The Merlin series 5 premiere gave us our first look at the now grown-up Mordred, played by Alexander Vlahos! Read what the actor can tease about his role on the show.
When we first met Mordred, he was a cute little Druid boy played by Asa Butterfield (who has moved on to Ender’s Game) who escaped the dungeons of Camelot with the help of Merlin, Arthur and Morgana – despite the warning that Merlin got telling him that the boy would one day be Arthur’s downfall.
In the series 5 premiere which aired last Saturday, Merlin had a vision of a battlefield in which Mordred cut down Arthur. And in the last scene of the episode Mordred returned – now played by Alexander Vlahos.
In an interview with Digital Spy, Vlahos offers some exciting teasers about what’s to come for Mordred’s character, and even hints that he might not be the bad guy we’re all expecting him to be!
“I sort of question calling him a villain,” the actor admits. “It’s like with Morgana; is she really a villain or is she just fighting for something she really wants? It’s hard because people tell you [that] you are playing the villain, like ‘Oh, you’re Mordred, you’re the new bad guy,’ but I’m playing this series as I would any other character, whether they be bad or good.”
On his character’s motivations, Vlahos reveals that, “I think Mordred wants to live in the freedom of magic, of course he does, it’s just the way he goes about it that’s a little different.”
In series 5, the actor says, “it really does centre around Mordred’s mission, because he has been searching for Morgana (Katie McGrath) – he hasn’t found her yet so he’s been working at getting towards her and then happened to stumble upon Arthur and Merlin at the end of episode one.”
He also previews what happens in the second part of the premiere, saying, “Mordred finally gets around to completing his goal. He finally gets to see Morgana and the last time he saw her was back in series two – eight years in story mode, if you’re counting it like that.”
Teasing what we can expect from Mordred, Vlahos teases “some amazing scenery and some amazing scenes.” He is particularly excited for viewers to see scenes between himself and Colin Morgan (Merlin), “where we talk about Emrys and all that magical stuff really comes out.”
‘Arthur’s Bane – Part 2’ airs this Saturday at 20:25 on BBC One!
Also check out Hypable’s Merlin podcast Talks of Camelot for our thoughts on the premiere episode, and lots of theories about what’s to come.
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