dreamofcamelot

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MERLIN | 5.05 • THE DISIR

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continuing my grand tradition of depicting Merlin’s personal beef with a kid

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shouting into a library full of professors with a master's degree in BBC Merlin

If 4x1 and 4x2 take place around Samhain, does that place 4x3 near December 24th? Possibly? And do we know what time of year Arthur died? What if Arthur died just days before his birthday? What if??

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Do you think merlin made him that snow pillow

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happy merlin finale anniversary to all who mourn celebrate!

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MERTHUR WEEK 2024 Day four ▸ Parallels

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“How’d you get in here? “Wasn’t difficult.”

“Really? Get out.”

Thanks for changing my life forever, Merlin.

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Sometimes I think Merlin and Arthur started the sacrificing each other to save each other shit too soon into the series.

Then I remember this scene exists.

(Screenshot from S1E2 - Valiant of Merlin bringing the snake head from the enchanted shield to Arthur to warn him that he’s in danger.)

They moved quickly, but they have a damn good reason for it. I honestly can’t say I blame them.

Merlin learned two things about his destiny with Arthur from this episode:

The first is that Arthur will listen when it matters, but his father’s influence runs deep. Arthur cares more about people’s opinion of him than anything else because he’s been groomed his entire life to become the future king, and Uther is tyrannical in his power so he believes that his is the only way to rule. Arthur picked up bad habits, so while he’s still young and learning what kind of man and leader he wants to be, he could still go either way and Merlin can’t yet trust him to always make the best decisions. (Proved in S1E3 when he enlists Morgana to talk to Arthur about the Afank)

The second thing is that Arthur believes in the systems that Merlin knows to be broken, so he learns it’s better to come to Arthur with results rather than warnings, because Arthur believes the systems in place can help, even in situations where they’d be more of a liability.

Both points are then enforced through season 1 and reinforced by Merlin himself in season 2 onwards.

Arthur learned that Merlin is loyal and honest to a fault, but because of the lifelong grooming as royalty and someone who’s supposed to be “above all others” - as proven when Uther says “his life isn’t worthless, it’s worth less than yours” to Arthur in S1E4 when he denies Arthur a group of men to take to save Merlin - it takes a while for it to really sink in that someone can be loyal and genuinely like him without ulterior motive, and when he finally does recognise that Merlin’s devotion is genuinely sincere, he pushes Merlin away (S2E1) in an attempt to keep himself from getting too close and then hurt by what his father would call his own naivety, rather than just admitting that sometimes people are just bad people who do bad things.

He then subconsciously or not learns that Merlin not being by his side is bad so he keeps him around but at a distance with walls built to protect himself. I can go more into that another time. Uther scapegoats Arthur for a lot, and even acknowledges that he’s a bad parent a few times but never does anything to change the behaviour so his apologies aren’t worth shit. Add that to the genocidal tyranny, and you’ve got a fascinating character who somehow isn’t the main villain of the story. I hate him, he should go play hop scotch on quick sand, but damn is he interesting from a writing/analytical standpoint.

So, yeah, they moved from “if anyone wants to kill him, they can go right ahead. I’ll give them a hand” (-Merlin S1E1) to “…Certain death. Few who have crossed the mountains in search of the Mortaeus Flower have made it back alive” “Sounds like fun” (-Gaius and Arthur S1E4) pretty quickly, but it makes sense when you think about why they moved that quickly with context of how they interact and their (assumed) past experiences.

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I will be having a perfectly fine day and then I’ll remember that Merlin was holding Arthur’s body like he could make him stand up again

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MERTHUR WEEK 2024 Day three ▸ Symbolism

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bbc merlin - 04x06 A Servant of Two Masters

obsessed with him and his dramatic little ways

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I know a lot of people don't like that Merlin is the one who helped Arthur pull the sword from the stone but I honestly feel it worked so perfectly in this universe. The fact that Arthur could not have pulled the sword from the stone without magic is so thematically in tune with how Merlin is behind him every step of the way, helping him build this new Camelot together. The fact that they work best as one — Merlin making up this story and using his magic to make the story come to life, and Arthur being the figurehead who the people want to follow and believe in, the one who cares and is willing to fight for the citizens of Camelot.

This isn't the story of Albion. It's Merlin and Arthur's story, about how THEY came together. They are two sides of the same coin, they are each other's destinies and one does not work without the other. It needed to be BOTH of them pulling the sword from the stone

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Gwen: Would you slap your best friend for a thousand bucks?

Merlin: I would slap Arthur for free

Arthur, tearing up: I'm your best friend??

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MERLIN | 3x06 “The Changeling”

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quickly drawn king arthur and his royal sorcerer for those who may need it