A lot of foreshadowing preceded episode six of Rise of the Merlin. We’ve seen a woman watching Merlin and riding beside him in his imagination, and in the last episode we learned she was King Custennin’s daughter, Ganieda. But what happened to her? Why did Custennin accuse Merlin of refusing to save her?

Now we know the intense story that provoked the legendary mage to run from civilization when we first met him. After leaving his tutelage with the Hill Folk, he meets a woman who’s hunting a boar, follows her to her fortified city, and learns she’s the king’s daughter. He also learns the people are Atlantean whose boats had been separated from King Avallach and thought to be lost. Both groups thought they were the only ones to survive the ruining of Atlantis.

Did I mention Ganieda is adorable? A year later, she and Merlin are married, and they live happily ever after, which is enough to drive any man mad. (I was going to leave it at that to avoid spoiling the story, but I’ll go ahead and say it. Bad things happen, and Ganieda dies. I’ll get to Merlin’s reaction in a minute.)

Ganieda is a figure from the old Welsh stories, but she isn’t described there as Merlin’s wife. She’s his sister or even his twin. In one story, she’s the wife of a Scottish lord who battles and kills Merlin’s patron. In another account, the Scotsman and patron fight together. Either way, the patron dies and Merlin is distraught, while Ganieda is an observer either grieving or reacting to her brother. Lawhead makes this relationship more personal and so the tragedy that pushes Merlin to madness makes more sense.

At the end of episode two, we meet Merlin under a rock in the pouring rain. This was his response not only to losing his wife (who was with child) but also to his reaction to that loss. We see a moment of that reaction in the trailer. We hear about it when he returns to Maridunum the first time. In two different battles, Merlin falls into a battle trace. The first wins him the throne of Maridunum for his defense of the king and the people. The second is his merciless rage over the death of Ganieda, when the barbarian raiders return to the scene of their crime. Dozens of barbarians charge one admittedly intimidating young man and none survive. Even after they realize they’re getting slaughtered and begin to run, Merlin pulls them back to gut them. It’s this and one more outburst that drives him to renounce his life for many years to follow.

With the finale coming in two weeks, viewers have at least one question to consider, and it’s raised by Charis (in episode four, I think). Though Merlin has refused to take up Avallach’s sword for fear of his battle rage, Charis asks whether the salvation of Britain will require it. When the Saxon hoards are crushed, as surely they must be, will it be the people led by High King Aurellius or Merlin on their behalf? And what terror will Morgian accomplish?

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.

We see brutal melee in the fourth episode of The Pendragon Cycle: Rise of the Merlin as Merlin, Pelleas, and Uther travel north to rally lesser kings to fight for Aurellius against the Saxons.

First, Merlin recommends the High King take refuge in Ynys Avallach, the realm of former Atlanteans, now considered fairies or elves by men. King Avallach is hailed as the Fisher King, because they find him fishing, but I don’t know if the writer is teasing us with Arthurian easter eggs or intends to identify him as the Fisher King who keeps the Holy Grail. It could be the latter, because Avallach is wounded as the Fisher King is wounded and his kingdom is in decline.

Thinking Merlin may be raising an army for himself, Uther insists on travelling to Maridunum with him. When they arrive, we learn more of Merlin’s past and why Uther has good reason to fear him. In the image above, Finney Cassidy as Aurellius is in the foreground, Myles Clohessy as Uther behind him.

A lot more fighting this one, some of it brutal. About half of it had me wondering what a real melee would look like. I’d think there’d be more shield usage and no cracking someone’s helmet with your sword hilt and pushing them behind you. Aurellius goes against a brute in one scene that leaves you feeling the blows.

I didn’t talk about the power-hungry Morgian before. She appears again in this episode, having established herself as the wife of one of the lesser kings (and, of course, rooting for the Saxons). It’s clear she was a bad egg from the start. She sought out the deal Taliesin rejected at the start of the series. I’d love for it to turn Faustian on her because she’s earned that, but I doubt that’s where the story will take us.

Speaking of that, I assume this seven-episode series will leave us somewhat hanging. This is only the first part of a longer story. Will they attempt to wrap it up, believing they can’t afford a second season?