Merlin (BBC Series)

I'm trying to determine which house, by attitude and actions, Merlin would fall into (as of the new BBC series, ignoring all previous cannon).

Having watched Series 2, episode twelve, I'd almost categorise him as a tremere, in the end.

Not having watched it I would ask: worth watching it?

Cheers,
Xavi

Depends. Are you obsessive about your merlin being accurate to the prior works? if not, take it as an amusing story and it is. It's not the 'traditional' merlin tale, but it's definitely funny, and contains references, even if it's anachronistic in various ways also.

It's a take-it-or-leave-it show for me, but I think it has gotten better this year. Interestingly, we like to think that the writers are sitting there with a stack of Ars Magica books and mining them for inspiration; we keep finding little nuggets that use the same ideas that we use in-game (arcane connections, regiones, trying to increase penetration, etc).

Once you accept that they're in their own little universe with little connection to accepted Arthurian legend, then the show itself starts to make sense. Not bad. I know some in my troupe follow it.

So, it is about magicians faeries et al in a NON arthuirian setting. Name cpoincidence is jhust that, coincidence. Cool :slight_smile: I think I will watch one or 2 chapters in megaupload and if I enjoy it will go out and rent it.

Cheers!
Xavi

It's a "retelling" of the traditional Arthur stories. So Uther is still alive, Merlin is an apprentice wizard, Arthur is the impetuous headstrong prince, Morgana is the king's ward, Guenivere is the serving girl.

I know, it sounds a hotch-potch, but for what it is it's quite good. Just leave your preconceived ideas at the door and enjoy the show that's there.

Saw the first chapter. Looks like magic in the 14th century, with a 16th century building technique and without firearms. Not bad, except that the SETTING has the Spotless virtue from Covenants. :slight_smile: Tonight at dinner time I will give it a second shot and see if I enjoy it. If I do it is videostore time. A series about swords and spellcrafting in a large covenant? Oh yeah baby! :laughing:

Cheers,
Xavi

Well it's pretty easy to see Gaius as Merlin's master.

And referring to magic as a 'gift' and 'of the old religion' (Of the cult of Mercury :stuck_out_tongue:)

Seems like a Rego specialist so far. No tremere in the first 3 chapters either :slight_smile:

Xavi

I've only watched one episode. (Season one, episode 10, I think.) The fact that they were all speaking Japanese was a bit distracting.

Oh, they aren't in your version?

(NHK have picked it up and are showing it on satellite here; based on the one episode it looks entertaining. And as legitimate as any other version of the Arthurian legends.)

It does some serious changes to the "canon" of the arthurian legends (whatever that means), though. The origin of excalibur is different, there is a local joking dragon, genevieve is a servant, not a princess, lancelot is a commoner, ... Still, it is a nice B series fantasy show. :slight_smile: I am enjoying it. And no, definitively no japanese in my version of the show!! :laughing:

Cheers,
Xavi

I just watched the troll episode. that is SO going to be a session IMS!!!! :laughing: I have a companion that is going to love playing the role of Uther,... even if he will not know it in those exact therms ... ("now, you see, the rest of the covenant have been enchanted; since you were collecting vis at the White Glade at the time, you have not been misguided by that spell....")

The saga certainly looks like a covenant with a bunch of magi and companions jumping around. Nice find there :slight_smile:

Cheers,
Xavi

I wish there were an English version of the French series Kaamelott for all you anglophones... It's a totally whacky, absurd Knights of the Round Table. Their Merlin does anything BUT useful successful magic. Arthur is unhappily married to Guenievre, he is surrounded by blundering fools and their Holy Grail quest is definitely hopeless...

Sounds very British in style, then. Like Blackadder.

Sounds fun. :mrgreen:

Sorry for hijacking the thread, but I thought I'd provide more details on Kaamelott for interested parties.
Note that I am unaware of the English version of some Arthurian names, for whom I have used the French version.

Kaamelott is structured as 3.5 minutes-long vignettes, that only occasionally directly follow each other. They have 6 of them in a half-hour show. 6 seasons have been filmed.
King Arthur made a political marriage with Guinevere, and he cannot, ever, bring himself to have sex with her. Instead he keeps several mistresses. Guinevere is roundish and is dumb, dumb, dumb. Arthur's in-laws live in with Arthur in Kaamelott, constantly angry at anything. Leodagan, Guinevere's father, is obsessed with war and keeps requesting funds for siege engines and fortifications. Once, he had trebuchets built inside the castle's courtyard but they were too large to be maneuvered, let alone exit through the gate.

Merlin is an old druid who likes herbs and animals, but he is blatantly incompetent as a court wizard. He has repetitive botches in his hermetic lab, and always makes excuses for not delivering potions as requested. Arthur eventually hires a second enchanter, self-centered but competent Elias who bickers with his lab-mate Merlin.

The Round Table is a sorry bunch of knights. Percival and Caradoc may be the worse of them. They think highly of themselves but are really incompetent fools. Half their adventures end up in the tavern, they never understand the point of most missions, they can't understand many common words and instead they invent neologisms, and they invent (boring) adventure reports so that they have something to share at the Table.
Lancelot is the only shining star of the group. Acting as Arthur's right hand man, he is eventually fed up with the others and strikes out on his own as a knight-errant, setting up a rival military camp where the lovestruck Guinevere eventually joins him. Arthur doesn't mourn her loss.
Arthur's brother-in-law and nephew, Yvain and Gawain, are two teenage wannabe knights who excel at being slackers. They don't understand any more than Percival anyway.
Bohort of Gaunes is an effeminate parody, ashamed of having no military training at all, frightened of any animal larger than an adult rabbit, and suggests folk dance festivals rather than beer chugging and warfare.

Kaamelott is often at war with Saxons, Huns, Burgundians, Vandals, Vikings and Goths. THey often beseige Kaamelott with overwhelming numbers, and Arthur has to out-wit them into leaving in peace. Most notably, Attila the Hun and his two-man army (the pun is better in French) often have the Britons tremble in fear.
Arthur has visions of the Lady of the Lake, who tries to give him hints to finally advance the Quest for the Grail, but she is often too vague to make sense and Arthur misinterprets the signs. The gods eventually casts her down to the material world for doing a poor job of keeping Arthur and the Knights on track.
There are also frequent appearances of two peasants who bring their neighbors' quarrel up to the king, and also often complain of a myriad problems at the castle.

Etc, etc. I could go on, but you get the point.

Looking it up, it seems a Canadian version has been released with English subtitling.
So, might be attainable.