merlin reboot idea except this time the main character is arthur and the show is called arthur
jk not that arthur, lol. anyway the pilot opens with an asmr inducing first scene of an unnamed protagonist emerging from a morning workout in the pool. as we see him get ready for the day, we hear faint whispers of a name, one we can’t quite understand, but he seems to recognize. he turns around but no one is there, only the audience sees a brief glimpse of a pale face with dark hair spread out around it in the reflection of the water. we follow him as he gets ready, but we never get a glimpse of his face. the seconds and music build up as he finishes his routine and heads to the university he teaches at. the keychain in his hands shines like the blade of a sword, and the hat he wears rests on his hair like a crown. we see his students greet him and learn he’s a bit of a favorite professor. the big reveal comes when he’s about to enter his office. the camera pans to the placard on the wall, which reads
penn drake, associate professor of medieval english and arthurian literature
the camera follows him inside, rises, and there surrounded by books and iconography of legends from long ago, the face of arthur pendragon in modern garb stares back to the shock of the audience. this story is not about a young boy discovering magic in a kingdom that persecutes it, but of a man plagued by dreams of the legends he studies, haunted by the face of a man he has never met, and sent on a quest to restore magic to the world
we’ve always assumed that merlin would be at arthur’s side at the time of his return, that he would find him, but what if arthur is reborn and spends the next 40 years of his life searching for a purpose? what if the purpose arrives when albion’s need is greatest—when merlin has all but given up, unaware that somewhere out there resides the king of legend, the king he swore himself to, the king he’s been searching for all this time.