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#and watching every comic con interview video diary and behind the scenes bloopers
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update on how my family’s managing after DotD
“tell them we’re devastated” HAHA
no joke christmas was ruined- felt the evil energy of the bbc merlin writers ten years ago, running through my veins, as I clicked on part 2 on prime video ;)
they soldiered through the first part like champs, only small comments on Arthur’s round table speech they wondered how Elyan’s seat had been replaced and immediately clocked Eira as a traitor bc ‘that’s something the show always does 🙄’
sisters were crying when Merlin was stuck in the crystal cave, and I was crying when he walked up the landslide of rocks after Balinor and disappeared into a halo of white light..
then the second episode started and I was
s h a k i n g
(still hearing the words ‘just really sad’ and ‘I can’t believe it’ and ‘she tricked us 😦’ in the living room as I type this up, and it’s been way more than 24 hours later…)
Gwen was so badass! 🥰 and Merlin was out there winning! And I remembered why this was so terrible the first time, the show works hard to give us this false sense of security.
I clicked on the episode knowing that within 5 minutes Arthur would be stabbed and I’d be able to retire from my long career as a loving older sister.
It was literally a ‘gasps hears around the world’ kinda moment, they all sat up and then, my second youngest sister the Mordred stan (she dressed up as him for our s2 finale costume contest) burst into tears! and I actually felt really bad.
But then the magic reveal!
It was deadly quiet when Merlin revealed his magic and there were a few long sighs when Arthur turned away to say ‘leave me’. I was pretty much inconsolable and this is my third rewatch personally. They did! make the connection between Merlin’s ‘fire dragon’ from ‘Moment of Truth’ and the one from this ep however :)
Then we had the long haul of waiting for the beginning of the real end really, and I was relieved to hear them giggle when Arthur and Merlin reminiscenced about their first market place fight, and Merlin’s ‘charm’.
then… The Real End
Of course my little brother (if you remember him from his story ‘Morgana’s Weak Quickening) had to gloat about how Merlin had ended her, just as he’d predicted, and everyone was shushing and glaring at him because it wasn’t the time lmao
I was already crying for real by the time Merlin had Arthur in his arms and they were exchanging their last words, and I was surprised to find later that they did! hear Arthur say ‘just hold me… please’ because I hadn’t heard it on my first watch.
There were no gasps or shouts when Arthur died, just silence…
No one jumped when the truck came on scene as a jumpscare (I was kind of mad at myself for getting startled even though I knew!), and then Merlin crossed our tv screen for the last time and I let the end credits play in full.
They shushed me after I attempted to speak in the two minutes after the credits ended, and it was so quiet for the next ten minutes I thought I broke them…
Their reactions:
Sister 1: ‘Wh-hat..?’
Sister 2: ‘HE DIDN’T DESERVE TO DIE’ (Mordred😵‍💫)
Sister 3: ‘But Gaius didn’t die?? I didn’t put ‘Arthur dies’ on my theory list…’
Brother: ‘I TOLD YOU SO. But… now I’m a little sad :(‘
Afterwards, I promised I’d let them all loose to look up any ‘spoilers’ for the show they wanted. (We have an unofficial rule that whenever we’re watching anything for the time, we can’t look up anything related for fear of spoilers. And I’m a very strict drill sergeant about this 🫡)
But they weren’t very interested…
Our Christmas morning was noticeably sadder. And I wondered again how families in 2012 had coped when their kids had struggled through the unfairness of the finale and still had to open presents the next morning… a mystery really…
They spent the whole. day. watching edits and playing sad music in the living room (to which my parents were very confused) and coming up to me to either rant or fight about the finale haha
Now my sister (the piano playing one) is learning how to play ‘Solas’ by Jamie Duffy on the piano bc she says it reminds her of Diamond of the day and she’s been very determined! All break, she’s been getting up to play ‘Solas’ and ‘Bond of Sacrifice’ and ‘The Love Theme’ and I’m proud of her, for getting this far and only a little concerned
- I think the kids are gonna be alright? lmao
They’ve made plans for fanart and fanfics and alternative endings and I think I’ve fully recruited them into the immoral fandom (if not happily) although I’m sure they’ll recover soon enough to join us in bittersweet reminiscence next year :)
oh! forgot to add one last thing
after rewatching ‘A Dragon’s Call’ last night my brother had one thing to say. “Arthur says ‘there’s something about you Merlin’ …but that something was that he would die in Merlin’s arms…” LMAO I almost died on the spot but I’m glad to see they’ve inherited the fandom’s morbid (or Mordred ;) sense of humor
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