‘The Pendragon Cycle’ is a fantasy of Christian masculine power

Get RNS’ thoughtful, essential religion reporting every morning. Sign up for free!

(RNS) — Big-budget fantasy media has, according to some American conservatives, become enemy-occupied ground. The Daily Wire’s new series “The Pendragon Cycle: Rise of the Merlin” is an attempt to reclaim it — for God and a masculine vision of Christian power.

“The Pendragon Cycle,” created by Jeremy Boreing, co-founder of the right-wing media website The Daily Wire, and adapted from Stephen R. Lawhead’s novels of the same name, tells an explicitly Christian version of the King Arthur story set in early medieval Britain. (Spoilers ahead.)

The seven-episode first season sets the groundwork for Arthur’s rise, following the Welsh bard Taliesin, the Atlantean princess Charis and their son, Merlin. After each of these protagonists discovers the truth of Christianity, they go about the messy work of war and politics with God on their side.

First released on the conservative media network’s streaming service in January, the show debuted on Prime Video on Sept. 1. It’s become the fifth-most-viewed show on Prime as of Sept. 24 and has an 82%-positive viewer rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

The…