Merlin: Secrets & Magic (2009) s01e08 Episode Script
A Family Affair
Welcome to Secrets And Magic, the series that goes behind the scenes to show you how Merlin's made.
Coming up, we see how Emelia Fox turned her tongue to those sorcerer's spells.
Dunna wuss! Reminds me of my Anglo-Saxon days at university where you have to learn it really, like, sort of a formula.
And we're on set for Camelot's latest family feud.
Anthony gets to pick up a sword and defend himself.
And it was great.
You should be on the edge of your seat when you're watching it.
All this and more on Merlin: Secrets And Magic.
We're back on set for the filming of Merlin's latest magical adventure and this time it's a sorceress that's causing a stir in Camelot.
But who is this mysterious masked visitor? Morgause is the character that I'm playing.
And, um she arrives at the castle in some disguise and surprises the court and issues a challenge to Arthur.
I accept your challenge.
I've never done, you know, the full chain mail and all of that so that's been really fun.
And to create I really wanted to create that fairytale image of when you do see her, she has got that sort of the long blonde hair My name is Morgause.
She plays sort of the amped-up version of Morgana.
She is a very powerful sorceress, she is a warrior, she is intelligent, she is forceful, she's very similar to Morgana.
She is what Morgana would have been, had she been brought up in the same way.
They're very similar characters.
I want to introduce myself, I'm the Lady Morgana.
I know who you are.
'She comes to Camelot to not only destroy Uther,' because Uther has killed so many of her kind, but also to re-establish, or to establish, because they've never actually met, the bond between her and Morgana, her half-sister, because they are the only family that each other have left.
That's a beautiful bracelet.
It was a gift from my mother.
It's been all the things I've really wanted to do, which is sword-fighting, riding the most sort of fairytale horse you can imagine, and spell incantation.
Aya fulte me hey, dat heyo unslip.
It reminds me of my Anglo-Saxon days at university where you have to learn it really, like, sort of a formula.
Um, but it was fun to do.
You showed yourself to be a man of honour.
You inherited that trait from your mother.
You knew my mother? I knew her very well.
And with the arrival of Morgause Wait! .
.
the story of Arthur's absent mother can at last now be told.
We were two-thirds into the series and we wanted to give another emotional challenge to Arthur.
And we thought it would be interesting that we set up this idea in series one that Arthur was born of magic, so there's this great ticking timebomb that we wanted to explode at some point in series two.
And so we thought it would be a great idea to introduce Ygraine, the ghost of Arthur's mother, and for him to learn about it in an emotional sense.
We could have had quite a dry scene where Merlin or somebody tells him, but we thought, "Why don't we make it an emotional story so Arthur actually gets to meet his mother.
" Tell me what it is that your heart most desires.
You said you knew my mother.
Tell me all that you know about her.
Perhaps you would like to see her? I want that more than anything.
Arthur learns more about his father and learns more of what's happened to his mother.
Arthur.
Mother.
Your father betrayed me.
He went to the sorceress, Nimueh, and asked for her help in conceiving a child.
You were born of magic.
So it works out that, actually, Uther was the reason why his wife, Ygraine, died.
So Arthur is horrified and frightened by this So I suppose the repercussions are huge, for what she says.
I can only imagine how it must feel to discover your father is responsible for her death.
It is an unforgivable betrayal.
Fetch the horses.
We're returning to Camelot.
Usually when mum's the word, it means that you keep quiet but in this case Arthur can't wait to get home to Camelot and get straight to the point.
The idea came, we had a meal with Tony Head after series one, and we were saying, "What direction do we want to take Uther in?" And Tony was saying, "I'd love a scene where Arthur really challenges me.
" The story rippled out from that, really.
I know what you did to my mother.
If you choose not to defend yourself, I will strike you down where you stand.
You are my son.
Anthony gets to pick up a sword and defend himself.
And, um and it was great.
With tempers frayed and swords flailing, you'd be forgiven for thinking this certainly means bloodshed.
But, of course, there's a stunt expert standing by and he's watching Camelot's latest combat very carefully.
My job is I'm in charge of all the action.
Anything that involves action, I have to plan it, make sure it's safe and overlook it all when we do it.
The guys have got used to working with each other.
After a few takes, they get used to where each other move, get confident with each other, get used to the routine, and it starts to work.
As a producer you're always having kittens.
"Actors with props, hope they'll be all right!" But Bradley is great with a sword and Tony's had a lot of experience with doing fighting.
So they were very good.
And Andreas, the stunt coordinator, did a great fight with them.
Arthur's obviously fighting against Uther, so it's dad and son, so there's quite a lot of the drama side involved in the fight.
It was a real thrill to watch because you've built up to this emotional moment, that Arthur is a product of magic, and how his character would feel about that.
He's questioning everything, all of the morals that his dad's laid down, so this is a young man in crisis.
It was great to get a fight scene going in the council chambers because we'd talked about it all last year and how good it would be.
And I think the idea kind of spread and it found itself in a script.
We broke it down into three quite easy stages.
We just shot either side and then across the set.
And they did it brilliantly.
And I think that was very exciting, although you had to stand back cos the swords were flying everywhere.
'It's a very difficult scene' on two levels.
Any sword fight is tough, especially if they're fighting without shields or armour, which they are in this case.
If you then add to that the fact that they're performing very emotional, difficult lines at the same time as sword-fighting, which in this case they are, it's a really tough scene.
The thing that was quite fun about it was the fact that he's coming at me, he wants me to fight back.
And I won't, initially.
So there's a lot of parries.
And then he annoys me, so I actually do try and get him back, which means that the fight has got a shape and a sort of dynamic to it which is not usual.
Stop this! 'Fighting with those swords is, you know ' Yes, they're blunt, obviously, they're not sharp.
But they're still big, heavy lumps of metal and they're still thrown in a fair degree of earnest, and you really can't afford to get them wrong, cos otherwise the sword will come straight into you.
It increases the element of danger.
You should be on the edge of your seat when you're watching it.
Arthur, don't! I know you don't want to do this! My mother is dead because of him! Killing your father won't bring her back.
You've lost one parent.
Do you really want to lose another? I think it will come as quite a surprise to the audience that the episode kind of culminates in this scene.
And once again it's mediator Merlin that reasons with the royal.
But Camelot never stays calm for very long.
There is still back-story that we have yet to find out.
Um, towards the end of the season we find there is much more than meets the eye, um, to Arthur's relationship with Uther, Ygraine, Morgana, Morgause, and therefore more will be discovered in season three.
Coming up, we see how Emelia Fox turned her tongue to those sorcerer's spells.
Dunna wuss! Reminds me of my Anglo-Saxon days at university where you have to learn it really, like, sort of a formula.
And we're on set for Camelot's latest family feud.
Anthony gets to pick up a sword and defend himself.
And it was great.
You should be on the edge of your seat when you're watching it.
All this and more on Merlin: Secrets And Magic.
We're back on set for the filming of Merlin's latest magical adventure and this time it's a sorceress that's causing a stir in Camelot.
But who is this mysterious masked visitor? Morgause is the character that I'm playing.
And, um she arrives at the castle in some disguise and surprises the court and issues a challenge to Arthur.
I accept your challenge.
I've never done, you know, the full chain mail and all of that so that's been really fun.
And to create I really wanted to create that fairytale image of when you do see her, she has got that sort of the long blonde hair My name is Morgause.
She plays sort of the amped-up version of Morgana.
She is a very powerful sorceress, she is a warrior, she is intelligent, she is forceful, she's very similar to Morgana.
She is what Morgana would have been, had she been brought up in the same way.
They're very similar characters.
I want to introduce myself, I'm the Lady Morgana.
I know who you are.
'She comes to Camelot to not only destroy Uther,' because Uther has killed so many of her kind, but also to re-establish, or to establish, because they've never actually met, the bond between her and Morgana, her half-sister, because they are the only family that each other have left.
That's a beautiful bracelet.
It was a gift from my mother.
It's been all the things I've really wanted to do, which is sword-fighting, riding the most sort of fairytale horse you can imagine, and spell incantation.
Aya fulte me hey, dat heyo unslip.
It reminds me of my Anglo-Saxon days at university where you have to learn it really, like, sort of a formula.
Um, but it was fun to do.
You showed yourself to be a man of honour.
You inherited that trait from your mother.
You knew my mother? I knew her very well.
And with the arrival of Morgause Wait! .
.
the story of Arthur's absent mother can at last now be told.
We were two-thirds into the series and we wanted to give another emotional challenge to Arthur.
And we thought it would be interesting that we set up this idea in series one that Arthur was born of magic, so there's this great ticking timebomb that we wanted to explode at some point in series two.
And so we thought it would be a great idea to introduce Ygraine, the ghost of Arthur's mother, and for him to learn about it in an emotional sense.
We could have had quite a dry scene where Merlin or somebody tells him, but we thought, "Why don't we make it an emotional story so Arthur actually gets to meet his mother.
" Tell me what it is that your heart most desires.
You said you knew my mother.
Tell me all that you know about her.
Perhaps you would like to see her? I want that more than anything.
Arthur learns more about his father and learns more of what's happened to his mother.
Arthur.
Mother.
Your father betrayed me.
He went to the sorceress, Nimueh, and asked for her help in conceiving a child.
You were born of magic.
So it works out that, actually, Uther was the reason why his wife, Ygraine, died.
So Arthur is horrified and frightened by this So I suppose the repercussions are huge, for what she says.
I can only imagine how it must feel to discover your father is responsible for her death.
It is an unforgivable betrayal.
Fetch the horses.
We're returning to Camelot.
Usually when mum's the word, it means that you keep quiet but in this case Arthur can't wait to get home to Camelot and get straight to the point.
The idea came, we had a meal with Tony Head after series one, and we were saying, "What direction do we want to take Uther in?" And Tony was saying, "I'd love a scene where Arthur really challenges me.
" The story rippled out from that, really.
I know what you did to my mother.
If you choose not to defend yourself, I will strike you down where you stand.
You are my son.
Anthony gets to pick up a sword and defend himself.
And, um and it was great.
With tempers frayed and swords flailing, you'd be forgiven for thinking this certainly means bloodshed.
But, of course, there's a stunt expert standing by and he's watching Camelot's latest combat very carefully.
My job is I'm in charge of all the action.
Anything that involves action, I have to plan it, make sure it's safe and overlook it all when we do it.
The guys have got used to working with each other.
After a few takes, they get used to where each other move, get confident with each other, get used to the routine, and it starts to work.
As a producer you're always having kittens.
"Actors with props, hope they'll be all right!" But Bradley is great with a sword and Tony's had a lot of experience with doing fighting.
So they were very good.
And Andreas, the stunt coordinator, did a great fight with them.
Arthur's obviously fighting against Uther, so it's dad and son, so there's quite a lot of the drama side involved in the fight.
It was a real thrill to watch because you've built up to this emotional moment, that Arthur is a product of magic, and how his character would feel about that.
He's questioning everything, all of the morals that his dad's laid down, so this is a young man in crisis.
It was great to get a fight scene going in the council chambers because we'd talked about it all last year and how good it would be.
And I think the idea kind of spread and it found itself in a script.
We broke it down into three quite easy stages.
We just shot either side and then across the set.
And they did it brilliantly.
And I think that was very exciting, although you had to stand back cos the swords were flying everywhere.
'It's a very difficult scene' on two levels.
Any sword fight is tough, especially if they're fighting without shields or armour, which they are in this case.
If you then add to that the fact that they're performing very emotional, difficult lines at the same time as sword-fighting, which in this case they are, it's a really tough scene.
The thing that was quite fun about it was the fact that he's coming at me, he wants me to fight back.
And I won't, initially.
So there's a lot of parries.
And then he annoys me, so I actually do try and get him back, which means that the fight has got a shape and a sort of dynamic to it which is not usual.
Stop this! 'Fighting with those swords is, you know ' Yes, they're blunt, obviously, they're not sharp.
But they're still big, heavy lumps of metal and they're still thrown in a fair degree of earnest, and you really can't afford to get them wrong, cos otherwise the sword will come straight into you.
It increases the element of danger.
You should be on the edge of your seat when you're watching it.
Arthur, don't! I know you don't want to do this! My mother is dead because of him! Killing your father won't bring her back.
You've lost one parent.
Do you really want to lose another? I think it will come as quite a surprise to the audience that the episode kind of culminates in this scene.
And once again it's mediator Merlin that reasons with the royal.
But Camelot never stays calm for very long.
There is still back-story that we have yet to find out.
Um, towards the end of the season we find there is much more than meets the eye, um, to Arthur's relationship with Uther, Ygraine, Morgana, Morgause, and therefore more will be discovered in season three.