#I can explain more about the lancelot/arthur/gwen thing if anyone is curious. I just didn't want to get into a tangent here

[sexy-sapphic-sorcerer]

Oh god do I have thoughts about this. I think the plot itself does usually upholds heteronormativity, but it is not always framed positively within the narrative.

Enforced heterosexuality is often condemned and positioned as an obstacle to characters' happiness, such as the many instances where Arthur is enchanted or pressured into marriage. Then, Arthur marrying Gwen queers expectations, in the sense that he refuses to conform to the status quo and fights to be able to love openly and freely.

However, by making Arthur/Gwen the end-game ship that audiences must root for, the show then makes a very deliberate effort to uphold heteronormative expectations within their relationship. Not only do they tone down Gwen and Lancelot's affair to avoid endorsing adultery, but they remove both Gwen and Lancelot's agency in it, to ensure that they are redeemable to the audience.

By shifting the blame to Morgana, it also quite explicitly positions queerness as a threat. To drastically oversimplify centuries of Arthurian academia that I haven't read, there is a long history of Lancelot being queer, and his affair with Guinevere being on some level motivated by his love for Arthur. So, to avoid the gay connotations of this, it is "substituted with a much more conservative Arthur/Guinevere/Morgana triangle" (x). Of course, this just makes Gwen and Lancelot's affair in 4x09 lowkey lesbian instead, but also frames Arthur, Gwen and Lancelot as innocent victims of Morgana's transgressive queerness.

This same issue of Morgana's queerness being synonymous with her villainy is apparent in all of her plots to break up Arthur and Gwen. Especially the Dark Tower plot in series 5, which very much resembles this narrative of Morgana as a predatory lesbian who plans to seduce Gwen into hating her husband and loving her instead, so they can kill Arthur and rule as two queens. Of course, heteronormativity must be upheld, by Gwen realising she was manipulated and she does love her heterosexual husband after all! (Although this also involves Merlin in drag, so idk what gives there).

I also think it's worth mentioning that a very similar thing can be said of Morgause seducing Morgana and planning to defeat the protagonists and rule as two queens. It goes without saying that this is both very lesbian and framed very negatively in the show - for other reasons, of course, but the link between queerness and evil here cannot be denied.

Especially when you get into the idea of magic as a metaphor for queerness, because oooh boy does that have some mixed messages. Of course, the overarching message of the show is that 'magic' is not evil or wrong, and 'sorcerers' should be accepted and treated equally, but the way this is conveyed is complicated to say the least. I won't even bother listing the countless other characters that use magic to threaten the protagonists (often to avenge the literal genocide committed against them) who are written as heightened villains that Merlin must defeat. You know what I mean.

But what about Merlin? His character queers expectations in so many ways, from his lack of female love interests, to his rejection of hypermasculinity, which is (almost) never treated negatively within the show, so kudos for that. I obviously think that Merlin and Arthur's relationship is incredibly queer, even just by virtue of the significance it holds in the plot. Not only is their bond very homoromantic (and often homoerotic), but the barriers between them read more like meta-contextual internalised/external homophobia, rather than a deliberate attempt by the writers to make them straight bros.

Although, Merlin becomes a more problematic queer figure when magic is concerned. He "uses magic only for (Arthur)", both in the sense that he is obsessed with him in a gay way, but also in that he is willing to support the power structures he represents. He believes that he will only be accepted if he hides his identity and serves his oppressors, and is therefore actively hostile towards any sorcerers who threaten the status quo.

Of course, Merlin fails at achieving societal acceptance by upholding heteronormative expectations, just as Morgana fails by undermining them. The show (sans the last episode) ends with Arthur and Gwen happily married and both Merlin and Morgana isolated and filled with internalised shame. This is where I'm willing to give the writers more credit, because Merlin is clearly a morally grey character and his actions aren't entirely endorsed by the narrative. But I don't think the show goes far enough in framing it as a tragedy. Nor does it do enough to portray Morgana sympathetically.

I realise I have accidentally written an essay, so TLDR: the actual show is pretty hetero by foregrounding Arthur/Gwen, but Morgana fighting to destroy their heteronormative ideal and Merlin fighting to uphold it is very queer, albeit often in problematic ways

v curious - pls can merlin fans lmk whether they think the show upheld heteronormative expectations (of romance, of life) and/or whether it queers expectations? all thoughts and examples v welcome & my ask box is SUPER open