The Merlin panel at San Diego Comic-Con 2012 was a blast! We were able to get footage of the hour-long panel which took place on Sunday, June 15 at 10:30 a.m. PST (see video above). We also got some great footage of the Season 5 Merlin trailer and other Merlin goodies.

Our day started at 6:00 a.m. on Sunday. We woke up tired from the previous day at Comic-Con (Saturday) but our excitement easily won over. We drove to the convention center and arrived at around 7:00 a.m. My friend got in line to draw a Merlin autograph session raffle ticket (only a few lucky people who pulled a raffle ticket with a stamp were able to attend the autograph session). Meanwhile, I walked to Room 6BCF where the Merlin Panel was to take place.

Immediately, I noticed the line, which was stretched across the entire length of the interior, crisscrossing several times. People must have gotten there at around 4 or 5 in the morning to line up for the panel! I kept walking down the long line of people looking for the end, which didn’t seem to want to come. Finally, I spotted the end of the line, which was located outside the building. There were more than 500 people waiting in line, and it was only 7:10 a.m.!

While waiting in line for 3 hours, I spotted several Merlin cosplayers – a few Merlins, some King Arthurs, and an excellent Mordred. I also chatted with a few Merlin fans. Some even came all the way from the UK to attend the panel! Even though it was early in the morning, everyone seemed cheerful and excited.

Finally, the line started moving forward. By then it was 10:00 a.m. and you could feel the excitement building in the air. Upon entrance, everyone was given a white envelope filled with mystery Merlin goodies (see picture below). I hurried get a good spot in the front (most of them were taken but luckily I managed to find an empty spot in front of the panel).

At 10:20 a.m., my friend called me to tell me he had gotten a stamped raffle ticket (see picture below) – lucky him! He rushed as fast as possible to the panel, which was located 5 minutes away, and managed to find a spot near the back. By then, almost all 2000 seats were taken, with a few remaining in the back.

Finally, the Merlin panel began. Attending the panel were Merlin stars Colin Morgan, Katie McGrath and Angel Coulby, and executive producers Julian Murphy and Johnny Capps. You can see the entire Merlin panel in the video posted above. It was simply amazing, and words could do it no justice. If only Bradley James were there.. that would be the cherry on top!

After the Merlin panel, we rushed to line up for the Merlin autograph session, which began at noon. Unfortunately, we weren’t allowed to film or take pictures of the autograph session. However, we managed to snap a few quick pictures of the Merlin stars while waiting in line (see pictures below).
 

 
 
We also managed to get Colin to draw a stick figure of Bradley James, which was hilarious. He started off drawing a small head, but Angel (who was sitting next to Colin) looked over and said, “nah, he has a bigger head,” to which Colin agreed and started drawing a bigger head. Then out of a stroke of inspiration, he drew a crown and a speech bubble saying “Hi!”. You can see his drawing of Bradley below.

After the autograph session, we left the convention center with many great memories to cherish of our first Merlin panel and autograph session at San Diego Comic-Con 2012. You can see our Merlin haul below (t-shirt from BBC America booth, autographed poster & envelope full of Merlin goodies, which include series 5 promotional photos!).

It was an amazing weekend and one that we will never forget. Thanks for reading!