MERLIN: THE LOST CHAPTER
Episode 2: "Time Out of Mind"
Written by: [reuben Gould ]
TEASER
INT. AVALON CAVES – NIGHT
MERLIN stares in horror at ARTHUR, possessed, eyes glowing crimson. The orb pulses in his hand. The cave begins to shake.
MERLIN
Arthur, fight it! I know you're in there!
POSSESSED ARTHUR
There is no Arthur. Only what you brought back.
A BLAST of energy sends Merlin flying into the cavern wall. He hits hard, groaning. When he looks up—Arthur is gone.
MERLIN
Brilliant. That's just typical.
TITLE SEQUENCE
MERLIN: THE LOST CHAPTER
ACT ONE
EXT. CAMELOT – STABLES – EARLY MORNING
LEON and ELYAN stare, mouths agape, as a steam-powered wagon—chuffing, clanking—crashes into the castle gates, driven by a confused Victorian-era man in goggles.
ELYAN
What… is that?
LEON
I don't know, but it's on fire.
ELYAN
Most of it seems intentional.
INT. THRONE ROOM – MOMENTS LATER
GUINEVERE listens as a SCRIBE unrolls a scroll that fades mid-sentence into Latin, then Old English, then binary code.
GUINEVERE
…What in the name of Camelot is going on?
SCRIBE
The scroll rewrote itself overnight.
GUINEVERE
Find Merlin. Now.
EXT. FOREST – SUNRISE
MERLIN limps through the trees. A Roman legionnaire sprints past him, screaming in Latin, pursued by a WWII soldier holding a walkie-talkie.
MERLIN
(sighs)
Right. So that's happening.
INT. OLD WATCHTOWER – LATER
Merlin slams the door shut and collapses against the wall. GAIUS emerges from the shadows.
GAIUS
You look like you've been trampled by time itself.
MERLIN
Close. Time's throwing a tantrum. Arthur's back—but something else came with him.
GAIUS
How bad?
MERLIN
Think "temporal soup with a hint of apocalypse."
ACT TWO
INT. CAMELOT – COUNCIL ROOM – DAY
GUINEVERE meets with SIR LEON, ELYAN, and a newly appeared 13th-century monk, who insists he was just in the middle of inventing beer.
MONK
One moment I was stirring barley, next moment—whoosh!—horses made of metal!
GUINEVERE
(polite)
Thank you. That's… very helpful.
LEON
We're losing grip on reality, Your Majesty.
GUINEVERE
Then we'll hold onto each other tighter.
EXT. CAMELOT STREETS – LATE AFTERNOON
People scatter as a Victorian streetlamp flickers into existence beside a Saxon smithy. Time fragments swirl overhead like storm clouds.*
MERLIN appears beside GUINEVERE.
GUINEVERE
About time.
MERLIN
That's… ironically accurate.
GUINEVERE
What have you done?
MERLIN
I brought Arthur back. But he's not whole. Time noticed.
GUINEVERE
And now?
MERLIN
Now we're being punished.
INT. AVALON CAVES – UNKNOWN TIME
ARTHUR—real, soul-trapped—is suspended in glowing chains. A HOODED FIGURE watches him.
ARTHUR
You've got the wrong king.
HOODED FIGURE
Oh no. We've got the right one. Just… not yet.
ACT THREE
INT. BLACKSMITH'S SHOP – NIGHT
MERLIN examines the dark orb with GAIUS.
GAIUS
This isn't just a relic. It's an anchor—a wound in time.
MERLIN
How do I close it?
GAIUS
You can't. Not while he's still tethered to it.
INT. CAMELOT LIBRARY – LATE NIGHT
GUINEVERE flips through ancient texts. Suddenly, she stops.
GUINEVERE
Merlin… this isn't the first time Arthur's return was predicted.
She points to a woodcut: A KING OF TWO FACES, one light, one dark.
MERLIN
Two sides of Arthur…
GUINEVERE
But only one crown.
EXT. MAIN SQUARE – NIGHT
A temporal vortex opens. From it, a future knight in power armor stumbles out, sword in one hand, plasma gun in the other.
FUTURE KNIGHT
Emrys?
MERLIN
Yes?
FUTURE KNIGHT
You're late.
ACT FOUR
INT. CAMELOT DUNGEONS – NIGHT
MERLIN speaks with the Future Knight.
FUTURE KNIGHT
Arthur returns in every age. Always too soon. Always incomplete.
MERLIN
And this time?
FUTURE KNIGHT
He's splintered. If he crowns himself in the wrong moment, all timelines collapse.
INT. RUINS OUTSIDE THE CITY – NIGHT
The Possessed Arthur stands before the Crimson Order. They chant. Time tears open behind them—visions of Camelot, Rome, even a space colony flicker.
POSSESSED ARTHUR
I am every Arthur who ever was. And none of them could stop me.
EXT. CASTLE RAMPARTS – NIGHT
MERLIN and GUINEVERE look out as the sky tears open above them.
MERLIN
I need to find the real Arthur. Wherever—whenever—he is.
GUINEVERE
And if you can't?
MERLIN
Then Camelot dies in every century.
EPILOGUE
INT. AVALON CAVES – VOID CHAMBER
ARTHUR, still chained, looks up. A golden crack appears in the wall beside him. A hand reaches through—Merlin's.
MERLIN
Time to go home, my king.
Arthur smirks.
ARTHUR
Took you long enough, idiot.
TO BE CONTINUED…