- The Long Night For several episodes now, we’ve known Morgan can assume the form of Igraine and despite not really doing much in Castle Pendragon except winning the favour of a few lords, we have impatiently waited for her to unleash her grand plan that would see her try and win the throne from her stepbrother, Arthur. So, what do we get? Another invitation for Arthur and his knights to come for dinner. Sigh. Now, this could have been an excellent premise if we hadn’t known that Morgan was behind it from the very start. Let me explain. We all know Morgan is up to no good, but this episode could have turned that on its head by assuming that she knew nothing of the potential attack that awaited our heroes. Instead, all of her actions could have been played as her potentially realising her errors of judgement with Arthur and Igraine (making those scenes actually interesting to watch), and the action of sending her knights to rout the warlord’s troops as a desperate act to gain his respect and possibly favour. From the moment Morgan stepped out of her bath and confronted her masturbating admirer (I’m not making that up), we knew that the entire episode was yet another plan of hers, and thanks to the pre-episode “Last time on Camelot…“, we knew it had something to do with using her shapeshifting abilities to assume Igraine’s form. The writers need to know that, as an audience, if we are five or six steps ahead of our heroes, it makes for very dull entertainment. The moment flaming arrows set a building on fire, we knew there wasn’t really a warlord out there. If there was, what kind of idiot sets a barn alight and doesn’t instantly follow up with an attack? As a result, we have to watch the knights engage in ham-fisted conjecture about who could be behind the attack, only to have their exact theory confirmed by Morgan’s admirer when he returns from a scouting party. How convenient. Even Merlin, who distrusts everyone, doesn’t seem to be a bit surprised by this. Even when Morgan’s forty troops reportedly drive off the warlord’s forces (that numbered enough to crush Castle Pendragon), the sorcerer says he would be interested in seeing the bodies, yet does nothing. Is everyone in Camelot an idiot? Are they just going to start believing Morgan’s solider without viewing the carnage for themselves, or even looking to see if this warlord is among the dead? As a result, the final twist that Morgan has replaced Igraine was merely an ‘Oh, I saw that coming’ moment, instead of the surprise it could have been. And what was the point in getting the knights drunk? It seemed that the ale they drank just made them more emotional, and in no way affected their physical faculties. How useful. I may sound like I really hated the episode, and I guess to a degree I did, not because it was bad but just because it was so dull to watch. There was no surprise, no real twist and worst of all, no excitement. The best thing I can say is it was a nice ensemble number with everyone getting their own scenes, which put some meat on the bones of some of the less interesting characters. I’m looking at you, Leontes. Follow Den Of Geek on Twitter right here. And be our Facebook chum here.
