Colin Morgan and Bradley James Return to Camelot

Photo by Syfy

Merlin takes the legend of Camelot and turns it on its head. Much like Smallville, the Syfy show takes a look at the time before Arthur became King and his wizard advisor Merlin got a grasp of his full powers. In a recent conference call interview we spoke with series’ stars Colin Morgan and Bradley James about magic, Morgana and what to expect in season three, which premieres tonight.

We asked Morgan, who stars as Merlin, and James who plays Arthur, how their characters’ relationship will evolve in season three. Morgan believes their bond will only grow stronger. He told us, “Well Merlin and Arthur… there’s always that… issue there of servant and master. And that will always be there. But these are guys who’ve been friends for three years now. And as anyone who’s spent that much time together you get used to the quirks and those little idiosyncrasies that each person has… So they’re forced into that situation. It’s just lucky that as time has gone by that they’ve just become closer friends.”

James agreed, to a point, saying, “Well I’d probably say the same things as you, Col. Actually I’d say one thing different in the sense that you... mentioned that there’s that master/servant relationship which will always be there. And I’d probably disagree with that because I think they’ll get to a point where Arthur will no longer see Merlin as a servant, where they will be equals. I don’t think that will happen too soon. But I think that’s where the progression of that relationship goes.”

So does that mean Merlin will show his magical abilities to Arthur this season? Bradley explained, “I think previously that we’d perhaps have a problem because Arthur would bring it up to the powers that be and Uther would become aware. I think we have reached the point or at least we’re not very far away from if we haven’t where Arthur would be able to accept it. Without spoiling too much of season three I think certainly the direction that the show goes I think we’re not far away from it.”

And as for future king’s relationship with his dad, Bradley continued, “Arthur’s grown up with purely his father… so his father’s such a huge influence on him… But I think as time goes on… you... see Arthur starting to figure things out for himself where he has disagreed with his father. And I think in time it’ll lead to Arthur... making the choices as king that he will do that’ll be different to how Uther does it which you would imagine there’ll be a stark contrast in the way that the pair of them rule. So yeah, as time goes on I think it just becomes a lot more questioning from Arthur in how Uther does things.”

Fans can also expect to see more of Morgana this season. James revealed, “Whenever Morgana turns up in [season] three there’s been a year-long search for her as decreed by Uther. And we don’t know where she’s been for that year. We don’t know what she’s been up to or what she’s been harvesting. But it becomes very evident very quickly in the first episode that despite appearances she hasn’t changed. She’s just as evil as she was before if not more. And so it’s basically the beginnings within the first episode of where she’s going to go and what she’s going to create and what she’s going to change.”

That’s why she’s still the wizard’s biggest threat. Colin acknowledged, “Merlin tried to kill her which is the biggest… dirt on Merlin that anyone [has] and… she threatens to use that against him. And again she’s in a position of power. And Merlin’s the only one that knows of what her true power is and how she can use that.”

Sounds more deadly and devilish than an episode of Desperate Housewives. Check out all the drama when Merlin returns to Syfy tonight at 10 p.m. EST/9 p.m. Central.