#@seddiainstorybrook

[palespring]

Hey so I was going through your King Arthur tag and saw your morgana gifset about her being labeled a villain which was very lovely and beautiful. I saw your tags tho about how merlin did worse and I was just wondering if you could explain? I hope that didn't come off condescending I'm genuinely curious bc I can't rly think about how merlin did worse and I just want to see your perspective on it??

I am sorry for taking so long to answer! I’m full of examsand didn’t have time to write a proper answer. I’m glad you asked that, becauseit’s something I think a lot (and was thinking when I made that gifset) but I had never put these thoughts into words.

Well, first of all, i wanted you to know that Morgan Le Fay is my fav, so I’m not very impartial, I’m rather passionate aboutthe matter than rational. But I’m gonna try to make sense. I’m Morgan le fay’sfan. Not just in bbc’s merlin, but in the Arthurian legend as a whole. I was ahuge fan of the show. Actually, I think I still am, but now, as an Arthurianreader, I can see its flaws. The truth is: it’s bad written. They started withsomething and suddenly it’s something else: the whole “Morgana is evil now” thingis so shallow.

The first two seasons had a great potential, and even thethird one, but after that the show just kept the same good vs. evil storyline: Morgana,full of hate, trying desperately kill the noble king Arthur and get her revengewhile Merlin helps Arthur with magic and wins all the time (and Arthur knowsabsolutely nothing). Well, I know the show is about Merlin  and his relationship with Arthur, but what Imeant when I wrote those tags is that everything Morgana does, Merlin alsodoes. For me, he’s done worse than her because he had more knowledge, he was aware of things: he knew about magic, she didn’t. She was alone, he wasn’t.

All effort of the 1980’s Arthurian stories, to give  Morgan le Fay a voice, to explain why she isagainst Arthur, didn’t mean nothing to the show. Morgana wants the power thatArthur and Merlin have (the power that the men have): the crown and the magic. Everythingshe does is for these motives, same as Merlin! I’m not denying that Morganachoose to do bad things, she did, but she is never forgiven about it whileMerlin always is. He betrays her, he lies to her, he leaves her alone becausehe believes she is a threat for the magic and the crown and he doesn’t even knowif it’s true. He did not give her a chance.

But the showclassified her and not him as “the evil one”, so all Merlin actions against heris somehow forgiven. Meanwhile, her actions against “the good ones” is punishedand she’s the villain again.  I’m gonnatry to explain it better: Merlin is always in a certain position of powerbecause he knows about magic, Morgana didn’t. Everything was happening to herand Merlin chose not to tell her because he feared her. He didn’t give her achance. And that’s the mistake of the show: it lacks complexity of thecharacters. Morgana is not a bad character, she is not the villain, she’s onlyin the dark. It’s always a misunderstanding! In the beginning of the show, sheis kind and deeply cares about her friends, and she may truly hate Uther, butshe does not hate Arthur. It’s clear when they meet in season 4, they both caredeeply about each other but have to be in opposite sides because they are bothignorant about the things Merlin hides. Merlin puts Morgana aside because of anunknown future. C’mon, the writers just needed a bad guy to put Merlin in ahero position. Morgana always loses because she’s evil and deserved the badthings that happened to her, when we all know that it’s not the truth: Morganais a martyr as much as Merlin is! She suffers as much as he does.

You can compare Morgana with Gwen. Gwen is a strong female characterin bbc’s merlin too but even when you think she’s in a position of power, sheis not… because she is always supporting blindly Arthur and Merlin. She is inthe “good” side. She and Arthur didn’t even know Morgana’s side of the story. Andthat’s the problem: Morgana is only “the evil one” of the show because theychose to ignore the bad things that happened to her.  Or do you think that if Arthur (or Gwen) knewanything about Morgana (how she had magic, how Merlin poisoned her) he wouldnot give her a chance? He gave Merlin a chance (in the last episode, but hedid). The problem of this show is that everything is dark, nothing is reallyexplained: Morgana, the evil woman, Merlin, the solitary hero. I don’t likethings that are one thing or another. Do you? I want complexity, I want to hearMorgana’s voice, and all bbc’ merlin lets us hear is her hate! And her “recklessmotives” against the ones they call heroes! She’s just another woman,silenced by history, remembered by the things other people labeled her. Morgana,the evil witch.

Did I make sense? Do you understand what I mean? (I’m sorryif I was confuse). What I really wanted to say is that in the end, It doesn’tmatter who’s done worse. What matters is: Merlin’s excuses were accepted,Morgana’s were not. Two different ways to measure the same thing. And, for me,that’s the huge problem.

[pseudophan]

I know you like Book of Mormon but what are some other musicals you like??

my favourite musicals are probably the rocky horror picture show and rent though i’ve never seen them live which is sad. i saw mamma mia on west end which was pretty good. my favourite musical i’ve seen live (apart from the book of mormon) was phantom of the opera on broadway tbh bc it’s e p i c. i also watched annie on broadway and it was during the summer when jane lynch played miss hannigan which was lit and i went to a cd signing with the cast bc apparently i’m the actual lamest person ever

[jeremy-jordamn]

seddiainstorybrooke replied to your post “talk to me about your opinions of the nominations!!!!”

I'm so happy about the amount of nominations falsettos got!! My fav show of the season. But I'm rly upset Phillipa Soo wasn't nominated for anything :( idk I love her so much. What do you think??

yes!! I wanter her to get a nom so badly since her work in amelie was so brilliant in my opinion. i knew it was pretty unlikely with patti, bette, and christine in the mix tho? regardless im still sad and i think amelie deserves so much more!

[palespring]

First of all don't apologize for the long time, exam season is rough :/ I hope you did well! And your English is perfect! Anyway I definitely understand your point of a view. I do disagree in some cases, I feel like her change was complex bc i saw it as a someone who became so discriminated for who she is she restored to hate which represents a lot of sjw these days or just discriminated groups who use violence instead of peace. Idk I feel like you're more knowledgeable so I'm probs wrong but

That’s how I felt when I watched the show. Btw, since you said you’re a fan of the Arthurian legend, I was just wondering if you knew any good lectures about legend online? Or just any videos talking about it bc I find those videos super interesting lol.Oh and I don’t think I thanked you for the explanation! Thank you so much, I love discussing merlin and anything related to King Arthur.

Thank you! 

That’s an interesting point of view about Morgana. She indeed chose violence instead of peace, but so did Arthur and Merlin. Arthur is a war hero, Merlin does everything in his power (even poisoning Morgana) to keep the realm safe. So it’s very complicated to judge these characters, but as I said, I think Morgana’s reason were completely ignored and, after that, condemned. But I do understand what you mean, it can really happen. Indeed, in some arthurian stories Morgana is a bitter person,full of hate. I just like other versions about her. She’s a powerful female character and must be appreciated. And pleeease don’t think my opinion is more important than yours bc i’ve read more about it. I’m new in all of this too! Your view is as important and interesting! It’s always so nice to talk to ppl who enjoy King Arthur’s stories! So, please do continue sharing your thoughts!  I don’t know many videos, but I’ll certainly look for something and send to you (anyone who knows something please share with us in this post!). Meanwhile you can see some information I shared about Morgan le Fay here and here. You can go through my arthurian tags and you’ll find lots of other blogs about arthurian legend! 

Welcome to this crazy and magic world! lol