feelsalike.comSign in
Merlin poster

Shows that feel likeMerlin (2008–2012)

The unlikely friendship between Merlin, a young man gifted with extraordinary magical powers, and Prince Arthur, heir to the crown of Camelot.

If you loved Merlin, the closest series we have are A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms (2026), Warrior Nun (2020) and The Magicians (2015). All three share Merlin's contemplative and cerebral feel, which is what we rank on before quality.

Seen the big three already? The under-the-radar pick below is Timeless (2016).

9 of 12 streaming nowNetflix · HBO Max · Amazon Prime Video
Stream it:Prime Video ↗

If Merlin hit the spot, these will too

A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms poster
A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms
2026– · 1 season · HBO
★ 8.6drama · sci-fi & fantasy · action & adventureMax

Both are working the same pair: knight, fantasy world

A century before the events of Game of Thrones, two unlikely heroes wandered Westeros: a young, naive but courageous knight, Ser Duncan the Tall, and his diminutive squire, Egg. Set in an age when the Targaryen line still holds the Iron Throne and the last dragon has not yet passed from living memory, great destinies, powerful foes, and dangerous exploits await these improbable and incomparable friends.

Warrior Nun poster
Warrior Nun
2020–2022 · 2 seasons · Netflix
★ 7action & adventure · drama · sci-fi & fantasyNetflix

Two things both keep coming back to: magic and superpowers

After waking up in a morgue, an orphaned teen discovers she now possesses superpowers as the chosen Halo-Bearer for a secret sect of demon-hunting nuns.

The Magicians poster
The Magicians
2015–2020 · 5 seasons · Syfy
★ 7.6drama · sci-fi & fantasy

Common ground: magic

The difference: Takes it somewhere less kinetic than Merlin does

Brakebills University is a secret institution specializing in magic. There, amidst an unorthodox education of spellcasting, a group of twenty-something friends soon discover that a magical fantasy world they read about as children is all too real— and poses grave danger to humanity.

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles poster
Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles
2008–2009 · 2 seasons · FOX
★ 7.6sci-fi & fantasy · drama · action & adventure

Kinetic where it counts, epic underneath

The series picks up four years after the events of Terminator 2: Judgment Day with John and Sarah Connor trying to stay under-the-radar from the government, as they plot to destroy the computer network, Skynet, in hopes of preventing Armageddon.

House of the Dragon poster
House of the Dragon
2022– · 3 seasons · HBO
★ 8.2sci-fi & fantasy · drama · action & adventureMax

Both are built on the same subject: dragon

The Targaryen dynasty is at the absolute apex of its power, with more than 15 dragons under their yoke. Most empires crumble from such heights. In the case of the Targaryens, their slow fall begins when King Viserys breaks with a century of tradition by naming his daughter Rhaenyra heir to the Iron Throne. But when Viserys later fathers a son, the court is shocked when Rhaenyra retains her status as his heir, and seeds of division sow friction across the realm.

The Gifted poster
The Gifted
2017–2019 · 2 seasons · FOX
★ 7.2sci-fi & fantasy · action & adventure · dramaHulu

Both keep coming back to the same thing: superpowers

A suburban couple's ordinary lives are rocked by the sudden discovery that their children possess mutant powers. Forced to go on the run from a hostile government, the family joins up with an underground network of mutants and must fight to survive.

Marvel's Inhumans poster
Marvel's Inhumans
2017 · 1 season · ABC
★ 4.9drama · sci-fi & fantasy · action & adventureDisney+

The same preoccupation in both: royal family

After the Royal Family of Inhumans is splintered by a military coup, they barely escape to Hawaii where their surprising interactions with the lush world and humanity around them may prove to not only save them, but Earth itself.

Continuum poster
Continuum
2012–2015 · 4 seasons · Showcase
★ 7.6sci-fi & fantasy · action & adventure · dramaPrime VideoPeacock

Contemplative and cerebral in the same breath

The series centers on the conflict between a group of rebels from the year 2077 who time-travel to Vancouver, BC, in 2012, and a police officer who accidentally accompanies them. In spite of being many years early, the rebel group decides to continue its violent campaign to stop corporations of the future from replacing governments, while the police officer endeavours to stop them without revealing to anyone that she and the rebels are from the future.

Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn poster
Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn
2012 · 1 season · YouTube
★ 6.7sci-fi & fantasy · action & adventure

Dreamlike action & adventure, and it commits to that

UNSC Cadet Thomas Lasky must conquer his inner fears and join forces with super-soldier John-117 to take down a massive faction of the Covenant.

The Witcher: Blood Origin poster
The Witcher: Blood Origin
2022 · 1 season · Netflix
★ 5sci-fi & fantasy · action & adventure · dramaNetflix

One thread runs through both: fantasy world

More than a thousand years before the world of The Witcher, seven outcasts in the elven world unite in a blood quest against an unstoppable power.

Battlestar Galactica poster
Battlestar Galactica
2003 · 1 season · Syfy
🍅 83%★ 8.5action & adventure · drama · sci-fi & fantasyParamount+

Drama built on momentum, twice over

A re-imagining of the original series in which a "rag-tag fugitive fleet" of the last remnants of mankind flees pursuing robots while simultaneously searching for their true home, Earth.

Timeless poster
Timeless
2016–2018 · 2 seasons · NBC
★ 7.6drama · action & adventure · sci-fi & fantasyPrime Video

Both lean on scale more than on sci-fi & fantasy

A mysterious criminal steals a secret state-of-the-art time machine, intent on destroying America as we know it by changing the past. Our only hope is an unexpected team: a scientist, a soldier and a history professor, who must use the machine's prototype to travel back in time to critical events. While they must make every effort not to affect the past themselves, they must also stay one step ahead of this dangerous fugitive. But can this handpicked team uncover the mystery behind it all and end his destruction before it's too late?

In the mood for more kinetic?

all kinetic shows →

The best-reviewed series that share Merlin’s defining feeling.