Gallery: Magical Sci-Fantasy Merlin Catches Fire in Season 3
01merlin-morgan
Merlin, BBC's sci-fantastic remix of Arthurian legend, soars to greater dramatic and comedic heights in its rewarding third season, which finally airs stateside starting Friday on Syfy. Colin Morgan (above) lends an elfin sparkle as the titular young wizard in the postmodern reboot, which envisions Camelot before Arthur's ascendancy to the throne. Arthur's despotic father, King Uther Pendragon (played by Anthony Head), is under constant attack from the magical creatures and outcasts he resolves to exterminate, which costs him the love and loyalty of his witchy ward Morgana (gorgeous Katie McGrath). While the show's first two seasons stretched out its characters' back stories to the sometimes-tiresome breaking point, Merlin's alternately dark and hilarious third season [gets on with it, Monty Python-style](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l1YmS_VDvMY). Prince Arthur (man-candy Bradley James) and servant girl Gwen (Angel Coulby) finally get their relationship moving, Morgana and Merlin throw down, and the battle for Camelot's progressive future — where magic and humanity can at last live in peace — is, well, sorta, waged. Season 3's smart, accessible spectacle is further enhanced by a roll call of new faces, including sci-fi-and-fantasy veteran [Warwick Davis](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warwick_Davis) (Willow, The Hitch-Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy) and a gauntlet-full of Harry Potter guest stars. The series is also swimming in sexual and political subtexts, whether it's pitting male potency (Uther and Arthur) against female power (Morgana and Morgause, played by Emilia Fox), or so-called normal humans against perceived magical terrorists. (Can't we all just get along?) Wired.com picks Morgan's clever brain, and explains some of [Merlin](http://www.bbc.co.uk/merlin)'s new and recurring characters, in the gallery above.
02merlin-knights
__Wired.com:__ How do you think your show remixes [Arthurian legend](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_Arthur) for popular consumption? __Colin Morgan:__ The reality is that Arthurian legends are reworked all the time. Nothing is [really set in stone](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sword_in_the_Stone). We use the legend as a starting point, but those stories are limitless in what you can do and explore. Especially when you can take something as rich and imaginative as the Arthurian legends and set them in the fantasy realm. That really opens the door to something totally new. __Wired.com:__ How does the new season play with this flux between legend and revision? __Morgan:__ In the third season, we’ve got an outstanding mix of new and old ideas. We're taking legends of the Knights of the Round Table (above) and the Lady of the Lake, and presenting them in new ways. You recognize the characters, you recognize the legend. But you don’t know how we’re going to tell those tales.
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__Wired.com:__ How does Merlin differ from the other fantastic series going around? __Colin Morgan:__ The fantasy genre is so big right now, between shows like Heroes, True Blood, The Walking Dead and others. But we’re doing it in a more lighthearted, fun and dramatic way that’s really suitable for the whole family. And in a way which each generation can get something from the show. __Wired.com:__ As you explained, after some time away last century, fantasy has come back into the mainstream, what with all the hobbits, werewolves, vampires, witches (including Morgana and Morgause, above) and warlocks around. Why do you think that is? __Morgan:__ I think there seems to be a need for escapism at the moment. Maybe that’s the type of world we’re living in. It’s a sanctuary, in a way, where you can immerse yourself in something that doesn’t exist, whether that’s TV shows or comic books or novels. It’s not solely down to magic and vampires — that’s in at the moment. But escapism, being a part of other worlds, is very good for you. __Wired.com:__ You think that's healthy? __Morgan:__ I think it’s healthy. Right now, it’s being popularized in Harry Potter and Twilight. But it can be anything where we can zone out, even exercise. It’s good to be a part of that sort of entertainment. While Arthurian legend is set in history, our take is associated with escapism and fun, and it’s really taken off.
04merlin-uther
__Wired.com:__ Merlin and, for the most part, Arthur are forward-thinking when it comes to magic, even though their personal lives and public politics are complicated by it. If magic is simply technology understood by the few, do you think the show is partly about civilization's attempt to negotiate its fear of the unknown? __Colin Morgan:__ I’ve never thought of it in those terms before, and I don’t think we’ve actually set out to do that. Still, you can replace the term *magic* with anything. __Wired.com:__ Such as? __Morgan:__ Well, there’s always dictatorship and leadership in society, and that is so with King Uther (above) in Merlin. He's a despot, and can be seen in an extreme way. And you can replace the idea of magic with any kind of modernism. There will always be laws and brick walls and boundaries. So if you already have a personal agenda, you can certainly watch Merlin with it in mind, and see things on another level.
05merlin-gaius
__Wired.com:__ This season is particularly hilarious, compared to the last two. Do you have any favorite moments you'd like to mention? __Colin Morgan:__ For this third season, we did a mix of really heavy dramatic episodes with episodes that are pure slapstick and ridiculous. "The Goblin’s Gold," our third episode, focuses on Merlin's friend, the court physician Gaius (above), being possessed by a goblin. __Wired.com:__ That was amazing. I've never seen anyone lick money with such lust. __Morgan:__ It really gives a chance to showcase the comic genius of [Richard Wilson](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Wilson_%28Scottish_actor%29). You’re seeing this normally quite reserved character being an absolute tyrant to everyone. And Arthur takes the brunt of it, including getting donkey ears.
06merlin-jackass
__Wired.com:__ Arthur turning into a donkey was pretty hilarious, as well as a clever remix of William Shakespeare's lovable jackass [Nick Bottom](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nick_Bottom). __Colin Morgan:__ I wasn’t on the set when they were filming that segment. But I heard Bradley James (above) went a bit [Method](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Method_acting). __Wired.com:__ What happened? __Morgan:__ I heard he didn’t actually talk to anyone that day. He only communicated with brays, or by writing on pieces of paper. Which is silly, because donkeys don’t write. I wish I’d been there for that. Merlin definitely takes a more dramatic turn this season, and there are a lot of truly dark episodes. But there are some comic gems, as well.
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Merlin's rewarding third season features a host of new faces, topped by sci-fi, horror and fantasy veteran Warwick Davis (above), who has starred in The Return of the Jedi, Leprechaun and lately Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Davis is joined in Merlin's third season by three other Harry Potter vets: Harry Melling, Miriam Margoyles and Mark Williams.
08merlin-dragon
Although he played a central and perilous role as the Great Dragon (above) in Merlin's first two seasons, the [peerless John Hurt](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Hurt) provides mostly cameos in Season 3. But it doesn't take much Hurt — who has injected weathered life into genre exercises as different as Ralph Bakshi's underrated animated adaptation of [The Lord of the Rings](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lord_of_the_Rings_%281978_film%29), Ridley Scott's sci-horror classic [Alien](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alien_%28film%29), Jim Jarmusch's psychedelic Western [Dead Man](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dead_Man) and the twin Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows blockbusters — to make a fantasy come to life. Same goes for Merlin.
09merlin
Season 3 of [*Merlin*](http://www.syfy.com/merlin/) premieres Friday at 10 p.m. Eastern/9 p.m. Central on Syfy. [Merlin: The Complete Second Season](http://www.amazon.com/Merlin-Complete-Second-Colin-Morgan/dp/B003ES5JII/ref=sr_1_1?s=dvd&ie=UTF8&qid=1294376749&sr=1-1) hits DVD on Jan. 18.
