Gaius (Richard Wilson) explains that dark magic has been used and Merlin (Colin Morgan) suspects Morgana's handiwork. He tells Arthur the same and Arthur is determined to find Gwen. Once again the knights ride out, including Leon and Percival, they must have made a miraculous recovery. Morgana holds Gwen as bait in a trap to lure Arthur to the Dark Tower. Leaving her isolated and alone whilst she has visions of seeing Elyan, Merlin and then even Arthur, who all laugh at her ominously.
Percival and Leon have the same dream about a dark tower and it's a place Arthur knows about. Now we know why they had to come along. A dark and foreboding place which not only haunts the dreams of men, but also takes down armies. Merlin hasn't heard of this place but tells Arthur that Morgana is luring Arthur into a trap. Gwaine (Eoin Macken) was however dreaming of cheese which tasted like apples, food as usual and goes back to sleep. All the knights agree to accompany Arthur as Gwen is their queen, sister, friend. Gwaine even comments on her being a damsel in distress in a tower, which is enough for him. Arthur loses hope but Merlin reminds him of the promise he made to bring her home.
To reach the tower, the knights must navigate a forest and they find they're going round in circles as they come across Gwaine's torn cloak. Setting up camp for the night, Merlin is awoken by noises in the forest leading him to Queen Mab (Kelly Wenham) the forest's ruler. She speaks in riddles and knows him as Emrys, doesn't everyone. Merlin can't understand her, then she leaves him with a riddle and warning one of them won't come back. Again no surprises for guessing who that could be, viz, Elyan. Well he's the obvious choice since they've just come from visiting the grave.
Morgana invites Gwen to share food with her as she's "fading away." Gwen refuses to be broken by her. That cobweb infested table reminiscent of Great Expectations, that of Miss Haversham. Morgana finally comes to Gwen again telling her mandrake root can be cruel and this time Gwen takes her hand and they hug for comfort. Showing Morgana did break her down eventually.
Merlin says he can lead them to the tower and Arthur is sceptical. Elyan trusts him and suggests they should do the same. He finally leads them out of the forest and closer to the tower. Stumbling at one point and finding himself close to a sword in a 'burial' ground of long dead knights. Reaching the tower, they are confronted by a hidden trap, as Elyan forges ahead without heed. They find the slabs are displaced by weight as arrows shoot out at them when stepped upon. They must distribute their weight accordingly. Elyan reaches Gwen and sees her being held by a floating, magical sword. He fights the sword and is struck by it, eventually disposing of it out the window.
The others arrive too late as Elyan is dead but he tells Gwen how proud their father would have been of her and also of Elyan too. Arthur can't believe it and neither can we, again showing how Morgana has robbed another of the knights from Camelot in her nefarious schemes. Elyan is buried in knightly fashion. Merlin tells Gaius he was warned of this and he can only comfort Merlin by telling him it wasn't his fault and that the sword was intended for Arthur and he saved him.
That night, Gwen meets Morgana for a secret rendezvous and she tells her she's still with Morgana and that she trusts her and hates everyone else. No one wanted to find what happened to Morgana, they leave the tower as is without destroying it so it can lay claim to more victims and Arthur doesn't have any feelings of revenge or otherwise at Gwen being kidnapped and Elyan being killed. We do get to hear Morgana tell Gwen how she was chained at the bottom of a pit in darkness for two years and is surprised Gwen didn't know of this. Why would she? None of the others know either.
The Dark Tower a remnant from Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers perhaps? Maybe if they rushed the ending less then they could have gotten more out of it. Gwen succumbs to magic once again s in last season's Lancelot Du Lac, which led to her being cast out from Camelot. This time round she is firmly in Camelot and in a better position to perform every task asked of her by Morgana. A shame Elyan was killed off considering he was her brother, maybe Morgan didn't bank on him being the one to rescue her and it seems ironic in a way that she takes hold of the sister whilst the brother is killed. Not to mention him being a black knight. The only one in Camelot.
What happened to Mordred this episode after his initiation as a knight proper last episode. Perhaps one reason why Elyan was killed off, seeing as he served his purpose even if he was under utilized in the show. Then there's Merlin and Arthur becoming more as one, as Merlin promises, "we're not going to lose her, we'll bring her home I swear. " Leading onto their arms gripped in unison. Also the forest was reminiscent of Sleeping Beauty. Of course there were the Dark Tower series of books written by Stephen King, which I have read, shockingly, ha. Where there is also a character of 'Maerlyn.'
Merlin uses his glowing eyes this episode to guide him out of the forest, something he hasn't done before. My sister said that Gwen could actually be Morgana when she got out of bed and headed out, but darn, it wasn't. Oh and Arthur no longer sleeps shirtless!!!
Not a bad episode, with Morgana getting her own way at times and this was one of them. If Gwen wasn't even more vulnerable before she is now after losing Elyan. But if she was under Morgana's enchantment, then have to ask how much of losing Elyan really impacted on her and did she feel real loss and sorrow, or was she just going along with everything as Morgana wants her too. When Arthur puts his arm around her at Elyan's send off, she seems emotionless. Just staring.
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