From: "Todd Jensen" <merlyn>
Date: Sat Oct 12, 2002 2:03 am
Subject: Preparing for Season 5 of Pendragon

Thanks for the Isfet repost, Ed.

Incidentally, I've decided to compile a few general directions we want for Season 5 of "Pendragon" (I know that we won't be getting to it for a good while yet, although we're almost done with Season 4 Breakdowns - but we've still got the writing and Edits ahead, not to mention Art - assuming that we can get much art seeing that we're currently understaffed in that department - but it's a good idea to be prepared for it). Here's the main elements for at least the initial stages of it:

1. Arthur, now that the Grail Quest is over, and maybe under some inspiration/guidance that he's gained from conversations with Avallach, Quetzalcoatl, and others during the quest, setting out to fulfill his "Once and Future King" role, and taking the first real steps towards founding New Camelot.

Ideally, one of the scenes that we should have in the first episode would be Arthur conferring with his knights over that issue in the London estate, working on various different possibilities, and discussing the pros and cons for the various routes. (For a bit of comic relief, I had the vision of one of the knights expressing the hope that, if people need the help of Arthur and New Camelot for whatever reason, they don't go for the system of alerting them by displaying an enormous image of a dragon in the sky over London as a signal).

2. Jennifer Camford coming to the fore, both in her relationship with Arthur and her company being threatened by Darien Montrose. (The corporation war could be treated with a tone of "The more things change, the more they stay the same", in the sense that it's, in some ways, an updated version of the old medieval/Arthurian concept of a robber-baron seeking to strengthen his holdings by annexing the lands of his rivals - and often, in the Arthurian romances, those lands were being held by a single noblewoman who had inherited the fief or estate from her father, which would parallel Jennifer's situation).

3. Duval coming more to the fore as an antagonist, deciding what to do about Arthur, while dealing with Powell's increasing rivalry and the likelihood of Powell intending a coup d'etat against him.

4. The big question over where New Camelot should be, and at least an initial step towards relocating Arthur's headquarters - he needs a place of his own now, it's clear enough, rather than just staying with the London clan. (Arthur's moving out from the London estate should also have some bearing on Griff and Brianna; maybe Brianna could accompany Arthur and Griff on the move and even become a regular "gargoyle knight" like her mate).

5. For other antagonists: Lucius wanting to take over New Camelot (and turn it into the foundations of his "New Roman Empire") has already been brought up. With Morgana temporarily out of the picture, Sybil could succeed her for a while, seeking to avenge "Morgana's death" (she doesn't know that Morgana's still alive but not yet active again) upon Arthur, and we could use this to find out more about her and her motivations.

6. Incidentally, I also just had the vision, for a bit of comic relief, of Merlin being back at Mons Carbi, now that he's cured, only to discover that he's got a lot of homework to catch up on as a result of all that time that he'd been away on account of illness, and grumbling at one point, as he struggles over another maths assignment, that he was almost better off with the poison. :)

Todd Jensen