Merlin: Series 5 - Arthur's Bane (Part 1)

So the series returned with a strong start to its fifth series, where 3 years of peace have past since the finale of series 4.

All the main cast have come back with more interesting character developments, such as Gwen, who now being queen seems to be more authoritative and every character held their own in this fast paced and epic opener. Also the reintroduction of Mordred, the establishment of the Round Table and Albion starting, I can see more of the mythology coming into use, which makes the series have more potential for growth. One thing was unepected was the appearance of what appeared to be an alien. So maybe the show's going more sci-fi, but hopefully should be explained next week.

This episode, acting as the first of a two-parter, builds up the suspense and tension with the mystery around Arthur's bane and the key that Morgana is trying to find by kidnapping numerous people including some Camelot knights. An older Mordred, now played by Alexander Vlahos, brings forth the idea of Merlin's arch enemy and it will be interesting to see how this will develop throughout the series. I was surprised by the harder persona that Gwen displays especially when sentencing someone to death near the end of the episode, but I suppose it's understandable that the character has had to become more stronger with now being queen and she still showed her kinder side at various points during the episode.

Colin Morgan, Bradley James, Katie McGrath and Angel Coulby all gave great performances, along with the cameo of John Hurt as the Great Dragon, whose voice always brings a bit of gravitas to his scenes. So overall it was a great and strong opening episode and setting up a lot of stuff for the concluding episode of the two-parter next week and the series as a whole.