Merlin Episode Ideas

5

We open on a big ball and banquet to celebrate the queen's birthday. Everyone is having lots of fun. Lots of eating, drinking and laughter. The queen makes a toast saying how grateful she is, and that the party needs livening up a bit so she requests for the tables to be moved so that people can dance – she signals the band to play something lively, and everybody gets up and cheers. They all start to find their partners and dance – Arthur and Gwen, Kate and Gwaine, a few other knights with ladies from the town. We see romantic talks between Arthur and Gwen and Kate and Gwaine – they all kiss their respected partners. Suddenly, the door comes crashing open. A woman stumbles through the crowd, she looks like she has escaped from somewhere/someone. She is calling out for Gwaine. When she finds him, she collapses into his arms. Everyone looks shocked, Kate is speechless.

TITLES RUN

We come back to the woman in Gaius's chambers, asleep and being checked over by Gaius. Gwaine is by her side, holding her hand. He is explaining who the woman is but doesn't realise that Kate is at the door listening. He explains that the woman's name is Lily and that she was his wife. However, he had believed her to be dead and that is when he began his life of travelling and never staying in the same place for too long (back when we were first introduced to Gwaine). Kate walks through the doors, she has tears in her eyes but acts like she is fine. She carries in a bucket of fresh water for Gaius. Gwaine looks guilty and embarrassed but doesn't say anything. Kate looks at him, "let me know if there is anything you need". She then extends this to the rest of the room and quickly leaves. Merlin and Gaius share a look and Gwaine goes back to caring for Lily.

Kate is in her room. There is a knock at the door, it is Merlin. "I've come see if you're alright, I know Gwaine means a lot to you". She starts to cry, "he's going to choose her, isn't he?". Merlin doesn't say anything, he walks over to her and they share a hug. They spend most of the night together, talking and eating – it is a lovely night shared between brother and sister, they are like best friends. Kate falls asleep in a chair at the table in her room, Merlin covers her with a blanket, and leaves.

In the early morning, Gwaine knocks on the door. She lets him in but is cautious. They have a talk about what he is going to do. He explains that she is his wife and that he can't abandon her, he is very apologetic towards Kate, but she tells him that she understands. Kate knows that she must allow him and Lily to be together. They share one last kiss, but she cuts it short and walks away in tears. Gwaine leaves in silence.

Later that day, the knights are training – Kate is staying the other side of the field to Gwaine to avoid any awkwardness. Arthur notices this and goes to ask Kate how she is feeling. She says she is fine and carries on training. Arthur can tell that there is something wrong though, so he suggests helping her train. "I would be honoured, sire". They train well and Kate works Arthur very hard. When training is over, she apologises if she was too hard on him, they have a little joke about a woman defeating the king (lol). They walk away from the training grounds.

Cut to Gaius treating Lily, who is now awake and feeling a little better. Merlin and Kate walk in from training, Merlin has invited his sister for dinner. Kate avoids Lily like the plague. They both sit down to eat before they go and pick some fresh herbs for Gaius. Kate and Gaius have a short conversation about how her training is going and Lily asks how Gwaine was doing in training – "he's always been a strong contender". There is a lot of awkward tension, but Kate answers her with a polite reply, "oh, I don't really take notice of the other knights". Lily looks at her in an untrusting way as she doesn't believe her story, but lets it go. She shares a look with Merlin, and they continue to eat.

Cut to Merlin and Kate in the forest. She is helping him to carry the already full bags of herbs when they hear a noise. Kate signals to Merlin for him to get behind her. They carry on through the forest but with caution. They have an interaction with a sorcerer who has a message for Merlin (Emrys). (the sorcerer puts Kate to sleep whilst they talk). He is told to be cautious about the events of the following days, "the end of days is closer than you think". He is worried and tries to ask the sorcerer more questions, but he has vanished. Kate then wakes up. They agree that Arthur should know and rush back to Camalot. They give the herbs to Gaius, and quickly go to tell Arthur about what happened in the forest. Arthur thanks them for coming to him and tells them and the guards to keep an eye out.

The next morning, there is a hunting trip with Arthur, Merlin and the knights. They all prepare their supplies and weapons. Some people are on horses, but most of them are on foot. Cut to them in the woods. Some are already carrying small animals – rabbits and birds. Kate, Arthur, Percival and Leon are sneaking up on a wild pig – it is quite large. They all 'pounce' at the same tie and the pig goes down easily. Kate begins to tie its legs together, so it is easier to carry. As she goes to pick it up to put it in a cart which is being dragged with them, Leon stops her and says that she is needed more for catching a few more animals and tells Gwaine to carry it for her – Kate looks embarrassed and tries to insist that she can, but Merlin buts in and says Gwaine should do it. She then goes with Leon to find more animals to catch. Kate and Leon get on well and Gwaine is obviously jealous. After a few hours, they all return to Camalot with their bounty. They all look tired. Merlin, Kate, Percival and Gwaine take the animals to the butcher. As they leave, Gwaine pulls Kate behind to talk. "I see you and Leon are getting along well". Gwaine is clearly jealous and is asking if there is anything going on between them. "yes, he's a good friend. As all of the guys are". They end up arguing about the fact that Gwaine is trying to tell her who she can and can't hang around with – Kate gets really mad and tells him that he gave up the right to tell her what to do when he chose Lily. She leaves quickly and he looks almost heartbroken.

Suddenly, the warning bell sounds and there is screaming in the citadel. The sorcerer is attacking the city. Arthur and the knights rush to fight him off. Merlin stays in the background, hoping that his magic can help to defeat him. There is the usual fight type sequence. Kate saves Gwaine from getting killed. She also saves Arthur and Elian by throwing an axe at the knives that sorcerer threw at them – a really cool move, slow motion. The sorcerer is angered by this and shouts with magic, which throws all of them back, knocking them out when they hit the walls/floor. The sorcerer disappears.

When everyone wakes, they begin to clean the mess. Kate and Gwaine help each other to move the barrels out of the way of the path. Lily runs through the crowd to Gwaine, pushing Kate out of the way. They kiss and she makes sure he is ok. Kate picks up a broken beam from a market cart and walks away from them.

Later, there is a strategy meeting at the round table. Arthur makes a plan for when Morgana attacks. All the knights agree with the plan and they are dismissed.

Cut to Arthur reading important papers in his chambers. Merlin walks in with his evening meal and Gwen enters shortly after. Arthur and Gwen discuss the fact that Gwaine has invited them to his vow renewal with Lily. They had forgotten that Merlin was in the room until he dropped the jug of wine in shock. Arthur explains that Gwaine was going to talk to both him and Kate together and invite them.

The next day, we cut to Merlin and Kate accepting the invitation from Gwaine and Lily. They explain that it will be in a week's time and that they would both be very happy for them to attend – they point out that they can bring a plus 1, "if" they have one. It is obvious that Gwaine doesn't want Kate to have one. Kate and Merlin look at each other and agree that they will be each other's plus 1s.

Go back to Merlin and Arthur having banter.

CREDITS RUN