#arthur and uther

[adhd-merlin]

hey, remember when arthur met his mother's ghost and the first thing he did was literally apologise for his existence? haha, and remember when he broke his own moral code and used magic just to speak to his dead father one last time because he missed him so much and uther just listed all the reasons why arthur was a disappointment and a failure? haha

[the-king-and-the-druidess]

"He has heard the whispers that the king had been more affectionate and sympathetic when Igraine was alive, and since Arthur was the one who killed her, he is old enough to understand that his father is like this because of him" from: as the future closes in by intheminormode

[adhd-merlin]

ARTHUR: I care about her...

UTHER: I cannot allow this. I forbid it.

ARTHUR: You can't forbid my feelings any more than I can. I won't deny them any longer, I love her. I love Guinevere.

UTHER: You leave me no choice; she's banished from the city.

ARTHUR: You can't do that.

UTHER: She has three days to leave. To return is on pain of death.

ARTHUR: She has nowhere to go! Her, her life is in Camelot.

UTHER: You have caused this to happen, Arthur. My decision is final.

ARTHUR: Please, do not banish her. I give you my solemn word that I'll never see her again.

UTHER: You have made it clear to me that you cannot control your feelings for this girl.

ARTHUR: No! I...

[Arthur grabs Uther's arm, pauses when he sees Uther's expression, and lets go.]

— Queen of Hearts, Ep. 3x10

There are plenty of questionable moments throughout Merlin but one thing they did super well is Arthur and Uther's relationship. Uther's an abusive father, but Arthur loves him, and we see Uther's delicate side often enough to understand why.

A moment that really hits hard is in season 3, after Uther discovers Arthur and Gwen together, is when Arthur pleads his case. He scrambles between three different tactics, first sincerity, followed by more princely authoritative force, and then begging and apologizing.

Uther is unpredictable, a trait that makes him so awful as a father. So watching Arthur, who knows him better than anyone, swing wide so fast, within a single conversation, trying to find the right card to play in his father's game, is really heart-wrenching.

It shows a very special emotional intelligence in Arthur, albeit a devastating one.

[tiredcowboyy]

merlin has more strength than me bc if I heard uther pendragon bitch and moan about how magic only brings harm after I just saved his sons life for the ten billionth time that year with my magic and almost died yet again, I fear id accidentally turn him into a log

[jaybirds-chirps]

we fuckin hate Uther in this house but those times he'd look at Merlin and be like "wtf is wrong with Arthur rn??" were so funny

like Uther was very firmly on the you're too close to this boy train but the moment Arthur was doing something weird he'd look at Merlin like "boy fix this rn"

[chaosbeautiful]

Bbc merlin is such a comedy. Arthur keeps telling Merlin they can’t be friends because they are prince and servant, while Merlin straight up tells Uther they have a special bond and Uther is glad

[charliewrites99]

Every fic where Uther assumes Merlin and Arthur are fucking:

[rosemarytales]

the family they could've been...

[mediacircuspod]

The writing on the Adventures of Merlin astounds me constantly. Like. A goblin possesses Gaius and licks gold. Fart jokes are treated as relevant comedy. We’re supposed to believe that no one sees Merlin do magic in broad daylight, everyday, when we literally see his eyes flash and a sound effect plays. But then.

But then Uther dies on Arthur’s birthday.

You might not get it yet. You might not know why that’s insane. I’ll tell you. The significance of that event is that Igraine died in childbirth. Arthur’s birthday is already a reminder of his dead mother. A woman who died for his birth. And now his father dies, signifying Arthur’s ascent to King.

A rebirth. Once again forged in the blood of his kin, Arthur Pendragon is borne of death.

A day that has forever been bloodied is now drowning in red, and it has been and will always be treated as a celebration.

What were they on???? That they could waffle between some of the cringiest takes I’ve ever seen, and some of the most poignant symbols in modern storytelling. I simply don’t understand.

[laragomu]

it's always so funny to me when arthur/uther says something like "i don't believe this, it's just a silly tale" when merlin/gaius warns them about some legend because like. my guy. YOU LIVE IN A LAND OF MYTH AND A TIME OF MAGIC.

[dryadalisliv]

I think it would be insanely funny if after Arthur’s death everyone returns back in time to the place they were the day Merlin arrived in Camelot. But like, everyone thinks they are the only ones who has returned. We see it all from Merlin’s pov, who’s traumatised and wondering why the fuck Arthur is so much sweeter to him this time around and keeps saying ‘thank you’. He wonders why Lancelot shows up earlier, why all of a sudden Gwaine is there three years too early, saying he got hurt in a tavern bawl and needs a physician. He wonders why Leon keeps pretending like he didn’t just accidentally see Merlin do magic. Why Gwen keeps giving him these knowing looks. And why Morgana doesn’t seem as afraid as she used to when she was figuring out that she had magic. Everyone is trying their best to change history for the better, thinking they are alone with this duty... and then one day when uther is dead and they are sitting around the round table, merlin steps forward and is like: ‘I need to confess that I have magic, but also that I have returned from the future.’ And everyone just whips around and is like ‘YOU TOO??!’ And then they realise that they’ve all returned and wasted their time thinking they were alone.

[theroundbartable]

I kinda want an episode where Uther realises how useful Merlin is as a spy and just uses him to spy on royal guests.

The poisoned chalice episode and then later the whole thing with the Dark Knight proved to Uther that Merlin is trust worthy, so he approaches Merlin and offers him that job.

Merlin: okay ... That actually works well for me, but I have one condition

Uther: Let me guess, you want more money

Merlin: no. You can't use me to spy on Arthur. He trusts me and I'm not going to abuse that trust.

Uther: ... What would Arthur have to hide from me?

Merlin: that's not the point. I want Arthur to be able to tell me if he like, wants to vent about a royal he's annoyed with without me having to tell you that he's annoyed by them. Or if YOU annoy him.

Uther: do I do that?

Merlin: no comment, but let me tell you something about that: any child is annoyed by their parents sometimes.

Uther: hmm ... Okay, I think I see your point. You're awfully loyal to him

Merlin: he's my friend.

Uther: I see... And that's your only condition?

Merlin: yes actually.

Uther: It's going to be interesting to work with you

Merlin: yeah, also wildly ironic

Uther: what?

Merlin: i said mildly iconic

[the-king-and-the-druidess]

I know that this topic was beaten to death, but why is there that idea that it was a false Ygraine in Sins of the fathers at all?

Uther and Gaius are afraid that Arthur finds out the truth they know:

Gaius: You think that Morgause knows the true circumstances to Arthur's birth?

Uther: I fear that more than anything

Later Gaius doesn't deny Merlin's words — "He sacrificed Arthur's mother! He as good as murdered her!" Merlin believes in Ygraine, he only speaks about the illusion to stop Arthur from killing.

Gaius: I feared what Arthur would do if he ever found out

Ygraine says "Do not let this knowledge change you"; Morgause accuses Uther but she doesn't encourage Arthur for killing him. She expected that he would change his heart about his father, challenge his attitudes(and he did with his words of "He executes those who use magic, and yet he has used it himself") maybe even overthrow him, but she couldn't know that Arthur would go straight for killing. She didn't know him.

Nimueh and Uther's exchange in Excalibur doesn't contradict anything Ygraine said. The only thing I can suspect Morgause in is that she closed the Door when Ygraine started pacifying Arthur with peaceful words such as her "do not let it change you" etc. Maybe Morgause shouldn't, because it would prevent Arthur's rage and give him a time to think, but she couldn't know.

If Uther had apologised and told the truth, said that he did not know that Ygraine was at risk, then Arthur would have forgiven him or at least stopped his attempts. But Uther chose to lie. And alas, Merlin did too, and this cast a shadow on Arthur as well: he was in agreement, not in a sincerely devoted one but still, with his father's cruel orders for a long time, all he could come up with was some "trial" for magickfolk (a trial under these laws? he will continue bring this idea of trial for the next eight years) but when he found out that the whole anti magic issue affected him and his mother personally, he immediately opposed it. But after that, when he believed again in Uther's and Merlin's lie he retreated from all the other victims of The Law who turned out to be (just) the argument in his "you are nothing but a hypocrite and a liar!" speech.

[clearancecreedwatersurvival]

Cannot overemphasize how insane it makes me that we only got King Arthur being King Arthur on the King Arthur show for 1.5 seasons out of 5.

Uther Pendragon you huge bitch why didn’t you die sooner.

[emrysmoss]

[xgermankittycatx--commsopen]

uther doesn't approve of bottom!arthur, but nevermind the relationship with his manservant

[ALSO, thank you guys so much for all the love in the last merlin meme redraw, i really didn't think it would get that much attention!! :00 so thankyaa <3 you're amazing]

i'm so glad my parents don't follow me on tumblr