God and the gods: A review of The Pendragon Cycle: Rise of the Merlin

Distribution Service: DailyWire+, new episodes Thursday evenings
MPAA Rating: Not rated at the time of this review
Reel Rating: 4 out of 5 reels

The Arthurian legend was born during a time of great historical change, when Britain was shifting from a Roman colony to a kingdom ruled by the Germanic Saxons. While The Pendragon Cycle, which is based on a popular series of books by the prolific Stephen Lawhead, takes a high fantasy approach to the period, it does a remarkable job capturing this important metamorphosis, especially in the arena of faith.

It also represents a new chapter for its creator, Jeremy Boreing, and his media company Daily Wire, which now joins Angel Studios and other independent media companies as fierce rivals to the old guard.

The early episodes of the series focus on two characters: Charis (Rose Reid) and Taliesin (James Ardin). Charis is an Atlantean princess and refugee now living in Britain whose crucial choice doomed her civilization. Taliesin is a poor bard of mysterious origins who possesses powers both musical and supernatural.

They meet as a clash of two worlds. She represents the ancient world of paganism, where meaning is found in power, violence, and competition. He was like that as well until converting to Christianity after encountering two missionaries. His power now comes from creativity, goodness, and self-sacrifice.

Like all classic romance stories, their union is resisted, but eventually their pure love will produce a prophet and transform the world.

The series does an excellent job of grounding this universe in a pagan worldview where everything is affected by the gods. This is an enchanted cosmos where storms and other natural calamities are attributed to deities fighting the sky. Everything is defined by domination, in which the strong prey on the weak.

Yet, echoes of natural virtues shine through. Charis is tempted with ultimate power if she submits to an evil god, but she denies him. He responds by destroying her world. Fortunately, her father manages to bring many survivors to fourth-century Britain. She worries she has doomed her people, but something deeper tells her she did the right thing. This defiance of the gods for a more noble purpose was used by Paul to convert the Athenians in Acts 17. He understood their desire for wisdom and piety and steered it towards the gospel.

Like the author of Acts of the Apostles, Taliesin is a former pagan who has converted to the new faith spreading throughout Europe. His philosophy is opposite, relying on love, service, and humility with no desire for conquest. He is bard and prefers the might of the lyre to the sword. Despite his poor appearance and impoverished means, he performs songs that melt the pagan powers. Charis is impressed with the strange man who can so easily defeat the demons surrounding him and finally learns of the God who is above all others.

One example of this dichotomy is the reaction to children within each worldview. Twice, a newborn is nearly destroyed before being saved. For the pagans, children are necessary for warriors and workers in society. However, if a child was considered deficient in any way, they were a burden and could be killed.

The Christians, however, recognize that new life is precious to God and take steps to preserve these children. God values the innocent and would never command a child be sacrificed in His name. Instead, we are to sacrifice ourselves for the sake of the less fortunate.

This is not the first film or television series produced by the Daily Wire, but it is the first that could easily compete with Netflix, HBO, or CBS in quality. Every aspect of the mise-en-scène (cinematography, art direction, props, costumes, etc.) is top-notch. Filmed deep in the forests of Hungary, every scene feels deeply rooted in a magical, ancient past. The writing and acting are also spectacular while using the conventions of old fantasy (formal language, Old English terms). Jeremy Boreing poured everything he had into this project, and it shows.

This is all the more remarkable when one considers it was a near miracle that the series was released at all. Despite being teased relentlessly for years with on-location vignettes and promotions on the Daily Wire, the actual release date remained foggy. There were frequent delays and rumors of budget problems. Fans went months without an update. Then, about a year ago, star Brett Cooper abruptly left the Daily Wire, followed shortly by Boreing himself, throwing everything into question.

In strange providence, all this delayed gratification and suffering was perhaps necessary to make such an amazing production. The strongest swords are forged in the hottest fires.

The series still has a way to go. We have barely met Merlin, and Arthur is a long way off. Nevertheless, if the first few episodes are any indication, we are all in for a real treat.