Ah, HoYay!
What is this term exactly? It’s the smooshing together of the gleeful cry “Homoeroticism, yay!” It’s what happens when a fan perceives the possibility of homoerotic subtext in his or her fandom of choice. It can be as flagrant as two scantily clad women rolling around in the surf together, or as fleeting as a “gay look.”
It’s a highly subjective phenomenon, to be sure – much HoYay is easily brushed aside as wishful thinking, and usually not even all fans of the concept can agree on whether the HoYay is even there.
I had an eye for it very early on, before the term even existed: at age eleven I brought a copy of The Return of the King to my teacher to ask her why Sam had married Rosie Cotton, when he was clearly in love with Frodo. I had certain passages, which I felt proved their love, underlined in pen. She urged me to think of Frodo and Sam’s relationship as just “a very strong friendship,” and also not to mark up my books. Me: “Yeah, right.”
I discovered HoYay and sarcasm on the very same day!
Years passed, and the internet assured me that tons of people got the Frodo/Sam thing. I can’t remember when I first saw the term HoYay, but I certainly knew exactly how to apply it once I did: “Like Xena!”
We fantasy fans have plenty of HoYay on our hands, but none more overt, none that so skirted the border of subtext and text, as the relationship of Xena and Gabrielle. Other HoYay goldmines in fantasy television include Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Smallville, and Lost.
And after seeing the first season of Merlin, it looks like we have an up-and-coming contributor on our hands.
Now, Merlin is a family show, so for those eagerly awaiting the racy or naughty moments between Merlin and Arthur (or Morgana and Gwen): not gonna happen. The subtext is not sexually charged. The most we can really hope for is innuendo, but as any fellow Doctor Who fan knows, innuendo is a little thing that makes a big difference.
I know when Merlin was writhing on the bed moaning Arthur’s name during “The Poisoned Chalice,” I wasn’t the only one in my household who tittered and blushed, despite the fact that nothing remotely sexual was really going on.
But other than the above example, featuring what I can only assume is Colin Morgan’s “sex-face,” Merlin HoYay is generally pretty tame. There is certainly nothing tremendously suggestive of either young man actually being gay. In fact, I would describe the subtext between the two leads as not so much homoerotic, but more “homo-romantic” — and nowhere near as blatant as on many of the other shows I’ve mentioned, especially early in the season. However, for the HoYay aficionado, there is plenty of subtext to spot.
For me, “The Poisoned Chalice” was the episode where I first saw the potential for some simmering HoYay, and from then on I was on alert for more subtext. But I found that for the first half of the season, it arrived on an exceedingly slow burn, and it was all highly subjective.
For example, one of my favorite little moments is in “Lancelot,” when Merlin asks Gwen to play a round of Would You Rather… Arthur or Lancelot?
Most probably see this as an innocuous, playful moment. Those who are familiar with the classical Guinevere will see her reply as ironic foreshadowing. And those who have their eyes peeled for HoYay see this as a question that has clearly been on Merlin’s mind ever since Lancelot started sharing his bedroom (which Lancelot does for the entire episode, even after being Knighted).
See how fun spotting the HoYay can be?
Much of the HoYay speculation on Merlin is generated by the relationship between Merlin and Arthur, and the somewhat suggestive ways it develops over the course of the season. Merlin devotes himself to Arthur quite early on, despite initial misgivings, yet is constantly aggrieved by his inability to be completely honest with him regarding his secret magical nature; Merlin is “in the closet,” magically speaking, and all of his angsting over this plays out very reminiscent of a young man with a forbidden love on his mind. Every time he almost tells Arthur his secret, it’s as if he’s about to proclaim his undying love, with his big earnest eyes and trembling pouty lips (one example of the many, many “gay looks” that are thrown around Camelot).
My theory is that if Arthur does not already suspect that Merlin is a warlock by the end of the season, he almost certainly suspects that Merlin has an enormous crush on him.
Arthur, for his part, is inordinately familiar with Merlin from almost the beginning — there isn’t anyone else in his life that we see him smirking at or bantering with in such a friendly way. He’s also unable to get a handle on the master/servant aspect of their relationship: he’s willing to defy his father and risk his life for Merlin as early as Episode 4, and eventually his constant commands, demands, and berating of his manservant become a strange little joke between them. Arthur insults Merlin; Merlin is overly happy about this — it’s their thing.
By the end of the season, Arthur’s unlikely devotion to his servant has become common knowledge to everyone except Merlin. Gwen, Morgana, Merlin’s mother, Gaius, the Great Dragon, even Uther – they all, at some point, will take Merlin aside to tell him how good he is for Arthur, how much Arthur obviously trusts and needs and likes Merlin, and what a totally cute couple they are.
(Okay, it was really only the Dragon that said that last one, and he said it in his vague dragon-speak that Merlin is apparently incapable of deciphering.)
If you don’t see the HoYay, far be it from me to press it upon you. As I’ve said, it’s very subjective, and there are certainly enough potential heterosexual pairings around. I enjoy Gwen’s awkward flirting with the boys as much as I enjoy the intimacy and affection between her and Morgana. But I must warn/tease you that after a point, the Merlin/Arthur HoYay stops being subtle, and I think any fan would be hard-pressed to ignore it – specifically episode 10, wherein Merlin brings Arthur home to meet his mother and ex-boyfriend.
And the boiling point is the entirety of episode 11, which I have been known to (lovingly) refer to as “the gayest gay thing I have ever seen on television.” And yes, I’ve seen Torchwood.
Similar Posts:
- Episode Review: Lancelot Proves He’s Knight-Worthy (and MERLIN Proves It’s Watch-Worthy!)
- MERLIN Episode Review: “The Gates of Avalon” Are Kinda Creaky
- NBC’s MERLIN Gets the Camelot Story Really Wrong — But Maybe That’s a Good Thing
- MERLIN Episode Review: Unicorns, Labyrinths, and Gay Subtext!
- Review: NBC’s MERLIN is Fantastic Television! (At Least Until the Second Episode)
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Loved this article. I never really notice or look for subtext between ‘boys’, but your article got me thinking. I watched and quite enjoyed Merlin and now it’s so OBVIOUS! LOL. great read, thanks!
Thanks!
Yes, it’s hard to unsee once you’ve noticed, eh?
“Homo-romantic” is a really good way of describing it, I think. I’ve seen Frodo/Sam described that way around the LOTR fandom (it may even have been you!)
Regarding Episodes 10 and 11: AFFIRMATIVE. There are slashy undertones throughout the series, but those two are the ones that really screamed “Arthur and Merlin are in wuv!”
It may have been. I’m very fond of that word.
Too true, Madeleine!
But why is it fans only spot HoYay between young and hot characters? Girl, don’t tell me you didn’t see the looks Gaius was giving Uther.
Ha! Saw it, tried to banish it from my mind, resolved never to mention it again. Still it persists! I know it’s shallow, but even though Uther is quite the sexy beast in my book… we’re talking about Gaius here. Gaius and his wig.
What’s the ho-yay in Buffy? I’ve been going through it, watching the seasons and I think I’ve spotted it, but I’d love some confirmations. :0)
Ooh, there’s oodles! Joss Whedon sure likes his subtext.
- Buffy/Faith
- Giles/Ethan Rayne
- Pre-GayWillow/VampWillow (this one is extra kinky, yes?)
- Xander/Spike
I can probably give you specific episodes if you want. I rewatched not that long ago.
Anyone else got more?
Angel/Spike, of course.
Of course…
v wins, MM fails utterly! How could I forget my favorite (male) pairing? I’ll blame it on Xander.
Great article! I really enjoyed thinking back to all the little moments between the boys when I felt there was something extra special about their friendship. And i guess Morgana and gwen have a little vibe along those lines once in while, too. Although it’s not as blatant. The Gaius and Uther mentioned above is troublesome.
I’m looking forward to ep 11! I am kind of falling in love with the idea of Merlin and Arthur having this intense friendship with romantic undertones, which is made totally weird by Merlin’s secret and Arthur having a tyrant &*#@ for a father.
Merlin has an ex??? :O
“I am kind of falling in love with the idea of Merlin and Arthur having this intense friendship with romantic undertones, which is made totally weird by Merlin’s secret and Arthur having a tyrant &*#@ for a father.”
You and me both.
“Merlin has an ex???”
Pretty much. Oh, the angst! The gay looks! The resentment of Merlin’s new Master!
Thanks so much for this hilarious (and very true) analysis of Merlin. You’re absolutely right about the “homo-romantic” nature of the show - a lot of Merlin’s appeal to slashers comes from the emotional connection between Merlin and Arthur, their willingness to die for one another (though the playful bitchiness of their relationship and the incredible chemistry between the actors helps too). Some of the most enduring and popular slash pairings involving heroic figures - Kirk and Spock, Starsky and Hutch, Jack and Daniel in SG-1, John and Rodney in SGA - are based on that kind of relationship, and it looks like Merlin and Arthur are headed for similar status.
Thank you! Merlin and Arthur are indeed being set up to become a Heroic Duo of Subtext, aren’t they? And now Kirk and Spock also have a new lease on life, as it were. How exciting!
“The playful bitchiness of their relationship and the incredible chemistry between the actors helps too” Oh does it ever! All the romance and angst wouldn’t be so appealing if they weren’t so very charming (yet snarky) together.
Now pardon my horrible Western attempt at French, but (a) I need to improve, (b) I’ll take ANY excuse to practice, and (c) I’ll hazard a guess that your name is a Quebecois term: La mardeuse, ca veut dire quelqu’un chanceuse, ou boueuse? J’espere que c’est le premier!
SO TRUE to all of this. Spotting the HoYay can be so amazingly fun, can’t it?
Also, this comment made me giggle out loud:
“other than the above example, featuring what I can only assume is Colin Morgan’s “sex-face,””
It was so awkward watching that scene with my dad, even though I didn’t actually want to explain why. Plus, the fact that Merlin was using his last strength to ensure Arthur was out of danger, even though he’d only known him for the timespan of 2 or 3 episodes? Totally doesn’t help the case for their relationship as platonic. There’s totally a serious bond here, even if it’s not completely homoerotic in canon.
I love all the HoYay in all of the fandoms you mentioned in this article, so I guess it’s no surprise I got into this one! Thanks for the thoughts- I totally agree!
Thanks!
Seriously, awkward is PAUSING during that writhing-on-the-bed scene and then having someone who isn’t watching the show enter the room and be like “oh, I see you’re at the CLIMAX of the story, hurhur!”
Very eloquent article. I completely agree with you on all points about Merlin, but what really made me have to respond was the part about Sam and Frodo. I also went around trying to convince people of their love before I had ever heard of slash fandom. With lines like “Sam comforted Frodo with his arms and body,” I have a hard time seeing how someone could interpret them another way.
Thank you for you comment! Sam and Frodo’s relationship will always be counted as one of the greatest romances in literature in my (and so very many others’) eyes. I have acquaintances who have only seen the LotR movies, and they tend to think I am just doing my usual thing of reading (too much?) into the subtext. My old marked-up copies of the books are pretty effective at dispelling that attitude, however, because whatever Tolkien’s intentions, he certainly wrote quite a lot of romantic prose about those two.
I’m the kind of viewer who, the minute I see the slightest hint that there will be subtext to seek out, sets the hoyay goggles to ‘ON’. And for a lot of Merlin, its is all in the interpretation. But you are absolutely right about episode 11. Even the most oblivious viewers could pick up on it - my mum and brother certainly did. I was in awe of how insanely couple-y Arthur and Merlin were! It was fantastic!
Loving Gwen/Morgana too, but they will always take a backseat to our boys. They don’t have their own personal Slash Dragon proclaiming their love non-stop, do they.
“I was in awe of how insanely couple-y Arthur and Merlin were!”
Oh, me too, like in every single tiny interaction they had. I would be absolutely gobsmacked if I met someone who honestly didn’t pick up a shred of the HoYay in that ep.
It’s not that Gwen and Morgana don’t have a certain vibe between them, it’s that there is so much more focus, story-wise, on the boys. I suspect a more direct involvement in plot-related events for Morgana next season, certainly (and hopefully for Gwen, who really got shoved to the sidelines in every episode).
Yes, the Dragon, he isn’t at all shy about his OTP, is he?
I followed your link over from AfterElton…I’m only up to episode 6 in Merlin, so while I’m alert for Merlin/Arthur HoYay I haven’t exactly seen it yet (definitely looking forward to eps 10 and 11 now though!!) But, I totally got a HoYay vibe between Arthur and Lancelot (in fact I have a whole AU version of the Lancelot/Gwen/Arthur love triangle in my head where Arthur is more upset that Lancelot cheated on him…oooooookay, time to stop being a fangirl). Looking for the HoYay is so much fun. Thanks for this post!
Thanks!
“in fact I have a whole AU version of the Lancelot/Gwen/Arthur love triangle in my head where Arthur is more upset that Lancelot cheated on him”
Ha! That’s great fun. I felt that *everyone* was sort of smitten with Lancelot in that episode. And I will totally buy your version for now, since I have yet to see very much chemistry between Arthur and Gwen. They have very few interactions before the end of the season, and none of them really ’spark’, in my opinion.
You didn’t see HoYay in episode 4?
Wow! You certainly got my attention. How come you never mentioned the Ho Yay when we were watching Lost together? …or did I just forget? (You know my Sieve Mind!!) And what about Masterpiece Classic Ho YAY? Especially those boys in tights and those manly sailor-types (Horatio and his friends)?
LOL, Mommy
Well, you know my true feelings about Lost. …Or did you just forget?
As for that ever-so-manly sailor-type Horatio, I have done my best to point out the multitude of Gay Looks that dear sweet Archie throws his way. Please don’t say you’ve forgotten:
http://i116.photobucket.com/albums/o30/madelonia/thatlook1.jpg and http://i116.photobucket.com/albums/o30/madelonia/thatlook2.jpg and http://i116.photobucket.com/albums/o30/madelonia/thatlook5.jpg !
This article is so on point. Even before I started watching this show (and I’m very new to it) I could already tell just from a few clips and fanvids that this was the gayest show on TV currently. Touching and “looks” are my two favorite HoYay give-aways and this show has them in spades.
I couldn’t agree more with you. We’ve been making the exact same points as you have about Merlin.
Plus Uther’s obvious disapproval of Merlin and Arthur’s relationship… muhahaha. Can’t wait for season 2, it’s time for Merlin to come out of the closet already.
This article is so well written, I’m going to watch the show hoping it will be half as much fun as the critic! Thanks! … Rock On, MM!
Thank you for such an insightful and delightful article. I really enjoyed reading it and believe you are right on the mark! Wonderful!
Ah, you left out Supernatural! How could you? It’s the gayest show currently running!
I just finished the first series of Merlin, and I agreed with Sara, that there wasn’t that much subtext in the beginning. But by the tenth episode I was hyperventilating and squeeing in my seat! I’m so glad that I’m not the only one who saw the tension between Merlin and Will in episode 10. Seriously, I wasn’t even looking for for homoeroticism(though I have been told I see homoeroticism everywhere), but it was so blatantly obvious! It was almost painful how much Will looked like a heartbroken ex-lover. “Why did you leave me?!” Ahh!!
Okay, not freaking out, I swear. The funny thing about Merlin and Arthur’s relationship is that, with the way Arthur is always ordering Merlin around, it almost smacks of a D/s relationship, which I’m sure has spawned many a fic.
Anyway, thanks for writing this! And if you’ve never seen Supernatural, you must watch it immediately.
There was the tradition of courtly love that extended to the brotherhood of knights, but I think that would be later in the 14th c. Better than sheep.
It doesn’t hurt that they are so hot and hot together. Just imagine them with bad teeth and an aversion to bathing and the fantasy wilts a bit for me….
I laughed so hard as I read this! Both because it was funny and also because I totally agree with some parts. Especially about episode 10. I can’t wait to watch episode 11 (I’m in America and am playing catchup on Hulu.com).
I actually don’t remember getting any of this gay subtext when watching the show (except maybe the poisoned chalice, though I think my dad got episode 11, between the unicorn and how insistently self-sacrificing they are for each other), but now that you point it out… I cannot believe how stupid I was, though to my credit, I saw the LOTR movies before reading the books, and even THEN I got how gay Sam was for Frodo.
I almost died from laughing while reading this article (and the Hornblower pictures!), and I couldn’t even finish watching the “Brokeback Camelot” video… it was too much. Next season (if they show it here) is going to be a lot of fun… unless they screw up the HoYay with Arthur and Gwen finally getting together (as hinted in the trailer). Although it could be questionable which one Merlin is jealous of…
On a side note, in another article someone described Merlin as “adorkable”. I think this is my new favorite adjective.
Finally finished watching the first series of Merlin and I cannot believe how TPTB behind “Merlin” didn’t pick up on the incredibly obvious subtext (unless it was deliberate, but I’m not sure how likely that is).
Neither Merlin nor Arthur ever showed anything more than the most passing interest in any of the females (and Merlin’s attraction to Nimueh could be put down to her “magic” attracting him, while Arthur’s attraction to that young girl (who looked VERY young) was almost pure “spell” by her). I fully expected TPTB to go out of their way to establish the heterosexuality of both characters or at least one of them to dissuade any possible homosexual interpretations, but it didn’t happen (although it may happen in the second series).
It was definitely refreshing to see a series which didn’t feel the need to prove the manliness of their male characters by having them bed various women. While I’m not sure how long the hoyay will last (especially as they develop Arthur/Gwen), it was at least nice to see in the first season.
“Finally finished watching the first series of Merlin and I cannot believe how TPTB behind “Merlin” didn’t pick up on the incredibly obvious subtext (unless it was deliberate, but I’m not sure how likely that is).”
Cast and Crew are aware of it, and to some degree encourage it for the fans…
Katie McGrath (Morgana) during a DVD commentary: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AEH5wRkDu6Y
Jeremy Webb (a Director) comments: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cM3sUL2pOaM
And an amusing segue, for the hell of it… Bradley James (Arthur) imagining Hunith being shot through the head: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dPzbVeeAH44
God, so true!
I actually noticed it when Merlin said “Faster, Arthur, faster.” I actually blushed in that one, but I decided not to squeal much, since my father and mother and brother were watching it with me.
But, really, episode 10!God, did you know that, in the cast commentaries of that episode, in the scene Merlin and Arthur are at the top of the castle, talking, alone, the actress that plays Morgana says, when Arthur speaks:”I love you.”
And so, one can tell they are very aware of the innuendo. Oh, and episode’s 11, the scene at the beach… How much more romantic can you get?!