The Pendragon Cycle: Rise of the Merlin continues grim and sober in episode five. Last time, Merlin met two of the lesser kings and persuaded them to pledge loyalty to Aurellius, or at least think about it. This time, he rides into The Old North to urge Custennin and the Northern kings to join. Tension has been building since he left Ynys Avallach. None of the kings have welcomed the prospect of fighting the Saxons, seeming to prefer keeping their heads down until the fight comes to them.

Custennin doesn’t welcome Merlin either, but for different reasons. They have history, which has been described and hinted at. In fact, everyone who remembers him knows of these dark deeds. If you’ve seen the trailer, you’ve seen a key moment that has defined Merlin’s present-day character but has yet to be explored for viewers. I think we’re going to get that in episode six. I’ll let you know.

This episode is entitled “The Price of Failure,” which is how Merlin approaches the anger he gets from Custennin. He believes he failed. On the other side of Britain, Uther explores his failures by continuing to bark at the lesser kings when he should be building their confidence in their cause and Aurellius as the High King. He’s not working with soldiers; he’s working with proud men who are used to commanding those around them. Scottish actor Chick Allan (shown above) plays the proud, but sensible, King Gorlas, who may be the strongest warlord among them. Will he submit to Aurellius’s leadership?

As you can tell, the series plot isn’t galloping along. It’s walking at a good pace, focusing on the main characters. This ep. relieved a little tension with two climatic scenes near the end, but the main wire that’s been taut for so long doesn’t slack. The brief scene at the close had me asking, “What?” aloud, because I thought that’s what we were getting this time. Now, I have to wait a week.

I’ve read comments from people who aren’t watching the series complaining about the Christian themes they’ve seen or heard about. It’s lightly handed (is that a phrase?). It’s more demonstrative in this ep. than the fourth and is perhaps most in the foreground in the second, but it comes to mind now because even this light theme gives everything the depth of interest it needs. A story needs a soul, a hearty soul that breathes life into every details. Kudos to the showrunners and writers for having the depth of soul to craft a good story.