#Arthus

[nextstopparis]

u ever think about how merlin probably thinks that the love was there but it didnt change anything while arthur thinks that the love was there and it changed everything. like do you ever think about how different their outlooks were at the end of it

[piningeddiediaz]

the thing about the prophecy is that every person/thing that ever spoke of arthur’s role in it treated him as a means to an end. example: kilgarrah and his selective memory where he forgot that arthur is also one side of the metaphorical coin and perhaps should know things too. none of those magical beings particularly cared about arthur or even really believed in him tbh (which - not saying that’s not understandable considering what uther did and arthur had a part in) but he was also considered a tool rather than a person. by everyone except merlin, that is. and maybe that’s why merlin’s priorities and loyalties never lay with bringing magic back. because he was the only magical being who saw arthur as a real person, and not just a part of the prophecy.

[clockwrkpendrxgon]

Thinking about girldads firstprince in bed after a long day finally falling asleep when their little girl comes telling them that she can’t sleep so Alex lets her crawl up onto the bed until she is nestled in her dads’ arms while henry tells her a story to ease her into sleep. Alex listens intently, fingers lazily brushing his daughter’s hair and he ends up falling asleep to his husband’s soothing voice with so much love filling up his heart.

[tongjaitongjai]

Headcanon: The fate had always been cruel to Merlin. The fate's main goal in creating Merlin was for him to make Albion great and to make Arthur ‘the once and future king’ with the power of magic.

So, the fate killed anyone who could have threatened Merlin's devotion or love for Arthur. Like Will, his attachment to his old life, Freya, the one he wished to ignore destiny for and run away with, or even Lancelot, whom he trusted the most, even more than Arthur at times. The fate cannot risk him loving anyone more than Authur, that would distract him from his duty. So it twisted his destiny, and made Arthur the only reason for Merlin to keep living.

But it backfired because Merlin grew to love Arthur more than Albion. The love prevented him from making the right decisions for Albion, because he always put Arthur first, even before his other duty, before Albion's greatness and the world. He denied his own magic or even his people, because he thought that was the best way to protect Arthur and to stay by his side. Because more than Emrys the Great who would lead Arthur to become the greatest king, he was just Merlin. Merlin who was stupidly loyal to Arthur and just wanted Arthur to be safe and happy, king or not.

In the end, the fate realised that Merlin would fail to unite Albion, and Camelot would eventually fall, partly because of his mistakes made by his twisted devotion and unbearable love for Arthur.

So, the fate took Arthur away from him as a punishment.

[sleepyconfusedpotato]

Wild ass thoughts but I want to make an Rdr2 OC and Tekken 8 OC what the heck is happening to my brain

[fuckyeaharthuriana]

Mordred being jealous of Lancelot (Le Roi Arthus opera)

[falcatas]

Brother Donnick appreciation post.... Do you want soup?

[falling-glowstar]

Oh no (Merthur oneshot)

Merlin glared at Gwen, it was their weekly tea meeting that they had to gossip and discuss the matters of Camelot.

And she had just insinuated that he, Merlin, was in-love with Arthur.

Prince Arthur, a prick, clotpole brainless donkey was the one he cared for.

Even though on rare moments he behaved like a smart donkey, and yes was sometimes brave and funny.

He did also care for Camelot was going to make a fine king, and perhaps in some angles he could appear slightly attractive if you cared for the type with gorgeous blond hair and adorable dimples, he also has freckles that can only be seen-

Oh.

Oh no, “I’m in love with Arthur aren’t I?” Merlin said his face in his hands.

Gwen patted Merlin on the back.

[dogwise]

Golden tanager near Cali, Colombia

[homieswithhades]

So are we all gonna just ignore the fact that 1) Arthur canonically kisses men and 2) the man he canonically kisses has the same name as his alleged cut love interest?

[dance-world]

Arthus Raveau - Paris Opera Ballet

[tommyxgrace-always]

Ultimate Tommy x Grace quote

[gooboogy]

sending you prayers and a small request to draw a wolf john I'll explode if you do

Hi so I went a little crazy with this

I like the idea of Arthur still being blind and relying on John like a seeing eye dog. And he is Big. Big Wolf John.

[i-eat-bugs-and-dirt]

i am once again regretting that i stopped practicing animation because I would kill to see a Jarthur animation to this song

[henk-heijmans]

Adult lions pretend that the bites of the cubs hurt them to encourage the little ones - by Yann Arthus-Bertrand (1946), French

[fuckyeaharthuriana]

mordred through time (movies, tv shows, opera and musicals)

Part 4: From 2014 to 2017

Other Parts: Part 1: From 1949 to 1981 -> here Part 2: From 1982 to 2002 -> here Part 3: From 2002 to 2010 -> here Part 5: From 2018 to 2023

For this part I just wanted to talk a bit about sympathetic Mordred.

Through time we started to see a more sympathetic Mordred. I think the first iteration in audio/movies/tv was the the Blind Guardian's song in 1995. For the first time we have Mordred as a protagonist, mainly lamenting of regret, pain and lonliness. While I do not know why they decided to focus on Mordred, it is also notable that writing a more sympathetic Mordred was already happening in novels, around the same time. I used the arthurian list of novels I made so I might have missed any, but at this time we have 1956 "The Great Captains" by Henry Treece, "Sword at Sunset" by Sutcliff, "The Wicked Day" (the first novel focusing on Mordred as protagonist) by Mary Stewart, 1982 "The Idylls of the Queen" (Phyllis Ann Karr), 1983 "The Mists of Avalon" (Marion Zimmer Bradley), Persia Wolley's 1987 Guinevere trilogy, 1988 "The road to Avalon" by Joan Wolf and 1988 "The Book of Mordred" by Hanratty all depicting Mordred as a more round character, as someone the reader can feel sympathy too or even enjoy or relate to.

A slighty sympathetic but still villanous potrayal can then be found in 2001 ("The Mists of Avalon" miniseries) but we have to wait till 2008 ("Merlin", BBC) to have a tv Mordred who is actually shown trying to do the right thing (at least for a bit), and working with Arthur. I think this is more due to the fact that "Merlin" often tries to depict villains' origins and motivations than a real conscious attempt to redeem Mordred or make him less villanous.

Other following examples are the kid movie 2010 "Merlin and Arthur the Lion King" and the album 2014 "High Noon Over Camelot" that positions Mordred in a co-protagonist role and fully allows the listeners to empathyze with him. The Fate franchise (the introduction of Mordred should be around 2012 in the novels) continues on this trajectory, making Mordred a main sympathetic and beloved protagonist in many of the adaptations.

2014 High Noon Over Camelot album by The Mechanisms: The song I used is "Peacemaker". The album has multiple arthurian characters sung by different artists, and Mordred is interpreted by Ashes O'Reilly. This is also the first time we have an explicitly queer Mordred (outside of novels), as Mordred is a trans man in this retelling. The story is a Western reimagining of arthuriana, and another case of a sympathetic Mordred - this time Mordred is more overtly sympathetic and even reconcile with his father Arthur at the end.

2011 recording of Albeniz's "Merlin": Piotr Prochera plays Mordred. This is another recording (no dvd, this has been shared by Piotr Prochera acor himself on youtube) of the "Merlin" opera.

2015 recording of "Le Roi Arthus": This opera is probably my favorite arthurian opera. It was created by Ernest Chausson between 1886 and 1895 and it is sung in French. Mordred is a bass and a classic villain, here jealous of Lancelot and the attention Guinevere gives Lancelot. This 2015 version was a modernized edition, with the knights depicted as modern soldiers. Mordred here is played by Alexandre Duhamel.

2016 Rex, youtube webseries: This series is on Severe Chill Studios' Youtube channel, with 48 short episodes. The series is a vlog of arthurian characters living in modern times (no reincarnations, just reimaginings). It follows Rex (Arthur) a student who is dealing with his abusive family and the brothers Merlin and Lancelot. Moore (Mordred) is Arthur's spoiled and arrogant friend (played by Daniel O’Sullivan). He lets Rex crash at his place for a bit, and is often depicted insulting his mother and calling her slurs. If you decide to watch this just know the series has some pretty heavy themes (a part from domestic abuse it also touches on terminal illness). Youtube link.

2017 Fate/Apocrypha: This is one of the many anime adaptation of the Fate franchise. Mordred is voiced by Miyuki Sawashiro. The Fate franchise is massive and deals with numerous spin-offs or even alternative realities to tell the tales of wars/battles for the Holy Grail mainly fought by Servants who are personification of historical/legendary figures. Fate/Apocrypha is based on a series of novel and is an alternative timeline to the previous Fate/Stay Night anime and also the first time we have Mordred in the anime. Mordred is here a Servant, they are the cloned-son of Saber (Arthur/Arturia, who is a woman) and Morgana. Their story is massive so let me just say I am using they/them for Mordred because the Fate series is very ambigous regarding theri gender. They are born as the close of a woman (Saber) and often referred with female pronouns through the series, they hate being called "a girl", and also hate being called "a boy". While I do not think the series was making an effort to actually depict a non-binary character, I do believe Mordred can easily be read as one.

2017 King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table: 2017 was a wild year for arthuriana but nothing was as wild as this movie. The movie follows the life of some arthurian characters' descendant living in Thailand. Morgana and Mordred (banished in arthurian times) ended up in space, working with aliens, and are now back to destroy the descendants. The movie is full over dramatic close up, Morgana turning into a mecha, fighting scenes and more. Interestingly, given how ridiculous the movie is, Mordred is depicted as a sympathetic (almost) villain. He is played by Russell Geoffrey Banks.

2017 King Arthur: Excalibur Rising: The scene I used in the video is right at the start, as the movie is set after Arthur's death. While Mordred might seem sympathetic there he is actually a pretty violent villain for the rest of the movie. The story is focused on Owain (Arthur's illegitimate son) trying to take back the crown from Mordred and Morgana. Here Mordred (played by Gavin Swift) is Arthur's incestuous son with Morgana.

2017 Legend, youtube webseries: A webseries you can watch on Tufts University Television's channel (link here). The series has 7 episodes and an epilogue and is set in a university. Each student is an arthurian character, with Mordred (Morty) as the overly joking, friendly guy who is hiding some deep hatred and jealousy towards Arthur. Unfortunately I do not remember if Mordred is Arthur's half-brother or just a friend. Mordred is played by Yuval Ben-Hayun. The story and production were pretty good, so I recommend it!

2017 Mordred La Revolte: I cheated a bit as this movie is the end of a long webseries. The series started in 2013 and run till 2018 with two season and can still be found here on youtube. The series was created by Tommy-Lee Baïk (who also played Mordred) and is in French. Unfortunately I cannot really tell how arthurian the series is, but the plot does not mention other arthurian characters. If I am not wrong, la Revolte is simply S2 turned into a movie.

2017 Fate/Grand Order The stage - Divine Realm of the Round Table: Camelot: Part of the Fate saga but in the Grand Order timeline, this is a stage adaptation of one of the events in the videogame Fate/Grand Order. In particular, it should be the same story shown in the later movie Camelot part 1 as the full title is Fate/Grand Order THE STAGE - Divine Realm of the Round Table: Camelot Replica; Agateram. I will explain more about it in the next part of this Mordred series. Chihiro Kai plays Mordred.