Bradley James and Colin Morgan Talk Merlin Season 3

In a recent conference call, the charming leads of Merlin shared their insight as to what their characters shall face and how they will be tested in the third season.

Bradley James, who plays Prince Arthur, revealed that as the third season opens, the search for Morgana will be of utmost importance to King Uther.

However, since Morgana has been missing for a year that time away has had a dramatic effect on her. She has embraced her dark side, which Bradley described as, “She’s just as evil as she was before if not more.” It marks the beginning of the epic battle destined to be fought between Merlin and Morgana.

Colin Morgan, who plays Merlin, admitted that out of all the villains on Merlin, Morgana is the greatest enemy that Merlin faces. The fact that Merlin tried to kill Morgana is not something that she will take lightly and Morgana will use that knowledge to threaten Merlin – for she knows that he not only tried to kill her, but also that Merlin knows she possesses magical abilities. Colin explained, “She’s in a position of power — and Merlin’s the only one that knows what her true power is and how she can use that.”

Bradley told us what he was most anticipating this season: “The thing I was most excited about with the third series is the introduction of certain characters who have a more longstanding place within the legend and the story and within the show for us . . . and I was particularly sort of really pleased about that because it’s had a sort of aspect of developing the show as well which is a great thing about Season 3.”

Despite the vague teaser, Bradley was more forthcoming about what to expect in the relationship between Arthur and Merlin, sharing, “I think [the show will] get to a point where Arthur will no longer see Merlin as a servant, where they will be equals, [but] I don’t think that will happen too soon.” He clarified, “I think that’s kind of where the progression of that relationship goes. I think that relationship has to be quite steady in its progression anyway because it can’t make any sort of major jumps –because I think it’s sort of quite important to the show.”

Still attempting to explain Merlin and Arthur’s increasingly complex relationship, Bradley further added, “I’d say that there’s that progression to them becoming equals and the sort of high levels of trust in these seemingly endlessly kind of mortal situations they keep finding themselves in. Mortal situations, that didn’t make sense. What’s the word I’m looking for?” Right on queue, his helpful co-star Colin chimed-in to add, “Lethal?” To which Bradley happily exclaimed, “Lethal! Lethal situations they find themselves in. . . That becomes a case of them being able to trust each other in those familiar situations.”

Colin also noted that while fans were eagerly awaiting the point when Merlin can reveal to Arthur how often he saves his life and gain a bit more equal-footing in their relationship, “I think as long as there’s any hint of doubt in Merlin’s mind that Arthur might have a similar attitude [like] his father does — if there’s any sort of hint, then it’s not the right time. . . I think while his father’s still alive — and I think magic being such a big thing for Uther — it would be hard for Arthur to change that; and I certainly think that while Uther’s still around, it would be very difficult for Merlin to justify coming out with something so huge.”

Throwing in a bit of levity in the response, Bradley laughingly said, “Let’s call the pink elephant in the room here. We need to get rid of Uther. Then we can get on with it. I’ll say it, if no one else will!”

When asked if he thought that Arthur was starting to suspect that Merlin was something more than just an ordinary servant, Bradley thoughtfully answered, “I think it’s not so much about becoming aware of Merlin’s actual abilities, but more about Merlin’s abilities as a person without the magic. I think that is what Arthur’s becoming aware of. Arthur gets to the point where he can appreciate Merlin for who he is as opposed to what he is.” Though he also candidly admitted, “I don’t think we have any idea how they’re going to play this one out.”

Colin then commented that while it may appear that Arthur is unrealistically oblivious to Merlin’s magic, it is more really about the fact that Merlin has become quite adept at concealing his magic. He noted, “Obviously [Merlin’s] abilities have developed quite a lot over the years. I think he’s got absolute and dedicated reasons as to why he’s protecting Arthur — because he’s been instructed right from the beginning that it’s his destiny to see him through to the throne. So he’s completely driven to [protect] Arthur — and if there are justifiable reasons to protect others he will absolutely do it because he always strives to see the good and works for that — and Arthur potentially embodies all that could be good about Camelot when he becomes king. So it’s all about working towards the obvious – he’s definitely more dedicated to using his powers for that reason.” It is Merlin’s mission to ensure that the future king will one day rise up and be the ruler that Camelot deserves. A ruler who will recognize that magic has a place in his kingdom and can be used for good, as well as for evil.

Talking a bit more about the influence of both Merlin and Gwen on making Arthur the man who would one day be king, Bradley said, “With Merlin, I think traditionally he’s always been a sort of advisor and also a kind of magical helping-hand in sort of previous legends. I guess we’ll see. I think there’s a bit of a danger with Guinevere sort of at the moment. The relationship hasn’t been developed as such to know what role she will play other than she kind of turns up at moments and kind of says ,‘you’ll be the king I know you can be.’ So I’m not really sure what direction either will go; but I think the obvious one would be with Merlin being that sort of advisor and magical helping-hand in times of need.” (He carefully dodged talking too much about the deepening relationship between Arthur and Gwen.)

Colin expounded a bit more on the topic of the changing relationship between Merlin and Arthur sharing, “There’s always that issue there of servant and master, and that will always be there. But these are guys who’ve been friends for three years now – and as anyone who’s spent that much time together, you get used to the quirks and those little idiosyncrasies that each person has, and it’s unique in the fact that these characters have huge things ahead of them and Arthur knows he’s going to be king. Merlin does too. But he also knows that there’s greater things at stake — that he’s the one who’s supposed to see and to make that journey and to be there. So they’re forced into that situation. It’s just lucky that as time has gone by that they’ve just become closer friends.”

Another well-known friend of Arthur’s who remains missing-in-action is Lancelot. When asked whether there would be any upcoming light shed on that relationship, Bradley responded, “It was such a difficult situation. [In the stories] Lancelot initially betrayed him because they were such good friends. . . It’s been a bit difficult to kind of introduce that aspect because Lancelot hasn’t been in that many episodes. It’s coming up this year, but . . . it’s a little bit difficult because they’ve pretty much introduced straightaway the dilemma of Lancelot and Guinevere. So I would hope that it does get the opportunity to blossom as a story because it’s quite an integral part to the original legend. But who knows? We shall see.” It would appear that the love triangle and the path to eternal happiness for Arthur remains a bit murky and complicated with much of the Arthur-Gwen-Lancelot story to be revealed.

Another pivotal relationship in Arthur’s life is his relationship with his father, King Uther. More than any other person in his life, Uther has the strongest hold on Arthur simply because of that bond. While in-roads may have been made with Arthur’s willingness to be friends with Merlin and fall in love with Guinevere, Uther’s influence is not to be taken lightly. As Bradley noted, “Arthur’s grown up with purely his father [as] his only parental figure, but I think as the show has gone on I think you sort of see Arthur kind of starting to figure things out for himself where he has disagreed with his father — and I think in time it’ll lead to Arthur sort of making the choices as king that he will do . . . that’ll be different to how Uther does it which you would imagine there’ll be a stark contrast in the way that the pair of them rule. . . As time goes on I think it just becomes a lot more questioning from Arthur in how Uther does things.”

Bradley insightfully added, “[Arthur has] the ability to see both sides of the argument, and I think that’s kind of what perhaps Morgana doesn’t have. She can’t understand why Uther makes certain decisions; and Uther can’t understand why Morgana feels certain ways about things; and I think Arthur has the ability to be able to see both sides of the argument.” It will be Arthur’s awareness that there are two sides of any argument that will make him a more effective and beloved ruler of Camelot.

Both Colin and Bradley were aware of the Arthurian mythology prior to joining Merlin, but did not study it closely until they were cast on the show. They, like the audience, know where their characters’ journeys will end up, but for now both are happy to take the journey slowly and appreciate the adventures that are revealed before Arthur becomes king and Merlin the mightiest wizard in the world.

Colin remarked, “I think as an audience member, being aware of where these characters end up and knowing that they become the legends that they are, that Arthur and Gwen become king and queen, that Merlin becomes accepted as Arthur’s advisor and a wizard and that magic is out in the open and I think when you know that that’s where they end up I think it can always be possibly a sense of frustration when you want that to happen quickly.” But he also explained, “In reality things don’t happen that quickly. It takes time for those to happen, and I guess as well that’s from a story point of view. I guess from a producer’s point of view they don’t want to rush things too quickly. But I do believe that things are happening at quite a pace already in terms of character relationships. It’s just I think that we’re – as an audience — we’re in the ‘know’ about where they’re supposed to be.”

Bradley was quick to reassure fans by adding, “I would say had Season 3 not gone in the direction that it went in, then those frustrations would have been there. But I think Season 3 kind of takes the show in the direction it needed to go because we sort of had two seasons of what the first two were about, and I think in Season 3, things change. So I think that was needed, and I think the producers kind of answered the call with where they went with the direction of the show.” He further commented, “I think it constantly is a surprise because there’s no set way of doing it.”

However, Bradley did note that once Arthur does find out about Merlin’s abilities, “I actually believe that we’re very close to the point where were Arthur finds out. I think previously that we’d perhaps have a problem because Arthur would bring it up to the powers that be and Uther would become aware. I think we have reached the point . . . where Arthur would be able to accept it.”

Both Colin and Bradley are a bit impish and had a bit of fun at each other’s expense during interviews. One fun exchange during the call was when Colin was asked if there were any particular skills that he will be taking away from his experiences working on Merlin and Colin thoughtfully said, “You learn so many different skills I think on the show– and I think that’s probably what it is: the ability to adapt. . . You’re asked constantly to [do] green-screen, adventure, horse riding, comedy scenes, dramatic scenes, everything. So I think the ability and the skill to adapt under a tight schedule is one that I’d definitely take away.” When it was noted that he would be taking away quite a few skills, Colin merely laughingly responded, “I know! I know!” Which prompted Bradley to mischievously add, “He’s greedy!”

This was followed by the another funny exchange when both were asked if they had any pet-peeves with their characters and Bradley said, “Arthur gets knocked unconscious quite a lot,” and Colin interjected, “And Merlin tries to bring him back from unconsciousness quite a lot.” To which Bradley quipped, “But never managing. Why?” He then added that he thought Merlin needed to learn a spell to prevent THAT.

Still feeling a bit effusive with mischievousness, when asked what would be the one character he would use to describe Arthur, Bradley happily announced, “Fabulous!”

Finally, when asked if he would like to be a wizard in real-life, Colin enthusiastically responded, “Definitely! I mean who wouldn’t want to be a wizard at least for a day. As long as you didn’t have the dilemmas and the situations that Merlin and staff was thrown into I’d be happy. . . If you could actually use them, you know, to have a bit of fun and do something good for the world and maybe for yourself whereas Merlin’s kind of limited that he has to look after Arthur. But it’s all for the good — yeah, definitely!” Though rather than hoping to have the ability to teleport people at his command, Colin is more inclined to use any such powers to help his fellow man find true happiness. He would want to be able to grant whatever wish truly makes people happy.

With that one last note of global love and philanthropy, tune in to see how the third season of Merlin unfolds on Friday, January 7 at 10/9c on Syfy.