Their are visions of snakes, Valiant and...a dead Arthur. She quickly awakens, horrified by her dreams. (This should be noted as her "dreams' are hinted to be much more than that.

Next, is a brief interlude of a fighting Valiant who actually goes as far as having his snakes publicly bite his opponent. honestly, the man hates everything associated with magic, yet congratulates the man who uses it before his very eyes. Hypocrite! How this escapes the notice of the magic-loathing Uther remains unknown to me. Gaius is seen tending to the injured knight and Merlin is then seen to have a most likely idiotic and impulsive idea.

Our dear Merlin, who had earlier heard hissing coming from Valiant's shield, is seen creeping through a corridor to Knight Valiant's room. He sees Valiant feeding a live mouse (gross!) to his snakes, which I find quite cruel. Merlin gasps, because subtlety is now dead, and is seen running through the castle back to Gaius to report that his suspicions have been confirmed.

However, when Merlin tells this to Gaius, Gaius so kindly informs him that in order to save the knight that was bitten by the snakes, who seems to be quite close to death, is by finding some of the snakes venom. Hence, Merlin is probably the one who will have to go and find the sample. Good luck, my magical friend!

Now Merlin is seen, once again poorly creeping through the corridor, on his way to Valiant's room. After dodging a few people here and there he arrives and finally wonders how to make the snakes appear. Eventually, he points Valiant's sword at the shield and hopes for the best. Luckily, one of the snakes slithers outside of the shield and opens it horrifying mouth. Thankfully, Merlin manages to make quick work of the snake's head (see, he can do anything!), and thus interrupts the heavy beating of my heart.


Merlin presents the head to Gaius and the elderly physician collects the venom. Clearly still on the adrenaline of his previous deed, Merlin tells Gaius that he will present the snake head  and their knightly witness once he's saved, to Arthur because Arthur cannot fight against Valiant in the tournament. Gaius agrees and Merlin is next seen in Arthur's chambers.

Shockingly, Arthur actually believes Merlin and presents the evidence to the king. However, this evidence seems not to matter to the king when considering his clear favouritism for Knight Valiant. Thus, believing the latter above his own son. May I just interject that this man has many, many issues.


Unfortunately,  the evidence of Merlin and Arthur loses its value when the snakes slither into Gaius' chambers and re-bite the recovering knight. Thus, killing their only witness. Hence, Arthur being humiliated in court by his father and Arthur gaining anger towards Merlin. After returning to the prince's rooms, Arthur feels betrayed and says that Merlin is fired! Quite harsh or not harsh enough, I can't really decide.


Next, Merlin is left discovering how to reveal Valiant in front of the king to avoid Arthur's inevitable death (as predicted by dear Morgana, who is distinctly on edge around Valiant).


And now, for the moment of truth, the Battle Royale between Valiant, the brute, and Arthur, the beautiful. Now, as the two battle it out, Merlin perfects a new spell of bringing inanimate objects to life. He arrives at the tournament just in time to find Arthur's sword knocked away. Quickly, Merlin says some fancy words and forces the snakes to reveal themselves. King Uther finally sees this and orders the arrest of Valiant, however no one has yet been able to control the fact that Valiant has a sword and three snakes pointed at Arthur, who has neither a sword nor a shield. Luckily, Morgana is determined to have an alternative ending compared to her dreams and throws Arthur the sword of the king, who she was sitting next to. Arthur skillfully grabs hold of the sword and with a few swipes, makes quick work of the snakes and Knight Valiant. Yay!


My screen then fills with the scene of Morgana gloating about Saving Arthur, and Arthur's rejection of the idea. They exchange barbs once more and clearly things have returned to normalcy. Arthur then approaches Merlin, declaring that he should come back to work. Merlin seems surprisingly happy about this until Arthur rattles off Merlin's chores for the next day, thus concluding the second episode.

All photos are from: http://www.merlintvshow.com