We pick up 75 years after the events of the first two episodes of The Pendragon Cycle: The Rise of Merlin, with Merlin running through the forests. It looks like he’s running from someone, and he’s a scraggy mess, but it’s soon clear that there is something bigger at play on The Pendragon Cycle: The Rise of Merlin season 1 episode 3.
Caution: This post contains SPOILERS from The Pendragon Cycle: The Rise of Merlin season 1 episode 3.
When we pick up after the rush through the woods, we find out that Merlin is some sort of prisoner with Pelleas. Merlin certainly makes his captors feel uneasy, sharing the things that he knows about them, even though they haven’t told him anything.
We also learn through conversation that Pelleas must have brought Merlin back from the dead in some way. Even the lord that he goes to see shares that he knows who Merlin is, but it shouldn’t be possible. Merlin is believed to be one of the fae folk, and it’s easy to understand why that would be considering the time period.
Merlin’s prophecies turn out to come true on The Pendragon Cycle: The Rise of Merlin
Throughout the episode, Merlin shares some of the things that are going to happen. He tells the lord that his enemies are coming, and he is going to die. He tells them that there are no dragons causing the land to subside, and even proves that it’s the spring that has been running beneath the building.
This lord seems to believe the things that Merlin says, but many of the others don’t want to believe it at all. Well, maybe they should have, because an army is coming for them, and yes, the lord dies. He dies at the hands of a boy — and I can’t work out whether it’s supposed to be his son or not. To be honest, there are elements of this story that aren’t quite clear, with there seeming to be the assumption that you’ve read the books or know everything about the Merlin story, and it is a bit of a flaw in the storytelling.
I also find the pronunciation of names a little difficult to hear. At a few points, the name Uther sounds like the name Luther, and it’s a little off-putting when trying to figure out who is who.
Merlin and Uther’s paths cross on The Pendragon Cycle: The Rise of Merlin season 1 episode 3
While at the lord’s land, he comes across Dafyd — much older than the Dafyd that we remember. Dafyd is shocked to see Merlin, so it’s clear that the man has come back from the dead. He shares that Hafgan and Elphin have died, and we get some flashbacks of how Merlin grew up with the two men in his life. Nothing is mentioned about his mother, Charis, and that’s important as we get to see her at the end of the episode.
Just before the fight breaks out, Merlin demands the release of the monks who have been held as prisoners, including Dafyd. This allows Merlin, Pelleas, David, and others to get away, although Uther — who is part of the attacking army — goes after them. That’s okay, Merlin knew that he would come after them!
At this point, Aurellius is in charge of the men attacking the fort, and so Merlin is taken back to him. Aurellius knows Merlin, which means he is safe from anything that Uther would like to do with him, but we know enough about this story to know that this won’t remain this way.
This is where the sword comes up, though. Aurellius has a particular sword that Merlin knows all about. Merlin shares a vision of kings in a circle and the blade being rusted and forgotten. Aurellius doesn’t know how his father came in possession of the sword, but this is the Sword of Britain. It belongs to the High King. It is where the Summer Kingdom begins.
With that, the promise of Arthur is put on the table. This is going to take some time to get to, though. Before that, Merlin and the others need to escape through the forest with other men coming after them. Again, it’s a little hard to understand what’s going on here. I hope it’s not important, but after two watches, I still have no idea who those men in the forest were!
In the end, Merlin gets back to the hut from the first two episodes, the place that Dafyd initially found Charis in. Sure enough, Charis is there, still as young as ever. Mother and son reunite, and it’s clear they haven’t seen each other in a long time. I still fear that a lot is missing in the story to fully grasp this.
The Pendragon Cycle: The Rise of Merlin airs on Thursdays on DailyWire+.