Title: That Shall Achieve the Sword
Fandom: Merlin
Pairing: gen
Categories: angst, drama, humor
Length: medium
Warnings: n/a

Author on LJ: astolat 
Author's Website: http://intimations.org/

Review:
When a group of very pissed-off sorcerers attack the royal family, Merlin has no choice but to use his magic in front of God and everyone to save them.  And by 'everyone', I mean 'Uther'.  You can just imagine how well that goes over.

For those who haven't seen the series, Merlin is basically the Arthurian legend that has already been pre-cracked for fanfic purposes.  Thus you have modernized language, Guienevere as a servant, Merlin and Arthur the same age, and a lot of juvenile (and slashy!) humor.  Some fanfic author/readers (like me!) embrace the AU and basically pretend that the canon (i.e., all the miserable things that eventually happen in Camelot) will never come to pass, while others try to find a way to tie Merlin canon with Arthurian canon.  This story falls in the middle: very much like the show in tone, but also doing a good job of setting up the whole 'drawing the sword from a stone' plotline in the future.  Plus you have Arthur being a prat but also being noble and Merlin being an idiot, but also saving the day.  Alas, Uther is still an ass (some things never change).  Light hearted and amusing, but also thought-provoking, this is a good fic for those who like a bit of canon in their Merlin fic, but who aren't huge fans of death and despair.

That Shall Achieve the Sword