Merlin “The Hollow Queen”

Well, they really are going all in with this whole “evil Guinevere” thing.

So, OK, Gwen figured Merlin was on to her whole “being evil” thing now.  So, she and Morgana get some poor sap to get Merlin out of Camelot and far away during crucial negotiations with a rotten warlord who once held Morgana captive.

OK, so far so good.  There’s some comedy as Gaius unexpectedly has to perform Merlin’s regular duties. and then the evil stuff as Gwen plots with the warlord to have Arthur die.  Naturally, the poor sap feels bad and rescues Merlin.  The two get back, stop an assassin, and the warlord dies in the crossfire.  All things being equal, this was a rather standard episode.

Why, then, does it bother me?

See, I get that Gwen it evil now.  True, it only pops up sporadically as is convenient for the plot, but that’s not the issue.  The issue is something else:  why are Gwen and Morgana so worried about Merlin?

It’s not like either of these women know Merlin is the Emrys or even that he knows magic.  He’s just the king’s personal servant.  Sure, he seems to be everywhere, but this is a really elaborate plan to remove one guy from the castle.  Why not just have some guy literally stab him in the back?  Or smother him in his sleep?  True, there’s a good chance such a move wouldn’t work because Merlin is a wizard.

But they don’t know that.  The number of characters with names who know Merlin is a sorcerer that don’t conveniently die at the end of the episode number about three.  One of those is Merlin’s mother.  We rarely see her. There is no real reason, other than a dramatic one, to trick Merlin into going way out of town and into a trap that almost killed him.  It only works if Morgana and/or Gwen knows he’s a wizard.

I may be overthinking a show that is probably aimed at families.