Something I only just realized about the Arthur Saga-

[mary_j_59]

This is passed on from eleanor X, who had posted the video to her own livejournal. It really is a terrific song; I can't get it out of my head, and the lyrics (in spite of a couple of infelicitous words like "puppetile" - why not "puppet-like" or simply "puppet's"?) are pretty astonishing. If you watch this, consider the relationship described between Morgana and young Mordred, and then go here:
http://sigune.livejournal.com/93168.html#cutid1

Follow the links for "the Darkest Hour" and read the whole thing - and you will see, quite clearly, what I only just realized. The Arthur legend is, at heart, a revenge tragedy about a seriously disordered family. And young Mordred - if you read him as the instrument of his mother's revenge; there are other ways of reading him - is actually not so much a villain, as the last victim of this family. Why didn't I see this before?

Anyway, the song and the comic are both terrific, and I look forward to reactions to them both. ) BTw, the little fellow who plays Mordred is much, much closer to my idea of young Harry than Dan Radcliffe. For one thing, he is slender and actually has greenish eyes.

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Comments

[puckling.livejournal.com]

Okay, knowing what variations on the Arthur mythos that Merlin is pulling and then watching that vid is a bit odd, not going to lie.

[mary-j-59.livejournal.com]

Oh, I believe you! I hadn't seen any of the show before I saw the video, though, and (perhaps for that reason) I thought it very interesting and well done. And it's a great song.

BTW, seeing this video confirmed me in my desire to see the actual show. Why is it not available on DVD in the U.S.? Aargh!

[puckling.livejournal.com]

It's an absolutely lovely song and a vid that's proficient and well edited. Only in Merlin, Morgana isn't Mordred's mother and Arthur isn't his father and Morgana isn't the one who sets him against Arthur. So for me the cognitive dissonance is big here.

I guess this vid loses me a little because it's taking the admittedly very pretty images from Merlin and using them to tell a different version of the same story with out reflecting/commenting how their source material departs from traditional Arthurian legend and what's being said in the song. So on one hand I would call it a successful vid as it is well edited, with good clips and visuals, and does a very fine job of conveying the story which it wants to tell. But on the other, I think it could have been much more interesting if it were more ambitious in scope. Basically if it's going to play with the combination of traditional Arthuriana and Merlin I want it to be more like this vid (http://kiki-miserychic.livejournal.com/151843.html)* or this one (http://obsessive24.livejournal.com/247687.html) (only Morgana centric) or at least pick up on some of those ideas. Admittedly this is probably something that would only concern one if one knows the source and the variations it's playing with; going in cold it would probably matter a lot less in how one interacts with the vid. But I realize that a lot of what I'm saying is part of my own personal taste for more conceptual vids and my experience with Merlin and not actually a knock on the vid itself or what it was trying to achieve (which I think it did successfully).

How essential is it that it be on dvd/legal? Because I might be able to help with that

*there's a brief, nonexplict, and very much implied sex scene in that vid, which isn't for like, five seconds close to the very end, but I thought that I should note it just in case.