History Recap / MerlinS04E04Aithusa

* AbsenteeActor: Creator/KatieMcGrath and Creator/AngelCoulby sit this one out.

* MoralDissonance: There is an odd moment when Merlin sneaks Borden into Camelot's vaults in order to steal the third part of the treskelion in which Merlin warns him that there are guards down there. In response, Borden shows him a knife and Merlin leaves without another word. So...Merlin was apparently fine about the implication that Borden was going to slit the guards' throats?

So, having fulfilled their weekly quota of slash-bait, the writers get back to the story. By night, Merlin lets Borden in through a side-door in the castle, and the two of them hurry down to the vaults. Merlin gives Borden the key and tells him he’ll have to get past the guards.

* EggMacGuffin

* RecycledSet: Or rather, Recycled Location. The cave that Arthur and the knights enter on their way to Askanar's tomb is the same one used as Balinor's secret home in ''The Last Dragonlord''. This caused some confusion among the audience considering both featured in dragon-centric episodes, but were meant to be entirely unrelated places.
** There's a deleted scene where Merlin mentions to Arthur that this was the last place he saw his father, so yes, this was deliberate. However, as the writers must have realized, Arthur might have remembered it was the last place they saw Balinor, and connected the dots. So they removed all references from the episode so Arthur wouldn't catch on.

* AbsenteeActor: KatieMcGrath and Creator/AngelCoulby sit this one out.

** Although it turns right back to YankTheDogsChain in the series finale. Seriously, can't the guy have more than ''one'' thing go right for him?

* AbsenteeActor: KatieMcGrath and AngelCoulby sit this one out.

* RecycledSet: Or rather, Recycled Location. The cave that Arthur and the knights enter on their way to Askanar's tomb is the same one used as Balinor's secret home in ''The Last Dragonlord''. This caused some confusion among the audience considering both featured in dragon-centric episodes, but were meant to be entirely unrelated places.

* FanService : We've got most of a round table to appreciate now
* InTheHood : The Druids

* FridgeLogic: If Askanar put the egg into the tomb in order to keep it safe, why did he rig the place up so that it would collapse if someone removed the egg from the plinth? It would end up killing the intruder, but there was a pretty high risk of it smashing the egg as well.
** FridgeBrilliance: If the tomb's intruder was powerful and ruthless enough to get all three parts of the Triskelion and get past the trap at the door, then they're the last person you want in possession of a dragon's egg! It's also assumed Askanar thought that any dragon would prefer to [[BetterToDieThanBeKilled die rather than be enslaved to someone that would use it for his or her own gain]].
** It also seems likely based on the actions of the Druids that Merlin was meant to be the one to recover the egg all along.

* ReecycledSet: Or rather, Recycled Location. The cave that Arthur and the knights enter on their way to Askanar's tomb is the same one used as Balinor's secret home in ''The Last Dragonlord''. This caused some confusion among the audience considering both featured in dragon-centric episodes, but were meant to be entirely unrelated places.