This week Daily Wire released the finale of the great 7-episode fantasy series The Pendragon Cycle: Rise of the Merlin. I believe wondered in a previous post how they could wrap up a series that won’t tell the whole story. We knew from the start this was the story of Merlin’s ascension, not the reign of King Arthur, so how could they end the series without a massive cliffhanger?
The answer is to end it exactly the way they did. The final scene has been foreshadowed, and now that we have it in full, it closes this first run neatly. I hope we can get at least two more seasons, and maybe 8-10 episodes in each to give the stories the extra few minutes to round them out. Let’s see more of the lives of Aurelius, Uther, Arthur, Gawain, Gwenevere, Lancelot, Merlin, and Morgian too.
In episode six, we left Merlin in the past as he ran from the terrifying fury of his battle rage. That’s where we pick up in the finale to color in what remained of Merlin’s return. I enjoyed these moments. Merlin is stoic and grave in the present day; this return to his greatest horror is like hearing stories from a veteran’s war days.
Then we go to Aurelius’s war camp where things have barely improved. He does have Gorlas’s loyalty, but he needs the loyalty of every man and at least three times as many added to them. The Saxons have 10,000-15,000. At a moment when one of the kings would surely have lost his fool life, reinforcements arrive from the north with Merlin. I’d forgotten they were coming, so this interruption was welcome.
Later, the warlords make a plan, which Gorlas deems not good but no worse than anything else they could do, and the men prepare for battle the next day. That night, Merlin sings to them, having concluded his role is like his father’s, to be a bard to the Britons. This song is similar to those Taliesin sings, with a chorus that’s easily singable. I thought the men would join in as has been the pattern, but they sat or stood in silence that night. The next day on the battlefield, they took up the song to rally themselves to the fight. It was moving.
Do you remember how Ilúvatar and the Ainur sang the world into existence or how Finrod Felagund “strove with Sauron in songs of power” in The Silmarillion? The bards’ songs in Rise of the Merlin have an echo of Tolkien’s magical music. Merlin’s song on the night before the battle for the soul of Britain has a historic pattern, starting with history and moving to charge. Here’s the charge part of it.
Children of Ynys Prydain now
From every hill and glen
Abandoned by our fathers’ gods
And scorned by mournful men
We’ve seen our homes destroyed
Now from hill and glen alight
United now, we rise
Up like dragons in the night
Ooh, ah, ooh ah . . .
Seize your sword and join the fray
Our hallowed ground we’ll free
Rebuke the Saecsen gods
Drive their war host to the sea
Never again our homes destroyed
Our names will live in song
When the hero’s cup is raised
Let our victory wine be strong
Ooh, ah, ooh ah . . .
Kudos to the writers and actors and all of production for this series. It’s a strong work. You could even say it’s a great British work. I hope you will be able to buy it on DVD or rent it in the future. Of course, you can watch it now on DailyWire+.