Dragon: In a land ofmyth and a time of magic,
the destiny of a great kingdom rests on the shoulders of a young boy.
His name, Merlin.
(Water dripping)
(Chanting)
(H eartbeat)
(Continues chanting)
Aren't you scared?
- Of what? - That you might catch whatever it is.
I'm the court physician, Merlin. This is part of my job.
Most of the time there's nothing really to be scared of.
You were saying?
People mustn't see this... They'll panic.
Dad? Here's your sandwich...
- Mmm, what's in it? - It's smoked pigeon,
but I'd say there's more smoke than pigeon.
You're such a good girl to me.
And I've done you some watercress soup tonight.
Don't tell me... With more water in it than cress?
- I'll see you later. - Okay. Bye.
What are you doing?
Just moving something.
- Looks heavy. - It's nothing really.
- Someone got you flowers? - No.
Would you like one? A purple one.
Purple suits you.
Not that I'm saying that red doesn't suit you.
Thanks. Well...
- See ya. - Bye.
You look happy.
- I picked these for you. - That's so sweet.
Something to cheer you up, I know you're not sleeping well.
You cheer me up.
Would you like me to put them in water for you?
I've never seen anything like this before.
Do you think it could be some kind of plague?
No, I fear that something like this could never come from nature.
But who has this kind of power?
- You think it's caused by magic? - Arthur: Merlin!
I'm on my way. Sorry I'm late.
Don't worry, I'm getting used to it.
Oh, uh...
Gwen. She gave it to me.
Tell Gaius that my father wants to see him now.
Okay.
- Gaius? - I heard.
Why couldn't he just tell you himself?
'Cause that's the way it is, you're a servant.
If he knew who I was, what I've done...
You'd be a dead servant.
- Right. Get this covered up. - Hey, I'm not your servant.
No, you're my dogsbody. Come on, hurry up.
- What's happened to him? - I don't know, sire.
It's the second case I've seen today.
Why didn't you report it to me?
- I was attempting to find the cause. - And what did you conclude?
I don't think it's time to hurry to conclusions.
The scientific process is a long one.
What are you concealing from me?
Sire, I have seen nothing like it.
The victims are dying in 24 hours and it's spreading fast.
So what is the cause?
I think you should say the cause,
the most likely cause, is sorcery.
- You must find who did this. - I will, father.
Conduct door-to-door searches, increase your presence in the town.
Double the guards on all the gates.
- Lend the physician your servant. - Merlin? But...
We need Gaius to find a cure.
He needs all the help we can give him.
If Gaius is right, believe me, this city will be wiped out.
This is the kind of magic that undermines our authority,
challenges all we've done.
If we cannot control this plague, people will turn to magic for a cure.
We have to find the sorcerer and quickly.
Yes, father.
Gaius? Gaius? He's still alive.
I'm afraid there's nothing we can do for him.
But we haven't tried.
If we don't know what the disease is then how can we cure him?
- With magic. - Have a look.
They're suspicious of everyone.
This is not the time to be using magic.
Science will lead us to the source of the disease.
What are you doing?
I'm examining the contents of that man's stomach.
Will that tell you who did it?
No, it'll tell us how it's spread.
One thing I do know, this is magic of the darkest kind.
Why would someone use magic like that?
Magic corrupts. People use it for their own ends.
But not all magic is bad. I know it isn't.
It's neither good nor bad. It's how you use it.
Over there. I'm sorry, Gaius.
- We're searching every room in town. - What for?
- The sorcerer. - And why would he be here?
- I'm just doing my job. - We've nothing to hide.
Go on, then. Search.
What are all these books and papers?
My life's work. Dedicated to the understanding of science.
You're quite welcome to read through them if you wish.
- What's this room up here? - It's mine.
What do you expect to find in there?
I'm looking for material or evidence suggesting the use of enchantments.
What have you done with the magic book I gave you?
Arthur: Merlin, come here.
Look what I've found.
I've found a place where you could put things.
It's called a cupboard.
How long do you think it may be before you find a cure?
Depends on how many interruptions I get.
Of course. I'm sorry, we're finished here.
- We have to hide that book. - No, we must use it.
Don't be stupid.
If I have this legacy then what is it for?
You keep telling me it's not for playing tricks.
You want to practice magic when the king is hunting for sorcerers?
Are you mad? Merlin, your life's destined for more important things.
But what if I don't practice, then how will I get to be this great warlock?
There'll come a time when your skills will be recognized.
- When? How long do I have to wait? - Patience is a virtue, Merlin.
Sitting by and doing nothing, that's a virtue?
Your time will come.
I could cure that man we saw.
I know it's tempting to use the way you find easiest, Merlin.
It is when it would save a life.
It's no good just saving one person.
We have to discover how this illness is spreading.
Arthur is out there right now looking for the sorcerer.
A sorcerer who is powerful enough to do this
will never be found searching the town.
So what can we do?
Hope that science can find the answer before it kills us all.
(Growling)
We've searched everywhere, the entire city.
- Nothing? - I don't know where else to look.
I want you to impose a curfew,
no one is to be allowed on the streets after the great bell.
- Father. - And cordon off the lower town.
Because that's where most of the victims are.
Let's isolate it. Stop this disease from spreading.
But what about the people who live there?
Don't you think I haven't considered it!
What else can I do?
I have to protect the rest of the city.
Gaius: What's different about this victim?
Uh, she's a woman.
Sometimes I do wonder whether your magical talents
were given to the right person.
Anything else?
- She's a courtier? - Ah.
But how does that help us?
Courtiers seldom go down to the lower town.
So what does that mean?
That she hasn't spoken to any townspeople...
Yes. It suggests that the disease is not spread by contact.
- And they probably eat different food. - Good. Anything else?
I doubt they breathe the same air.
So what's the only thing they do share?
Water.
Water. You think the disease is spread through the water!
Merlin, you're a prodigy.
Time to get up, dad.
Gwen?
Gwen? Gwen?
- Gwen. - Gaius.
- You have the sickness? - No. My father.
Please, Gaius... he's all I have.
- Gwen, I have no cure. - I'm begging you.
I wish there was something. Anything.
But so far, the remedy is beyond what I can achieve.
I'm sorry, Gwen.
- There must be something we can do? - My best.
Let's hope that this can provide some answers.
But that will be too late for Gwen's father.
I fear you may be right.
(Gaius snoring)
Guard 1: What about that one? In there?
Guard 2: It's empty, sir.
(All talking indistinctly)
(Chanting)
(Door creaking)
(Chanting)
Father! What's happened?
I can't believe it.
Gaius: Don't touch it!
I had this in the water for no more than a few hours.
Where was the water from?
The pump from where the people take their daily supply.
Arthur: We have to stop the people from using it.
The city cannot survive without water.
Then we have to find this sorcerer.
I don't believe that they're inside Camelot.
Then extend the search to the villages.
We've started. I can't search the entire kingdom.
And I can't stand by and watch our people die.
How's your father? Is he feeling better?
Yeah, it's incredible. It's a miracle.
- His skin's clear, back to normal? - Yes.
- Great. - You don't seem surprised.
No, no. I am. It's a miracle.
But how did you know he was well?
Because you're smiling.
It's really weird because I haven't told anyone, but you know.
How could you know?
Yeah, all right.
You've finally found out... I'll tell you...
- I'm psychic. - No, you're not.
- It's true! - All right, what am I thinking?
- That I'm not psychic. - You're strange.
I don't mean that in a nasty way.
You're just funny.
I like that.
I'm pleased for you.
- Thank you. - What for?
I don't know, just for asking.
I didn't like to see you upset.
I have to get on.
- The story is you were sick. - Not anymore.
Perhaps you were suffering from some other ailment.
You're joking. I felt like death itself.
Not enough strength in me to stir the air.
Then what happened?
I don't know. Suddenly, it was gone.
- I'm fitter than I was before. - That's remarkable.
Was anybody with you when all this happened?
Just my daughter Gwen.
(Humming)
- Seize her. - No!
Guinevere, I am arresting you for crimes in contravention to the laws of Camelot,
- that you did practice enchantments. - Gwen?
What have I done? I haven't done anything!
- Help me! Please! - What're you doing?
- Found a magic poultice in her house. - That's ridiculous.
How else do you explain her father's recovery?
She is innocent. I know she is innocent.
What can I do? I can't turn a blind eye.
No, please. Listen to me.
Please. I haven't done anything.
You have to listen to me, please.
I'm innocent, I swear. Let me go!
I swear to you.
Merlin! Merlin! Please help me.
Why won't you listen to me? Merlin, please...
- What have you done? - What?
I warned you.
Oh, I understand, you thought you were doing good.
I couldn't let her father die knowing I could cure him.
Did you not think it might look a bit suspicious, the curing of one man?
Then all I have to do is... I'll cure everyone.
No one will ever have to know it was magic.
It's too late. They think Gwen's a sorceress,
- they think she caused the disease. - But she didn't!
And how're you going to prove that?
Please listen to me. I have done nothing. Please.
I swear I haven't done...
- Well done. - Why will no one believe me?
He got better. He just recovered. I didn't do anything.
I believe you! Perhaps this is a disease that is not always fatal.
Have you thought of that? Perhaps he recovered naturally.
Then what of this poultice that was found?
What poultice? I know nothing about a poultice.
It was found in your house.
Undo this enchantment. Put an end to this contagion.
- I can't. - Then I can show you no mercy.
I am not a witch. I don't know how to stop the illness.
If you will not undo your sorcery,
you force my hand and I must find you guilty.
It is therefore my duty to pronounce judgment.
And under the circumstance, I have no choice
- but to sentence you to death. - No!
I can only hope that when you die, this evil plague dies with you.
- Take her away. - No, please, no.
I'm innocent! Please, no.
Please, help me. Please, I beg you.
I know Gwen, she is my maidservant, not an enchantress.
Have you ever seen an enchantress?
Believe me, they bear no sign, no Mark.
There is no sense of evil in the eye.
I have seen the way the girl works.
Her fingers are worn, her nails are broken.
If she was a sorceress, why would she do this?
Why would she kneel on a cold stone floor morning after morning
when she could make these things happen with the snap of her fingers?
- Like an idle king. - You have no right...
But you have the right to cast a judgment!
I have a responsibility to take care of this kingdom.
I take no pleasure in this.
But you are sentencing the wrong person.
She's right, father. You hear the word magic and you no longer listen.
You saw it for yourself, she used enchantments.
Yes. Maybe. But to save her dying father.
That does not make her guilty of creating a plague.
One's the act of kindness, of love, the other of evil.
I don't believe evil's in this girl's heart.
I have witnessed what witchcraft can do,
I've suffered at its hand.
I cannot take that chance.
If there is a slightest doubt about this girl,
she must die or the whole kingdom may perish.
I understand that.
One day you may become king,
then you will understand such decisions must be made.
There are dark forces that threaten this kingdom.
I know, witchcraft is an evil, father, so is injustice.
Yes, I am yet to be king, and I don't know what kind of king I will be.
But I do have a sense of the kind of Camelot I would wish to live in.
It would be where the punishment fits the crime.
I fear you are right.
She's played with fire and, sadly, she must die by fire.
I thought I was doing good.
And that curing Gwen's father would help her.
I thought I was saving a life.
It seemed so simple.
An easy solution is like a light in a storm, Merlin.
Rush for it at your peril,
for it may not always lead you to a safe harbor.
I can see that now.
How many times have I warned you
about the responsibilities of being a warlock?
I must see her.
(Sobbing)
Gwen.
Thank you.
- What for? - For coming to see me.
- I'm sorry. - It's not your fault.
It's all right. Don't worry about me.
There's no point crying about it.
I mean, I'm not saying that you were going to cry about me.
- Obviously, I don't think that. - Oh, Gwen!
- I can't have this happen. - Please.
One thing... you don't have to...
But...
What?
Remember me.
You're not going to die.
I'm not going to let this happen.
What if burning this witch doesn't stop the poison?
How do I protect my people?
My men have closed down the water pumps.
But the emergency supply won't last for much longer.
We have to find a way of cleansing the water of the disease.
- But how? - Well...
It was me!
It was me who used magic to cure Gwen's father.
Gwen is not the sorcerer, I am!
- Merlin! Are you mad? - I cannot let her die for me.
I place myself at your mercy.
He doesn't know what he's talking about.
I do.
- Then arrest him. - Father, please. I can't allow this.
This is madness. There's no way Merlin is a sorcerer.
- Did you not hear him? - Yes.
He's admitted it.
- He saved my life, remember. - Why should he fabricate such a story?
As Gaius said,
he's got a grave mental disease.
Really?
- He's in love. - What?
- With Gwen. - I am not!
- Yes, you are. - No way.
I saw you yesterday with that flower she'd given you.
- I'm not in love with her. - It's all right, you can admit it.
I don't even think of her like that.
Perhaps she cast a spell on you.
(Laughs)
Merlin is a wonder.
But the wonder is that he's such an idiot.
There's no way he's a sorcerer.
Don't waste my time again. Let him go.
- Arthur's the idiot. - No, he was right to do what he did.
And thankfully he saved you from your own stupidity.
What else could I do? It's my fault Gwen is going to die.
Yes. But you don't prove her innocence by offering to jump into the flames.
You do it by finding out what's causing the disease.
Whatever it is, one thing's for sure, Arthur's not going to find it.
He thinks he is so sharp.
Even when I told him I was a wizard, he still couldn't see it.
Sometimes it's pretty hard to spot.
Maybe I should go around wearing a pointy hat.
I don't think you'd find one big enough. Anyway, forget that.
If we're going to save Gwen, we have to find out
what's contaminating the water.
The water from here supplies the whole town.
Take a sample.
(Low growling)
Let's take it back and examine it.
(Roaring)
What the hell was that?
Here!
It was an afanc.
- An... a what? - A beast born of Clay,
and conjured up only by the most powerful sorcerer.
Now we have to find a way to defeat it.
But where?
That'd take days. Gwen will be dead by then.
Have you got a better idea?
Gwen.
I'm going to get you out.
I will.
Hello!
Dragon: Hello!
The great warlock returns, as I knew he would.
I need to know how to defeat an afanc.
Yes, I suppose you do.
Will you help me?
Trust the elements that are at your command.
Elements? But what is it I have to do?
You cannot do this alone.
You are but one side of a coin, Arthur is the other.
I don't understand. Just tell me what it is I have to do.
Please, help me.
I have.
(Laughing)
Oh, yeah, right. Thanks.
Have you found anything more?
I've tried.
I can keep looking.
People are dying. We can't delay any longer.
We must kill the witch.
Bring her execution forward to tonight.
- Merlin, what are you doing? - Looking for a book.
- Care to tell me which one? - A book on elements.
- Elements? - Yes.
- Which one would I find them in? - Most of them.
The study of base elements is at the very heart of the scientific process.
But how'll they help me kill the afanc?
Well, the afanc is a creature made from earth and water.
- That's two of the four base elements. - What about the other two?
Well, perhaps they will destroy it.
You want fire. Wind and fire.
- How did you find this out? - I just knew.
- It's part of my powers. - What else do your powers tell you?
That I am only one side of a coin. The brighter side, obviously.
- And who is the other side? - I think that might be Arthur.
They're bringing forward the execution.
- We have to prove Gwen's innocence. - We're trying.
Please, just tell me what I can do to help.
- We need Arthur. - Arthur?
There's a monster, an afanc, in the water supply.
- That's what's causing the plague. - We must tell uther.
The afanc's a creature forged by magic.
Telling uther wouldn't save Gwen.
He'll blame her for conjuring it.
- So what are we to do? - We need to destroy it
then the plague will stop and uther may see sense.
- And that's why you need Arthur. - He's our best chance,
but he won't want to disobey the king.
Leave that to me.
Are you all right?
I'm sorry about all this. Merlin's not been in today.
- Poor Merlin. - Yeah.
To offer to give up his life to save Gwen's.
I certainly can't imagine any man loving me so much.
No, I certainly can't imagine that either.
That's because you're not like Merlin,
he's a lover.
Yeah, maybe that's because I haven't found the right person to love.
Sadly, the age of gallantry seems to be dead.
You look around and all you see are small men,
not big enough to fill their armor.
There's not one of them that's able to stand up for what is right.
What do you want me to do?
You'd better be right about this, Merlin.
(Faint snarling)
- You should stay here. - I'm coming with you.
- No. - Scared I'll show you up?
Father will slam us both in chains if he knew I'd endangered you.
Good thing he doesn't know about it.
I'm telling you, morgana, turn back. You could get hurt.
So could you, if you don't get out of my way.
- How are we going to find it? - Just hope we do before it finds us.
(Snarling)
- Stop. - What?
It's just a shadow.
(Low growling)
Spread out.
(Snarling)
(Roaring)
- Morgana: What is it? Are you all right? - Yeah.
- Did you see it? - Yes.
- What does it look like? - It's quick.
(Screams)
Where is it?
I think it's gone this way.
Arthur, use the torch!
(Merlin chanting)
(Afanc howling)
Merlin!
(Chuckling) This is really good.
Good news, sire, there are no new deaths and those that are sick are recovering.
Good.
Strange, I've never heard of an afanc before.
It's conjured from Clay by powerful magic.
The type that can only be invoked by an ancient sorcerer,
one who has the power to mirror the spirit of life.
I found this at the water source.
It bears the Mark of nimueh.
We must be vigilant, sire.
- Will I never be rid of her? - Sire...
Leave me.
Oh, my baby.
- Thank you. - Don't thank me, it was more Merlin.
- Really? - He's the real hero here.
- I don't know what to say. - I didn't do anything.
I'm grateful to you all. Come on, Gwen.
Merlin? I wanted you to know, your secret is safe with me.
- My secret? - Come on, don't pretend.
- I know what you did. - You do?
- I saw it with my own eyes. - You did?
I understand why you don't want anyone to know.
- Well, obviously... - But I won't tell anyone.
You don't mind me talking to you about it?
No, it's...
You have no idea how hard it is to keep this hidden.
Well, you can continue to deny it,
but I think Gwen's a very lucky woman.
- Gwen? - It's our secret.
(Sighs)
This fish didn't come from the water, did it?
Well, where else is it going to come from?
The water's fine now. That's not your worry.
This was the work of a very powerful sorcerer.
I hope you didn't come to her attention.
Doubt it. No one else seems to appreciate my skills.
I just want someone to see me for who I am.
One day, Merlin, one day.
One day what?
One day, people won't believe what an idiot you were.
Thanks.
Merlin, you will pay for this.
Merlin!
Arthur: If I don't get the antidote, what happens to Merlin?
He will die.
His pulse is weaker.
Gwen: His fever's getting worse.
(Chants)
He's dead.