http://springinstep.livejournal.com/ ([identity profile] springinstep.livejournal.com) wrote in [community profile] ship_manifesto2009-05-11 09:14 am

Destiny Entwined: Merlin/Arthur/Lancelot (BBC's Merlin) [Free Month]

Title: Destiny Entwined
Author: [livejournal.com profile] vicky_v
Fandom: Merlin (BBC series)
Word count: 3,093 (not including headers and quotes)
Pairing: Merlin/Arthur Pendragon/Lancelot
Spoilers: For episode 5: Lancelot of season 1.
Disclaimer: I do not own anything in connection with BBC's Merlin series nor do I make any profit through writing this piece.




Destiny Entwined

The Series

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Merlin is a family fantasy drama produced by BBC Wales and Shine which, when it was on, took the early evening spot in UK television listings.

I'll get the negative points shoved out of the way first. This series should not be watched for its historical accuracy because it isn't there. It also shouldn't be watched for its accuracy concerning Arthurian legend because this series very much does its own thing. Things like Merlin and Arthur being of the same young age, Guinevere starting out as a humble maidservant, Mordred's origin's being changed and so on. Personally, I feel the acting is sometimes a bit wooden, some of the lines can be so cheesy they stink and I'm fairly sure the BBC can do CG better than some of what they gave us.

That being said, I also find this show to be tons of fun. I watch it for the goofy fantasy adventure with the cast of the four young protagonists, (Colin Morgan, Bradley James, Katie McGrath and Angel Coulby), being rather pretty as an added bonus. As for the two older main characters, you have the combined awesome of Richard Wilson, (the reason I watched episode one in the first place), and Anthony Head, as well as the voice of John Hurt coming from a huge CG dragon. You've also got names such as Michelle Ryan as the main villain, Will Mellor in episode 2, Julian Rhind-Tutt in episode 6 and Santiago Cabrera in episode 5, which this piece focuses on.

The Characters

Merlin

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Very different to most typical versions of this character. No long beard, infinite wisdom and pointy hat for Colin Morgan. Instead, he gives us a character who is lanky, somewhat awkward (especially when trying to lie), and who is really rather sweet and adorable. If you're his buddy, he'd do anything for you.

The catch to this character is that he can't visibly use his magic in Camelot otherwise he will be executed. This very much conflicts with finding himself as the manservant of Prince Arthur, who is constantly tossing himself into life threatening situations. Magic is often the only way to make sure the single heir of Camelot won't meet a grizzly early death. Cue thirteen episodes which are mostly Merlin using his magic to aid and rescue Arthur in his heroics but having to keep it hidden at the same time. Sometimes it's funny, sometimes it's nail-biting. It's always fun.

Arthur

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This character starts off as an asshole and a real spoiled brat. Arthur likes going around Camelot with his little group of mates and generally does whatever he wants, which includes tossing daggers at a servant cowering behind a wooden shield and waving a mace around in a confined public area. But his character does get some development and we start to see that if you're on his good side he will always try to do right by you, sometimes going above and beyond the call of duty and rank, (especially if you're Merlin).

By the end of the series, I think we see a good balance in this character. He is still arrogant and a real prat. But he still mostly does what's right for Camelot and those he cares about, even if it means going against his father's wishes.

He also has some of the best facial expressions in the whole show, if you ask me. There's even a comm dedicated to it: [livejournal.com profile] face_of_bradley

Lancelot

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Humble, sweet, honourable, rather polite, great skills and handsome on top of it. The kind of guy who seems too good to be true and if the BBC goes ahead with the whole Arthur-Gwen-Lancelot thing he might well be. I think the only flaw we get from him is allowing himself to give in to Merlin's plan of using fake papers and lying. If he were an OC in fanfiction, do you know what he'd be called? Gary Stu. But I still rather like him. The guy knows what he wants, he works hard to get it and I find that admirable. I suppose what I also like about it is he essentially took it away from himself by going along with Merlin's lie and didn't get it offered back in the end either.

He has a fairly typical hero angsty back story in which when he was a little boy his village was attacked by raiders, who slaughtered everyone and he alone survived. From that day he vowed to never be weak in the face of tyranny again and from that developed the overall goal of becoming a knight of Camelot. Why Camelot exactly I don't know but, hey, it ended up with him in Merlin's bedroom. His back story is mentioned when Merlin questions his motives but he doesn't seem to brood on it. That's why I don't mind it.

The Pairings

Arthur and Merlin

This is an essay in itself. As well as being a fun fantasy drama, this series is stuffed with subtext concerning these two. It's no wonder [livejournal.com profile] merlinxarthur is one of the most popular Live Journal comms for this fandom.

For episode 5, I'm sure all the shippers remember the response Merlin gives when Lancelot asks: "You know Prince Arthur?"

"Oh yes."

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Its better if you hear it for yourself because it's the way he says it. It pretty much fills the minimum of the shippy quota by itself.

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By now, they're very settled in each other's company. Maybe it's something to do with saving each others lives during the last episode. Stuff like that usually tends to cement a good relationship between characters. So here, because they're brilliant, have another shot of them at the knighting ceremony.

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Did anyone else note that as the camera shifts to focus on Lancelot and Uther, Arthur steps closer to Merlin? Look to the left of the shots.

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Oh, the fanon mind wanders.

My favourite moment between the two characters in this episode is during the final conflict with the griffin, where Arthur is unconscious during it. After looking at a few knocked out or dead knights, (I don't know which), as soon as Merlin recognises Arthur he goes right to him, kneels down beside him and there's touching, (nothing inappropriate, then again it isn't really the time). He stands for a moment when they hear the griffin and then, when Lancelot goes to get back on the horse, Merlin crouches right back down next to Arthur again. It looks very much like a defence reaction to keep Arthur safe during those few moments when they're exposed. He only steps away from Arthur when Lancelot draws the griffin's attention and even then he doesn't go that far. Not until Arthur starts to wake up and Merlin has to scarper because, technically, he shouldn't be there.

Merlin and Lancelot

These two hit it off right away. On Merlin's part, you're hardly likely to be an ass to the heroic stranger who suddenly showed up to save you just in time from an attacking monster. Once the griffin flies away, Merlin spends the rest of the scene gawping at Lancelot.

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You know, I'm fairly sure Merlin's job as Arthur's manservant means he would have a fair amount of work to do each day. And he also runs around fetching things for Gaius, (which I think may be why he was out in the forest in the first place). But he's willing to blow things off because he's got Lancelot in his bedroom.

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Hey, wouldn't you if you could?

Just about everything Merlin does in this episode is so he can pay Lancelot back for saving his life by helping him achieve his dream of becoming a knight of Camelot. He takes Lancelot to see Arthur in action for one thing, to give him that little bit of a head start by showing him what he's up against.

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And when Lancelot's hopes get crushed upon finding out about the first code of Camelot, Merlin's resolve only gets stronger.

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Mood lighting?

And what Merlin does with that resolve is take a stupidly huge risk. He uses his magic to create a fake seal of nobility for Lancelot. And he does it with Geoffrey of Monmouth very close by. Quite frankly, it's a wonder Merlin didn't get caught and dragged away to be executed. Then again, it would have cut the episode and the series short.

Once Merlin has taken that risk, he certainly isn't going to let Lancelot refuse his offer of the fake seal. And Lancelot does refuse at first. It's lying, it's wrong, it's against what the knights stand for and so on. But Merlin keeps waving that little temptation in front of him because, hey, without it Lancelot isn't going to be able to do anything else but leave.

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Thankfully, Merlin's little tempting phrases about feet in doors and Lancelot proving his worth with his own skill works. In celebration, let's have some generally pretty shots:

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Turns out Merlin's little trick does work and Lancelot passes his final test. Hooray. The morning after the knighting ceremony, we see this and it makes me very happy:

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Now come on, when you have two men emerging from the same small bedroom talking about all the ale they consumed during the previous night of course the fanon mind may well wonder about the possibilities of drunken fondling. There is the question of where Lancelot may have slept during this episode. Have you seen Merlin's bed? Here:

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It's small. The only way they may be able to pull it off is if Merlin sprawled himself on top of Lancelot. Except when Lancelot first came to Camelot he was injured and you can't sleep on top of someone with a wound. Perhaps Merlin slouched in that chair we see him sitting in clutching that fur blanket, (which may or may not have been to hide any evidence of his attraction to Lancelot at the time). I don't know.

But at this point we've still got some episode running time left so, as a consequence of lying, Lancelot is found out, has his knighthood revoked, and is put in a cell. Now that things have backfired, Merlin is feeling very bad about it. But Lancelot tries to reassure him, telling Merlin that ultimately he was the one to decided to go along with it, so should be the one to take the punishment. Oh, boys.

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At the end of the episode, Lancelot has found out about Merlin's magic. For a moment Merlin looks worried that he's been found out. But, hey, Lancelot is a gallant hero. The secret is safe with him.

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Arthur and Lancelot

They didn't hit it off right away.

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Arthur is somebody whose respect you need to gain before you get anywhere with him and Lancelot began to do that by getting back up and persisting with the issue. It worked because instead of telling him to get lost Arthur had him cleaning out the stables. Both this and Arthur suddenly having Lancelot duel him with broom handles are tests to see if he's worthy to even train to be a knight of Camelot. He can't have a knight who backs down that easily, after all.

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It occurs to me that if you take away the broom handle fighting, what you have here is Arthur pushing Lancelot back into a pile of hay. That's an alternate version I like.

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Okay, another just because shot. By now I'd say Lancelot's fighting performance has started to earn him Arthur's respect. Enough for him to bring forward Lancelot's final test.

If you're a fan of the whole phallic symbolism thing, you may have liked both of the Arthur-Lancelot fights.

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The second was Lancelot's final test, where he earned his knighthood through being a bit of a trickster. But, from where I'm sitting, I can see the logic behind it. He was there with Merlin watching the last test and would have noted that as soon as Arthur knocked the other guy to the ground his guard began to drop. It was the perfect moment for Lancelot to exploit and luckily his timing was good as well. I imagine a knight who can strategise is a plus.

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Once getting Arthur onto the ground, Lancelot gets what is possibly my favourite line in the episode:

"Do you submit, sire?"

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Every time, without fail, my mind leaps to the potential double meaning. If you enjoyed that, you may well like Arthur's next line which is:

"On your knees!"

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For a knighthood, but a fun exchange nonetheless.

Arthur spends what we see of the knighting ceremony latched on to Lancelot. Sometimes literally.

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Sometimes not.

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I just like how Lancelot appears to be getting in a sneaky glance in this shot.

What I also rather like is the way they appear to be mirroring each other as they sit.

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Things look a little flirtatious during the toast too.

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Once things go tits-up, we see some daddy-defying from Arthur for Lancelot's sake when he goes to release him from the cells without Uther's knowledge. There's this wonderful little line from Arthur:

"...and I need... Camelot needs..."

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Okay, he was talking about knights but it's so easy to get subtext out of him catching his words like that. There's also some on Lancelot's part where he hesitates and looks to Arthur before leaving.

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But, being the valiant hero he is, Lancelot doesn't leave. Instead he goes to Gwen to get some armour and weaponry and we get another awesome shippy quote:

"Arthur stands in mortal peril. I must do what I can to protect him. It's my duty, knight or not."

And protect him is just what Lancelot does. And, despite being disobeyed, Arthur is rather glad Lancelot turned up.

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Upon returning to Camelot, Arthur argues with Uther about restoring Lancelot's knighthood. While he may not be of noble blood, he ticks what Arthur perceives to be more important boxes such as serving with honour and putting his life on the line. Lancelot decides that the lying stops and he leaves Camelot in order to start things again and do it properly this time. When Lancelot leaves you have this:

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You are never going to convince me that isn't heartbreak. Even just a little bit.

Merlin, Arthur and Lancelot

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...this is the episode which gave me my absolute favourite threesome ship and this appears to be the only shot you can of them all.

Okay, this is complete fan-interpretation, (then again, so is this whole thing), but Merlin being able to use the spell effectively through change of circumstance interests me. It wouldn't have been good if the spell had failed and Lancelot got gored, that's fair enough. When Merlin practices the spell in the comfort of Camelot, nothing happens. When he faces the griffin it needs to work because Merlin has people he needs to protect right then and there. There's Lancelot charging the griffin head-on with his life in Merlin's hands and then there's Arthur in no position to defend himself. Merlin fails and they die. Just a little thought.

I don't think I can properly explain it, I think the boys just go well together. By the end of the episode they're all comfortable in each others company and generally have a good idea of what each other are all about. But Lancelot and Merlin probably have more of a connection point on the latter considering they have or had something to hide from Arthur. For the first half of that episode, only Merlin and Gaius knew that Lancelot wasn't of noble blood, therefore didn't even tick the first box in requirements for the knights of Camelot. At the end of the episode, Lancelot had learned about Merlin's magic but, being the nice guy he is, will keep it to himself. Otherwise it's very likely Merlin would find himself being given a death sentence.

Even with the secrets, what they have is each others respect and that goes a long way in any relationship.

If Lancelot does return, (please BBC?), you know they'd have each others back. They'd be allowed to fight their own fight but would also have the other two there to make sure nothing tries anything sneaky and to jump in should anything happen. We get something along those lines that in this episode, with both Merlin and Lancelot equally as keen to go after Arthur before the final face-off with the griffin.

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Of course, if I had things my way I would actually have things end in a big happy OT5, (ArthurxGwenxLancelotxMerlinxMorgana), but that's beside the point of this babble. Plus I doubt the BBC would go for it, so I'll keep that little opinion to myself. And the internet.

Recommendations

Fanfiction

MerlinxArthurxLancelot for [livejournal.com profile] ot3_100 - Because I'm not above pimping my own stuff at all. A bunch of mostly non-related ficlets done for this threesome challenge, which is still on-going and constantly being added to.
Interlude Something I wrote for [livejournal.com profile] merlin_ficathon with the prompt 'goodbye'. It occurred to me that when Lancelot spoke of his intentions to leave it was night. When he left it was day. So this is the possible bit between.
Arthur's Afternoon by [livejournal.com profile] aleathiel. It's pure smut and absolutely wonderful stuff. This is a fic I keep going back to.
Together by [livejournal.com profile] aleathiel. This fic looks more at the relationship between the three characters through different points of the episode. Kind of angsty but, let's be honest, that just seems to come with this threesome at times and I'd hope that wouldn't put you off.
Consequences by [livejournal.com profile] slashweaver. Arthur is told that actions always have consequences, then finds out just what that can mean. There are very different connections between the characters here but they come together rather nicely.
Fuck Truck Episode 32: Merlin by [livejournal.com profile] ifyouweremine. There is no coherent way I can speak about this fic, even via keyboard, so I'll just let you go over there and take a look for yourself.
Hooking Up by [livejournal.com profile] mrs_leary. The real person fiction (RPF) version (i.e - Santiago/Bradley/Colin). You'll find different personalities here because, you know, actor=/=character. If RPF is your thing, this is very much worth a read.

Communities

There are lots of communities around for this fandom so I'm going to narrow it down to the most relevant for this OT3 and leave you with links to find other Merlin comms with.

[livejournal.com profile] merlinthreesome - A comm I created for all Merlin threesome ships, including crossovers, RPF and OCs. Is fairly new and still flapping its little wings, but hopefully still worth a watch.
[livejournal.com profile] merlinslash - For all Merlin slash and femmeslash pairings. There is a merlin/arthur/lancelot tag which is very much worth a browse.
Merlin/Arthur/Lancelot bookmarks at [livejournal.com profile] bbc_merlin_news delicious account. You will find a few more pieces here, so have yourself a dig around.

[livejournal.com profile] merlin_ljguide - This is a place for pimping Merlin Live Journal communities.
You can also find comms via the LJ Community bookmarks at the delicious account maintained by [livejournal.com profile] bbc_merlin_news

Picspams

These two links take you to picspams and squee on episode 5. There may well be more hanging around the internet, but these are two I came across and liked.

suki_blue's post
exsequar's post

[identity profile] firthgal.livejournal.com 2009-05-11 04:19 pm (UTC)(link)
This was absolutely brilliant. You really captured the genuine love and kinship that both Merlin and Arthur felt with Lancelot. I found it interesting how absolutely desperate Arthur was to keep Lancelot by his side, even after he found out about the betrayal. Lancelot was the first person that Arthur ever felt was his equal on all accounts and I'm pretty certain he had so many fantasies about doing medieval BFF things with Lancelot and he was preparing to have a lovely little bromance with him, so it just crushed his soul when he found out that Lancelot wasn't as perfect as he thought he was, but he still wanted that connection with him, and his heart most certainly broke when Lancelot left on his own accord. It's also interesting that Merlin never once felt threatened by the Lancelot/Arthur friendship, and actually encouraged it. Pretty much everyone was madly in love with Lancelot in this episode, even Uther, so I can probably believe that Lancelt/Everyone In Existence is a valid ship.

Wow, did not mean to write that much. Er... anyway, I enjoyed this, and you definitely convinced me of their OT3ness.

[identity profile] betsyli.livejournal.com 2009-05-12 01:30 am (UTC)(link)
OT3, yes, yes AND YES.
Great work on describing and untangling all the little intricacies of their relationships with each other.

One simply can't help but wonder what happened in MERLIN'S TINY LITTLE BEDROOM WITH ITS EVEN SMALLER BED, and Arthur/Lancelot was just epic bromance-bordering-on-mancrushin'. Lovely, hmm.
ext_39878: (Default)

[identity profile] kinseymill.livejournal.com 2009-05-15 02:04 pm (UTC)(link)
That was great! Thank you so much. :D

[identity profile] bigmamag.livejournal.com 2009-05-26 07:13 am (UTC)(link)
Lovely article! I didn't even notice Arthur moving right to Merlin in that one shot or even Arthur's slip up of "and I need...Camelot, needs."

Btw, if you haven't heard already, Lancelot is indeed coming back in the second season. :D
briar_pipe: Actress on a bike with cherry blossoms (gwen)

[personal profile] briar_pipe 2009-05-31 12:42 am (UTC)(link)
Vickyyyyy, this is awesoooome!!1! Idek why I missed this when you first posted, gah, but I keep reading through again and my heart gets all mushy. Oh, boys. And Arthur's broken heart at the end, YES. Omg you got the perfect screencaps to go with this. And how did I never notice the way Merlin was clutching that fur over his lap while he talked to Lancelot, looking so endearingly sleepy?

This was like watching the whole episode over again, but better because it was like watching it with you.

[identity profile] missdewey.livejournal.com 2009-06-06 06:47 pm (UTC)(link)
LOL. You forgot to mention Merlin's whole "So, if you had to... Arthur or Lancelot?" moment. XD

Loved this! Amazing pictures.