Previously on Merlin: Morgana learned from the Druids that she has magic; Arthur noticed Merlin paying special attention to Morgana and warned him that relationships between servants and nobles are impossible; Arthur has feelings for Gwen but he tells her that nothing can ever come of it.
The scene opens outside in Camelot in a courtyard near the stables. Arthur walks to his horse and adjusts the saddle. "What is the point of this festival again?" asked Merlin. He is following after Arthur carrying a hamper half as big as himself.
"We are going a-Maying, Merlin. Didn't you have maying in Ealdor? The young people of Camelot go out into the forest and have a huge picnic and pick flowers and, you know, make merry. It's fun."
"Yes, but why?" Merlin asks as he heaves the enormous hamper to the ground.
"I don't know. It's traditional, I guess. It's supposed to be good luck."
Merlin grins, knowing he's about to get in the winning shot. "Sounds like a silly superstition to me."
"If you say that in my father's presence, I will have you hung by your ankles from the tallest tower in Camelot." Arthur stalks out of the camera shot.
"Is Gwen going to be there?" called Merlin. He dodges some horse poop that has been thrown at his head.
This would be a good place for the opening credits. The next scene is in a sunny clearing at the edge of the forest. The young, unattached people of Camelot are all there in their best clothes, everyone from the court and a good many people from the lower town as well. Everyone has flowers in their hair and on their clothes. A girl chases a boy across the screen. Both are laughing. There are more flowers in the grass. Blankets are laid out. Merlin's hamper is open on one of the blankets, overflowing with food and drink.
Merlin jogs onscreen holding a sheathed sword. "Arthur! I brought you your sword like you…" Merlin looks around. Arthur is clearly not there. "Idiot," he mutters to himself, about himself. He drops the sword and stalks off toward the forest.
"Arthur? Arthur!" He's spinning around and not looking where he's going. He backs right into Morgana.
"Oh! Sorry, my lady," he grabs her arm to steady her. "I was looking for Arthur."
"That's alright, Merlin. Have you seen Gwen?"
Merlin gives her a meaningful and slightly exasperated look. "No, but wherever they are, they're probably together."
Morgana's eyes widen at this juicy bit of gossip.
"Come on. I've already tried over there." They walk off into the forest together.
"So. Arthur and Gwen?" Morgana asks. Their conversation fades as they wander into the distance.
Some time later, Morgana and Merlin wander into a small but beautiful clearing. Cool light filters down through the trees, and there are tiny white flowers and purple flowers in the scrub around the bases of the trees. In the center of the clearing is a gently bubbling spring. It feeds a pool about four feet across. The water is very dark, and it's hard to tell how deep it is. It's ringed with smooth grey stones.
"Hmm," says Merlin. "I have never seen this clearing before."
"We're lost," says Morgana. "I don't know it either. I thought I knew every inch of these woods." She sits down heavily on the stones at the edge of the spring. She's not dressed for pushing through undergrowth, wearing a loose green and gold dress. (Merlin is wearing the same thing as always. He only owns one outfit.)
"At least there's water," says Merlin. He sits on the stones near Morgana and dips his hand into the pool. Morgana takes a drink as well.
"Augh, it's bitter," she says. She has already drunk a mouthful. She let's the rest fall through her fingers back into the pool. She makes an ick face at first, but it turns into a deeply sad face as though she was totally lost and alone. It feels like the day she'd received the news that her father had died. We only get a few seconds to see this reaction.
"Tastes okay to me," says Merlin as he slurps up his handful. "Hey look!" he says, pointing. "It's Arthur and Gwen."
Merlin has spotted Arthur's bright red cloak through the trees. About twenty yards away and a little downhill from the little clearing, Arthur and Gwen are strolling arm in arm along a track. Arthur is playing with a red rose. Gwen is wearing a pink and white dress and has a circlet of pink flowers in her hair. Arthur says something we can't quite hear and Gwen laughs, covering her mouth with her free hand.
"Come on!" says Merlin to Morgana, intending to follow them and eavesdrop. He crouches and pushes his way through the undergrowth
…only to re-enter the small clearing from the opposite side.
He turns around and goes back, only to find himself where he started. "What?" he says. He tries running at the barrier, but the same thing happens.
Morgana runs to the edge of the clearing closest to Arthur and Gwen. "Gwen! Gwen! She can't hear me!"
Merlin stops running and joins Morgana. "Arthur!" Now he's worried. Arthur and Gwen have not reacted, and it's clear that they can't hear them. Magic is obviously involved. Merlin squares his shoulders and his eyes flash as he invests his magical will against the barrier. (Morgana doesn't see his eyes flash.) He walks purposefully into the barrier. It flings him back like it was a giant rubber band. He lands on his back, dazed.
Morgana has seen something inside the clearing. "Merlin?" She bends down and leans sideways to nudge Merlin's shoulder, not looking away from the thing. Merlin groans, opens his eyes, and looks where she's looking.
A little old something is standing on the other side of the pool as if it has been their all along. Its hands are folded in front of it, and it is wearing soft grey and white robes. It's so old it is hard to tell if it is male or female. Its skin is wrinkled, and its hair is very long and white. Its skin is also an inhuman shade of lavender. No one says anything for a moment.
"Who are you?" Morgana asks.
"Who am I? Who are you?" the person asks. Its voice is scratchy and old-sounding and not very happy. "This is a place of peace and healing, and you come here uninvited and drink the sacred waters?"
"We didn't know the spring was sacred," says Merlin getting to his feet, his arms spread to show he wasn't going to try anything. "I'm very sorry. We'll go away now and never mention this place to anyone, right Morgana?"
"You can not go," says the person. "Once you have drunk the waters of Faery you can never leave."
"What?" says Morgana flatly.
"No!" says Merlin glancing toward where they had last seen Gwen and Arthur, but the couple had wandered out of sight. "There must be some way back. Please."
"The balance must be restored," says the person.
"Tell me what I have to do, and I'll do it," says Merlin.
The old one bends down very slowly, reaches into the water until it reaches up to its wrist, and picks up a grey pebble from the bottom of the pool. It looks like a smaller version of the stones that ring the pool. "You must bring this pebble to the top of the tallest mountain by midnight tonight, or you will be trapped in the Faery realm forever." The person turns backward and to the side, gesturing over its shoulder. Merlin and Morgana look back and up and see that there is a huge mountain in front of them rising up beyond the trees. The lower slopes are forested, and the peak is very steep and rocky looking although mercifully free of snow.
"There's no mountain in these woods," says Morgana although she does not sound convinced.
"I don't think we're in Camelot anymore," says Merlin. He is also pretty impressed by the mountain that seemed to appear from nowhere when they weren't looking, and he's staring to realize how much trouble he's in.
Merlin glances at Morgana. She nods. "We'll do it," he says. He reaches for the pebble and takes it from the old one.
"Stick to the path," the old one advises. It stands to the side, revealing a path that was hidden behind him. It seems smooth enough, wide enough, and pointing in the right general direction. "But be warned, the journey will test you. Both of you." He looks Merlin and Morgana in the eye in turn.
Merlin starts to go. Morgana turns back to the old one and says, "Thank you. For your kindness."
The old one harrumphs but seems pleased. It watches as Merlin and Morgana set off along the path.
Merlin and Morgana are trudging along the dirt path running through the trees. Morgana is in the lead. Although the path is not very steep, it has been going steadily uphill, and both of them are breathing hard. Merlin is also having to concentrate on warding off small creatures that seem to be following them. We see something furry, mostly concealed in the undergrowth, peering that them from behind a large leaf. Merlin silently uses his magic to push it away. The creatures worry him. He can't quite tell what they are. He's pretty sure they're not all the same. They don't behave like regular woodland creatures. There's the way they never let themselves be seen, and there's also the way they seem to be following him and Morgana no matter how many of them he pushes away. They haven't attacked yet though, and Merlin's instincts tell him it would be a bad idea to do them harm when he is the intruder in their land. The constant vigilance and near constant use of magic is wearing him down.
"Merlin," Morgana gasps. "I need to rest for a minute."
"Just for a minute," Merlin agrees. He's too tired to argue. "We don't know how much farther we have to go. It's already after noon."
They sit on a log, a tree that fell parallel to the path years ago. They sit in silence, catching their breath. There's something on Morgana's mind.
Finally she says, "What do you think would happen to us if we didn't make it up the mountain in time?"
"No," says Merlin shaking his head. "You can't think like that. We are going to get out of here." He reaches over and covers one of her hands with his.
"Would it really be so bad if we didn't?" she asks. She looks at the path. She can't meet his eye.
"Morgana, what are you talking about?" His first impulse is to drop her hand, but he squeezes it tighter. He has to understand what she means by this. He senses it's important.
"Ever since we came here, I've felt…different. Not happy but like a weight I didn't know I'd been carrying was lifted."
"It's probably a trick," says Merlin shaking his head. "Camelot is your home. Your friends are there waiting for you. What would Gwen say if you never came back? Or the king?"
"Uther hates me," she says quietly.
"Uther doesn't hate you. You're his ward. There's almost nothing the king loves more than he loves you."
"If he knew who I really was, he would kill me," Morgana says angrily, with conviction, looking into Merlin's eyes for the first time in this conversation. There is nothing Merlin can say to that because he knows it's true. "You don't know what that's like. To be so alone. To have to hide who you are behind a cheerful mask."
"No," says Merlin softly. He looks away. It's hard for him to say anything, and Morgana doesn't notice that the word's meaning is ambiguous.
"But it's more than that," she says. She leans her head back to look up through the leaves and take in the forest around her. "There's something about this place. I can feel magic everywhere here, all around me. The forest is so…"
"Alive," Merlin finishes her sentence.
Morgana nods. "What if I was supposed to find this place? Maybe this is where I belong."
"Morgana," Merlin says with sympathy in his voice. He touches her hand again and she pulls her attention from the trees and looks at him again. "It won't always be like that in Camelot. Someday things are going to change. Not everyone hates magic." Merlin is using his most convincing voice, the one he usually saves for special occasions when Arthur is doubting his destiny. This time Morgana hears the truth in his words and can't answer. You can practically see a connection forming between them as she realizes Merlin is one person she can trust.
"Come on," she says after that long moment, rising to her feet. "We can argue about me later, but we definitely need to get you to the top of the mountain before midnight." She starts off on the path again with Merlin scrambling after her.
Around the next bend, the path goes into a ravine. At the back of the ravine is a cave or tunnel. It's pitch black inside. They can't see more than a few feet into it.
"I don't like it," says Merlin, examining the cave entrance.
"There's no where else to go," says Morgana. She's not thrilled about it either, but she and Merlin know better than to stray from the path. "Look, there are torches." She picks up two torches which were leaning against the wall just inside the cave mouth.
"I have a flint," said Merlin, patting his belt as if checking for the flint. He doesn't really have one on him, but Morgana doesn't need to know that. He takes the torches from Morgana and turns his back on her. He pretends to be striking a flint, then uses magic to light the torches. He turns back to Morgana and hands her one of them.
"Here. Let me lead for a while," he says. They disappear into the cave.
The tunnel floor is as smooth as the path through the forest was and about as wide. The walls and ceiling, however, are rough hewn. The rock is light grey and has flecks of a reflective mineral in it, so that when the torch light hits it at just the right angle it shimmers. Like the woods they've left behind, it looks more beautiful and more deadly than an ordinary cave. Merlin still can't shake the feeling that they're being watched. The path slopes upward through the mountain.
The path opens up into a cave. The light floods out into the larger space, and Merlin sees that the watched feeling wasn't his imagination. A crystalline shape is caught at the edge of the light. It somehow senses that it has been seen and stops its retreat, hissing. It's a giant spider, over two feet tall, and its body is completely see through. It looks like it has been made out of cut crystal, but it's alive. It shifts its weight, and its eight feet click softly against the floor. Merlin realizes he has been hearing that soft clicking sound for a while now without realizing where it was coming from. Another spider appears and then another and another from the dark tunnel across the cave where the path leads next.
Merlin has stopped walking near the center of the cave. "Morgana, hold still," he says. She gasps and freezes. She seriously does not like spiders. She catches sight of a movement behind her and jumps, landing back to back with Merlin. Spiders are coming from the tunnel behind them too. They are surrounded. The spiders are becoming more bold, heading into the light of the torches. Merlin swings his torch at them, but it only holds them back for a second. Merlin is about to use magic to force them away.
Morgana screams piercingly as one of the spiders lunges at her, and her eyes flash. The five spiders closest to her explode into shards. The other spiders hesitate.
"Morgana!" Merlin says. "Do that again."
"I don't know how!"
"Yes you do. Concentrate! Focus your energy on the spiders and let it go."
Morgana takes a deep breath and composes herself. She holds out her hands at the spiders, and her eyes flash and flash. It's all over in seconds. The few spiders that weren't exploded flee.
"I did it," says Morgana. She lowers her hand. She breathes out once in a little half laugh half 'huh'. Soon she is laughing and can't stop. It feels good.
"I've only ever done two things with magic," she explains to Merlin when she can catch her breath. "Start fires and shatter glass!" She has to laugh again, and Merlin joins her.
"I'm glad you were here," he says.
"Me too," she says.
They continue through the caves and tunnels. Morgana stays alert for more spiders. She is eager to practice her newfound skill on them. They see a few more and also some crystal webs that look delicate but that can't be broken with stones. Morgana smashes them all. Merlin knows what the dragon would say—that it is dangerous for Morgana to learn how to use her power—but it doesn't feel dangerous. There's a certain childlike joy in Morgana's face. It reminds Merlin of when he was a child and he'd break icicles after a winter storm. And she seems more relaxed and confident than she's been in a long time.
As they go on, they see fewer and fewer creatures or traces of creatures. The walls slowly become smoother and more square until they could almost be in one of the tunnels below Camelot. They eventually come to a doorway.
"After you," says Merlin with a sweep of his arm. Morgana enters a huge chamber, roughly the size of the great hall at Camelot with perfectly smooth walls and nine foot ceilings. Merlin follows after her. They walk a few paces into the room, hold up their torches, and spin around taking it in.
"Wow," says Merlin. This is the biggest space they've been in since they entered the tunnels.
There is a creaking noise and them a boom. Two doors have just swung shut: the one they entered and the exit at the far end of the chamber. Merlin and Morgana run back to the door, but it is flush with the wall and doesn't have any handles or anything to grab on to. The seam with the wall is so tight, it would be hard to get a knife into the crack.
"Try the other one," he says to Morgana. She runs to the other side of the chamber. He tries using magic on the door, but there is no discernible effect.
There is a soft but persistent grinding sound. It takes Merlin a moment to figure out where it's coming from, but then he feels some dust land in his hair. He shields his eyes and looks up. The ceiling is moving. It's traveling pretty slowly, but it is coming down.
"Morgana?!" He runs to the other side of the chamber. "How's it coming with that door?"
"It's the same as the other one!" she says. "Is that-"
"The ceiling coming down on our heads? Yeah," says Merlin.
"I tried using magic on the door. It didn't do anything!" says Morgana. She stands aside, and Merlin examines the door. It's exactly like the one across the room. Merlin is carrying a knife with a blade about four inches long. He wedges it into the gap between the door and the wall feeling for a lever, a hinge, anything. The knife gets stuck, and he almost can't get it out again. He finally pries it back completely dull, scratched, and tiny bit bent.
"It's no good!" he says. While he's been looking away, the ceiling has gotten much lower. It's just over a foot above their heads now. His eyes dart back and forth between the ceiling and Morgana. There's only one thing left he can think of to try.
"Say hrof hafenian," he tells Morgana.
"Hrof hafenian," she says to him.
"Not at me, at the roof!"
"Hrof hafenian!" she yells, but her eyes do not flash. She hasn't had time to think it through. She understands these must be magic words but she doesn't know what they're supposed to do. She hasn't learned the spell. She looks at Merlin in despair. The ceiling is almost touching their heads.
Merlin has no choice. "Hrof hafenian," he says looking up. His eyes flash, and Morgana sees them, unmistakably. The ceiling halts, then quickly returns to its starting position nine feet above the floor. There is a loud click noise, and both doors swing open. Morgana glares at Merlin and sweeps past him, not quite running to get out of that room. Merlin follows pretty quickly himself.
Outside the chamber is a short tunnel and a flight of about 20 stairs that opens onto a hillside. It's nearly dark out. There are a few orange clouds in the sky that signal the very end of sunset.
Merlin has been running to keep up with Morgana. She has stopped dead just past the top of the stairs, and he almost runs into her. While he is still off balance, Morgana whirls around and smacks him across the face.
"Why didn't you tell me?" Morgana asks. For a moment she is furious, but then her eyes fill up with tears. Merlin is more horrified by the tears than angry about the slap. He's used to getting mistreated by the nobility, but crying girls are a different story.
"I…I wanted to, but I couldn't. Please, Morgana, please don't cry."
They are both very tired from a long day of traveling with little food and the constant stress of being in danger. Morgana turns away from him and sinks down to the stony ground next to the path, watching the last of the sunset to keep her tears from spilling over. It's a pretty incredible view. The land is laid out beneath them, forests and fields and a lake that reflects back the last of the light. Morgana knows the land around Camelot very well, and this terrain is similar but not quite right. The lake is in the wrong place, and she can't see any villages or towns. The hill where the town of Camelot ought to be is empty. It is beautiful but foreign. The wind picks up on the mountain top. Morgana shivers and wraps her arms around herself.
While Morgana is collecting herself, Merlin is looking for firewood. He can tell they need to have a rest and probably an uncomfortable conversation, and he is not looking forward to that. His servant instincts are telling him to build a fire because the Lady Morgana may get cold, and besides it gives him something to think about other than how badly he screwed up. There aren't any trees this high up, but he manages to find a dead bush, dried out by the wind. He pries most of it out of the rocky soil and drags it over to where Morgana is sitting. He makes a circle of stones and puts the kindling in the middle. He glances guiltily at Morgana and then lights the fire with magic without trying to hide it from her.
"Hmph," she says. She wants to ignore him, but she can't. "All this time, you let me believe I was alone." She means to sound tough and accusing. Some hurt creeps in as well.
" I wanted to tell you. Please believe me," Merlin says, sitting as close to Morgana as he dares which is not very close, about an arm's length away. "Staying silent was one of the hardest things I've ever done. You know how dangerous it is for people to find out you have magic, but if it was only my life I was risking, I would have trusted you with it."
"What more could you risk than your life?"
"It's complicated," says Merlin. He takes a minute, fiddling with some kindling to organize his thoughts. "Did you know that Arthur is destined to become the greatest king that Camelot has ever known?"
"Arthur?" says Morgana.
"I know," says Merlin. "There are prophecies about him. The druids call him the once and future king. He's supposed to unite all of Albion and make it a fair and just land. The kind of place where people with magic won't have to hide anymore."
"When you said that someday things would be different in Camelot, that's what you meant," says Morgana. Her eyes have gone wide as the enormity of what he is saying sinks in.
"There's more. Arthur will never achieve his destiny unless I protect him. It's my destiny to serve Arthur."
"Using magic?" says Morgana.
Merlin nods.
"Does he know about you?"
"Nooo. Not at all."
"You use magic to protect Arthur and help him become a great king. But if Arthur learned you had magic, he'd have to have you executed, dooming himself and Camelot and all of Albion."
"Yep. Actually, it sounds pretty terrible when you put it that way."
"It is terrible! And…amazing." Morgana shakes her head. "I thought living with Uther was hard. How do you do it?"
"I believe in the future Arthur can create. And he is my friend, even if he can be a total prat." Morgana snorts at that. "I have to believe that someday he'll be able to accept me for who I really am."
"Merlin," Morgana says, reaching out and touching his shoulder. "You're not alone anymore either."
Merlin starts to tear up. He covers her hand with his and their fingers lock together.
A terrible scrabbling, rocks-falling sound comes from just over the edge of the drop off, not ten yards from where they are sitting. A claw comes into view over the rocks. It looks like a lizard's foot, except it's four feet across. It's followed by another one. A huge goat head rises up between them. It's at least as tall as a man. Merlin and Morgana jump up. Morgana goes for one of the torches on the other side of the fire, closer to the monster, but she trips on the hem of her dress and falls to the ground. She screams. The monster tastes the air with a forked, snaky tongue.
Something in Merlin's mind snaps. "AETSTANDAN CYRM! IC CUNNAN AGAN GECWETHAN HER! AFARAN LICIAN!"
The monster looks confused. It's a strange expression on a goat face. It blinks several times, and then first the head disappears and then the paws. Morgana and Merlin listen as the rock-scrabbling noise recedes down the mountainside.
"What did you do?" asks Morgana.
"I think I told it to piss off," says Merlin, stunned. He'd never been so angry in his life, and the words just popped out.
Morgana laughs and picks herself up.
"Come on," Merlin says. He offers her his hand. They relight the torches and continue on their way up the mountain.
Not long after, Merlin and Morgana come to the top of a rise and reach a flat-ish plain about the size of a football field. There's a translucent quality to the air and the light. The stars seem huge and close. The horizon is very near, and they can see it on all sides. They realize they've reached the top of the mountain. It's magical.
Morgana gasps. "Can you feel the energy here?"
"I know," says Merlin.
They see a large, flat stone near the center of the mountaintop, or maybe it's a very roughly hewn table. On top of it is a small mound of pebbles. Merlin smiles and adds their pebble to the top of the pile. "There."
"Now what do we do?" asks Morgana.
Merlin shakes his head. He's feeling good, loose. Dizzy in a good way. "Have you ever seen stars like that?"
They find a thick patch of moss so soft and springy it's almost like a mattress. They lie on their backs next to each other and look straight up at the stars. If you look closely enough you can almost see them wheeling across the sky…
Merlin realizes he is awake. He doesn't remember falling asleep. His arm is lying over something hard and lumpy. Not Morgana. Is it a rock?
He cracks one eye open. It's Arthur. He has his arm flung over Arthur.
He tries to move his arm gingerly off Arthur's chest, but the second he does, Arthur's eyes fly open.
"Merlin!" He jumps about a foot. They sit facing each other with a few feet of space between them. Arthur goes on the offensive. "Where the hell have you been?"
"Me? Where the hell have you been?"
"I got lost. In the woods."
"Well so did I!"
"All night?" asks Arthur.
"When you're lost in the woods, it's even harder to find your way out at night, as I'm sure you must know from your recent experiences."
"I…right," says Arthur.
"Where's Gwen?"
Arthur looks around and then tries to pretend like he didn't. "I have no idea what you're talking about. Enough of this foolishness. We have to get back to Camelot right away. Go find the horses."
It turns out they are at the edge of the woods, not far from the picnic site. Two horses are even conveniently grazing nearby. Merlin goes to collect them.
"And Merlin," says Arthur as his hand comes down heavily on Merlin's shoulder. Merlin didn't hear him coming and it's his turn to jump about a foot.
"Never. Ever. Speak of this to anyone."
"No sir," says Merlin, smiling.
Merlin and Arthur ride back into Camelot early, before the city is awake. They cross paths with Gwen after entering the castle. She's going one way down the hall and they're going the other way. Everyone keeps a straight face as they pass each other, but we see Gwen's face burst into a huge smile as soon as she's past them. This scene would look awesome in slow-mo.
Merlin enters Gaius's chambers.
"Merlin! I was worried about you. What happened?" asks Gaius. He's up early. He didn't sleep well after Merlin didn't come back.
"Well, I almost got trapped in Faery, but we made it out alright."
"I should have said something. Uther allows maying because he thinks of it as a harmless tradition, but the date May 1st was an important turning point of the year in the Old Religion. A time when the boundaries between worlds are thin. I thought it would be safe enough, but I discounted the strength of your magic, and your talent for getting into trouble. I'm sorry, Merlin."
"Honestly, a warning wouldn't have helped. It kind of snuck up on us. No harm done, though. We got back in time."
"We? Was Arthur there with you?"
"Um," says Merlin. "Not Arthur."
Gaius gives his raised eyebrow look to Merlin. He can tell Merlin is holding out on him.
"Morgana was with me. I told her everything. I had to, Gaius. There was a thing and we would have died if I hadn't used magic!"
"Perhaps it's for the best," says Gaius, sighing. "Life will be dangerous for her either way. At least now she'll have guidance."
The door to Gaius's chambers is flung open and Morgana walks in.
"Merlin! Gwen said that you…Good morning, Gaius."
"Come in Morgana. We have a lot to talk about."
Morgana walks into the room and shuts the door behind her.
Narrator voice says "Merlin."
Next time on Merlin: Merlin and Morgana fall in love; Morgana convinces Morgause to give Arthur a chance rather than fight against him; Old Merlin saves Uther's life using magic, securing Arthur's promise to legalize magic when he is king; Old Merlin then reveals his true identity to Arthur; Merlin, Arthur, Morgana and Gwen form a shadow court working behind the scenes of the real court to protect Camelot and shield good magic users from Uther; Uther dies of natural causes and Arthur succeeds to the throne; Camelot has the support of every magician and sorcerer in Albion; everything goes swimmingly and the show ends two seasons early due to lack of conflict.