Merlin - fourth series?

[GettingOn]

Does anyone know if there will be a fourth series?

IMO it's time Arthur finds out Merlin has magic, he becomes king and they call it a day. Still enjoy watching it every week with ds, but there's only so many storylines with Merlin saving the day without getting any credit for it!

Thanks to you both. He's not keen on comic strip form, sadly.

BCBG - from what age would you say the Mary Stewart books are appropriate? I am thinking I will read them to him.

Would you say the marcia Williams books are too young for age 8? dd is 5 nearly 6 so they will get read anyway.

No, the MW books ar not too young for 8yo. In fact, it was probably a bit too much for my ds, but we enjoyed looking through it together.
I have seen the Greek one, but not actually read it.

Lancelot for me.
Gawain a very close second.
Has been a long time since I have found any actor quite so attractive.
Correction, I did like Gene Hunt.

Thanks Tmi

noeyedear - I remember an Usborne I used to read to my ds age 2 about dragons/knights!

Oh he'd love that! I'll have a look!

Sweet dreams!

Eeny, meeny, miney, mo...

Loved the ending. DD was so impressed that there was a Freya,although confused that Freya on the Tv didn't have glasses like her . Well, she is 4.
DS went upstairs and stuck his plastic sword into his tub of lego - that'll be easier to get out than from a rock.
As for me, Gawain is MINE.

Get to the back of the queue Prickly...

I'm put off with the level of artistic license.

Shouldn't be.

It was all rationalised by the Church, though, from the original oral tales.

Guinievre would have likely been another chieftains first wife or fav concubine whom the Arthur-type would have taken, whether she liked it or not.

Lancelot was perhaps his nephew, his sister's son.

In one of the first written texts, Lancelot do Lac, he was definitely more blood-related to the king on his mother, Evaine's, side. But even that was all rationalised.

Far earlier written texts are just pieces, not very whole. But in one that I translated from Old to modern French there features a scene in which sweet Lancelot severs the top joint of his pinkie prising open iron bars so he can get in to shag Guinievre.

Arthur had placed a load of flour all over G's bed, so that any man who walks there will leave footprints. So Lancelot jumps from the window into her bed and then back again.

But he left a trail of blood, and all over the bedsheets, too.

Busted.

The knights all had their issues, too. Parcival, the Knight of the Cart. That other one who won that chick and a bird.

Lancelot had a score to settle, too, originally.

His father's seneshal betrayed him whilst he was at war. His mother Evaine was forced to flee with him as a baby.

When she saw the castle burning from a high hill, she fell into a swoon.

His father's enemy, Claudas, sent forces in hot pursuit of baby Lancelot and were gaining on them.

Hence, the lady of the lake grabbed the baby whilst Evaine was in a swoon and rescued him, then brought him up with her fey knight partner training him.

Oh, Expat, that's a degree of showoffness that will take a while to be beaten - translating from old to modern French! I was confused by what I remembered and what was on the telly and I wiki'ed it - not the leaks, but the pedia . It is totally, not the story, but fun nevertheless.

Tmi - fight you for him...

C'mon, this guy is way too weak to have been Arthur.

'I love Gwenevere, you'll just have to deal.'

Yeah, right.

Women were chattel then. Someone like Arthur saw her, after he cut off her husband's/master's head, of course, he took her.

Even queens were the property of their husband, that's why the more successful of them used a lot of guile to get what they wanted.

People like even Elizabeth I, who refused to name a successor for very good reason.

Arthur himself would likely have had no say. 'Oh, I love the serving wench!' Um, too bad, you're marrying this woman because we need her land.

Fuck the wench all you want, have loads of children with her, but marry?

Haahaa.

People in that echelon did not marry for love. It may have come to follow after the marriage, but not for it.

Bradley James is 27, hardly a baby, no cradle-robbing there. I will do a time share with you, Taffeta on Arthur. Too much interest in Gawain and actually I find Lancelot kind of minging.

Ahem, am I the only one who thinks Gwen could pass for the dog's dinner? DH insists I'm wrong, of course.

I found the plot summary for when Lancelot meets Arthur, Merlin forges a magic weapon for Lancelot and Lancelot figures out that Merlin has magic but promises to keep his secret.

Expat, it's a modern interpretation. If you want chattel and brutality go back to the movie Excaliber. They didn't have many brown skinned people around in the original story, either.

It always makes me laugh when people criticise Merlin for its inaccuracies. The entire story of Merlin, Arthur, the Knights of the Round Table, Camelot, etc is a myth. None of it is gospel truth. Most likely, none of it actually happened although there may have been a dark ages warlord by the name of Arthur who brought a bit of leadership to his followers for a few years.

Various aspects of the myth were not in the original telling but have since been introduced and are now considered the core of the story. Merlin (the tv series) is just one take of many on the basic plot. It is as good as any. It reflects modern tastes as much as its earlier counterparts did when they appeared.

If you don't like it, that's fine and understandable. But please don't come up with "that's not how it would have been" arguments, because none of it is how it ever was.

If you can't find someone to drool over in that line up of men, you aren't looking hard enough! Arthur for me, all the way, though I do adore Gwaine too, and I even like Merlin though not in a sexual way.

Exactly! The whole thing is a story- told through the ages, interpreted each time to fit those times! This is another adaptation to meet these times. Merlin was a wizard who was born old and got younger. That's not going to have actually happened, or any of the magic stuff, because there's no such thing! It's a story and the writers are dong what writers have done since time immemorial, reinterpreting old stories.

Last night's episode was brilliant - and tons of eye candy.

Arthur is quite pretty, but Gawain and/or Lancelot much more my cup of tea.

Agree about the Mary Stewart's, they are brilliant. Haven't read them for over 15 years but I think I will dust them off .

Arthur is pretty, too pretty really, and his head is too small for his shoulders.

I still would though.

Don't force yourself tmi. I would have him willingly!

Am I allowed to say I am sure he has a big enough head for me or is that obscene?

Gawain, I could spread on toast and eat for breakfast.
Arthur, I will share with you DGirls.

Ok?

Think I just saw Gawaine on a shaving advert. Definitely better with stubble if it was him.

Gawain for definite.

Shame that Percival looked a bit of a bruiser, when he is meant to be the most noble and pure-hearted of the knights.