Merlin's Complex Motives In The Librarians: The Next Chapter Season 2 & Potential Future Explained By Dominic Monaghan

Published Aug 21, 2026, 5:30 PM EDT Grant Hermanns is a TV News Editor, Interview Host and Reviewer for ScreenRant, having joined the team in early 2021. He got his start in the industry with Moviepilot, followed by working at ComingSoon.net. When not indulging in his love of film/TV, Grant is making his way through his gaming backlog and exploring the world of Dungeons & Dragons with friends. Sign in to your ScreenRant account Warning: Some SPOILERS lie ahead for The Librarians: The Next Chapter season 2!Merlin is back in the world in The Librarians: The Next Chapter season 2, though whether he's a friend or foe remains a complicated discussion. Played by Lord of the Rings alum Dominic Monaghan, the iconic Arthurian wizard was first teased in the closing moments of The Next Chapter season 1's ending, as a burst of magical energy releases him from being encased in a tree into the modern day. After initially helping the Librarians with a demon that feeds off rage in the season 2 premiere, Caroline Loncq's Ms. Astolat later revealed Merlin as having a hand in the downfall of Camelot centuries before, and citing him as an enemy of The Library. As The Librarians: The Next Chapter season 2 has progressed, Monaghan's Merlin has proven a complicated figure for the titular group, particularly as he frequently attests he has no interest in magic, due to its addictive nature. However, as their investigations more often bring their paths together, Vikram and his team must grapple with whether or not they can trust him. With the current season at its halfway point, ScreenRant's Grant Hermanns interviewed Dominic Monaghan to discuss The Librarians: The Next Chapter season 2. When asked about finding a balance in his performance of teasing Merlin's potentially malevolent motives and benevolent personality, the Emmy nominee began by noting that part of the key is to "never play the ending" of any character, as "the audience [will] feel it" and thus risks ruining the end of a character's arc for the viewer. Instead, one unique way in which Monaghan found his character was by creating "this graph with my scripts," where he would determine "the emotion of where Merlin's going" on the first page of his Librarians: The Next Chapter scripts, and subsequently has it "going in a line" to track the progression of his character's mentality: Dominic Monaghan: So, there were a few episodes where he's trying to help, and he's trying to ingratiate himself with The Librarians. So, the graph in terms of his mood and his emotions is just gradually going up, and then as we go on into the season, there are challenging moments for Merlin, so his emotions kind of waver a little bit. But it's important to, for me, at least, make those graphs, because you want to have this pinpoint of where you're going to end up, and how you're going to get there, whilst not ever hinting at that final point in the journey. Monaghan went on to explain that this approach also keeps his performance feeling grounded even with something like The Librarians: The Next Chapter, as humans "are all playing our present," given "we don't know our ending," and therefore it is "authentic" and "much more fun" to instead "try and always concentrate on the present." He also feels that adds a level of unpredictability for the audience with a character like Merlin, and subsequently "makes your character more interesting." As for Merlin's motives, the Lord of the Rings vet began by expressing his belief that "[not] all classically bad people are all bad," nor can the same be said for the reverse, further stating that "I don't think some of these classically bad people in our histories wake up twirling their mustaches" and laugh maniacally. Instead, he explains that "they're brushing their teeth going, 'Right, what are we going to do today?'," thinking that they're "living a normal life," regardless of their actions: Dominic Monaghan: Meanwhile, these classically good people, that you think are always floating on clouds and being angelic, they probably scream at people in traffic, and they probably swear when they drop their Snickers on the sidewalk. So, it's important to make these guys real. That's the challenge as an actor, is how can you make these people real? Looking specifically at episode 6, "And Descartes' Dilemma," in which Merlin really begins planting the seeds in Vikram's mind of establishing a new Camelot in modern day with Vikram in King Arthur's place, Monaghan explained that his Librarians character is "addicted to magic in the same way that, unfortunately, people find themselves addicted to other things that we're a little bit more aware of." As such, those judging his current decisions should keep in mind that they "are not made for the right reasons," but are instead a symptom of his addiction, and are "made to serve themselves." Monaghan went on to tease that the rest of The Librarians: The Next Chapter season 2 will see Merlin having "moments of strength and weakness in those situations," having an awareness "that he's been weakened by his addiction to magic" and that "he should get on the straight and narrow." But even as he will begin to "look to make the right decisions," the "very powerful entity" that is magic is going to continue to prove a big hurdle for him to overcome in the next episodes: Dominic Monaghan: I sometimes think he's having out-of-body experiences. Something happens, and then he comes out of it and realizes, "Oh no, I've done that now. How do I cover my tracks?" He obviously admires The Librarians, and what they've been able to do, because they've been trying to harness and control and work with magic for a long time too. So, I think he flits in and out of good and bad, which, again, like we were saying, for me, those are the most interesting characters because they're the most authentic. So, he has moments of humanity in the midst of it all, and then, like any other human, he finds himself making mistakes, making decisions that he's not very proud of. So, there's a lot of adventure, as we know. Merlin is closely related to these Arthurian stories, to Camelot, to King Arthur, to Lancelot, to Guinevere, to these types of places. So, those types of entities are always in the back of his mind, and not too far away from his particular story. So, I think if anyone's interested in old Arthurian legends and stuff like that, you might get a little hint of that as the season goes on. Dean Devlin's "Nicest Guy In The Business" Reputation Initially Hooked Monaghan ScreenRant: I have absolutely loved The Librarians franchise for such a long time, and The Next Chapter has just been such a great extension of it. How much familiarity did you have with it before Dean and John approached you to become part of this world with the new show? Dominic Monaghan: I definitely knew about it because of Noah Wyle, and I actually think Sean Astin was in one of the previous seasons, like in an episode or two. So I knew about it, and then I was brought up to speed a little bit more as the project became something a little bit more real with Dean. But yeah, I knew about how it all worked, and the world and all that kind of stuff. ScreenRant: So then, whether it was Dean's pitch or whether it was the writing itself of Merlin, what was it that really hooked you to want to become part of this world in such an iconic role? Dominic Monaghan: Yeah, I went to Dean's office. He's known as being one of the nicest guys in the business. So my agent was like, "Listen, you should meet Dean Devlin, because he's a fantastic producer and he's a lovely guy to work with." So we went, and we sat down with John and Dean in his office, and they just pitched me this idea of this iconic wizard from mythology, and he's now trying to navigate in a modern world and make sense of a modern world, whilst also obviously struggling with, clearly, what is an addiction to magic. I just thought that was fascinating. You're obviously aware of people playing addicts to alcohol, or drugs, or something else, but not necessarily magic. And how does that work? And then, a wizard that is thousands of years old, trying to walk around modern-day streets, kind of sounded interesting to me. So the writing was great; it was funny, but there was a lot to chew on for Merlin, because he really goes on a journey. Monaghan Focused On Merlin's Man-Out-Of-Time Status To Set Him Apart ScreenRant: I absolutely love the fish out of water with time travel storylines that come from this and Sleepy Hollow. Merlin's version is very fascinating, and so, in talking about that, there are so many different versions of Merlin that have been depicted on screen throughout the years. What was it like collaborating with Dean and John, and then the hair, makeup, and wardrobe departments to really find your version of this character for the series? Dominic Monaghan: Yeah, I tried to stay away from the others. I've obviously seen a lot. I've seen Excalibur, I've seen Merlin [the TV show], I've seen Merlin in Sword and the Stone and stuff like that. So, I tried to stay away from those things, because I think that's important. The first time we see him at the end of season one, we obviously see him as kind of classically Merlin-like as you would imagine, with long hair, a long druid-like beard, that kind of thing. But Merlin's a smart cookie. He obviously has a lot of issues, but he's highly intelligent, and he realizes quite quickly that he needs to change that look, because if he's walking around modern streets looking like that, he's going to put himself on blast quite quickly. So, he shaves his face and gets a nice-enough haircut, and tries to find clothes that don't look quite as silly, and ingratiates himself. But his language is different, and the cadence of his voice is different, and the things that he's interested in make him stand out, which obviously brings him to the attention of The Librarians. So, it's fun to create a character from scratch, and my idea was always how challenging would it be for a thousands-of-years-old wizard to try and have a modern-day conversation, without it turning into a parody. ScreenRant: Well, it sounds like you found a very organic way to make this Merlin feel very real, and it again comes across so well on screen that even in the body swap episode, I still couldn't get a full grasp. Even as he was sort of planting seeds in Vikram's mind about going his way. With that, I would love to hear, first and foremost, what it was like playing Lysa in Merlin's body, because body swap episodes and films are always just so fun to hear how each actor got into the mind of the other actor. Dominic Monaghan: Yeah, I spent a little bit of time with Liv [Morris] saying, "What can you tell me? How can you help?" That type of thing. If you're playing a lady, as opposed to a man, there are obviously some certain nuances there. And the other thing is, obviously Liv is from England, but she plays an American person. So I said, "Well, how does your voice change? Is it higher? Is it lower? Is it slower? Is it faster?" So, we kind of explored that a little bit. And she was asking questions about my character. Again, you have to try and play it as human as possible. You can't slip into satire, you can't slip into over-exaggeration. You just have to try and make it as strange for that person in a different body. So, I was constantly looking down at my body while I'm doing the scene, going, "Wow! Look at these hands, and look at these shoulders. That's new to me." Because that must be so bizarre. It was a really fun episode to shoot. Monaghan Has Had Talks For Merlin's Return In Future Librarians Seasons ScreenRant: Well, I love that tease, because I was so curious, obviously, with Miss Astolat, we've really seen some of that. But Jenkins is obviously someone with a lot of ties to the Arthurian times. Have you, John, and Dean ever had talks about what the relationship might have looked like between Merlin and Jenkins in the past, or if we'll even get to maybe explore a little bit of that as the season goes on? Dominic Monaghan: Yeah, we did sit around and talk about those things on set. When we had breaks in between on set, Dean said, "Would you be willing to come back? There are so many places that we could go." Obviously, there's a lot of magic in the world of Camelot and King Arthur, and Dean was saying, "There could easily be problems in that particular Arthurian world where Merlin has to garner the help of The Librarians to go back and solve something in the past." So, there are so many different places that we can go with characters in Arthurian legend, and also characters in Librarian legend. Now, it's almost like any major problem with magic. Merlin would be the first guy to call, but they're nervous because, obviously, they're not sure if Merlin's intentions are good. So, you're making a deal with the devil, a little bit. They might have a problem with magic. They know that Merlin could probably solve it, but is he going to solve it to help himself out? It's a really fun kind of thing to navigate for The Librarians. ScreenRant: Talking about the cast of this franchise, by the way, is there anybody that you either wish you had more time with this season, or who you had the biggest blast getting to work alongside for this? Dominic Monaghan: I can't single anyone out. [Chuckles] I was so welcomed on this cast. I was just saying in a previous interview, I'm turning 50 at the end of this year, so I'm not a spring chicken anymore, and these guys are in their mid-20s, so they really had no business needing to spend time with me or hang out with me. They were all doing their thing. They'd known each other for a long time. They had a flow, they had a rhythm, they had places that they wanted to go, and things that they wanted to do. And they just consistently invited me, and I would show up at times, and then other times I'd be like, "Oh, I'm too old. I can't do that stuff, you know, day drinking and things like that." But we had an amazing time. They're a lovely cast, very sweet, and it's like a great four-headed monster, or even five-headed monster, if you're including Caroline [Loncq], because they're all funny in their own way. They all bring something to the table. They all have different things about them that are interesting and fascinating. So, I had a really good time, and it would be a very easy decision for me if they were to say, "Hey, listen, we're doing another season of Librarians, and there might be problems here and there with magic, where we could pull Merlin out of retirement, would you be into it?" I loved being in Serbia, very friendly people, fantastic crew, really hardworking, and Dean Devlin is just known as being one of the really nicest guys in the business, and he really proved that on this show. New episodes of The Librarians: The Next Chapter season 2 air Sundays at 9 p.m. EST on TNT! Release Date May 25, 2025 Network TNT Showrunner Dean Devlin Cast Caroline Loncq Elaine Astalot Callum McGowan Vikram Chamberlin The Librarians: The Next Chapter continues the original Librarians TV series aired in 2014. The series follows a time traveler thrust into the future and accidentally releases magic worldwide, forcing him to assemble a new group of Librarians to bring things back under control. Writers Dean Devlin Franchise(s) The Librarians Main Genre Adventure Creator(s) Dean Devlin, John Rogers Executive Producer(s) Dean Devlin Producers Jonathan English Seasons 2