Warning: Major spoilers for The Winter King episode 8 and The Warlord Chronicles books below!

Summary

• The Winter King episode 8 takes a different approach to magic, implying it may not exist within the show's world.
• Nimue's "curse" in the show is revealed to be a lie, suggesting that magic is not real and she has no true magic abilities.
• While Merlin's visions may hint at the existence of magic, the show overall presents magic as underplayed and not a prominent feature.

The Winter King episode 8 suggests the show is taking a radically different approach to Merlin and the use of magic compared to the original King Arthur legend. While MGM+'s adaptation of Bernard Cornwell's Warlord Chronicles novels has been labeled as something of a Game of Thrones successor, it's very much setting its own course. Despite a sprawling cast of characters, it's much smaller in scale than HBO's fantasy epic, and it's rare for action sequences to get more elaborate than a simple sword fight. Another key difference is their approach to fantasy and magic itself.

HBO's show made it clear from an early point that dragons, zombies and other fantasy elements were very much real. The Winter King, however, is opting for the same approach as the books. While the magician Merlin (Nathaniel Martello-White) and druidess Nimue (Ellie James) are key characters, the magic elements from the myth are very much underplayed. For example, Arthur (Iain De Caestecker) doesn't receive Excalibur from the Lady in the Lake but beside his mother's grave, while most of the characters don't seem to believe in the "Old Gods" or magic anymore.

Magic May Not Exist In The Winter King Show

It's getting to the point where the series is heavily implying that magic simply doesn't exist within the world of the show. Most of Merlin or Nimue's tricks can be explained away as simply that: magic tricks. During his raid on Avalon, Gundleus quickly saw through Nimue's attempt to scare him off with a fire "spell," and Winter King's eighth episode contains the strongest hint that she has no true magic abilities. This outing leads her into conflict with a group of Christians, who have been granted permission by Arthur to build a church at Avalon.

When they refuse to leave, Nimue "curses" them, and somewhat ominously, a rainstorm appears the moment she makes this threat. Soon, several men at the Christian camp die of a mystery illness, and when they confront Nimue over this apparent act of sorcery, she confronts them right back with fire and snakes. Arthur eventually confronts Nimue over these deaths, and while she its to the curse, she claims any deaths are the "will of the Gods." Arthur soon discovers that Nimue has actually poisoned the men with some plants she's mixed, and her "curse" is just murder.

Do Merlin's Visions Prove Magic Is Real?

Nimue might feel the Gods themselves are acting through her, but the fact her curse was just a lie is more proof magic isn't a thing in The Winter King. That said, Merlin's "Death of Britain" visions might show it's not all make believe. In the first episode, the magician holds the newborn Mordred and sees horrific visions of the grown heir to the throne becoming a bloodthirsty monster. He fears Mordred becoming king will lead to the end of Britain itself, but despite warning both Uther (Eddie Marsan) and later Arthur, they don't buy into his visions.

Of course, Merlin's visions could just be things he's imagining rather than any kind of clairvoyance. Expect, Arthur's sister Morgan (Valene Kane) saw the same thing during Mordred's naming ceremony: that of the grown heir becoming a tyrant who slaughters his own people. It's a little unlikely that two people would share the same exact mental image, but then again, she was aware of Merlin's misgivings about Mordred too.

Magic Is Real In The Winter King Books

The first two books in The Warlord Chronicles are similar to the TV adaptation, with magical abilities being treated with ambiguity. The final novel Excalibur: A Novel of Arthur does away with that, however, as magic is the only explanation for several key events. For instance, Nimue - who at this point in the trilogy has become a zealot - curses a certain character using her abilities, and Morgan has to remove it using her own pagan magic. Nimue also creates a storm that sinks an entire fleet in a later chapter.

Most King Arthur adaptions retain the magical elements, though some - like 2004's King Arthur fronted by Clive Owen - strip them right back. The Winter King season 1 has definitely placed a question mark over the existence of magic, though if the series adapts the later books, it will likely play a larger role in future. In the novels, Merlin believes the decline of belief in the Gods is causing magic to disappear from the world, which could be another explanation for why it barely features in this take on Arthurian legend.