MERLIN

Merlin is a young sorceror who arrives at the city of Camelot, after his mother arranges for him to stay with Gaius, the court physician. He discovers that the king, Uther Pendragon, has outlawed magic and has imprisoned the last great dragon deep under the city. The dragon informs Merlin that he has an important destiny to protect Uther's son, Arthur, who will bring forth a great Kingdom. When he meets Arthur for the first time he believes that he is arrogant and Arthur views Merlin as subservient, as Merlin has to keep his magic a secret or face execution at the hands of Uther.

Morgana is Uther's ward and daughter with the power of prophetic foresight, which frightens her and which she keeps secret. Guinevere, whom she calls "Gwen", is her maid servant and close friend. The first series focused on the development of Merlin and his friendship with Arthur. The second series focuses more on development of the other cast members. Some of the central themes of the series are the budding romance between Arthur and Gwen and Morgana's struggle to control her powers, the latter eventually being corrupted by evil due to Uther's actions.

Other characters from Arthurian legend have also appeared. Lancelot longed to become a knight but was unable to do so because of his birth as a commoner. Mordred has appeared as a Druid boy who formed a bond with Morgana (in the legend he is her nephew), and it has been predicted by the dragon that Mordred will be the cause of death of Arthur (in the legend this occurred at the Battle of Camlann). Mordred and occasionally the Great Dragon refer to Merlin by his Druidic name, Emrys (the Welsh form of Ambrosius); Ambrosius Aurelianus was a historical figure that Geoffrey of Monmouth partially merged with Merlin^{[citation needed]}. Excalibur is an ordinary sword that becomes enchanted by the Great Dragon and is later thrown into a lake (in the legends, this was the sword Nimueh gave to Arthur).