ellarose88 Oh I am with you Stacey and HMGwen about Merlin keeping secrets and not revealing his magic. Though, I got a feeling Merlin was gonna say something at the end but then Arthur interrupted him to go to the council room about Gwen....

kbrand5333 First: Angel was freaking brilliant and deserves praise, awards, adulation, large bags of cash, puppies, chocolates, and 6 big strapping men to carry her about in a litter. Second: completely agree with everyone re Merlin. He had better tell Arthur that something is up with his bride in the NEXT EPISODE or I will be fixin' to cut a bitch. If he waits until the last 10 minutes of episode 9 I'm going to lose it with that boy. I actually didn't love the episode. I thought Angel's acting was brilliant. SHOCKED that she killed Tyr. SHOCKED. Dragoon got on my nerves. He talks too much. You're a wizard. Everyone knows it (when he's in Dragoon-guise, of course). Just do your wizard-thing to people who get in your way and get about your damn business. And Leon, Leon... Rupert's head-canon makes an appearance, lol. And oh, I did love the exchange between Merlin and Gwen at the end. He was all, "I'm watching you, lady," and she was all, "I know you know now, so you had better watch your back, little man." As most of you know, I'm fairly anti-angst. Perhaps I didn't go crazy over this episode because I'm just pacing in nervous circles until she's un-enchanted. And I still really hope that she gets to put some hurtin' on Morgana after she returns to herself.

ellarose88 Umm I think maybe Rupert's head canon may have made a appearance but I can't say that I entirely blame him. Gwen is awesome. What about the Arwen scenes, Kim? Did you find any enjoyment in them? Or did Gwen not herself ruin it?

kbrand5333 Pretty much Gwen not being Gwen ruined the Arwen scenes for me, yeah. I felt so bad for Arthur. Still do. I do not like deception, particularly on that deep a level. They have had enough trust issues already.

ellarose88 Nah I enjoyed them oddly enough. Though I just pretended Gwen was normal. I just felt there was some sincerity deep down from Gwen. That's probably just me though.... I think that we must remember is that Gwen is under Morgana's control and has no choice. If she did she would not be trying to kill her husband.

kbrand5333 Oh, I know that. Doesn't mean I have to like it. I just keep telling myself that it's only temporary.

ellarose88 Oh yeah totally. I don't really like it that much, yet Angel plays it so well...

kbrand5333 Well, that was never in question. Angel was brilliant, as I have elaborated on above.

ellarose88 Oh I know, I just mean that it's makes it hard to whether I like the story line or not. I think I'm waiting to see how they conclude it.

azwarrior First, for me by far one of the best episodes this season. Angel is SUPERB....that is all! Second, the unthinkable has happened. The writers have given me a temporary dislike to the character of Guinevere. Her coldness & calculating ways were very difficult to watch. I couldn't enjoy the Arwen moments as I would have liked. When a story can evoke so many emotions...then you know the writing/acting was done brilliantly. (remember I said temporary...Im sure by the end of episode 9 I will be loving the Queen again!)

Lucerne28 A surprisingly enjoyable episode. Gwen is deliciously evil. Angel probably had fun playing this other side of Gwen. As I suspected, nothing of the Gwen we know remains. She has been stripped to the core of all goodness, and left behind is a cold hearted, cold stone killer. The smile on her face after administrating the poison to Arthur. Shiver. The way Gwen manipulated Arthur so that he would not go to the cell to so that she could kill the stable hand; the way she played the grieving wife to the hilt, so as to get Leon’s sympathy and loyalty. Damn. She is one scary lady. The look that Gwen and Merlin exchanged at the end, each knowing that the other was on to them. The wizard versus the queen. Both had a 'bring it" look. Should be interesting to see how this all plays out. As much as I am a Gwen fan, I want Merlin to take enchanted Gwen down so bad. Episode 9 can't come fast enough for me. Gwen is going to be devastated once she comes out of the enchantment and learned all that she did. Not only did she poisoned, and nearly killed her husband, she killed an innocent man in cold blood, and accused one of her closest friends of treason and had him thrown in jail. I am somewhat surprised that none of the knights stuck up for Merlin. How the heck could anyone close to Arthur ever think that Merlin would turn on Arthur? Looking forward to enchantment being lifted, while I am enjoying the Arwen moments, it is all tainted since Gwen is using Arthur’s love for her to destroy him. On a purely shallow moment, Arthur sure knows how to take care of his queen. Her clothing raw imported silk, with woven threads of silver and gold. Damn, Camelot must be doing all right. LOL. Queen Gwen is wearing a fortune on her back. I will close with saying I hope like hell that next episode shows Merlin telling Arthur that Gwen is being controlled by Morgana. For Merlin to keep his mouth shut would make him Gwen’s accomplice. Gwen has already proven with her latest assassination attempt that she take Arthur out in a heartbeat. Finally…Riddle me this batman, what the heck is Morgana’s plan? Get Gwen on the throne, and then rule through her? Morgana doesn’t seem to be the let someone else wear “my” crown sort of gal to me. Or what…get Gwen to kill Arthur, have Gwen gain the loyalty of the knights, then what? Expose Gwen for the traitor that she is for killing the king, and the knights are so disgusted by Gwen’s duplicity that they join Morgana?

ellarose88 That is something I just thought about Lucerne. I don't get what Morgana's plan once Gwen kills Arthur. Cuz it only means that the kingdom and knights would be loyal to her. And you're right, Morgana would want to be the one with the crown not just ruling through someone else. So even if Morgana's scheme is to expose Gwen, I doubt the people and knights would let Morgana rule them.

lailastar Yes she is brilliant and that is why all what she is doing under the enchantment is so disturbing, because she is doing it so well. Don't quote to me about Merlin and Arthur killing, usually when that happens it's in self defense, what Gwen's character did was walk up to an innocent boy,( who by the way appears to be a tad slow mentally) and stuck a mini sword in his heart, without any remorse, that is disturbing. STOP TELLING US SHE IS ENCHANTED, WE ALL KNOW!!!! unless we've been living under a rock. We know it's not her fault but it is still disturbing to watch what she is doing. Personally I blame TPTB for taking evil Gwen too far out of character. When Merlin was the assassin TPTB played it more as a comedy and it was acceptable, plus Merlin never caused him any bodily harm. This episode was different she almost killed him, she poured that poison in his ear without batting an eyelash. I just feel that TPTB has tainted her good character. I have a right to differ in opinion,it does not mean I don't like Gwen, she is my favorite, that is why I hate what they did to her. I know they will bring her out of this but I will always see her sticking that long sword/knife into that poor boy. THAT IS HOW I FEEL,AT LEAST I AM HONEST. Most of you feel the same way I'm sure but will not admit it.

HMGwen @ellarose88 and @lucrene28 - can't wait until 5 x 09 comes and ends this madness. I'm so sad that Gwen has committed murder here and try to kill her husband (not of her free will) but when she comes out of it this will hurt her so deeply. I hope 5 x 10 begins the healing process, with Arthur showing the full depth of his love for Gwen to help her forgive herself. I also hope Morgana gets some SERIOUS PAYBACK in 5 x 09, starting off from Gwen. First things - Merlin as Emyrs breaks the enchantment. Gwen is going to remember what she's done and be heartsick, but she is going to remember Morgana killed Elyan and during a time she was paying respects to their late father. Gwen is not only going to get mad, SHE'S GOING TO GET EVEN. Remember when Gwen told Leon that Arthur has no family to follow him on the throne? I would love to see an unenchanted Gwen confront Morgana. She pretends to be under Morgana's control, then reveals she no longer is. Then I would like to see Gwen toss out this line to Morgana: "A Pendragon will follow Arthur on the throne, but that Pendragon will not be you. I'M CARRYING THE KING'S CHILD." The dropped jaw on Morgana would be EPIC. She's would probably assume Gwen is barren because of the time passed. (Gaius could have brewed up a potion that acts as a contraceptive.) We all know Morgana can't cope with curveballs and this will be a doozy. This is the part when Morgana realizes the jig is up, EVERYBODY knows what she's done, and she better get out of Dodge fast. (Despite being a high priestess, she still needs an army to back her up.) So she does one more spell - compell Gwen to attempt suicide to divert everyone's attention to saving Gwen so Morgana can live to scheme another day. We all knew the ACME anvil was eventually going to drop on Morgana; the writers just opted to drag this out for four episodes. As for the baby, I hope it's a bluff to throw Morgana off kilter and not willingly endanger her unborn child. I think this would be an interesting twist.

Yasmine29 One of the best episode so far !!!!! Angel Coulby was amazing, she deserves a Award that's for sure !!!!!!! :D Arthur, poor thing, is always trusting his guinevere !!! Brilliant !!

sportyshuie ARGHHHHH!!!!! I WANT TO SEE THE EPISODE BUT THE DAMN ELECTRICITY HAS GONE OUT!!! I am now depending on my laptop battery but not enough to view the series. This is insane .... God, please restore the power back ... please, please, pleaseeee!!!!

kbrand5333 One thing I remembered this morning: Classic "Merlin" plot hole, again. So, now that Merlin has been exonerated, NO ONE remembers Gwen's little speech she gave about the traitor being someone close to the king, with unfettered access to him? NO ONE remembers that SHE was the one dining with him when he was found poisoned? (BTW, where the hell was she when Merlin came it? Probably bailed) Well, no one remembered except probably Merlin. Merlin definitely needs to tell Arthur. He has proof, the cloak scrap. But of course Arthur will discount it in some way...

azwarrior kbrand agree w/you. No one questioned her. I was hoping that maybe Arthur would have said something. Did he not remember that she was with him? Did he not see her lack of response? IDK maybe he passed out to quickly? As for Merlin....I believe at the end of the episode he wanted to tell Arthur of his suspicions but was interrupted by Arthur himself......

Bonne-Bell @Lailastar: I'm not saying that you don't have a right to differ in opinion or that you hate Gwen. And if you do, that's your right and I'm not going to argue with you about who you should and shouldn't like. I quoted to you about Arthur killing innocent people because it actually did happen in S2. When Morgana ran away to live with the Druid people, Uther ordered him to go and get her back and he rode into their village and slaughtered everyone there, men, women and children. That wasn't in self-defense. Those people were defenseless. They didn't even try to take a stand against him, they were trying to run away when they were killed. In 4x10, they returned to that storyline and let Arthur redeem himself by apologizing to the ghost of the boy that he and his men had killed in that village. So if Arthur does something this horrendous and no one bats an eye at it then why is it character assassination for Gwen to kill one person when she's not even in her right mind? Yes, it would have been better if they'd played this for laughs and hadn't made Gwen kill Tyr or almost suceed in killing Arthur but I just don't see this as tainting her character. This isn't really any different from 4x09 when she was compelled to kiss Lancelot or Arthur in 2x10 with Vivian. Murder is a more serious offense off course, but the circumstances aren't that much different.

lailastar Why do we all love Gwen's character because of her goodness of heart, her innocence, her ability to forgive and her loving nature to help others less fortunate or in need, I don't know about anyone else but those are the reasons I love her character so much. There is nothing wrong with being a good person, this killing of the young boy in cold blood tainted that. Forget about Arthur or Merlin I am talking about Gwen and who she has been from season 1. My argument is not with anyone in this forum it is with TPTB. Last year when Morgana enchanted Merlin to kill Arthur why did they not have him hurt Arthur because they did not want the viewers to see Merlin actually hurting Arthur !!!!!! Hello Merlin is a sorcerer for god sakes, he could have seriously hurt or killed Arthur if the TPTB wanted it to happen. Secondly Arthur already sentenced the boy to die, why didn't they go ahead with that , again they did not want the blood of the boy on his hands because the viewers are watching and we all know the boy is innocent. Yet they had no problem putting the blood on Gwen's hands, my problem is the way TPTB are bringing the show to an end by sacrificing the characters of the main cast. People need to see deeper than what is happening on the surface with this show. Did anyone thought that so much of the Arwen moments are taking place with Gwen under an enchantment, this is their way of appeasing the Merthurs by saying yes Arwen is having their moments but don't worry it's not important because Gwen is enchanted and is more interested in killing Arthur than anything else. This way they have killed two birds with one stone, they have given Arwenites what we have been asking for and at the same time appease the Merthurs by taking these loving Gwen/arthur moments and making them unimportant, which is what that fandom want. We are all here because we love the show and especially Gwen.Arthur and ,Merlin,therefore lets stop fighting among ourselves and see what those people in charge are really doing. I don't want an argument here but Psychology is my profession, take my word they are playing with us, learn to read what what is unseen.

Bonne-Bell I understand what you're saying. I don't agree with everything but I know why you're frustrated. Anyway, since what's done is done, lets just hope that they resolve this storyline in a way that will appease most of us.

sportyshuie Last to comment i believe ... LOVE it for two reason ... ANGEL AND COLIN! Yup, i think these two simply nailed it and i bet they had fun filming this episode. That last look that passed between them was SIMPLY AWESOME!! Morgana has no chance of doing it better. I love to hate the evil Gwen but simply can't. I pity her, because after the enchantment is broken she is going to be regretting all she have done. And my heart really goes out to her. I just hope, Arthur will wrap his hands around her, pulling her close and say how much he still loves her despite all that happened because he knows she was enchanted. I just hope she gets a better treatment after the enchantment is known rather than a quick forgive and forget as in season 4, final episode. A brief cameo of Dragoon is appreciated. I love him and i missed him ... What i am disapointed was, we get most arwen scenes in this episode and the next, but we all know Gwen in under a spell. Why couldnt they shorten up the episodes and give is a genuine arwen scene which would have satisfied all of us here? I try my best to enjoy the arwen scenes but couldn'thelp feeling that this isnt Gwen ... nd it hurts. Because a genuine arwen scene would have melted all of us ... but anyway, brangel gave a mind blowing performance. So i'll take that. And what i am really disapointed here is ... each time Merlin is accussed, the knight doesn't stand up to him. I am getting sick and tired of this plot. After all he has done for them, couldn't at least one of them did that for Merlin? I don't blame the actors, it's the writers that write such shit for the actors. And it wastes great characters and makes them look like twits on screen. Sorry, but i am getting tired of this. Well, i guess that's it .. watched it for Angel, Colin and Bradley. NAILED IT!! Looking forward to next ...

MOPENDRAGON I'll just say that even though I don't like this Gwen enchantment storyline...I did enjoy this epi immensely. Angel was absolutely awesome and you could just tell that she enjoyed playing "evil" Gwen and exhibiting her stellar acting skills. Truthfully "evil" Gwen gives me the chills-LOL. Although I'm saddened that "evil" Gwen killed poor stable boy Tyr. I'm sure Angel will knock it out of the park again in epi 8 but I'm really looking forward to 5x09 and the ending of this enchantment and hopefully the beginning of a revenge plot against Morgana. Colin was brilliant as always, loved the short appearance of Dragoon but the whole scene with the guards was annoying, I agree with others that Merlin needs to grow a pair and tell Arthur that Gwen is enchanted by Morgana, I know everyone is upset by his actions but I loved "Mr. steal your girl" Sir Leon, and the last scene of the Gwen and Merlin stare down was priceless.

HumbleQueen @Lailastar: I completely understand where you're coming from with this and what your feelings are about Gwen's character. I had some similar thoughts but somehow I've worked my way through them. Actually, even before I watched it. . 1. This is not Gwen. This is something/someone else. We have to remember, as much as we see Gwen doing these horrible things and being this horrible person, this is Morgana. Everyone who saw last ep and this one knows that Morgana has done something to the queen's mind. Gwen is being portrayed so blatantly evil, the complete opposite of all she's embodied as the character Guinevere, yes, but I'm thinking this is to accentuate all the more what has been done to her. She's not showing just signs of evil here and there, she's evil to the core. There is not one ounce of goodness left. How are we to view this? I think for most reasonable fans it will drive home her victimization all the more. She's a living hyperbole. Because of this, when she's over it, we'll see this for what it is, the cruel work of the witch Morgana. If what she's done is not blocked from her mind, she'll be shattered. If and when we see the pain and suffering she goes through afterwards, who she really is and always has been may even be appreciated all the more after it's over. Reasonable fans, I say. Of course not the ones who hated her when she was yet totally innocent of ever having done anything wrong. 2. BB is right. At some point in time we all fail and do something wrong. Her wrongdoings have been under enchantment; but many of us don't have that excuse. Arthur didn't in his dealings with the Druids, as BB said. There was something that happened with a young boy I vaguely remember, when I was extremely disappointed in Arthur. I need to go find what that was, but whatever it was, we've long forgiven him. We still view the character as basically honorable. Surely her character's goodness will survive this horrific act of witchcraft ( in some form), which has completely taken over her soul--but thankfully temporarily. 3. Also, Laila, I feel quite certain that the Merthurs are not liking the Arwen scenes in this episode. They're seeing what this loving relationship is really like, because in order to keep him from suspecting anything, Gwen has had to pretend normalcy with him. Merthurs and Arwenites can see, when there is no enchantment, this is the stuff that's going on in the Pendragon household. It's there for them to see and for us to see. The B/A chemistry is clearly there. They don't like it; we do. I don't know the full intent of TPTB, but this is what I'm taking from the Arwen moments. Him running his hand across her tummy? C'mon. 4. Merlin and Gaius are on it. We didn't have to wait for that. The mere fact that they are talking about Morgana having taken over Gwen is now being discussed even while she's doing her bad stuff. The look at the end. Merlin vs. Gwen yes. But you watch. It's Merlin vs. Morgana. Like most, I'm not crazy about this whole enchantment thing, but since we have it, this is how I'm dealing with it. Interesting title for next week. "The Hollow Queen." Interesting adjective, "hollow."

HumbleQueen Oh dear. I've been reading around various places and after reading Stacey's article, maybe I'm wrong. I was trying to look at this somewhat positively and salvage something to hope for but maybe Lailastar is right. Maybe Gwen has been thrown under the bus for the sake of the Merthur fans. I see in some comments on FB, Twitter (haven't the courage or strength for Tumblr) what you're all seeing and do see this "climate" of heightened hatred in certain circles. So sadly, maybe all my trying to rationalize is just wrong. Do you think we can see what our final analysis is on this after episode 9? Right now I almost feel like throwing in the towel, but can we just give it two more weeks before deciding if the character Guinevere we all love has been forever tarnished, never to be the same again. I feel so sad.....