Merlin - The New Adventures Vol. 5 - DVD

Content: After the events at the end of Season 2, Merlin (Colin Morgan) is plagued by guilt. After preventing Morgana (Katie McGrath), who was under the influence of her half-sister Morgause, from poisoning King Uther (Anthony Head), Morgana has disappeared without a trace. Uther, unaware of his ward's plans, has been desperately searching for her for a year now. Arthur (Bradley James) and Merlin do indeed find a seemingly reformed Morgana in dangerous terrain, and she immediately forgives Merlin for his actions. But appearances are deceptive: Morgana and Morgause still seek the king's life and even succeed in driving him mad with the help of a cursed mandrake root. The battle for Camelot has thus officially begun.

But the new adventures don't stop there: a goblin turns Arthur into a donkey, his love for Gwen is sorely tested when he is to be wed to a princess, and finally his feelings put his life in danger when Gwen is kidnapped and, in order to save her brother's life, is forced to lure Arthur into a trap. And Merlin is given a glimpse into the future where King Uther perishes at Morgana's hands, and he does everything he can to stop the woman he once considered a friend from her murderous plans.

Merlin - The New Adventures admittedly continues to deal very freely with the legend of King Arthur, Camelot and magician Merlin in its new episodes. But by now in its third season, no one should really be bothered by that anymore. The series has built up a mythology all of its own, which makes it absolutely worth watching for lovers of light fantasy entertainment. In the new episodes, it is especially the transformation of Morgana to the evil witch that gives the story new momentum. Sure, at times the effects seem only partially convincing and the actors with the not really particularly witty dialogues a little underwhelming. But that hardly changes the high entertainment value of the series.

The mixture of humor and increasingly dark tension makes the new episodes absolutely worth watching. Admittedly, the whole thing remains quite family-friendly overall, thus refraining from overt depictions of violence. But when King Uther has visions of dead children, which he once drowned because of their magical abilities, then this should provide especially for younger fans of the series from time to time for a pleasant goose bumps.

Because the battle for Camelot is just beginning here, the first seven episodes of season three make you very eager for the rest. Although the season isn't all about Morgana's diabolical plans, this plotline does gradually build up and therefore captures the viewer more and more - especially as Morgana has grown very fond of her fans as a loveable character at the start of the series.

So in the end the positive conclusion remains that Merlin - The New Adventures in the third season again provides exciting entertainment with humor, romance and lots of adventure. Familiar characters, a little action and dark foreshadowing of coming events make the seven episodes fly by. Fantasy fans and of course all who already liked the first seasons of the series, can safely access here!

Picture + Sound: The series is technically well implemented. Especially the powerfully implemented colors ensure that the series is not only content but also visually great pleasure, despite some point deductions in the sharpness of detail. In terms of sound, the repeatedly used sound effects do not come into their own to the full extent, as only a stereo mix is available here. Music and dialogue, however, come coherently mixed from the boxes, which is reason enough to attest the technical implementation of the episodes still a decent good.

Extras: Unlike previous boxes of the series, Vol. 5 has relatively meager extras to offer. On the first DVD there are informative and also quite amusing audio commentaries on two episodes to hear, which are commendably provided with German subtitles. The third DVD has a picture gallery, a few deleted scenes and some short, but quite amusing outtakes. There is no real making of material here, unfortunately.

Conclusion: The new episodes of Merlin - The New Adventures also offer light fantasy entertainment with plenty of suspense, humor and some nice effects. The story as a whole gets a little darker, but this really does the series good overall. However, the whole thing doesn't get too dark, because after all, the series still pursues the goal of offering exciting as well as entertaining entertainment for the whole family in the third season. The first box of the third season has some very good episodes to offer, is technically neatly implemented and disappoints only in terms of bonus material. Therefore, the bottom line is: for fans of the series indispensable, but newcomers might find it a bit difficult and should start with season 1. Recommended

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp