Editorial: Why Merlin is a Surprisingly Apt Choice for The Sorcerer (Once Upon A Time)

Once Upon A Time ended its last season with a somewhat surprising development. It was revealed that The Sorcerer, the master of The Apprentice and owner of the magical hat Rumpelstiltskin was after, was none other than the great prognosticator and soothsayer... 

Merlin!

.....

Yeah, I know it wasn't that great a surprise. It was nowhere near as surprising as the reveal that Frozen's Elsa would be coming to OUAT. 

I would have been more surprised if that had made The Sorcerer Yen Sid like I had always expected. Because he's the actual Sorcerer in Fantasia's "The Sorcerer's Apprentice."

But it is what it is. There's no use arguing with it. It's not too surprising. Merlin is the quintessential sorcerer archetypal character. Anyway, after thinking about it over the summer, I've come to realize that Merlin is actually quite an apt choice for The Sorcerer. This comes mostly from the fact that he has been a big part of Disney in the past. 

As you may or may not know, Merlin was one of the protagonists of Disney's adaptation of The Sword in the Stone, based on a novel by T.H. White. I've never read White's original novel, but I'm certain many liberties were taken. The titular Sword in the Stone figures very little in the film, only figuring in the first few and last few minutes of the film. (I don't really know if that is White's fault or Disney's.) The movie should really be called Merlin and Wart Go on Magical Adventures Wherein They Are Molested by Squirrels. 

Seriously, that is something that happens in this movie!

Anywho, The Sword in the Stone's Merlin is portrayed as a great prognosticator and soothsayer with decidedly modern mannerisms and ideas about the world around him. That's because not only has he seen the future, but he has traveled through time to the future and has seen first hand the greatest of what modernity has to offer. This has led him to develop disdain towards his presumably native medieval era as an inconvenient and backwards mess. (Though at the end of the film after returning from modern Bermuda after having blown himself there, he complains that it's a big ole' modern mess.) 

Despite this characterization, Merlin actually has a number of things in common with The Sorcerer of "The Sorcerer's Apprentice." There's the obvious. They're both old wizards with long beards and blue robes as well as pointy blue wizard hats. There's also a scene in The Sword in the Stone where Merlin enchants the kitchen to clean itself so Wart will have more time to be educated by him. 

This is quite reminiscent to "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" where the titular Apprentice enchants a broom to fill a cauldron with water for him.

Speaking of The Apprentice, what we've seen of The Apprentice on OUAT may indicate that their Sorcerer Merlin may share certain aspects with his Sword in the Stone counterpart. The Apprentice can create doorways between worlds and can freely travel between them. He's traveled with a certain frequency from the medieval-esque Enchanted Forest to the decidedly modern Land Without Magic.

It's natural to assume that The Apprentice learned this skill from his master The Sorcerer aka Merlin. It's also natural to assume that Merlin has made such trips in the past. It could then be possible that The Sorcerer Merlin shares an opinion on the wonders of modernity similar to that of his Sword in the Stone counterpart. It could be the reason we have yet to see him in the Enchanted Forest. He may prefer the modernness of the Land Without Magic. Also note that Isaac the Author also had a disdain for the medieval quality of the Enchanted Forest in favor of the Land Without Magic and, the Author works at the behest of The Sorcerer and The Apprentice. 

Another possible element from The Sword in the Stone that may connect with what we know of The Sorcerer on OUAT is Madam Mim.

In The Sword in the Stone, Madam Mim is a witch who delights in the grim and gruesome. She is Merlin's arch-rival when it comes to magic. Now, how could she connect with The Sorcerer Merlin on OUAT? Well, in the forth season finale "Operation Mongoose," we finally learned the origins of the Dark One. It turns out Merlin forged the Dagger to trap this primordial Darkness within a human vessel. Perhaps this first vessel was Madam Mim, making her the first Dark One. It seems quite likely given the antagonistic relationship Madam Mim and Merlin have. It's just like the antagonistic relationship the Dark One has had with The Sorcerer and The Apprentice. Also, Madam Mim likes to play around with loopholes and the meaning of her words much like Rumpelstiltskin always did. Like in her shape-shifting duel with Merlin, she stipulates they can't turn into mythical creatures like a pink dragon, but she ends up turning into a purple dragon. 

Speaking of the Dagger, the backstory of the Dagger actually has something in common with a key point from the film The Sorcerer's Apprentice.

The Sorcerer's Apprentice of course was a live-action 2010 film starring Nicholas Cage and Jay Baruchel loosely adapted from Fantasia's "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" segment. I find the film very underrated. It's actually pretty good, especially if you're also a fan of the Pirates of the Caribbean films. (They have the same director: Jerry Bruckheimer.) Anyway, the titular sorcerer Balthazar Blake was also once an apprentice to none other than Merlin!

Not only that! In the film, Merlin's other apprentice Veronica imprisons the dark soul of the evil sorceress Morgana le Fay within her own body. Sounds familiar doesn't it. All that's missing is the Dagger. It seems OUAT may have even borrowed some elements from the film The Sorcerer's Apprentice, despite it's undeserved lack of notoriety. 

I wouldn't be surprised if Morgana le Fay also played a role in Season 5 of OUAT. It's already clear that this season will be introducing further elements from Arthurian legend to the show, and Morgana le Fey is based on Morgan le Fay from Arthurian legend. 

Speaking of The Sorcerer's Apprentice, given that it featured Merlin and OUAT will also feature Merlin, it's also possible that there's a further connection between the film and OUAT. In the film, the titular sorcerer Balthazar started out as an apprentice himself. As already noted, he was Merlin's apprentice. On OUAT, Merlin is The Sorcerer. So, who should that make The Apprentice?

I submit to you this headcanon. The Apprentice is OUAT's version of Balthazar Blake from The Sorcerer's Apprentice.

I wouldn't be surprised if next season Merlin has a flashback episode, and it is revealed that The Apprentice is at least named Balthazar. At least, I hope that's the case. If it's never brought up, it will still always be my headcanon. 

As a final point, I'd like to bring up that Merida from the film Brave will also be making an appearance on OUAT's fifth season. 

Now, immediately it seems rather odd that Merida will be making her debut in a season that is already implied to heavily feature Arthurian mythology, in particular Merlin and King Arthur. I mean, Brave has nothing to do with Arthurian mythology. If you think about it though, perhaps there is a possible connection between Brave and Merlin. 

Assuming OUAT's will play the story of Brave straight as it did with Frozen and presuming that Merida's presence means we may also see other characters from Brave this season, we could possibly also see The Witch.

The Witch of course was the one who provided Merida with a potion to change her fate but ended up actually turning her mother into a bear. That's not the important part though. There's a brief moment in Brave where The Witch has a broom magically move on its own to sweep the floor. I recall reading somewhere that this was an intentional homage on the filmmakers' part to "The Sorcerer's Apprentice." What if there's more to this than that when taking OUAT into account? What if The Witch actually learned that from Merlin? I submit that on OUAT, The Witch will also be one of Merlin's apprentices the same way Veronica in The Sorcerer's Apprentice film was also Merlin's apprentice. 

I just brought everything full circle. 

And even if this is not definitively proven to be the case, it will still be my headcanon. 

What do you all think considering the possible connections between Merlin of The Sword in the Stone, The Sorcerer from "The Sorcerer's Apprentice," and The Witch from Brave? Do any of these speculations have any merit where Once Upon A Time is concerned?

God bless you all. And God bless America.