Merlin
Episode 11: “The Labyrinth of Gedref”
BBC One, Saturday 29 November 2008
Written by Howard Overman
Directed by Stuart Orme
Warning: this review contains some spoilers. If you’d rather not know what the story is going to include, bookmark this page and read it after viewing.
Even today, British royalty is closely associated with the countryside pursuit of hunting, so it’s no surprise that Camelot’s Prince Arthur should enjoy some blood sport in the forest. Our remarkably 21st century Merlin, however, can’t understand the appeal of hunting for sport, and is upset when Arthur chooses to kill a unicorn in order to triumphantly take its single horn back to Camelot for his father’s approval. As a servant, though, Merlin is powerless to stop his princely master, just as Gaius’s warnings about potential unnatural consequences are quickly dismissed by Uther Pendragon.
The lords of Camelot quickly change their tune, though, when crops die overnight and only sand comes from their wells. The whole kingdom is quickly brought to the brink of an ecological disaster as food shortages force Uther to declare rationing and night-long curfews. But one figure ignores the curfew—the magical keeper of the unicorns, Anhora (Frank Finlay), who comes to the castle to warn how Arthur, by needlessly killing the unicorn, has unleashed a curse on Camelot. A curse that only he can remove.
At first, Arthur refuses to accept the fact that he’s to blame, but during the course of the episode—as he is unknowinglly tested for the “purity of his heart”—the young prince gradually comes to realize that it is indeed up to him to sort matters out… even at the cost of his own life.
This episode hinges on the relationship that’s been established between Arthur and Merlin; it’s much more a friendship than simply the standard deference between servant and master, and yet it remains ultimately unbalanced by Arthur’s ability to pull rank, particularly when they’re both in public. The episode is not helped by the writer’s decision to go for some frankly facile humor surrounding Merlin’s attempt to pass off rat stew as a meal fit for a prince; it’s completely out of kilter with the serious tone of the rest of the episode and undermines Arthur’s later willingness to sacrifice himself for not just the people of Camelot but also Merlin.
Sadly, this emphasis on Merlin and Arthur also leaves little opportunity for anybody else to shine: Frank Finlay’s mysterious figure is limited in effect, while Anthony Head’s Uther Pendragon is reduced to his original one-dimensional, anti-magic caricature. And Richard Wilson’s excellent Gaius is left little to do than frown from the sidelines.
After passing one test (showing mercy and generosity) but failing a second (still willing to put his own pride ahead of the lives of his people), Arthur heads for the titular Labyrinth of Gedref, which—despite the best efforts of the Mill—looks just like a relatively simple hedge maze. Close behind is Merlin, determined to protect the young Pendragon, so he is rather put out when Arthur only goes and drinks what is said to be a poisoned drink.
It’s not actually poisoned, of course; it’s enough to pass the test that Arthur is willing to drink what he thinks is poison. But that, in part, is symbolic of the problem at the heart of this episode; actions are not carried through as the writers pull back from going too far. At the end, even the unicorn is returned to life—courtesy of a hurriedly pushed voice over—which leaves us wondering if Arthur’s lesson was really worth the effort. All in all, not the show’s best episode.