Best of Merlin (2008-2012)
Ranked only by episode number.
I would normally include 8/10 episodes in these lists but 8 seems to be the default score for this excellent series and it would include all but a handful. All listed are 9/10's.
See also:
Best of House MD
The Grand Tour: Best to Worst
Best Star Trek TV Episodes
I would normally include 8/10 episodes in these lists but 8 seems to be the default score for this excellent series and it would include all but a handful. All listed are 9/10's.
See also:
Best of House MD
The Grand Tour: Best to Worst
Best Star Trek TV Episodes
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- DirectorEd FraimanStarsJohn HurtColin MorganSantiago CabreraMerlin would have been killed by a giant griffin (half eagle, half lion) if not for valiant Lancelot, who bravely attacked it and got them safely away. Learning Lancelot's life dream is to become a knight, grateful Merlin brings him to court, but when told only noblemen may apply, magically forges proof of nobility. Lancelot passes hazing and close combat tests against Prince Arthur but is found out as commoner and jailed. When the griffin attacks Camelot - even inside the royal castle - the knights' arms prove unable to penetrate it . Arthur frees Lancelot, who in return (with Merlin's magical help) triumphs where all knighthood fails miserably, but will Uther finally hear Arthur's plea to allow the best sword to serve in chivalry despite existing social restrictions?S01E05
- DirectorJeremy WebbStarsJohn HurtMichelle RyanBradley JamesA black knight crashes Arthur's coming-of-age ceremony, throwing down the gauntlet to any knight who will fight him, killing all who do, one day at a time. Gaius discovers he is Uther's dead brother-in-law, now a wraith summoned from the grave by the witch Nimueh, seeking revenge for the death of his sister who died giving birth to Arthur. His intent: to eventually fight and kill Uther. Merlin learns that only a special sword burnished with a dragon's fiery breath can kill the knight. To that end, he asks Gwen for the best sword her father ever forged (the sword later known as Excalibur) and asks the imprisoned dragon to burnish it. The Dragon, however, tells Merlin that, once created, only Arthur should wield it, as evil will come of it otherwise. Merlin gives his word. Unfortunately, Uther has Arthur drugged and locked in his room, preparing to face the wraith himself. With Excalibur in his hand, victory might come but would leave Uther in control of a powerful magical weapon.S01E09
- DirectorDavid MooreStarsJohn HurtAlexander SiddigJoe DempsieHearing that his village is being threatened by a warlord and his gang, Merlin travels home with Gwen, Morgana and Arthur, the latter doing his best to drill the peaceful villagers into a fighting force. Merlin's friend William is dismissive of Arthur's efforts, feeling they constitute egoism, though he ultimately saves the young prince's life. Nonetheless the villagers are inexperienced in martial ways and Merlin must use magic and conjure up a wind-storm to help see off the bandits.S01E10
- DirectorJeremy WebbStarsJohn HurtFintan McKeownJack SandleRealising that his jousting opponents always let him win because he is the royal prince, Arthur pretends to leave court and enters the lists in disguise to win on merit. He stays with Guinevere, who tells him some home truths about his arrogance, and they kiss. Moorish assassin Myror, paid by neighbouring king Odin (whose son challenged a reluctant Arthur to a duel and lost his life) arrives at Camelot to kill the young prince. He enters the joust with a lance hiding a dagger on its tip, but Merlin uses magic to defeat and kill him. Arthur has learned some humility by his experience but tells Guinevere that Uther would oppose any romance between them.S02E02
- DirectorMetin HüseyinStarsJohn HurtEmilia FoxAnthony HeadWhen a mysterious warrior challenges Arthur to a duel, no one could possibly predict the devastating chain of events it sets in motion - least of all the young prince himself. Arthur and Merlin soon find themselves on a strange quest at the behest of the beautiful Morgause. Through her, Arthur discovers a dark secret which threatens to bring about the downfall of the kingdom.S02E08
- DirectorJeremy WebbStarsJohn HurtBradley JamesRichard WilsonMorgana has gone with Morgause, and the dragon, freed by Merlin, repeatedly attacks Camelot, causing huge fire damage. Only a dragon-lord is capable of containing the beast, men whom Uther persecuted years earlier, from which only one still survives (Balinor), who lives like a hermit in a cave. Gaius, who helped him escape Camelot, tells Merlin this is his father, and when Merlin and Arthur trace him, Merlin reveals himself to Balinor (though they keep it from Arthur). Balinor agrees to come to Camelot to assist, but there is further drama before Merlin proves himself to be his father's son and defeats the dragon.S02E13
- DirectorJeremy WebbStarsJohn HurtRupert YoungAnthony HeadSir Leon is nursed back to health by Druids using the Cup of Life after he is the sole survivor of an attack by Cenred's men. It purportedly grants immortality to those who drink from it, and Arthur and Merlin retrieve it from the Druids to prevent it falling into Cenred's hands. However, they, along with Gwaine, are ambushed and the cup stolen. Having killed Cenred, Morgause makes his soldiers drink from it and, under her orders, they successfully attack Camelot. By the time the three young men arrive back at the court, Uther is in chains and Camelot has a new ruler.S03E12
- DirectorJeremy WebbStarsJohn HurtRupert YoungKatie McGrathThe new queen of Camelot proves to be far crueler than Uther, who is made to watch from his dungeon as she slaughters innocents. Guinevere helps Sir Leon escape from prison and joins her brother Elyan, Gaius, Merlin, Arthur and Gwaine, who are hiding in the woods. Soldiers follow but they are saved by Lancelot and a youth of immense strength, Percival. Merlin looks into the waters of Avalon in the phial given him by the Fisher King, which directs him to Excalibur, the sword which will defeat the enemy. The fugitives find a round table, around which they movingly declare allegiance to each other, and Arthur knights all the young men - except, of course, Merlin, though Lancelot, aware of his powers, tells Merlin he is the bravest of them all. The group launches its invasion of Camelot, which gives Gaius his finest hour as the sisters are routed, largely due to Merlin's use of Excalibur. However, he places the sword in a rock until it can be used again.S03E13
- DirectorJustin MolotnikovStarsJohn HurtKatie McGrathNathaniel ParkerFollowing her defeat by Emrys, Morgana joins forces with the wizard Alator and kidnaps Gaius in an effort to find out more about her arch-enemy.S04E07
- DirectorAlice TroughtonStarsJohn HurtNathaniel ParkerBradley JamesAs Morgana's forces capture Camelot, Arthur at last comes to see his uncle's treachery. He is reluctant to flee, but Merlin bewitches him into escaping with him, temporarily blocking his memory and dressing him as a peasant. Elyan, Gaius, and Gwaine are taken prisoner, though Morgana is impressed by Gwaine's performance in trials by combat. Separated from Leon and Percival, Merlin and Arthur fall in with smugglers Tristan and Isolde, during which Merlin's spell wears off and the young king can reveal his identity to them. The quartet escapes to Ealdor, Merlin's village, where a wounded Arthur is nursed by Guinevere as Agravaine and his army close in.S04E12
- DirectorJustin MolotnikovStarsJohn HurtColin MorganBradley JamesArthur has been king for three years without incident, but now an expedition north to the land of Ismere, led by Gwaine and Percival, is captured by Morgana and fellow sorcerer Ruadan and set to work in the mines to locate a mystical key. A search party headed by Arthur and Merlin goes after them, coming upon a village whose inhabitants have been massacred, A dying Druid warns Merlin of Arthur's bane - a battle where the young king will be slain. Ruadan's daughter Sefa is a spy working as Guinevere's maid, who warns her father of Arthur's army heading for Ismere through the lands of his ally Queen Annis. The group is thereby ambushed and Merlin and Arthur captured by Mordred, whom Merlin recognizes from the prophecy as being Arthur's killer.S05E01
- DirectorDeclan O'DwyerStarsJohn HurtBradley JamesAlexander VlahosMerlin sees Mordred helping Kara, a wounded Druid with whom he was once in love, but agrees to keep it secret. Later Kara tries to kill Arthur and is sentenced to death, with Arthur turning down Mordred's pleas for mercy. Mordred uses magic to help Kara escape but they are recaptured and Kara is executed. Merlin rightly fears this will make Mordred determined to destroy Arthur; and, sure enough, he flees and goes to see Morgana, revealing to her that Emrys is Merlin.S05E11
- DirectorJustin MolotnikovStarsColin MorganPeter GuinnessKatie McGrathMerlin finds himself facing the future he's fought so long to avoid.S05E12
- DirectorJustin MolotnikovStarsColin MorganJohn HurtRupert YoungWith Arthur's forces outnumbered, Merlin arrives in his guise as the aged sorcerer to defeat Morgana's army with magic. Arthur kills Mordred but is wounded and rescued by Merlin, who reveals that he is a wizard. Arthur is initially hostile but, advised by Gaius, allows Merlin to take him to the healing lake of Avalon. On the journey, Arthur comes to appreciate everything Merlin has ever done for him and eyes him with a new respect, even softening in his attitude to magic, but Morgana is pursuing them. Can they make it to Avalon ahead of her?S05E13