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Merlin Season 3 Episodes
Season 3 Episode Guide
13 Episodes 2010 - 2010
Episode 1
The Tears of Uther Pendragon
Fri, Jan 7, 201145 mins
A year after being whisked away from Camelot, Morgana is found, disheveled and bruised in the forest and claiming abduction by bandits. Superficially contrite and charming, she remains in league with Morgause, for whom she collects tears shed by Uther. These Morguase uses to curse him through a doll fashioned from mandrake root, which Morgana places under his bed. As it slowly starts to drive the king mad with hallucinates of ghosts, Morgause - after taking Merlin prisoner - induces rival king Cenred to invade the weakened kingdom, for which Merlin summons the Great Dragon for aid.
Episode 2
The Tears of Uther Pendragon: Part Two
Fri, Jan 14, 201145 mins
The Great Dragon returns Merlin to Camelot where, convincing Gaius of Morgana's treachery, they break the curse on Uther by burning the mandrake doll. Nonetheless, they feel he would not believe them if they exposed Morgana. Whilst Cenred's men lay siege to the castle, Morgana uses a rowan wood magic staff to create an army of sword-wielding skeletons to fight the knights inside Camelot. Merlin destroys the staff, the skeletons disintegrate and, as the tide turns in favour of Camelot, Cenred calls off his siege. Morgana, however, takes the credit for destroying the spell and is acclaimed by her foolish guardian.
Episode 3
Goblin's Gold
Fri, Jan 21, 201145 mins
Merlin accidentally releases a malicious goblin from a secret chamber and it casts a spell on Uther, making him lose all his hair. Gaius and Merlin try to catch it but it inhabits Gaius, possessing him and making him rude and greedy, selling bogus potions in exchange for gold. Before Merlin can act, the goblin, speaking through Gaius, denounces him as a sorcerer and he is imprisoned. Arthur believes in Merlin's innocence but he is turned into a donkey after confronting the possessed physician, and Merlin, helped only by Guinevere, must bring Gaius close to death so that the goblin will leave him and can be recaptured.
Episode 4
Gwaine
Fri, Jan 28, 201145 mins
A young mystery man, Gwaine, helps Merlin and Arthur when outnumbered in a tavern fight, in which he is injured. They take him to recover at Camelot where he expresses his dislike of the aristocracy (Arthur excepted, eventually) since his father, a knight, and his family were abandoned upon his death by their king. Using magic, the villains ousted in the brawl assume the identities of two knights and arrive in Camelot to take part in a joust where they aim to kill Arthur, using trickery. Gwaine and Merlin realise this but Gwaine is banished by Uther for attacking one of them. Merlin is hard-pressed using his magic powers to save Arthur in the joust and it is Gwaine who rescues the young prince for a second time. A grateful Arthur looks forward to the day when Gwaine will be dubbed a knight.
Episode 5
The Crystal Cave
Fri, Feb 11, 201145 mins
Fleeing enemies, Merlin and Arthur take refuge in The Valley of the Fallen Kings. There, the sorcerer Taliesin cures the wounded Arthur and shows Merlin the Crystal Cave, which provides a disturbing vision of the future in which Morgana stabs a sleeping Uther. Come her birthday, Morgana, given a dagger by Arthur, steals into the king's room to kill, secretly followed by Merlin, who uses magic to thwart her. She is temporarily put into a coma, during which time Uther confides in Gaius that she is his natural daughter - a fact of which she is also aware. Gaius believes that Arthur should be told as now Morgana is a legitimate heir to throne and he stands in her way.
Episode 6
The Changeling
Fri, Feb 18, 201145 mins
Arthur is pressured into an arranged marriage with a visiting princess, Elena. Arthur's reservations are vindicated when Merlin discovers Elena may not be exactly all she seems. He learns, quite by accident, that Elena's nanny is a Pixie. But who is she working for, and what is to be gained from a marriage to Arthur, heir to the throne of Camelot? Can Merlin get to the bottom of this mystery before Arthur is forced into the biggest mistake of his life?
Episode 7
The Castle of Fyrien
Fri, Feb 25, 201145 mins
Gwen faces an impossible dilemma when she is forced to choose between saving the life of her estranged brother (Elyan) or Arthur. With one of them certain to die at the hands of Cenred, who will Gwen choose: the love of her life or her only sibling? Loyalty and friendships are tested to the limit as Arthur, Merlin and Gwen work together to try to find a way out; but, with Morgana and Morgause doing all they can to scupper their plans, will good conquer evil or will Gwen lose someone she loves again?
Episode 8
The Eye of the Phoenix
Fri, Mar 4, 201145 mins
Arthur must journey alone to seek out an ancient sorcerer, the Fisher King, and retrieve a golden trident to prove his right to the throne. Morgana gives him an amulet, the Eye of the Phoenix, which will weaken and kill him if worn for too long. Discovering this, Merlin sets out after him, collecting Gwaine, and they save the debilitated prince from two attacking wyverns, discarding the amulet. Arthur believes the quest is his but Merlin, separated from the others, meets the Fisher King, who tells him he is the chosen one. He gives him a bottle of water from the lake of Avalon to use if Camelot is in peril. The quest is accomplished but Guinevere has also discovered that Morgana is a baleful sorceress and confides in Gaius.
Episode 9
Love in the Time of Dragons
45 mins
A healer is in Camelot using magic to heal the sick, and Gaius quickly realizes it is Alice, a woman whom he was about to marry many years earlier until she had to flee from Uther's persecution of sorcerers. Now Gaius is happy to work with Alice again in preparing potions, but he is unaware that Alice is being controlled by a mythical monster, a manticore, which urges her to poison the cold-hearted king. To break the manticore's hold over Alice and ultimately save her from execution, Gaius has to perform the magic that he possessed but had forsaken long ago.
Episode 10
Queen of Hearts
Sat, Nov 13, 201043 mins
Prophetic dreams of Guinevere becoming Camelot's Queen torment Morgana. Morgause encourages her to reveal Arthur and Gwen's courtship to Uther, knowing the king will do whatever it takes to stop his son from marrying a serving girl. As a result, Uther banishes Gwen from the kingdom, forcing Arthur to make the ultimate sacrifice of leaving Camelot to join her. Determined to stop the loving couple, Morgana frames Gwen for the unpardonable crime of enchanting the prince. With destiny once again at stake, Merlin will be compelled to risk everything to save Gwen from a gruesome death.
Episode 11
The Sorcerer's Shadow
44 mins
Camelot's legendary tournament only has one rule: there are no rules whatsoever. Terrifying warriors start to fill the mythical city, Gilli amongst them. Despite his small stature, Gilli is ready to join the action and committed to achieve victory with a secret weapon to help him: magic. When Gilli begins to realize the full extent of his powers, Merlin becomes torn since his new friend is putting his own life in danger as well as threatening the very heart of Camelot with his actions. Will Merlin be able to make Gilli see sense before it's too late?
Episode 12
The Coming of Arthur: Part One
Sat, Nov 27, 201043 mins
Sir Leon is nursed back to health by Druids using the Cup of Life after he is the sole survivor of an attack by Cenred's men. It purportedly grants immortality to those who drink from it, and Arthur and Merlin retrieve it from the Druids to prevent it falling into Cenred's hands. However, they, along with Gwaine, are ambushed and the cup stolen. Having killed Cenred, Morgause makes his soldiers drink from it and, under her orders, they successfully attack Camelot. By the time the three young men arrive back at the court, Uther is in chains and Camelot has a new ruler.
Episode 13
The Coming of Arthur: Part Two
43 mins
The new queen of Camelot proves to be far crueler than Uther, who is made to watch from his dungeon as she slaughters innocents. Guinevere helps Sir Leon escape from prison and joins her brother Elyan, Gaius, Merlin, Arthur and Gwaine, who are hiding in the woods. Soldiers follow but they are saved by Lancelot and a youth of immense strength, Percival. Merlin looks into the waters of Avalon in the phial given him by the Fisher King, which directs him to Excalibur, the sword which will defeat the enemy. The fugitives find a round table, around which they movingly declare allegiance to each other, and Arthur knights all the young men - except, of course, Merlin, though Lancelot, aware of his powers, tells Merlin he is the bravest of them all. The group launches its invasion of Camelot, which gives Gaius his finest hour as the sisters are routed, largely due to Merlin's use of Excalibur. However, he places the sword in a rock until it can be used again.
