History Recap / MerlinS05E06TheDarkTower

* OurFairiesAreDifferent: Queen Mab looks like a typical WingedHumanoid (if not a little Gothed up) but identifies herself as the spirit of the Inpenetrable Forest.

This she does, only to come face to face with Morgana. Though she turns her horse and tries to escape, it takes only a telekenetic pull for Morgana to yank her from the saddle. Guinevere is knocked unconscious.

* CallBack: A subtle one - when Gwen goes missing, Arthur touches her belongings on the bedside table. When Morgana went missing at the end of ''[[Recap/MerlinS02E12TheFiresOfIdirsholas The Fires of Idirsholas]]'', Uther was seen handling Morgana's jewellery in her room.

* GenreSavvy: The Knights, in a rare instance of this, decide to give Merlin a chance to get them out of the forest.

--> '''Guinevere''': [[CrowningMomentOfFunny He's not stupid]].

--> '''Leon''': [[CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming And our friend]].

1) Guinevere is tormented in the Dark Tower by visions of Elyan, Merlin and Arthur. At first they appear warm and loving, only to turn on her with cruel faces and mocking laughter. Occasionally Morgana enters the room in order to offer her a reprive. At first she takes her downstairs to a banquet hall and tries to give her food, divulging that she too knows what it's like to be trapped in a small, dark room - only ''her'' ordeal lasted two years, shackled to the wall. Guinevere refuses to give in to her mind games, but the mental torture continues. Later Morgana enters in order to offer Gwen food and warmth, but again Gwen refuses. It's not until she endures a vision of Arthur laughing at her that she weakens and allows Morgana to comfort her.

2) Arthur, Merlin and the knights are trying to navigate the forest, only to discover (thanks to Gwaine's torn cloak) that they've been wandering around in circles. Arthur is furious, but the others convince him to make camp for the night so that they can think on the problem with clear heads in the morning. While the others are asleep, Merlin is awoken by a strange flickering sound in the bushes. He follows the noise and comes across Goth [[PeterPan Tinkerbell]] crouching on a log, introducing herself as Queen Mab, the spirit of the bewildering forest. Though she seems quite capricious, she offers Merlin the advice he needs to escape the forest: that left is right and right is left, and the way behind is the way ahead.

* CallBack: A subtle one - when Gwen goes missing, Arthur touches her belongings on the bedside table. When Morgana went missing at the end of ''[[{{Recap/MerlinS02E12TheFiresOfIdirsholas}} The Fires of Idirsholas]]'', Uther was seen handling Morgana's jewellery in her room.

* DistressedDamsel / GirlInTheTower: Guinevere. Both tropes are explicitly stated by Gwaine.

* VikingFuneral: [[spoiler:For Elyan]].

* {{Padding}}: A couple of scenes in the B-plot seemed rather pointless, including Percival getting a blister and Merlin sliding down a gorge and nearly getting impaled on a sword. Even Queen Mab felt a bit extraneous.

** An in-universe example, said by Mab:

* TheUntwist: In a castle filled with illusions and nightmares, it seemed inevitable that the Guinevere Elyan was defending from the levitating sword would end up being some sort of doppelganger. But no, it was really her.

* HoYay/LesYay: The Morgana/Gwen LesYay is back in full force as part of Morgana's torture. Morgana spends half of the episode touching (and trying to touch) Gwen whether the latter likes it or not. Morgana even goes so far as to call Gwen "my darling" while comforting her at one point.

* RhymesonaDime: Mab

* VikingFuneral

* AdaptationalVillainy: Inverted with Queen Mab. She prefers talking in riddles (or rhyme) and is a bit annoying, but unlike most other tales she's actually helpful and teaches Merlin the skills he needs to get them out of the forest.

* ComicRelief: Gwaine breaks up the tension whenever it gets too scary. At least in his plot-line.

* {{Padding}}: Was there a point to the scene in which Percival sits on the ground, takes off his boot and stares sadly at the blister on his foot?
** To show how long they'd been walking? In the desert, things are three times as far away as they originally look.

* CallBack: A subtle one - when Gwen goes missing, Arthur plays with her belongings on her bedside table. When Morgana went missing at the end of ''[[{{Recap/MerlinS02E12TheFiresOfIdirsholas}} The Fires of Idirsholas]]'', Uther was seen playing with Morgana's jewellery in her room.

* YouAreInCommandNow: When they are lost in the forest and Merlin has a way out, they all defer to him.