Editing 270: Merlin

{{comic
| number    = 270
| date      = May 30, 2007
| title     = Merlin
| image     = merlin.png
| titletext = I mean, the black-and-white stuff was running backward, but it hardly mattered to the story.
}}

==Explanation==
{{w|Merlin}} is a wizard who features prominently in various retelling of the legend of King Arthur. ''{{w|The Once and Future King}}'' by author {{w|T. H. White}} is one of the most popular versions of the legend, and in it, Merlin is described as living backwards through time, as [[Cueball]] and [[Megan]] discuss in this comic (this is also briefly mentioned in the musical ''{{w|Camelot (musical)|Camelot}}'', which is based on this version of the story).

In the comic, Cueball is speculating philosophically on how this would have affected Merlin's life as he started life with all his memories, and gradually lost them, comparing this to Megan's own sense of unreality at goodbyes. 

Many old people do, however, end up alone without friends or family. And they may do nothing but watch TV all day. They might also lose their memory. So in this respect, Merlin's last days may not be so different from many real people's, except of course that Merlin was supposed to live in the late 5th and early 6th centuries with no access to DVDs or even TV.

''{{w|Memento (film)|Memento}}'' is a movie telling the main parts of its story backwards, while a few black-and-white scenes are straightforward. So when Merlin watches the movie, he sees nearly the whole story in its actual order, and the title text drives home the joke by noting that these few scenes, which make more sense to someone with normal perceptions than the rest of the movie, would make less sense to him.

Normal old people would not be able to enjoy ''Memento'' like Merlin. Although he would of course always have remembered seeing it when he got old, until the day he saw it and then forgot it afterwards...

==Transcript==
:[Cueball and Megan standing by a train on a platform.]
:Megan: I'm bad at goodbyes. At some level I never think they're for real.
:Cueball: They make me think of T. H. White's Merlin.

:[They are still standing at the edge of the platform, but the train is no longer in the frame.]
:Megan: Oh?
:Cueball: He lived backwards, remembering the future and not the past. To him, final goodbyes meant nothing, while first hellos were tearful and bittersweet.

:[Zooming out, the rail closest to the platform becomes visible.]
:Megan: Huh - so over the years he'd forget all his friends.
:Megan: Must've been lonely.
:Cueball: Yeah. He ended up just sitting around at home watching DVDs all day. The best was the time he rented 'Memento'...

:[Merlin with pointy hat and long white beard is sitting in a couch with the remote, watching TV which emits light and is clearly hooked up to a device (a DVD player).]
:Merlin: Well, that was straightforward.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]