A fan-favorite that proves how far Merlin and Arthur will go to save one another.
When the BBC’s Merlin first aired in 2008, it faced a daunting challenge: how to retell the most famous Arthurian legend for a family audience without succumbing to the shadow of grand cinematic epics like Excalibur or the gritty historical revisionism of other period dramas. The solution, as season one brilliantly demonstrates, was not to focus on the king, but on the servant; not on the sword, but on the secret. By grounding high fantasy in the mundane anxieties of adolescence, Merlin’s first season crafts a compelling origin story about identity, prejudice, and the price of destiny.