The secret of Emrys’ identity may be revealed, and Camelot’s future may be doomed, when Morgana turns her determined focus to court physician Gaius in “The Secret Sharer,” an all-new episode of MERLIN premiering Friday, February 17, at 10 p.m. ET/PT only on Syfy.

In the episode, Agravaine stirs the pot of discontent and casts suspicion on Gaius as a traitor – leading Arthur to order his arrest. It’s a bold gamble to isolate Gaius, who Morgana believes may be the only one who knows the true identity of her most powerful enemy: Emrys. Morgana enlists the powerful wizard Alator (Gary Lewis) to kidnap and force the secret from Gaius. The faithful Merlin knows Gaius to be innocent of the crimes, and sets forth to save his mentor and protect the secret.

Colin Morgan takes his performance as Merlin to new level of drama and emotion in “The Secret Sharer,” a feat not lost on series co-creator and executive producer Johnny Capps.

“Colin has always been a fantastic actor, and when we auditioned him we saw that he had a huge range – which we knew would be essential for the role,” says Capps. “What’s amazing about Colin as an actor is that you’re constantly refining his lines because he has such a powerful presence on screen.

“He can do so much with just a look now. Because of that, with the way we write the dialogue and conceive stories, we can be far more filmic in Merlin’s journey – because Colin doesn’t have to constantly communicate what he’s feeling and thinking through dialogue. He communicates those things so well with just his face that we’re able to push the emotional content of stories a lot more.”

Gary Lewis is the latest acclaimed star of stage and screen to make a guest appearance in MERLIN. The Scottish actor is best known to American audiences for his international breakthrough role as the father in Billy Ellio , and for memorable appearances in Gangs of New York, Eragon and Goal! The Dream Begins.

“Gary Lewis is fantastic,” Capps says. He’s an actor we’ve all really liked, and he plays this very mysterious character that comes into the story working for Morgana. Gary brings a sort of intrigue to the part a quiet, refined performance that keeps you guessing. And Gary is another amazing addition to a really stellar guest cast for Season 4. We have a huge list of actors we’d love to work with, and we’ve always gotten the first actor we wanted, so we’ve been very lucky.”

“The Secret Sharer,” an all-new episode of MERLIN, airs Friday,
February 17 at 10 p.m. ET/PT only on Syfy. All three seasons of
MERLIN are now available on DVD and on iTunes. Be sure to follow the
latest news on MERLIN at the Official Merlin page on Facebook.