#albion’s greatest need is my greatest need

[pendragonsclotpole]

ngl this would be a really good way to circumvent the issues canon would have with trying to say why arthur’s finally returning after centuries of different catastrophes.

but also rip my heart, “albion’s greatest need” equals merlin giving up on arthur and magic fading because the immortal merlin has given up and is now fading too because merlin is magic and magic is merlin

my favourite merlin hc of mine is that arthur will only return when merlin gives up on the idea of him doing so. That when merlin gives up on him coming back, his magic starts to fade with his hope and that the danger albion faces that requires the king to return isnt world wars or global pandemics, its when the world loses its magic.

[sugurugetos]

I can't lose him! He's my friend! Though no man, no matter how great, can know his destiny, some lives have been foretold, Arthur is not just a King - he is the Once and Future King. Take heart, for when Albion's need is greatest, Arthur will rise again. It has been a privilege to have known you, young warlock - the story we have been a part of will live long in the minds of men.

[theroundbartable]

Modern AU concept:

*grindr notifcation goes off*

Merlin: Arthur ... Why are you on grindr?

Arthur: Well, you said that I would return when Albion's need is greatest. But I can't do it on my own, so I thought I'll go and recruit some knights. And in the app description it says that you can find men on this app.

Merlin: ...

Merlin: okay then, carry on.

Bonus 1:

Arthur: MERLIN!!!!

Merlin: yes, Arthur?

Arthur: why do all these men want to bed me?!?!?!

Merlin: because it's a dating app. I told you about those

Arthur: oh... Wait, then why did you recognise the notification sound?

Merlin: ...

Arthur: Are you bedding men?

Merlin: I do have a life outside of you.

Arthur: *hurrying to open his phone*

*grindr sound goes off again on Merlin's phone this time.

Merlin: did you just match me?

Arthur: you can't have a life outside of me. I am everywhere.

Bonus 2: *weeks later*

Grindr sound goes off again.

Arthur: holy shit, I think I found Gwaine!!!

[kerryshifting]

𝒌𝒆𝒓𝒓𝒚’s invite to her blog.

RIDE—OR—DIE . . . kerry, cherry, immortal being or ethereal diet coke enjoyer; wherever name you want to give me, i'm your typical scorpio: LOYAL, INTUITIVE is it intuition or just manifestations? who knows…. determined, jealous, and probably the greatest listener you'll ever meet.

SHIFTING ✷ personal, transformative, my birth right, spiritual journey. i found out about shifting thanks to a ginger dude sobbing about him missing hogwarts — but i started taking it seriously last december. achieving immortality is my main goal and life purpose (chose by me) ; i’ve always been a curious person and doing so, i think that will satisfy my need to know everything about anything.

⸻ my main reality is my marauders era one! i shift during summer of 1975 . . . about to do my fifth year: gryffindor's casanova, people's princess, boho chic style that everyone wants to copy. natural enemy of slytherins and, of course, professor mcgonagall's worst nightmare.

[ PICS. PICS AGAIN. HOGSMEAD ]

⸻ my other desired reality is my merlin dr. i am a noble lady from france destined to marry the prince of camelot, my sweet asshole arthur ! mainly known as the camelot’s delight, and kilgharrah refers to me as the queen of once and future. it's my destiny to help arthur & merlin create albion.

FAVOURITE ARTISTS . . . LANA DEL REY (ultraviolence and unreleased girl) & nirvana, david bowie, queen, deftones, and abba!

MY PINTEREST. it’s very good i promise ! 😎

[dryadalisliv]

“I’m- I’m immortal?” Merlin whispers.

“Yes, young warlock” The dragon says “and you will live many life times waiting for your Once and Future King”

Merlin looks out at the lake, at the little boat slowly floating further and further away, and with it Arthur.

“I don’t want it” The warlock yells, choking down a sob “I DON’T WANT IT” he screams

“THIS WAS NOT MY DESTINY!” He cries “This.. This was not my destiny” the wavering whisper is nearly not audible.

“You told me-“ Merlin points a finger up at Kilgharrah, eyes dark with rage and sorrow “You told me my destiny was to protect him! You told me he would bring about The Golden Age of Albion!”

“Indeed I did, young Emry-“

“Don’t you dare call me that ever again!” The warlock interrupts.

“I did” Kilgharrah continues as if undisturbed “And one day you will reunite with your king, at Albions greatest need, and the Golden Age will rise”

“No” Merlin murmurs “No, I don’t want it. Let me follow him. I don’t want it. I don’t want it! I DONT WANT IT!” He begs and screams.

“I’m sorry young man, this was not how I would have intended it either.”

Merlin looks away from the dragon, trying to gain control of himself; blinking rapidly and taking deep breaths.

“You said man. But am I even that? What am I exactly?”

Kilgharrah looks down at him fondly.

“I have wondered that for a long time as well. Some would call you Emrys, I myself call you Warlock, those close to you call you Merlin, but I think, yes I think that who you truly are is Arthur’s”

“I don’t understand”

The dragon gives a sad smile.

“Yes, I don’t think Arthur did either.”

[toomanyfanficsbruh]

In recognition of this day, I wrote a little ficlet.

This is my first year of being a part of the Merlin fandom and celebrating another anniversary of the series.

To all those people who have made this experience all the better, thankyou. (It's all of you.)

So, I humbly present a little piece and hopefully it lightens the weight of the day and brings forth some hope for the next year of this fandom and its amazing work.

Albion's Greatest Need

Merlin sits at the edge of the lake, every year, on the anniversary of His death.

It has been a long time since Merlin has seen Him. Many many things have taken place since he first lost Him.

Merlin has made and lost friends, seen wars unlike any others, technological advances and literary declines. He has seen an oak tree and its family, grow and die. And yet, Merlin still waits.

It was prophesied that He would rise again, during Albion's greatest need.

But, the only thing left surviving of Albion, is Merlin. And Merlin has been waiting since the boat was pushed off the shore, many, many years ago.

If time is meant to heal all wounds, then why does his heart still hurt?

Each year, Merlin holds His mother's sigil in his hand, turning it, inspecting it's grooves and intricate design. Merlin has thrown in it the water many times in anger and yet it comes back to him, every time. A constant reminder. As if Merlin could forget about Him. That possibility was far too outrageous to even joke about.

Merlin had mourned every other person he had lost, until he was able to live with their memories. He held onto Morgana much longer than he expected to and Gwen far less. Perhaps, he was already losing her before he actually did.

Gwaine had more days of tears than Lancelot, but he stayed in Merlin's mind much longer. Not unexpected but not as Merlin thought he would mourn them. Now, he could reminisce about his time with the two, a small laugh creeped up on him every time he remembered something Gwaine did.

However, the memories seemed to fade, Merlin fighting with his mind to remember faces and voices. It was claustrophobic in Merlin’s mind, a million other decisions, memories and people clouded his mind, as if they had come for a holiday and decided to stay. Whereas Merlin only wanted, and needed, those few people in his life and mind.

One day he had woken up and forgotten what his mother looked like. The shock almost killed him. He died a little inside. Merlin did not even have a photograph of Hunith, and so he ran to a friend's place and asked her to draw her, from whatever memory he had left of his mother. That drawing has been laminated, photocopied, scanned and imprinted in his mind. Merlin may let another leave him, but not his mother. Never his mother.

Another day, he thought of Gaius and his warmth. Merlin may never forget Gaius. Or he may. He isn't quite sure anymore.

Merlin's dragons had left him, closer, to a century ago. The hollowness in his heart was amplified, as if a piece of him had been burned and left in him, writhing. Some days he called out for them, only to be answered by silence. It had never felt so loud before.

On this anniversary, Merlin walked into the lake, the weight of the years felt heavy on his shoulders, the pain lasting far longer than he expected. Merlin waded in, sinking into the cool waters, asking the Lady to take him in, to care for him.

The water rippled around Merlin, an unending chain reaction, reflecting his tired face a thousand times. Merlin did not care anymore. And that was exactly was he had been afraid of, all this time.

Merlin's clothes were soaked, but his skin was heated, his body fighting so hard to stay alive and yet his soul was exhausted, begging the water to hold him. Merlin closed his eyes and fell, deep into the lake.

Merlin had done this once before, on the first anniversary he had lost Him. The Lady of the Lake pushed him out, telling Merlin his time had not yet come. He screamed out to The Lady, met with no reply or recognition. His dry clothes left no evidence of the trial, which made it worse.

This time, he washed up on the shore, his clothes soaked and face cold but the sun was shining. Shining everywhere but on his face. As if something was blocking its rays.

Gasping, trying to catch his breath, Merlin coughed out the water and felt his life seep back into him. Somehow, Merlin did not feel worse. Wiping his eyes, Merlin squinted at what should have been the sun, only to be greeted with a head.

Which was connected to shoulders.

And a chest.

Before the head and shoulders was able to speak, Merlin stood up and walked away. Another bypasser, he assumed, trying to save the day, when in reality, there was nothing to save.

It was a concept that Merlin had engraved deeply into his heart - perhaps it wasn't time. Perhaps it would get worse. Maybe, Merlin could get through another year, pretending nothing had happened. Pretending his heart hadn't broken into countless pieces.

Maybe, he wasn't worth saving.

As Merlin walked back through the gate that had been installed, some years ago, around the lake, he heard someone call out for him.

Even though, there was nobody left to call out for him.

The sun's rays hit Merlin's back, a warmth he had not felt in a very long time. The shadows of the trees faded away and his shoulders felt light. Something had come across him after the lake, perhaps something that pitied him, a presence that had been watching him since the fated day.

It had been prophesied that He would rise during Albion's greatest need. And the only thing left of Albion, was Merlin.

"MERLIN! YOU IDIOT!!"

[nuwanda24]

Take Me to Church - Merlin

Just realised how perfect Hozier's Take Me to Church fits Merlin:

"A fresh poison each week" - it's meant metaphorically, but we all know how literal that is in the context of Merlin. There's not a single week that goes by without some magical threat or someone trying to poison/otherwise assassinate Arthur

"We were born sick, you heard them say it" - Merlin was born with magic, he's magic incarnate; Arthur on the other hand only got conceived through magic, so they were both "born sick" from Uther's of view

"If I'm a pagan of the good times" - Merlin basically is a God of the Old Religion, a pagan belief that symbolises the "good time" in which magic was free

"My lover's the sunlight" - Arthur is, as is well established in the fandom, extremely sun-coded, not only visualy with his golden hair. He is the crown prince, later king, everybody looks up to him while noone dares to come too close (despite Merlin). He burns with an incredible brightness for his people, for Camelot, but in the end, he burns out, just as every sun will do eventually. Merlin, on the other hand, is the night or moon to Arthur's sun. He keeps in Arthur's shadow, never seeking attention or retribution for all that he has done. He has to work in the dark in order to ensure that Arthur and by extend Camelot can be safe. He hates it (remember his rant in S3E11 "I hate it, to be the most powerful person I know and to have to act like a shadow, to be special and to have to play the fool"), but he willingly and glady sacrifices his own light so that Arthur's can burn brighter.

"To keep the goddess on my side" - I don't remember if this is canon or just something that most of the fanfics I've read agreed on, but the Triple Goddess is presumably responsible for the whole prophecy regarding Emrys and the Once and Future King, and Merlin needs to keep her on his side, in order to fulfill his destiny.

"She demands a sacrifice" - this could either be the Cailleach in S4E1-2 The Darkest Hour who demands a life as sacrifice to close the veil between the world of the living and the dead; or it is about Arthur, who needs to die in order to be able to rise again in Albion's greatest time of need.

The Bridge is: "No masters or kings when the ritual begins / There is no sweeter innocence than our gentle sin / In the madness and soil of that sad earthly scene / Only then, I am human, only then, I am clean". - that part is less concret, but it still reminds me of Arthur's death scene - only Arthur and Merlin are left to witness it, there are no knights, no Gwen, no Camelot, no titles or rank, nothing but the two of them and their love for each other, the bond they share. And I think that in many instances Arthur was the one who kept Merlin in touch with his humanity. Yes, he was also the reason why Merlin crossed boundary after boundary, making him hate himself more and more and making him believe himself to be a monster, but I don't think he's ever felt as human (and as powerless) as the moment he felt Arthur die in his arms.

And then there's the chorus: "I'll worship like a dog at the shrine of your lies" - Merlin worships Arthur, there's nothing he wouldn't do for that man, no matter how much he insults him or how hypocritical his actions might be. Arthur can break any promise, tell any lie (not that he does that very often), Merlin will still be there. And in the end, like Odysseus' dog Argus, he waited and waited on the shores of Avalon for the day that Arthur might finally come back to him.

"I'll tell you my sins and you can sharpen your knife" - I mean, that's literally what happens. Merlin tells Arthur about his powers, and you can't tell me that he wouldn't have allowed him (after he'd have forced him to get healed and ensured that Arthur would live) to put any punishment upon him, even death, that he wouldn't have preferred to die by Arthur's knife than to have to live without him.

"Offer me that deathless death, oh, good God, let me give you my life" - how often does Merlin offer his own life for Arthur's? From the very episode on, he throws himself between his prince and everything and everyone trying to harm him, from knives over curses, to drinking poison and Dorochas. And there were so many instances where he should have died but didn't, suffering (or surviving) a deathless death.

The song just perfectly depicts Merlin's (unhealthy) devotion to his king, and how that feeds on his soul.

[mischief11things]

We survived another anniversary of that dark day when Merlin set Arthur adrift in that boat to his rest. The bad news is that we might have to survive another.

But take heart, my friends! For when Albion's need is greatest, Arthur will rise again!

[boom-bada-boom]

in a dream i meet my dead friend

“He has, / I know, gone long and far, / and yet he is the same / for the dead are changeless. / They grow no older. / It is I who have changed, / grown strange to what I was.”

— A Meeting, Wendell Berry

when albion’s need is greatest, kilgharrah tells him. when albion’s need is greatest, freya tells him. when albion’s need is greatest, arthur will rise again.

when he first heard the words, he didn’t really understand them. arthur was dead, but he’d come back eventually— though how long was anyones guess. but for the moment, arthur was dead, the king was dead, and his kingdom deserved to know what happened.

he gives himself a day, the night and the dawn and the midday and the sunset, to remain in front of the lake, blood drying and crusting over on his hands and staining his clothes. he gives himself a day frozen keeling at the lake’s edge, before pushing himself to his feet and whispering, “i promise i’ll come back.” to the still still still waters.

it takes him a long time to fulfill that promise. by then, giaus is dead, percival is dead, leon is dead, and the only reason he ever returns to camelot at all is because of gwen, old now and confined to her bed, and because he needs to see the city, the castle, one last time; carve the picture into his memories. maybe carve a spell into the castle’s stone so it survives a while yet, while he runs away from his past.

he kneels once more before the shores of avalon, and the magic heavy over him like a thick winter coat slides off to reveal beneath it a face and body just the same as the one that had knelt there decades before.

“‘when albion’s need is greatest,’” he echoes across the years, and clutches at his own arms in a farce of a hug. there is a long pause, a long moment where the sun high above is hidden behind thick clouds, a long moment where the gentle breeze stills, a long moment where the sounds of the woodland at his back fades out. it passes.

“i want to see you, arthur.” merlin admits to the still waters. “i do. but i fear what threat we will be facing in the face of it.” he smiles, rueful, grieved, so tired already, at the sparkling reflections bouncing from the mirror-like work of nature and magic before him. “i’m— tired. of fighting. i think i’d just like to be with my friends. all of them.”

it’s not really directed to arthur, anymore, he doesn’t think. it’s more an observation of his own inner psyche, something he doesn’t oft do simply because he fears what he might find in the depths.

he knows he means it though, all of his friends. in his minds eye flashes the image of morgana, young, plagued with nightmares still, but brave and kind and righteous; the look of her smile, soft and loving, as she gazed upon gwen, a bundle of flowers in one hand and the other simply holding holding holding gwen’s own; the slight smirk as she looked down on arthur, play-threats and play-fights and all the camaraderie of siblings with none of the titles; the indulgent, caring look she bestowed upon him, in the long quiet moments where she thought him unaware.

all of them.

when the castle fell, merlin thought that this, maybe, was the moment arthur returned. he had not dared step foot in the city walls since gwen’s death, but he still always kept one ear out for news regarding it. his magic, embedded into the stones, strained and tried to protect the frame and those within it, but it could only do so much from the great chasm of distance between him and camelot. he was kneeling before the lake by the end of the day. he did not get up for a week, and then another, and by the time his body seemed liable to shake apart and was held together only by his own magic, and it was abundantly clear arthur would not be returning— by then, he just slammed his fists into the earth and screamed. screamed for a life and a future robbed from him, from arthur, from all his friends. screamed because while their life was robbed because it ended, his life was robbed because there was no end for him.

after that, time seemed to pass quicker, or maybe merlin cared less. camelot, its king and its knights and all the people it contained, was soon faded into myth and legend, a true story known only in the depths of his own mind, hidden behind the ancient old carved-in image of a castle now only ruins in life. history moved around him, through him, did not care for him.

he tried helping, at first. tried using magic to make things better, mostly by healing people. merlin learned soon enough though, and began to stop trying. after the next uncountable attempt at killing him for witchcraft, he stopped trying to help that way. not long after that, every other way too.

when the twenty-first century rolled around, merlin was tired most of all. tired and sad and worn and hopeless. arthur was not coming back, he realized. not if wars and plagues and massacres and destruction was not enough to raise him.

or maybe it is because these were all things merlin could have helped, could have possibly even prevented entirely if he could’ve brought himself to interfere. when albion’s need is greatest, but obviously there would be no need if merlin could fix the problem with a snap of his fingers.

for the nth time, he considered what that could mean. what could be the cause. what great, impossible threat was out there that even merlin couldn’t defeat, that even he could not prevent?

it had been over a thousand years, and he was tired and old and bitter. angry at his still-unfinished destiny and hateful of this immortal, unending life.

perhaps then that’s why he thinks, something merlin can’t defeat? well, he couldn’t very well defeat himself.

and perhaps that is where it starts.

when albion’s need is greatest, king arthur will rise again.

merlin decides he will bring about albion’s time of great need— anything to bring back arthur from his watery grave.

(he was so tired of living, tired of waiting. he just wanted his friend back, wanted to smile and call the king a prat and be looked at with the same fond admiration he’d always been given though never recognized during the moment.)

…

…

…

(below the waters of avalon, between life and death, king arthur pendragon, the once and future king, awakens from death with a gasp.)

(above those same waters, shadows walk the earth. shadows of albion, and of camelot, knights and magical creatures alike. all of them simply echoes given life by a magic more powerful than anything that has ever been or will ever be.)

the thing is, the lake of avalon had never just been the specific location. it is the veil between worlds, and thus the lake of avalon is everywhere where life and death meet.

so, as the world decends to chaos, and as merlin watches the lake shore like the bird he is named after, king arthur is thrust from the lake of avalon somewhere else entirely, far out of merlin’s reach. behind him, the knights of the round table, along with the queen guinevere and the lady morgana, rise just the same.

because, of course, nothing is ever quite simple.

merlin does not extend himself to learn of the whys and hows of the pockets of resistance against him. he does not want to know, just wants them crushed because then, maybe then, albion’s need will be greatest.

so, when a certain floundering group of someones begin carving a path of resistance towards the shadow castle built only from the image carved into merlin’s own head, he does not take note except to send more power to squash it.

(said group does not know much, truly. they do not know of the world they have found themselves in, though they always find people willing to help them in the unlikeliest of places. they do not know what the name of the great evil they face is, nor why it had come, only that they must stop it.)

(they do not know why the lady of the lake was crying, as she watched them stumble into life once more, nor why she handed them a rose, just a rose, still on the stem, and told them that it would lead them to their destiny.)

(it is not until she has disappeared that arthur thinks to ask, where is merlin?)

[pigfacedbitch]

How Morgana got Arthur to indirectly confess his feelings to Merlin...

Merlin & Morgana : [ hiding in Arthur's bedroom as he sleeps ]

Merlin: Are you sure this will work?

Morgana: Trust me, it will. [ throws a pillow on Arthur's face ] Wake up!

Arthur: [ jolts awake ] What the- Who's there?!

Morgana: [ uses magic to alter her voice ] Arthur Pendragon, Albion is in danger. People in Camelot will perish and the dark forces will destroy everything you hold dear.

Arthur: [ terrified ] Oh my God...

Morgana: You are our greatest hope, the one who can save us all. We are counting on you to help us.

Arthur: Okay?

Morgana: All we need to know is...

Arthur: Yes?

Morgana: The truth. Do you love Merlin?

Arthur: What? No!

Morgana: Don't lie, boy! Even a blind man can see it! Now speak!

Arthur: F-Fine. I love Merlin, so much. For a long time now, but I don't think he feels the same.

Merlin: (๏_๏)

Morgana: YES! Err, I mean thank you. You may sleep again. [ discreetly leaves with Merlin ]

Arthur: That's it? [ waits for a reply but no one answers ] Hey, did I save the world or not?!

Morgana: Arthur's an idiot. [ nudges Merlin ] He's YOUR idiot, though.

Merlin: (｡･ω･｡)

more incorrect quotes here!

[hannahhook7744]

"Legend says Arthur Pendragon will rise in albon's greatest time of need.

He's supposed to.

Well, albion will have to wait because Will and Gwaine had both just done something very stupid."

Thinking of using this line in one of my stories.

[lexplosion]

Not sure if this has been done but I need to get this idea out of my head.

So Arthur will return in Albion’s greatest time of need. So what if Merlin gets tired of waiting? He’s waited centuries and centuries for nothing. So, he turns to dark magic (similar to what Nimueh did, a life for a life).

And with doing that Arthur returns. And with his return is Albion’s greatest need, the most powerful Warlock to ever exist has turned to dark magic.

(This could totally turn into Arthur having to save Merlin from corruption, or even an enemies to lovers)

[kateis-cakeis]

You know, we don't know much of what (and even how) Kilgharrah sees/knows of the future, but he was right about everything, we know that much.

I do wonder, after rewatching the first episode, how heartbreaking it would be if he saw the end before it even started.

If he saw a distraught Merlin shout "I can't lose him! he's my friend!" while holding a dead Arthur.

If as soon as he saw a young Merlin who claimed to hate Arthur, who claimed he wouldn't care if Arthur died, if those laughs came from knowing his undying devotion.

If maybe, Kilgharrah was so staunch on the matters of Morgana and Mordred because he didn't want to see Merlin hurt in such a way, didn't want to see him grieve.

And maybe he saw more too, maybe he saw Albion's greatest need, Arthur rising again, but knew of Merlin's eternal wait for such a day - and wished for a better future for his kin.

The very idea is a heartbreaking, but possible... Who knows what a dragon sees.

[justaz]

STOP STOP EVERYRHING

i do not know if this has been said but i am going to say it bc fuck it almost knocked me off my feet when i thought of it

merlin waiting patiently for arthur for YEARS. mourning him for longer than he knew him. watching everyone he knew in camelot die and himself not age a day. watching the stone of the castle begin to crack, the wood begin to rot, the streets begin to empty. camelot has fallen. he ventures out but not far in case arthur returns. he experiences decades pass by him in a flash, still nothing. humanity advances and advances, yet they are also their undoing. they build themselves up just to tear themselves down a moment later. years and years and years and years and years pass, still nothing. the great dragons words echo in his head and he holds them close in hope, arthur will rise again. a day in spring, merlin catches a whiff of something he can’t place but he’s hit with a wave of nostalgia. it’s not until he’s lying in bed later that day that he remembers it’s what arthur used to smell like. not long after that, he tries to recall arthur’s laugh, but the memory is mute. and fuzzy. why is it fuzzy? stop focusing on the laugh and focus on his face…what did he look like again? oh god. no focus on something small. his eye color. what color were his eyes? blue…right? or were they green?

merlin forgetting the pieces of the puzzle that make up arthur, he can’t remember what he smelled like, what he looked like, what his laugh sounded like, he can’t even recall the way he screamed his name everyday when he needed something. merlin’s loosing arthur again. how long has it been? too long, too long and arthur still isn’t back. the dragon said he’d be back. he remembers that. he’s been repeating the words in his head since they were spoken to him long ago. every morning when he woke, every night before he slept, whenever the world around him seemed out to get him. he’s coming back. arthur’s coming back. why isn’t he back? what had that damn dragon said? he always talked in riddles but merlin had thought his words were clear for the first time since he’d known him. what had he said?

when albion’s need is greatest, arthur will rise again.

he’ll rise again. arthur will be back. and they’ll fight a great evil like they used to, side by side, two sides of the same coin, arthur and merlin together at last. he just has to wait for such a great evil. a great evil that would constitute arthur’s return. merlin’s lived many, many years. he’s seen much evil. arthur never returned then. something bigger and badder then. something worse that anything he could imagine…would it be immoral to instigate the evil to come to pass? (merlin’s tries to recall arthur’s secret smile when merlin made a face at him across the room or whispered something in his ear when visiting noble and royals were acting like fools and comes up empty.) to hell with morals. to hell with the damn dragon. to hell with it all. merlin’s been alive for centuries. arthur’s been asleep for centuries. they’ve been waiting for each other for centuries. merlin’s sick of it. to hell with it all. arthur needs a great evil? he’ll give him a great evil.

[tristansfreezingtheirbrain]

Ok I’m writing a good omens and Merlin crossover in my notes app ( for fun but also for pain ) and need an opinion

Fill explanations here ⬇️⬇️⬇️

1) He had been banished, but he wasn’t sent to hell, because apparently his crimes weren’t really that bad. He put up some fight about Uther massacring the druids and other magic users. The angles wanted to bless Uther, they thought the better rewards he got the less likely he was to kill, but Merlin said it was too late. He said that Uther had already killed hundreds of innocent people for his own hubris and that he should be punished. “Because if we take from Job, whose only ever done good, but give to Uther, whose done mostly evil, then what does that say about us?” - his reasoning

2) All those people executed in between Arthur and Merlin’s births had magic, even if it was very little. Most of them never used it. Some of them had it instinctually, and couldn’t help their use of magic. Regardless, magic doesn’t just disappear once it is not held. It has to go somewhere… and Heaven thought ‘what better a place than the greatest sorcerer who will ever live?’ .

But they got a little carried away. Magic used to be a being. Like an angle but not. Turns out she grew rather attached to people and started giving them peices of herself. Years later, Magic was still kicking, but weaker because of the whole ‘trying to put as much of herself out there’ thing.

Well, then Uther came around and started killing people because of his mistake, and by the time of Merlin’s birth, Magic, the being, was trying to balance out the massive loss. She started cranking out pieces of herself like crazy- and heaven became afraid. They needed somewhere to put magic, and fast.

They didn’t want too much magic to be out there- so they very quickly shoved what was left of Magic in Merlin. That’s how Merlin ended up being magic itself. It’s also worth noting that with this explanation, there a few plot holes but I have answers to all of them so don’t worry about it.

This is true for both versions:

There’s another thing going on with this, where Heaven was scared about Arthur’s Albion not coming to life, seeing as they’re is banking on Arthur’s immortality. He’s meant to be a lasting blessing to this country.

Evidence that God is the one true God. He’s meant to last forever, so what happens if that all fails? What proof will people lean on? Well, of course, Merlin. Merlin was supposed to have immortality tied to Arthur’s, but when heaven started becoming afraid, they severed that connection. So both would live forever, regardless of if the other dies. Of course, this has even more plot holes that I haven’t actually fully solved but I’m almost there.

It kind of changed based on which version I pick, because I’m version 1, Merlin’s life and prophecy are his punishment. So the immortal thing would be too. In that one, it’s just an added bonus for for heaven.

[ironpool99]

My favorite thing I've seen in a few fics is the idea that Arthur would return at the time of Albino's greatest need. However, the only piece of Albion left is Merlin, so Arthur returns when Merlin needs him most. I just melt thinking about it, it's so good!! If you have any fics/ideas with this concept please share them with me!!