Camelot — Episode 5 — Justice

Previouslys.  Arthur getting crowned by the bishop.  Merlin walking through the courtyard, informing him that the people are flocking and that it's good.  I've already given my opinion on that.  But.  Merlin and the nun lecturing Morgan about the wisdom of what she's doing.  Arthur demanding of Guinevere that she tell him what she's feeling and he'll stop.  Caliburn asking Merlin why he doesn't use his gift, and then getting to, "Unless you're scared."  Excalibur hysterically screaming that the only place for the sword was at the bottom of the lake.  Merlin trying to rescue her from her drowning, and finally quietly saying, "I'm sorry."

Credits.

Merlin's having a nightmare about Excalibur's death.  And waking up screaming.  We immediately cut to Arthur and his friends riding through the woods, commenting on the fact that he's been gone four days.  "Think he's coming back?"  "I don't know."  It's Merlin.  He's got a full-season contract, believe me.  Kay and Arthur discuss Merlin some more, and Kay gets to the key of it, "Do you think he has a plan?  Do you think he knows what he's doing?"  Arthur wryly replies, "I hope so."

We cut to what appears to be a seriously pissy bar fight, albeit without the bar.  But there's the usual stranglehold on necks, slamming each other up against convenient walls (or trees, in this case) and lots of grunting.

Back to Arthur, who says, "Maybe we should stop here until it passes."  Kay laughs, "Don't tell me the king is worried about a bit of rain."  Well, yes, yes he is.

The fight continues, and someone's getting ducked in a horse trough.  A little girl runs into the path that Arthur and Kay are following and nearly gets run over, and she starts begging for help incoherently, which, of course, is all that Arthur and the gang need to distract themselves.

All right.  The fight is over after he brains the guy with a big rock.  And in the next scene, they've got a noose tied around the guy who did the braining.  That's quick.  Thankfully, before he actually strangles, Arthur yells for him to be cut down.  Strangely, people are listening.  I mean, Arthur's clothing is clearly expensive (woven with a gold border on the cloak) but other than that, it's pretty much just Arthur's word that he has some authority.  There's a lot of "Your king demands this" and all that.

We learn that the village is named Exham.  Said Exhamites inform Arthur that they deal with their own problems, thank you very much.  They keep on protesting that they saw the murder, and they can deal with it, and they want justice to be done.  Arthur seizes on that last and says, "So do I."  He starts questioning the little girl, who is named Caitlin.  She starts pleading for her father's life.  The Exhamites aren't sure who's the village's headman now, as he'd just been killed with a rock, but the guy who was hanging the murderer was the dead man's brother, so he guesses it's his job now.  Nepotism was clearly as prevalent then as it is in Chicago politics today.  We finally get a name for the head man, who is called "Ewen".  His dead brother is "Wade".  I personally think that for my benefit, they should have left it as "Wade".

Arthur takes stock and decides to take everyone to Camelot, or at least a few of Ewen's friends, the guy who was nearly hanged, and Caitlin.  Arthur starts arguing with Ewen.  Kay takes Arthur aside quietly and points out that Camelot has only so much influence.  Given how much Arthur wants to screw with local politics and stay out of the rain, I'm not surprised that he blows this off.

Castle Pendragon.  It's not raining there.  Morgan is sitting at a table eating, when yet another of those doing-magic-too-much pangs hits, and Sister Mary Stigmata comments dryly, "Still finding it hard to control."  She starts arguing with her, and finally we get a name for Sister Mary Stigmata, which is apparently "Sister Sybil".  And Morgan is being bratty and saying that Sybil is only there due to her charity.  Well, that and Morgan's vested interest in staying alive.

Sybil wonders why Morgan turned to Igraine.  Morgan says, "It's obvious.  So I can pose as her, get to Camelot, and kill Arthur."  I guess that's a possible plan, but it has a few flaws, such as getting Arthur out of the sight of all of his knights, avoiding Merlin, and also the real Igraine walking around, not to mention the problem if they catch her in the act.  Sibyl asks, "And after?"  Morgan looks at her and says, "I take the crown, which is rightfully mine."  Sibyl points out, "And after that?"  It's about time someone pointed out that Morgan has no more idea how to rule a country than she does anything else except throwing tantrums.

There's a bunch of wordy exposition in which Sibyl points out that Morgan needs friends and allies before she tries to take the throne, something Morgan has neglected after her one-time alliance with King Lot.