Merlin

Earth Culture of Origin

Celtic, Druid, Welsh, Scottish, British

Alternate Names / Spellings

Myrddin ab Morfryn, Myrddyn, Merlini, Emrys, Merlin Ambrosius, Druid Thomas, Thomas of Rymour, Merlin Anglicus, Myrddin Emrys (Welsh), Myrddin Wyllt (Merlin the wild), Merlin Caledonensis (Scottish Merlin), Merlinus, Merlyn

Earth Mythological References

Merlin was literally the "man behind the throne. He was Arthur's chief advisor in his early days as ruler, and sometimes his tutor before the boy became ruler. Merlin is often credited with the idea of the famous round table. He helped establish Camelot, foresaw the quest for the Holy Grail, and the destruction of Arthur's reign due to Mordred's arrival and/or Guinevere's relationship with Lancelot. Merlin also set up the sword in the stone (as Daniel Jackson pointed out, not the same sword as Excalibur) to determine the true king of Britain. In Sir Tomas Malory's works, he introduces Merlin (Merlion/Merlyon) to the Lady of the Lake, who gives Arthur Excalibur and the magical scabbard that prevents him from losing any blood "be he ever so wounded."

In many legends, Merlin was even instrumental in creating the circumstances for Arthur's conception, casting an enchantment to make Uther Pendragon appear to Igraine as her husband Gorlois before his death was reported to her. Merlin helped set up Arthur's adoption as a ward in one of Uther's loyal knights.

Merlin's own birth is shrouded in mystery. He got an early reputation as a prophet. One of the earliest Arthurian legends, Geoffrey of Monmouth's History of the Kings of Britain is credited as being the first entry of Merlin into the legend. Geoffrey devotes a great deal of writings to Merlin's prophecies. He had Merlin the son of a king's daughter who became a nun, and an incubus. Merlin himself is not sullied by this parentage due to his baptism. Merlin became known for his prophecies to the various Roman generals, and instructed Ambrosius Aurelianus to move the "Giants Ring" of Ireland to Britain...the stone ring now known as Stonehenge. In E.B. White's twentieth century telling of the legend, he explains Merlin's prophecies by having the magician living backwards–Arthur's first meeting with the magician is Merlin's actual farewell to the boy.

Various legends either drop Merlin from Arthur's story, or have him escort Arthur's body to Avalon. However a few legends have Merlin defeated by Nimue/Vivian, his female apprentice who entrapped him in a tree or a cave. In the 1400s, Sir Tomas Malory wrote a great deal on the legend of King Arthur. He had Merlyon leave Arthur's court with the Lady of the Lake (sometimes credited as Morgan le Fay). As to Merlin's end, Malory has the Lady suspicious of him for his devilish birth and that he was making advances towards her:

And so one a tyme Merlyon ded shew hir in a roche whereas was a grete wondir and wrought by enchauntement that went undir a grete stone. So by hir subtyle worchyng she made Merlyon to go undir that stone to latte hir wete of the mervayles there, but she wrought so there for hym that he come never oute for all the craufte he coude do, and so she departed and left Merlyon.

Malory, "The Tale of King Arthur, Chapter IV, The War with Five Kings

Four centuries later, Tennyson's version of the legend has Vivian entrap him in a tree. Vivian is his apprentice and also a vixen at court. Instead of being a chaste honorable woman concerned about Merlin's advances, in this Victorian version of the legend, Vivian seduces Merlin:

For Merlin once had told her of a charm,

The which if any wrought on any one
With woven paces and with waving arms,
The man so wrought on ever seem'd to lie
Closed in the four walls of a hollow tower,
From which was no escape for evermore;
And none could find that man for evermore,
Nor could he see but him who wrought the charm
coming and going, and he lay as dead
And lost to life and use and name and fame.

Idylls of the King

Stargate References

Merlin's Treasure in Avalon

Myrddin's tablet

Myrddin's name in the Ancient database from Atlantis

Merlin's hologram in Avalon

Vala Mal Doran brought a stolen tablet encoded with Ancient to the SGC for Daniel Jackson to decipher. After decoding and translating the tablet, Daniel said that it spoke of a great storehouse of treasure. Vala insisted that this treasure was on Earth. The location of this treasure wasn't specified in the tablet, but the man who carved the tablet signed it — Myrddin. (9.01 "Avalon Part 1")

The Atlantis Expedition Team brought back information they obtained from the Ancient database stored in the great city-ship Atlantis in the Pegasus Galaxy. The database included a list of names of those Ancient city-dwellers who returned to Earth 10,000 years ago to escape from the Wraith, a terrible enemy who had besieged the city for several years. Amazingly, Daniel found the same name in this list of names: Myrddin, whose other popular name is Merlin of Arthurian legend. This gave Daniel a clue as to where the treasure might be located. He followed some of the various versions of Arthurian legend to narrow down the search to the Tor of Glastonbury — the Isle of Avalon. (9.01 "Avalon Part 1")

Using the Asgard sensors on the Prometheus, the SGC found that the Tor had underground caverns about half a mile down. Using the ring transporter, Lt. Col. Cameron Mitchell, Daniel, Teal'c, and Vala beamed into the cavern and were soon thereafter faced with a sword in the stone and a holographic image of Merlin. The hologram gave his message, addressed to the Knights of the Round Table, telling them that they would have to prove they had truth of spirit and wealth of knowledge in order to obtain the treasures hidden in the underworld, the storehouse of riches of Ambrosius Aurelianus, the name attributed to King Arthur in some versions of Arthurian legend. (9.01 "Avalon Part 1")

In order for the team to gain access to the treasures promised in Merlin's holographic message, they had to solve two riddles, each contained in its own chamber. When the cavern's sensors detected that someone had crossed the threshold into the puzzle chamber, fires were automatically lit to reveal the puzzle situated on top of a rectangular pedestal which was located in the center of the chamber. After Mitchell and Teal'c both entered their chamber, a large stone came down from within the ceiling to close off their entrance. The same thing happened in the chamber which Daniel and Vala entered. As soon as each team incorrectly solved their puzzles, the ceilings in their chambers began to lower, threatening to crush them to death. Eventually, both teams solved their puzzles, the ceilings lifted, and the doors opened. The final test was issued after Mitchell removed the sword from the stone. He had to fight a holographic knight. Eventually, Mitchell vanquished the knight and replaced the sword in the stone. At that moment, the treasure was revealed. (9.01 "Avalon Part 1", 9.02 "Avalon Part 2")

Daniel reads Merlin's book left in Avalon

Ancient communications terminal

Merlin's interdimensional device

SGC personnel sifted through the treasure to see if there was any Ancient technology. They found a large book which told the story of the Altera, the advanced human ancestors of the Ancients who left their home galaxy millions of years ago and settled in the Milky Way where they called their new home "Avalon" and built the network of Stargates. They also discovered two devices: an intergalactic communications terminal and an interdimensional device. (9.02 "Avalon Part 2", 9.18 "Arthur's Mantle")

They took these devices back to the SGC where Dr. Bill Lee began doing research on them. Daniel continued to study the large book and found that the intergalactic communications terminal could be activated using the communications stones which the SGC already had on hand (8.15 "Citizen Joe"). Daniel and Vala used the two stones in the terminal and were psychically linked to a human married couple named Harrid and Sallis. It was during this link that the Ascended Beings known as the Ori were alerted to the existence of humanity in the Milky Way Galaxy. The Ori are the rivals of the Altera and it was the Ori's attempt to wipe out the Altera which caused the Altera to flee from their galaxy those millions of years ago. Once the Altera ascended (also known as the Ancients and The Others), they shielded the existence of humanity in this galaxy from the Ori so that the Ori would not attempt to convert them into worshippers and sap their life forces in order to grow stronger in the ascended planes. The Ori have declared a holy war on the Milky Way, the prize being the power to wipe out their ascended rivals. (9.02 "Avalon Part 2", 9.03 "Origin Part 3", 9.10 "The Fourth Horseman Part 1", 9.11 "The Fourth Horseman Part 2")

Merlin's Weapon: The Sangreal

Daniel researches Merlin's library

Merlin's hologram in Camelot wears the Sangreal

Artist's rendering of the Sangreal

Merlin knew of the Ori and the threat they posed. After he made a home on Earth, he ascended, but couldn't continue to abide by The Others' rules of non-interference. He decided to retake human form to develop a weapon which would neutralize the Ori. Knowing that The Others would be watching him, he built the interdimensional device so that he could do his research in an alternate dimension, supposedly out of The Others' plane of existence. Merlin recorded the Stargate address of the planet on which he continued his research into the development of the anti-Ori weapon. (9.18 "Arthur's Mantle")

SG-1 went to this planet and found a village strongly affected by Arthurian legends, for it was named Camelot and had a sword in a stone in its center. Merlin's research library was as he left it centuries ago because the villagers were afraid to go into it for fear of Merlin's curse. This curse was another holographic knight similar to the one Mitchell fought against in the Avalon cavern. Daniel read through Merlin's books and found some of his prophecies, one of which is said to be that as soon as the sword in the village's center is pulled from the stone, Arthur will return. Daniel had hypothesized that Merlin helped the man known as King Arthur to ascend, based on the myths of Arthur which said that Arthur would return after his mortal injury in the Battle of Camlann (the Once and Future King). The legend was different in the village of Camelot, however, stating that Arthur had defeated Mordred in the Battle of Camlann and then gone off along with some of his knights in search of the Sangreal, the "Holy Grail". As it turns out, this Sangreal was Merlin's anti-Ori weapon, taking on the form of a blood-red pendant which Merlin's Camelot hologram wore. (9.01 "Avalon Part 1", 9.20 "Camelot Part 2")

Because a local village girl pulled the sword from the stone to help Mitchell fight the holographic knight, the villagers of Camelot are enthusiastically awaiting Arthur's return. Merlin's fate was unknown to those of Camelot; they knew only that he had disappeared about the same time that Arthur and his Knights began their quest. (9.20 "Camelot Part 2")

SG-1 Begins the Search for the Sangreal

Sir Gawain's sword

Vagonbrei village archive

Merlin was Moros, Atlantis High Councilor

SG-1's search for Merlin's weapon became Daniel's highest priority. He returned to Camelot to obtain more of Merlin's journals, trying to connect them with Earth's myths. He was specifically looking for the location of the planets which Meurik, the governor of Camelot, had told him the Knights had gone in their quest: Castiana, Sahal, and Vagonbrei. Daniel's research led him to discover the Stargate address of Vagonbrei depicted in a volume which Merlin had written featuring the adventures of Sir Gawain, one of the Knights of the Round Table. (10.02 "Morpheus")

The village on Vagonbrei was abandoned. All of its inhabitants had died in their sleep due to a parasitical infection. While there, the team was also infected with the parasite, so they were distracted with finding the cure while Daniel tried to stay awake with continued research in the village archive. He found that Morgan Le Fay had been on the planet and had hidden herself away in a cave. Apparently, Le Fay had stolen the Sangreal from Merlin and the Knights had gone after her. The villagers told the Knights about the cave and soon thereafter, they became infected with the parasite. One of the last entries in the archives told of the villagers' belief that Le Fay had cursed them with the sleeping sickness as punishment for revealing her location. (10.02 "Morpheus")

Daniel knew that Morgan Le Fay was depicted in Earth's legends as Merlin's greatest rival. If she had taken the Sangreal, then it was possible that the stories about Merlin's being cursed by Morgan had some measure of truth. That would explain his disppearance at the same time the Knights had left on their quest. (10.02 "Morpheus")

After finding the cure for the sleeping sickness, the team decided to follow up on some of the information Daniel found in the village archives by going to Atlantis. Since Merlin was known to have been one of the Ancients who left Atlantis 10,000 years ago, Daniel thought that there might be more information about him and the other planets involved in the Knights' quest. (10.02 "Morpheus")

The team took the Odyssey to Atlantis. Before their arrival, Daniel asked Dr. Elizabeth Weir, the leader of the Atlantis Expedition, to search the archives for the names Castiana and Sahal and any other variations. Her research come up empty, so Daniel decided to start at the beginning of the Ancients' time in the Milky Way and obtain the names of all of the settlements. He hoped to associate the Ancient names with the Old English names of the planets Castiana and Sahal. Weir showed the holographic interface to the database to Daniel and Vala where they could interact with an avatar. (10.03 "The Pegasus Project")

Vala grew impatient with Daniel's methodology and urged him to ask the hologram his question directly. After a brief argument, Daniel asked the question, not expecting an answer. To his complete shock, the avatar not only gave him the Ancient names of the planets, but also their Stargate addresses. Daniel stared at the female projection in silence for a while, trying to understand how it was that the avatar knew the Old English names of the planets since that language didn't come into being until several thousand years after the avatar was created. (10.03 "The Pegasus Project")

Daniel decided to do some more research into those who left Atlantis along with Myrddin 10,000 years ago. He asked the avatar to show each person one-by-one and recognized Merlin immediately. Myrddin's Ancient name was Moros, and he had been the last High Councilor of Atlantis at the time of the evacuation. (Moros had a gruff disposition and was against the use of a time traveling machine similar to that found on Harry Maybourne's planet (8.13 "It's Good To Be King"). Ironically, Daniel has theorized that Merlin traveled in time in order to write down his prophecies much like the Ancient who used that time machine had done.) (9.20 "Camelot Part 2", 10.03 "The Pegasus Project"; Stargate Atlantis: 1.5 "Before I Sleep")

Daniel listened to and watched the avatar closely, and after she looked directly at him, called him by name, and urged him to act on the information she had given him, he realized that she wasn't an avatar, but an Ascended Being. More specifically, the avatar was Morgan Le Fay, who had built the holographic interface originally to educate young Lantian minds. (10.03 "The Pegasus Project")

Le Fay, whose Ancient name was Ganos Lal, told Daniel that both she and Moros had ascended after arriving on Earth 10,000 years ago. But then, Moros decided to return to human form to develop his weapon. Amazingly, he returned in an advanced human form, keeping his knowledge and powers. At the time that he retook this form, he was the most powerful being on Earth. He formed the Round Table, established Camelot, and took Arthur and his Knights into his confidence. These men were entrusted with the knowledge of Merlin's nature and the existence of the weapon. Le Fay was sent by The Others, the Ascended Ancients, to watch Merlin's development of the weapon because it threatened all Ascended Beings, not just the Ori. She was also told to stop him if necessary, and she apparently did so by taking the weapon from him. This act was what sent Arthur and his Knights on their quest. What happened to Merlin, however, wasn't addressed in Daniel's brief interview with Le Fay. Although she was Merlin's greatest rival back in the days of legend, she had changed her mind about the threat the Ori posed and wished to help Daniel in his search, but was pulled away by The Others while saying, "Merlin's weapon is not..." Through this action, the Ascended Ancients were telling Daniel that they did not intend to intervene in the war against the Ori. (10.03 "The Pegasus Project")

SG-1's Quest Produces Challenges

Morgan's Parchment of Virtues

Adria and Daniel before the Sangreal

Sangreal is a hologram

Using the Stargate addresses Le Fay gave, the team visited Castiana and Sahal, but found nothing. Daniel returned to Camelot to do additional research, feeling that he was missing some clue which Merlin had left behind. His research also took him to England where he had access to a private collection of Arthurian writings. (10.04 "Insiders", 10.05 "Uninvited")

After inspiration came to Vala in a dream, the team discovered that when the Stargate glyphs of the addresses for Castiana, Sahal, and Vagonbrei were combined, they formed a unique address. SG-1 went to this planet and found that it was allegedly the place where Le Fay had hidden the Sangreal. She left a Parchment of Virtues and a map to aid those who sought the prize. These items were burned when an Ori invasion of the planet occurred right after Daniel read the Parchment. The village's librarian, Osric, promised to lead SG-1 to the hiding place with the map he had memorized. Along the way, the team picked up Ba'al, who claimed to know the name of the Sangreal's guardian, a dragon, and Adria, the Orici, who had been disguising herself as Osric all this time. (10.10 "The Quest Part 1")

Adria took contol of the quest by threatening the lives of Daniel's teammates. She was the one who had inspired Vala in the dream because she felt she needed Daniel's help to take the Sangreal. Le Fay had built failsafes into the Sangreal's hiding place which prevented an advanced human such as Adria from taking it. Adria figured that Daniel, as a former Ascended, was the only one with the "truth of spirit" needed, but when Daniel attempted to take the glowing orb from its resting place, he discovered that it was merely a holographic projection. First, according to the Parchment of Virtues, the team had to speak the name of the guardian, a fire-breathing dragon, before they could possess Merlin's weapon. (10.10 "The Quest Part 1")

The dragon chased the adventurers out of the cave where it continued its attacks. The seekers took refuge in a group of trees and after failing to kill the dragon with P-90 fire and C-4, they decided to try to figure out the dragon's name. Daniel finally figured out that the guardian was not the dragon, but Morgan Le Fay herself, the one who had built the challenges and left the clues. Daniel spoke the name "Ganos Lal", and the dragon disappeared. When they returned to take the Sangreal from its resting place, they triggered a transporter beam (similar to the Ancient Eye of the Gods) that took SG-1 and Ba'al to another planet, but left Adria behind. (10.11 "The Quest Part 2")

SG-1 Meets Merlin

Merlin in stasis

Merlin thinks Daniel is Galahad

Merlin begins to build a new Sangreal

To everyone's astonishment, Merlin had been left in a stasis chamber on this planet. A plaque near his chamber, written in Ancient, read, "Here lies Myrddin, Archmage of the Round." He was revived from stasis when a device similar to a Repository of Knowledge was activated by Vala's proximity. At first, Merlin was disoriented, thinking that those with him were from Arthur's Round Table. He thought that Carter was Guinivere; Mitchell, Percival; Daniel, Galahad; and Ba'al, Mordred. Ba'al immediately believed that Merlin had lost his senses and started to complain, but Merlin waved his hand and commanded that Ba'al be silent. Ba'al lost his ability to speak. Merlin's powers as an advanced human were still available to him. (10.11 "The Quest Part 2")

After Daniel and Vala talked with Merlin, he realized that it was necessary to build the weapon to use against the Ori. Originally, when he had built the weapon over a thousand years ago, Morgan Le Fay stopped his using it by destroying it. But, Le Fay knew that the Ori threat was real enough to warrant her preserving Merlin so that he could build the weapon once again if necessary. She placed him in stasis, but he had aged too much to produce the weapon on his own. Knowing that the Ori were in the Milky Way Galaxy and that his weapon provided the only hope of defeating them, Merlin decided that he needed to do "one last task" before he died: he uploaded his consciousness into the Repository, hoping that Daniel would choose to download it after his body's death. He had learned that Daniel had been helped to ascend by Oma Desala and apparently scanned Daniel's mind for his truth of spirit. His last words were, "Good luck, Doctor Jackson," and Daniel put together the clues to determine what Merlin had intended. He stepped up to the Repository and took the download. (10.11 "The Quest Part 2")

Merlin's Last Task: Detonate His Weapon

Daniel downloads Merlin's consciousness

Daniel gets to Stage 2

Daniel demonstrates Merlin's advanced human powers

The team knew that Adria would be tracking them down as the Eye of the Gods on the planet transported them from one planet to another in a private network of Stargates. While Carter, Ba'al, and Teal'c worked on overriding the dialing cycle in order to dial home, Daniel built the weapon using the Repository as a computer-assisted design device. His progress was slowed as Merlin's consciousness started to take over, including modifying Daniel's physiology to handle the advanced human knowledge and powers. He first demonstrated telekinesis when he asked for water and the canteen flew in the air into his hand. As Vala and Mitchell grew more concerned, Daniel tried to reassure them that Merlin knew that Daniel's body would need to be modified in order to complete the weapon. Daniel also knew that he had to give into Merlin in order to see the task through, even if it meant he would be lost in the process. (10.11 "The Quest Part 2")

Daniel got as far as Stage 2 of the device, explaining that the red jewel known as the Sangreal was actually the final stage and the key to making the weapon work, when Adria found them. Daniel used Merlin's advanced human powers to command lightning to kill the Ori soldiers who had come through the Stargate. He also used powers to fight against Adria so that SG-1 could get through the Stargate back to Earth. He didn't wish to have the weapon fall into Adria's hands, so he stayed with it, knowing that he'd be captured. (10.11 "The Quest Part 2", 10.14 "The Shroud")

Merlin protects Daniel as Adria converts him into a Prior

Daniel completes the pieces to Merlin's weapon

Daniel held captive by his friends

Daniel's concerns about Adria's possessing the partially-completed weapon were valid; instead of destroying it, she decided to complete it so that it could be used against the Ancients. But, she didn't know how to complete the weapon, so she took Daniel captive. Instead of torturing him, she spent her time talking with him and getting to know him. Daniel and Merlin decided to use her interest in him and have her convert him into a Prior so that he could pilot the warship through the Supergate to the Ori's galaxy and detonate the weapon. It was an elaborate plan which depended on Merlin's ability to protect Daniel as Adria attempted to seduce him to Origin. She converted him into a Prior, promising that she could do more for him as he could do more for her. Daniel promised that he'd complete the weapon for her, and Merlin's protection of him allowed him to deceive Adria completely. (10.14 "The Shroud")

Daniel completed all of the pieces to the weapon, but Adria urged him not to assemble it until there were more worshippers in the Milky Way, building up the Ori's strength in order to distract the Ancients by attacking them directly on the ascended planes. Adria then planned to detonate the weapon as soon as the Ori moved away, since the weapon worked only within the scope of the galaxy in which it was detonated. (10.14 "The Shroud")

While Adria was away gathering more worshippers, Daniel had himself captured by SG-1 so that he could ask them to shut down the wormhole from the Pegasus Galaxy to the Supergate (established in 10.03 "The Pegasus Project") so that he could pilot the warship with the weapon onboard to the Ori's galaxy. But because he was a Prior, the team didn't trust his motives. They activated the Anti-Prior Device against him and strapped him to a chair onboard the Odyssey. Eventually, they believed him enough to check out his story, hoping that they could at least get the nearly-completed weapon out of Adria's hands and at most to actually activate it and send it through to the Ori's galaxy. (10.14 "The Shroud")

SG-1 left Daniel behind, still strapped in the chair onboard the Odyssey. Richard Woolsey of the IOA had suggested that Daniel be killed because of the threat he possibly posed. Ever since the incident with Khalek, Woolsey's position was to eliminate a potential threat immediately. He felt that it would be safer to kill Daniel than to risk that Adria had sent the Prior to make them shut down the wormhole to let more warships through. Jack and Landry convinced him to place Daniel in stasis in the Antarctic chamber instead. They would await the results of SG-1's mission, based on the intel Daniel gave them, before letting him return to his old self, something that Daniel claimed that Merlin had programmed his body to do at the moment of the download (because it was harmful to Daniel's body to keep two consciousnesses for an extended period of time). (10.14 "The Shroud")

Merlin uses most of his strength to neutralize Adria

Merlin's weapon counting down to detonation

As a Prior, Daniel pilots the warship with Merlin's activated weapon onboard

Merlin was desperate to see his plan through, so he managed to overcome the effects of the Anti-Prior Device and take the Odyssey to the Supergate. He returned the ship's crew to Earth and took Jack with him so that Jack could give the command to the Daedalus in the Pegasus Galaxy to destroy the Stargate which was linked to the Supergate. (10.14 "The Shroud")

Once they arrived at the site, they saw that Adria had arrived to prevent SG-1's sending the weapon through. Merlin cloaked the Odyssey (something that it wasn't capable of doing before) and boarded the warship where SG-1 was, finding them captured by Adria and some of her soldiers. Daniel used the Anti-Prior Device on Adria, and Merlin used nearly all of his strength by penetrating her personal shield and knocking her out with an energy blast he created with his advanced human powers. Nearly drained of his strength and running out of time before Merlin's genetic program returned him to his old self, Daniel took control of the warship and asked that SG-1 activate the weapon. He pleaded with Jack to give the command to sever the wormhole, and Jack finally trusted him enough to do it. With the weapon armed, Daniel began to pilot the warship through the wormhole, but collapsed as Merlin left him and his body returned to his state before the download. Jack beamed the team off before the warship continued on its path through the Supergate. (10.14 "The Shroud")

Daniel told the team that Merlin had sacrificed himself to see the mission through. Finally, after first realizing the threat the Ori posed, Merlin had the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to use his weapon by using Daniel as his vessel. He wasn't present to know if the weapon was successful at eliminating the Ori, or to see six more warships entering the galaxy through the Supergate. (10.14 "The Shroud")

Episodes

Related Characters

Actor

Matthew Walker

--DeeKayP 15:43, 18 Jul 2005 (PDT)