# Merlin (1998 film)

Merlin is a 1998 film that was run as a 3 hour made-for-television special about the life of the wizard Merlin from the famous legend of King Arthur.
    Directed by Steve Barron. Written by Edward Khmara with teleplay written by David Stevens and Peter Barnes.

## Merlin

* I knew I would never see her again.
* I had won. I was trying to smile but it was the smile of desolution. Inside, I felt only the pity and the terror and the waste of it all. Everyone I had ever loved, and who ever loved me — all gone... all gone down...
* They say that when you're unhappy, time slows to a crawl. On the other hand, when your happy ... my childhood must have been very happy, for it was over in a flash.
* I'll kill you anyway I can, Vortigern...but I will kill you.
* Only one tear was shed for Vortigern, and his pride had cast it away. He paid for it with his life.
* Things fall apart, they say. Uther had betrayed me, killed Cornwall. But then, I'd betrayed Igraine by helping Uther seduce her. So the wheel of life turns - one betrayal leads to another and another. The innocent die. It haunted me for the rest of my life.
* A reputation is like glass, once cracked it can never be repaired.
* I was his tutor. I didn't teach him magic. I taught him ethics and morals. It is much more difficult, believe me.

## Queen Mab

* [announcing to minions] This is Merlin, who have come to save us, and bring the people back to the Old Ways!
* [ranting to Frik] I've totally given up on Merlin! I thought, perhaps, despite everything, he might come round in the end! [...] I wanted him to, so I fooled myself!
* [during her and Merlin's final duel] I'll show you how weak I am!

## Ambrosia

* And you can tell Her Royal High and Mighty Queen Mab that magic or no magic, if she harms you in any way, I'll have her guts for my boot laces.
* Magic has no power over the human heart.
* You've been sliding down the ladder of success so quickly these last few years you must have got splinters in your backside.
* [to Queen Mab] You are so cold! If I would punch you in the heart I'd break my fist.

## Lady of the Lake

* Good king. Bad king. You judge too easily Merlin. You will learn.
* It’s human to make mistakes Merlin, and part of you is human, the best part.
* My sister was right about one thing. When we are forgotten, we cease to exist.

## Other

* Father Abbot: Faith is Supreme, of course. But love is even better.
* King Arthur Pendragon: I don't know what I'll do or what I'll become. Only know what I am.
* Frik: Handsome is as handsome does. What does that mean? I never really understood the phrase.
* Vortigern: That is a mistake many of my enemies make. They think before they act. I act before I think.
* Morgan Le Fay: Oh, you would think of the future, Merlin. Because the past is too painful.
* Morgan Le Fay: Beauty is always only an illusion, Merlin. Didn't you know that?
* Morgan Le Fay: You see, Merlin? You took my family away from me. Now, I have new one.
* Mordred: Die, dear Auntie Mab? That's the last thing I should do.

## Dialogue

    Mab: I've come to a great decision.
    Lady of the Lake: Oh? I don't like the sound of your voice when you say that, sister.
    Mab: I'm going to create a leader for the people. A powerful wizard who will save Britain, and lead the people back to us and the Old Ways.
    Lady of the Lake: It'll be too much for you, Mab. It'll drain you of what power you still have.
    Mab: If I don't do it, we'll die! If people stop believing in us, we won't exist anymore! The new religion has already pushed us to the brink.
    Lady of the Lake: All things change, Mab. It's sad, but Heaven, Hell and the world move on. It's fate.
    Mab: I won't accept it! I'll fight. Will you help me?
    Lady of the Lake: No. You forget, I'm the Lady of the Lake. I'm made of water. Now everything is flowing away from us, and I accept it. I'm sorry, my sister.
    Mab: Then I'll do it myself.
    [After Merlin has been born]
    Mab: I name this child Merlin!
    Ambrosia: Well while you're making gestures, save the mother. She's dying.
    Mab: [smugly] No she's not. She's dead.
    Ambrosia: [turns and sees it's true] Sleep easy, child. May angels fly thee home. [to Mab] So what's your excuse? Why didn't you save her?
    Mab: [shrugs] She'd served her purpose.
    Ambrosia: [outraged] "Served her-"?! You are so cold! If I were to punch you in the heart, I'd break my fist! And to think I used to serve you, and the Old Ways!
    Mab: [angrily] Then you changed! You became a Christian!
    Ambrosia: Who told you that? [she looks at Frik, who cringes] That snooping, smiling blatherskite?! I follow my own heart! That's religion enough for me.
    Merlin: You killed her.
    Queen Mab: No, I didn't.
    Merlin: You killed her like you killed my real mother.
    Queen Mab: No, I only let her die.
    Merlin: I ask you to hold Excalibur for me, until a good man comes to take it from you.
    Rock of Ages: Then I will be holding it forever...if not longer.
    [After Arthur Pendragon's birth]
    Merlin: At last. A good man, a good king. [With a crack of lightning, Mab appears]
    Mab: You're easily fooled, Merlin. Uther fooled you when he killed Cornwall...now his child is damned!
    Merlin: The boy is mine!
    Mab: He'll be his father's son! Because of him, the days of blood will go on and on...and out of it, the people will come back to me!
    Merlin: I'll see you fade into NOTHING!
    Mab: Poor Merlin. Wrong again...I'm winning.
    King Arthur Pendragon: Merlin, what should I do?
    Merlin: In the end, you must uphold the law.
    Merlin: I'm thinking of the future here, Morgan.
    Morgan Le Fay: Oh, you would think of the future, Merlin. Because the past is too painful
    King Arthur Pendragon: I made a mistake that night with Morgan. But I can't believe that I'll be condemned for all eternity for one mistake.
    Merlin: No, not by me. I'll never condemn you, Arthur.
    Frik: And I can tell you from my experience, that elves are so short that when it rains, they're the last to know. [Morgan cackles; Frik laughs along] Because of their size. [drinks from goblet]
    Queen Mab: [interrupts; disembodied] FRIK! [Frik jumps; looks at goblet; camera views face on goblet which Queen Mab takes form; whispering] Stop enjoying yourself and get on with it!
    Frik: I've been thinking, Morgan, there might be a way in giving you what you want. Your son could be king.
    Morgan Le Fay: Well how? If Arthur defeats Lord Lot, he could be king, and I can't marry him.
    Frik: You don't have to marry him. You can just have his son.
    Morgan Le Fay: We had the same mother.
    Frik: [seductively] And underneath this charming and devilishly handsome exterior, I'm a crabby old gnome. [passionately kisses her]
    Morgan Le Fay: You didn't have to seduce me to win me over. Like everyone else, I want the crown.
    Frik: I like you, Morgan. You're a truthful young woman.
    Morgan Le Fay: And I like you...whoever you are. [grabs his face and passionately kisses him]
    Morgan Le Fay: The Old Ways have been good to me. They've given me a son, and made me beautiful.
    Merlin: But beauty is only an illusion.
    Morgan Le Fay: Beauty is always only an illusion, Merlin. Didn't you know that? [Mab and Frik burst through a door]
    Mab: We thought we'd come the traditional way, through the door.
    Merlin: It's traditional to open it first.
    [Morgan lies dying after Mab uses her magic to make her fall on the stairs; magic fades, revealing Morgan's true form]
    Morgan Le Fay: Frik...my love. Am I still beautiful?
    Frik: Beyond words, my love. Am I?
    Morgan Le Fay: Oh, yes. Beyond words...
    Mordred: Why didn't you kill him, Auntie Mab?
    Queen Mab: Because that's what he wanted me to do.
    Uther: You tricked me, Merlin!
    Merlin: Come come, Uther. I'm a wizard, that's my business.
    Merlin: There will be a child; a boy. I've seen him, Uther. He's mine.
    Uther: What will you do with him?
    Merlin: Teach him honor and goodness.
    Uther: I can do that.
    Merlin: Honor and goodness, the words stick in your throat. You choke on them just as you'll choke on your vomit in the end!
    [After Arthur's death, Merlin takes Excalibur back to the lake]
    Merlin: Take it back, Lady! [he throws Excalibur out into the lake. Before it hits the water, the Lady of the Lake catches the sword] YOU LIED TO ME!
    Lady of the Lake: I didn't lie to you, Merlin. I told you the answer was at Joyous Gard.
    Merlin: That's where I found Lancelot! [sighes in realisation] It wasn't Lancelot, was it?
    Lady of the Lake: It was the boy, Galahad. It's human to make mistakes, Merlin, and part of you is human...the best part. Goodbye, Merlin. My sister Mab was right about one thing: when we're forgotten, we cease to exist. [disappears forever]
    [At the Battle of Camlann]
    Merlin: What are you doing here, Frik?
    Frik: Betraying my principles. Indeed, I've always believed it better to be a coward for a second than dead for a lifetime...and yet here I am fighting, and fighting on the side of right, which is worse.
    Mab: Sometimes...we can see into the future. This is you. As you will be.
    Merlin: Will I grow that old?
    Future Merlin: Have a care, young Merlin!
    Merlin: Sorry sir.
    Future Merlin: [chuckling] Oh, but you're right. Try and stay as young inside as you are now. That's another thing to watch out for, young Merlin. Don't start giving advice!
    Mab: My strength may be fading, but I can still deal with these poor humans. [to the assembled people of Camelot] What do you plan to do? Use your puny swords and axes on me?
    Merlin: No, Mab. We're just going to forget you. [the entire crowd turns its back to Mab]
    Mab: [confused and fearful] Merlin, what are you doing?
    Merlin: You can't fight us or frighten us, you're just not important enough anymore. We forget you, Queen Mab. Go join your sister in the lake and be forgotten.

## Cast

* Sam Neill — Merlin
* Helena Bonham Carter — Morgan Le Fay
* Miranda Richardson — Mab, Queen of the Old Ways/The Lady of the Lake
* John Gielgud — King Constant
* Martin Short — Frik
* Paul Curran — King Arthur Pendragon
* Jason Done — Mordred
* Rutger Hauer — King Vortigern
* Isabella Rossellini — Nimue
* Mark Jax — King Uther Pendragon
* Jeremy Sheffield — Sir Lancelot du Lac
* Daniel Brocklebank — Young Merlin
* Lena Headey — Queen Guinevere
* James Earl Jones-The Mountain King

## External links

* Merlin (1998 film) quotes at the Internet Movie Database
* Merlin (1998 film) at Rotten Tomatoes