- The Pendragon Cycle: Rise of the Merlin, produced by The Daily Wire, struggled to find an audience in the United States but has gained popularity in Europe and the UK on Amazon Prime.
- The series, which debuted at #4 in the UK and in the top 10 in countries like Spain and Portugal, has been praised for its acting talent, beautiful set pieces, and rich storytelling.
- Despite initial skepticism due to its association with a conservative media company, The Pendragon Cycle has garnered positive reviews and a fan rating of 85 percent, competing with other fantasy series like Rings of Power and A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms.
The Pendragon Cycle: Rise of the Merlin has been polarizing in the United States because the production company is The Daily Wire. Because of that association, it has struggled to find an audience outside of Daily Wire subscribers. That changed last week when The Pendragon Cycle was released in Europe and the UK on Amazon Prime.
The lavishly produced King Arthur series debuted at #4 in the UK and in the top 10 in countries like Spain and Portugal. Social media is alight in several different languages about how great The Pendragon Cycle is, and people are finally starting to evaluate it on its own merits.
Over the week the series has been on Amazon Prime, its popularity has grown. After debuting at #4 overall, it’s now the #1 fantasy series on Amazon Prime UK.
Daily Wire is known for its conservative podcasts, like Matt Walsh and Ben Shapiro, which led potential viewers and critics to snub it because of the company, not the work itself. This was despite amazing acting talent from Tom Sharp, Steve Varnom, Leo Award winner Colin Cunningham, and former Daily Wire podcaster Brett Cooper, among an incredible ensemble of both experienced actors and newcomers to the screen.
The series turned the Hungarian countryside into the fantastical Isle of the Mighty with beautiful set pieces of the castles and towns. Showrunner and director Jeremy Boreing and co-directors Ryan Whitaker and Jesse V. Johnson wove together a story that spans nearly a century as the events unfold in a non-linear style. It was a story rich in lore, atmosphere, and tone. Many of the actors had to learn a few lines of the Atlantean language, constructed especially for the show by Spencer Klavan, as the survivors spread across the Isle, aloof from the rest of humanity.
Rotten Tomatoes critics still haven’t reviewed the series. The Pendragon Cycle currently sits at a fan rating of 85 percent. This rating coincides with my own reviews of the series, which I felt got off to a slow start but picked up after episode 3 to become a true prestige show with excellent production. The show is not perfect, but it certainly competes with rivals like Rings of Power and A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms. There is hope that the show will continue to live on and gain a following it actually deserves.
Better Reception Across The Pond
The UK success says a lot for The Pendragon Cycle. England is the home of the legendary King Arthur and his advisor, Merlin, so a show about Merlin captures special interest in the country of his birth. The approval of UK audiences is vital to the reception of any epic involving the famous sword Excalibur, so the fact that the fantasy series has dominated UK fantasy streaming speaks volumes for its quality as a show, above and beyond its production company.
Searching for the series or reviews of it doesn’t help, either. Positive reviews of the show, like the ones posted on this site, are not being given top placement by most online search engines. Instead, a search for The Pendragon Cycle reviews will lead potential viewers to an article from Esquire complaining about The Daily Wire and Jeremy Boreing’s transgender romp Lady Ballers.
That might lead you to believe the show is a bleak hellscape of overly religious, right-wing propaganda that degrades its female characters by being overly macho and male-centric. However, that’s not true. The series just didn’t apply “modern” messaging.
Removed from the politicized environment of the United States, where party alignment and corporate check boxes have been more important to Hollywood than quality, Pendragon has found its footing. When audiences are not being told what to think and can judge for themselves, they naturally gravitate toward quality.
With its growing popularity outside the United States, will the media finally be forced to cover it? According to series star Steve Varnom, who played King Custennin on the show, a wider US release is coming soon. The Pendragon Cycle is as unrestrained as an angry Merlin, and now that audiences are finally getting to see it, they’re discovering the show is more than who produced it.
