In this current series of Merlin there has been a good deal of focus on achieving peace in the five kingdoms.

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Greater than that goal of course, is Merlin’s personal mission to ensure that Arthur achieves his destiny “to unite the land of Albion and become the greatest king the world has ever known”.

This has been a driving motivation since the since the very first episode and peace within the five kingdoms would seem to be a substantial step on the road to that goal. Despite the enormity of this task we only get glimpses of their progress, occurring in the background of our weekly adventures in Camelot.

In ‘The Hollow Queen’, the visiting warlord The Sarrum hails from the land of Amata. A treaty with him will apparently help to ensure that sought after peace in the Five Kingdoms, but we are still none the wiser as to which the five are. With the Sarrum dead, we can assume Amata will fall into another’s hands. Whether the new ruler will be hostile to Camelot remains to be seen.

The Five Kingdoms were established as the lands of King Alined and King Olaf, as well as two unidentified Kings and presumably Camelot itself, in the second series when Uther hosted a peace conference (‘Sweet Dreams’). Whether those Kings remain in place, or even where they ruled, was not clear but we have met a variety of other important royal faces since…

An early regal appearance was that of Lord Bayard of Mercia, back in Series 1. Mercia and Camelot were at the end of a lengthy period of hostility and about to sign a peace treaty when the sorceress Nimueh meddled in their affairs, attempting to assassinate Merlin and cause a political upset. (‘The Poisoned Chalice’).

More notably there was an ongoing tussle with King Cenred, who formed an alliance with the sorceress Morgause. His land of Essetir borders Camelot and he was in and out of the show throughout Series 3. After paying for his loyalty with his life, control of Essetir appears to have fallen to King Lot, though he was only spoken of and has yes to be seen (‘The Sword in the Stone’).

Careleon is the other bordering Kingdom with a history tied to the Pendragon family. Currently ruled by Queen Annis, who became Arthur’s ally, it was formerly under the control of her husband, apparently named ‘Careleon’ himself. The former King had some history with Uther and was defeated at The Battle of Denaria. More recently, war sparked between the two kingdoms when Arthur executed his father’s old enemy for failing to acquiesce to a peace treaty, a situation inflamed by Arthur’s devious uncle Agravaine. Peace won out in the end thanks to Merlin’s help (‘His Father’s Son’). Interestingly, Gwaine’s father was a Knight of Careleon.

King Rodor, whose daughter Princess Mithian was briefly engaged to Arthur, rules Nemeth. The two kingdoms appear to have a good relationship, although there was a long-standing dispute between them over the lands of Gedref (‘The Hunter’s Heart’).

More recently, Camelot proved the depth of its friendship with Nemeth when Arthur risked his life to rescue Rodor and free his lands his lands from a hostile takeover by King Odin (‘Another’s Sorrow’).

Odin is another figure who holds a fractious relationship with the Pendragon family, though his land remains unnamed. Over the series he has often been mentioned and has appeared twice. Blaming Arthur for the death of his son he had mounted assassination attempts, the second resulting in the death of Uther (‘The Wicked Day’). On the most recent occasion, at Merlin’s prompting, Odin and Arthur managed to break the cycle of revenge and come to a peaceful agreement (‘Another’s Sorrow’).

Of course, Mithian was not the first princess to be promised to Arthur, as Elena the daughter of Uther’s visiting friend Lord Godwin (of Gawant), was also lined up to marry him. That match failed to stick due to the Princess’ unfortunate bewitching by a pixie and Arthur’s revelation of his true feelings for Gwen. (‘The Changeling’). Why Godwyn is a Lord and not a King remains unclear. Before that is was King Olaf and his daughter Lady Vivyan, who was also enchanted (‘Sweet Dreams’).

The other notable King we have met is The Fisher King. The ‘Perilous Lands’ in which his castle stood were once the site of his mighty Kingdom, though that remained unnamed (‘The Eye of the Phoenix’). Also, The Sarrum is not the first Warlord the show has seen, as Morgana allied herself with Helios of Southron at the end of Series 4. He met his end when Arthur retook Camelot, falling in battle to Isolde.

So King Lot may still be an enemy, as might the new ruler of Amata and whoever succeeded Helios, but Arthur should be able to count on the support of Queen Annis of Careleon and King Rodor of Nemeth, as well Lord Bayard of Mercia, Lord Godwyn of Gawant and King Odin too. Also, he should have the support of King Alined, King Olaf and the rulers of the five Kingdoms, if Uther’s peace deal remains in place.

Whichever the five Kingdoms are, it would be fair to say that Camelot’s role of nation building is certainly on course. Of course this show is not really about nebulous medieval politics, we can leave that to Game of Thrones, but rather the struggles of Merlin to grapple with his magical destiny and bring forth a golden age. Let’s hope that Camelot survives long enough for him to see the fruits of his labours and that he gets to enjoy some of the benefits too.

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