As Elphin challenges Avallach, we see Charis thinking back on the fall of Atlantis on The Pendragon Cycle: The Rise of Merlin. This is just the start of Charis realizing that it’s time to break away from her former culture and put herself first.
Caution: This post contains SPOILERS from The Pendragon Cycle: The Rise of Merlin season 1 episode 2
As Charis thinks back to the fall of Atlantis, we see how she ended up saving the people. However, she doesn’t view herself as the people’s savior. All she did was make sure people got to the shores so that Avallach’s brother could get them to Britain.
However, it is because of Charis that Morgain is saved. Morgain was just a small girl, laying by her mother’s deceased body as the volcano erupted around them. Had Charis not gone back for Avallach’s wife, she wouldn’t have found Morgain there to get her out of danger. She also takes her father’s sword to get that to safety, and you just know that this is going to come up again. Could this be the sword from the stone?
Taliesin and Charis put themselves first on The Pendragon Cycle: The Rise of Merlin
We have to pick up with where The Pendragon Cycle: The Rise of Merlin episode 1 ended, and that’s at the hut with the monks as Taliesin is being burned by the light. By the time Elphin gets to his son, he is sharing stories from the Bible, saying that he is a prophet. With that, Taliesin has turned away from the pagan gods, and he has chosen the Christian God as his own.
When Taliesin goes to Charis in the stables, he is shocked to find out that Morgain pretended to be her sister. It doesn’t take long for him to figure out that Morgain has done something to the foal, and he turns away from Morgain, angering her, giving us a little more backstory on Morgana’s thirst for vengeance that is sure to come in this story.
Taliesin goes out in search for Charis, who is in the woods when some Irish raiders find her. As they attack, she gives them a good fight, but they would have killed her had Taliesin not turned up at the right time. As the two share a moment in the woods, Charis decides that she wants to be with this bard, and so she asks her father.
Of course, Avallach refuses to allow a marriage to happen. Instead, he locks Charis in the castle walls, but that isn’t going to stop her or Taliesin from being together. They choose each other, but Taliesin makes it clear that he would like to wait until they are married to consummate their relationship. He wants to do this the Christian way, and Charis respects that.
As a sign of that, Charis gives Taliesin her father’s sword, a gift for him that he had rejected. Now it is a gift for her husband. As Taliesin pulls the sword from its sheath, he hears voices that sound threatening. He can’t take it and makes it clear that it must remain.
With that, the two leave, heading to the hut where the monks are, so that the monks can baptize them and marry them. While they have a moment of happiness, we know that this will mean war between the two families.
Taliesin and Charis have to find a new home on The Pendragon Cycle: The Rise of Merlin season 1 episode 2
Now that the two have left their families behind, they need to find a new home. This takes them to Pendaran, who isn’t interested in taking them in at first. It’s only when Taliesin starts to sing again that the people around him change their tune (pun totally intended!), and they find themselves mesmerized by the story that he has to share. In fact, they all join in with the song.
The two are welcome to stay, and we jump ahead around nine months to find out that Charis is heavily pregnant. A merlin that they brought along with them is now ready to fly, and it’s time to allow this bird to leave. However, as they allow the bird to fly off, Charis goes into labor.
It’s a difficult labor, and while Charis is dealing with that, Taliesin gets a visit from Hafgan, who shares that Avallach and Elphin have finally made up. The two will be welcome back, and while Taliesin wants to share that good news, his wife needs him to remain focused.
Sadly, the baby is stillborn, which devastates them all. Taliesin takes the baby outside in the rain singing, and as he does, the rain around them stops. Suddenly, the baby comes back to life, and as Charis joins them and takes the baby in her arms, we see the golden eyes that we know belong to Merlin. Sure enough, the baby is to be called Merlin.
We mark the end of the episode with tragedy. Taliesin is suddenly shot through the heart with an arrow, and while everyone around them panics and tries to figure out where the shooter was standing, we find out that it was no one other than Morgain, getting the first part of her revenge.
The Pendragon Cycle: The Rise of Merlin couldn’t end without another time jump. We jump 75 years into the future, where a now-adult Merlin is in the woods somewhere, alone.
The Penddragon Cycle: The Rise of Merlin airs on Thursdays on DailyWire+.