Merlin Trivia
0Loading crowd target
0Loading crowd target
7correct to beat the crowd
97 free Merlin trivia questions with answers — entertainment quiz, new questions added Oct 2026.
Merlin began as a mad Welsh bard, got fused with a boy prophet by Geoffrey of Monmouth, and ended up a warlock hiding his magic as Prince Arthur's servant on Saturday-night BBC One. This Merlin trivia covers both: the medieval legend of the wizard, Nimue and the Lady of the Lake, and the 2008–2012 series with Colin Morgan, Bradley James, Katie McGrath, Anthony Head and John Hurt's Great Dragon. Every answer is sourced, with a short explanation so you learn something even when you miss.
30 of 97 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01On which British channel did Merlin air from 2008 to 2012?
BBC One
BBC One's Merlin turned the legend upside down: its wizard is a teenager who arrives in Camelot to work as a servant, not the aged adviser of the old stories.
Q 02Which two-part story ended the TV series Merlin at Christmas 2012?
The Diamond of the Day
The Diamond of the Day closed the fifth and last series, 65 episodes in all, and at last let Arthur learn that his servant had magic.
Q 03Who played the title role in the 2008 TV series Merlin?
Colin Morgan
Colin Morgan, a newcomer from Northern Ireland, played Merlin as a servant who saves the prince's life again and again and can never take the credit.
Q 04Why must Merlin hide his powers in Camelot?
King Uther executes sorcerers
King Uther executes sorcerers: the first thing Merlin sees on reaching Camelot is a man put to death for magic, two decades after the king's Great Purge of sorcery.
Q 05What was Uther's crackdown on magic twenty years before the series called?
The Great Purge
The Great Purge was Uther's campaign to eradicate magic from Camelot; he executed sorcerers, banned magic on pain of death and chained the last dragon beneath the castle.
Q 06What is the name of the Great Dragon imprisoned beneath Camelot?
Kilgharrah
Kilgharrah spent twenty years chained under Camelot; when Merlin finally frees him, he repays his jailer by attacking the city.
Q 07Who voiced the Great Dragon in the 2008 TV series Merlin?
John Hurt
John Hurt voiced the Great Dragon, a chained prisoner who trades riddling advice for Merlin's promise to set him free.
Q 08Who played Arthur Pendragon in the 2008 TV series Merlin?
Bradley James
Bradley James played Arthur, first met as a swaggering prince bullying a servant; Merlin tells him off before learning who he is.
Q 09Who played Morgana in the 2008 TV series Merlin?
Katie McGrath
Katie McGrath played Morgana, who begins as the king's kind-hearted ward and ends as the sorceress bent on destroying Camelot.
Q 10Which Knight of the Round Table is Gwen's brother?
Elyan
Elyan is the blacksmith's son whom Arthur knights at the Round Table, breaking the rule that only noblemen may serve; his sister ends up as queen.
Q 11What is Gwen's job when the TV series Merlin begins?
Morgana's servant
Morgana's servant, and a blacksmith's daughter: Gwen starts the series below stairs and ends it on the throne as Camelot's queen.
Q 12Who played Gaius, the court physician, in the 2008 TV series Merlin?
Richard Wilson
Richard Wilson, best known as Victor Meldrew, played Gaius, who had been the court's sorcerer before magic was banned and now guards Merlin's secret.
Q 13Which Buffy the Vampire Slayer actor played Uther Pendragon?
Anthony Head
Anthony Head, Buffy's Rupert Giles, played Uther until series four, when the king is fatally wounded by an assassin sent to kill Arthur.
Q 21Which actor played Lancelot in the 2008 TV series Merlin?
Santiago Cabrera
Santiago Cabrera played Lancelot, who first wins his knighthood with a forged seal of nobility, is found out and is thrown in jail.
Q 22Which two actors played Mordred at different ages in the TV series Merlin?
Asa Butterfield and Alexander Vlahos
Asa Butterfield played Mordred as the druid boy in the early series and Alexander Vlahos the adult knight in series five; the boy Arthur helped free is destined to kill him.
Q 23Who played Morgana's half-sister Morgause?
Emilia Fox
Q 14Who is the traitor uncle who arrives to help Arthur in series four?
Agravaine
Agravaine, played by Nathaniel Parker, is Queen Ygraine's brother; he blames Uther for her death and secretly serves Morgana throughout series four.
Q 15What does Merlin call himself when he is magically aged into an old man?
Dragoon the Great
Dragoon the Great is the name Merlin gives when, aged by a spell to take the blame for an enchantment, he saves Gwen from the pyre and nearly burns in her place.
Q 16By what name do the druids and Morgana know Merlin in prophecy?
Emrys
Emrys is the druids' name for Merlin; Morgana is warned that Emrys will be her doom and hunts him for years, never guessing he is the servant at Arthur's side.
Q 17What power does Merlin inherit from his father Balinor?
Command over dragons
Balinor, played by John Lynch, was the last Dragonlord; when he dies in Merlin's arms in The Last Dragonlord, command over dragons passes to his son.
Q 18How does the Great Dragon forge Excalibur in the TV series Merlin?
In his breath
In his breath: the Great Dragon bathes a sword in fire so that it can kill the undead, on condition that only Arthur ever wields it; Uther promptly uses it instead.
Q 19What is Merlin's home village called?
Ealdor
Ealdor, just across the border in Cenred's kingdom, is Merlin's home village; Arthur travels there to defend it from Kanen's raiders in The Moment of Truth.
Q 20Which knight sacrifices himself to close the veil between worlds?
Lancelot
Lancelot steps through the tear in the veil at the Isle of the Blessed while Merlin, who meant to give his own life, is still talking to its gatekeeper.
Emilia Fox played Morgause, who makes an unwitting Morgana the anchor of a spell that puts all Camelot to sleep, then carries her away.
Q 24Which Game of Thrones actor played the Witchfinder Aredian?
Charles Dance
Charles Dance, Game of Thrones' Tywin Lannister, played Aredian in series two's The Witchfinder; Uther summons him after a villager reports seeing magic.
Q 25What curse afflicts the druid girl Freya?
She becomes a winged panther at midnight
She becomes a winged panther at midnight and kills without meaning to; Merlin rescues her from a bounty hunter, hides her and falls in love with her.
Q 26Which creature does Morgana implant in Merlin's neck to make him kill Arthur?
Fomorroh
The Fomorroh grows back each time Gaius cuts it out, so Merlin keeps trying to murder Arthur until he confronts Morgana and destroys the creature for good.
Q 27At which battle does the TV series Merlin reach its climax?
Camlann
Camlann is where the legend always ended, and the series obeys: Mordred deals Arthur a mortal wound there even as Merlin's lightning scatters the enemy army.
Q 28How does the final episode of the TV series Merlin end?
An immortal Merlin waits in the modern day
An immortal Merlin waits in the modern day: the last shot shows him walking a present-day road as a truck rushes by, still waiting for Arthur to rise again.
Q 29Which French castle served as Camelot for filming?
Pierrefonds
Pierrefonds owes its storybook look to the 19th century: Napoleon III had the ruined medieval fortress rebuilt by the architect Viollet-le-Duc from 1857.
Q 30Which production company made Merlin with BBC Wales?
Shine
Shine Limited made Merlin for BBC Wales, with FremantleMedia handling international sales; Julie Gardner, BBC Wales's head of drama, was executive producer for the BBC.