Ryan Faulkner

Absolute trash. A real disgrace to Cornwell’s excellent novels. It bears the name but none of the magic story. A low budget excursion forcing multiculturalism into a dark ages story, and changing the narrative seeming on a whim. Cornwell nailed it, a winning story all laid out… but still they felt the need to change it. The biggest issues so far sit with casting: -Sagramor is already an excellent black character. Part of his story is being viewed as Arthur’s demon (due to black skinned people being such a rarity). As per usual the filmmakers felt the need to put a 21st century demographic into 500AD… - I have far less issue casting Merlin as a coloured actor. Unfortunately they used a young, kindly, handsome one. He is supposed to the old, lecherous and mischievous. He’s also supposed to be absent for some time to really bring home the ynys trebes story. Huge failure of the character that now cannot be salvaged. - Dervel is supposed to be a huge lunk of a bloke. The skinny Legolas wannabe they cast has the appeal of a plank of wood. He is supposed to be the protagonist, not Arthur. ‘Dervel the mighty’ indeed… The rest of the cast doesn’t do much better I’m afraid. The concept of magic in this (historical fiction) is supposed to be grey. You should be able to see it as both potentially real and simultaneously a series of tricks. Large parts of the later story tie into this concept. This brilliant and necessary plot point is already destroyed in season 1. There’s absolutely no chance they can salvage the amazing stories coming up. Should have just called it something else because it’s not the warlord chronicles.