The Syfy channel recently announced its plans to air the second season of Merlin, the British fantasy series that NBC aired last summer (where the ratings were dismal).

In short, American viewers will finally get to see what happens next in this brand spankin’ new version of Camelot.

Just to bring everyone up to speed, in this Smallville-tinged re-imagining, the action is set before Arthur ascends to the throne, and he and Merlin, a closet-case sorceror acting as Arthur’s servant, are the same age. The kingdom is ruled with an iron fist by the magic-hating Uther (Buffy’s Anthony Stewart Head), but Uther is secretly undermined by his trusted friend Gaius, who is training Merlin in the arts of magic.

Uther’s ward is the beautiful Morgana, who is starting to recognize magical powers of her own, and her best friend and lady-in-waiting is the kind-hearted Guinevere.

Much of the fun of any retelling of Arthurian legend is the different spin put on specific characters, events, places, etc. None of the leads are similar to most versions we’re accustomed to, and the first season brought us Nimue as a wicked sorceress, Lancelot as a commoner aspiring to be a knight, and Avalon as a haven for evil things.

So what does the future hold for this series set in the past? (Minor spoiler alert.)

For one, we finally begin to see an attraction grow between Arthur and Guinevere, and Morgana becomes more aware of her powers, thus setting her on the road to become Morgan le Fey. Morgause, Arthur’s villainous aunt (or half-sister depending on who’s telling the tale), will appear, and that darned dragon that’s chained up beneath the castle finally gets free.

One of the strengths of the first season was the way the writers used standard Arthurian legend as a jumping point for their own imaginations, and thus we were treated to a lot of stories set in this world that never felt tired or overused.

The four young leads are incredibly charming, and Colin Morgan is a fun and quirky young wizard. And in my humble opinion, one of the best aspects of the show was the very Buffy-like set-up of teenagers fighting the forces of evil, while under the tutelage of a rather crusty old mentor. And that Anthony Stewart Head is in it only makes it sweeter.

Merlin begins airing on the Syfy channel Friday, April 2nd.

The trailer for Merlin, Season Two

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• A Crash Course in MERLIN
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• Review: NBC’s MERLIN is Fantastic Television! (At Least Until the Second Episode)
• NBC’s MERLIN Gets the Camelot Story Really Wrong — But Maybe That’s a Good Thing
• Facebook Recap: MERLIN 2.1 “The Curse of Cornelius Sigan”