Continuing the upward trend of stories, the tenth episode involved a conflict back in Merlin's home town. Well, village. Suffering at the hands of marauding Kanan (the always excellent Alexander Siddig) and his bandits, the villagers were threatened with starvation, or death, or both. So Merlin's Mum set off for Camelot, hoping to persuade Uther to send help.

Naturally Uther was about as much use a chocolate teapot. Quoting some old treaty and claiming it would be an act of war for him to send troops to the village, which happened to be in another kingdom.

So Merlin set off on his own. Or he thought he would be on his own, except Morgana and Guinevere had other ideas, and went with him to help sharpen the swords and carry bowls of porridge around, and other girly stuff. Oh, yeah, and Morgana's pretty handy with a sword too. And Guinevere, being a servant, isn't allowed to have a sword, but she's pretty handy with a broom. And Arthur tagged along in the end too, although being a prince he got one of Merlin's old mates' back up a bit, which more or less guaranteed that (a) said mate would eventually see the light and realise Arthur is alright really, (b) he'd end up saving Arthur's life and (c) he'd die in the process.

All of which duly came to pass. I said the stories were getting better, not that they were any less predictable.

There was some consternation too about whether Merlin would be able to use his magic against Kanan without revealing his secret to any of the Camelotian... Camelottie... people from Camelot.

So William - Merlin's mate - took the blame for that too, just before he died. It's good to have friends. Just a shame Merlin has one less friend now. Still, that's life in the Dark Ages, I guess.

I thought the whirlwind was a bit tame. I want Merlin's magic to be a bit more... magicky. More imposing. All we get is glowing eyes, wind, and objects moving about. Oh yes, and a hot sword this week. I hoped he might put a hex on all the villagers and turn them into good fighters. He could have told Arthur he was a better coach than he realised. And if he can conjure up a whirlwind, why can't he pull a quarrel out of his friend's chest and heal the wound? I'll never understand magic. It's a bit like women really. A mystery, but you can't stop looking.