#like. morgana's 'uther taught me well'

[camelotsheart]

arthur and morgana telling each other that they're not as different from uther as they'd like to think is such a raw 'i can stab you where it hurts' moment because they're calling each other out on the affection they had for someone who had mostly caused them harm throughout their childhood and adult life. they're calling out their inability to let go of a twisted love that had shaped them into the person they are, no matter how much they tried to stop uther from carving them in his image

[leopeiros]

Merlin, but Voltron

Both my Merlin and Voltron fixations returned simultaneously, so what better way to feed them than to detail out an entire Voltron au for Merlin. (BBC Merlin)

Main Roles

Protagonists

Firstly, Merlin and Gaius are taking the role of Allura and Coran respectively. Balinor, therefore, takes the place of King Alfor.

Arthur takes the place of Shiro as paladin of the Black Lion.

Gwaine swaps with Keith, piloting the Red Lion.

Lancelot becomes the pilot of the Blue Lion. (this one made me giggle a bit)

Leon, Elyan, and Percival, unfortunately for all those who enjoy them, are getting sidelined at the current moment. Mostly because there's three of them and only two lions to juggle between them, and I can't accurately assess their characters well enough to chose who would get which. (jokingly, i considered making them the mice)

The Green Lion instead goes to our lovely lady Morgana.

Meaning the Yellow Lion goes to Gwen, the most rational person now in space.

Antagonists

This gets a little more.. vague, than I'd prefer, mostly because the antagonists of the BBC Merlin series are a tad more spread out than a single race or kingdom/empire. Therefore, while Zarkon is still the predominant threat of the au, his generals and whatnot will be antagonists recognizable from BBC Merlin.

Backstories

Merlin

Merlin was the illegitimate, and only, child of King Balinor. He was recognized into the family the moment his father learned of his existence. Merlin was born with the same incredible talent for manipulating and controlling quintessence as his father. But with his father busy most of the time, he was mostly taught to control these powers by one of his father's most trusted advisors; Gaius. When the war began, Balinor put Merlin in stasis against his will to keep him safe before scattering the Lions across space.

Arthur

Arthur grew up with his mother and father. His father, Uther, was the primary benefactor of the Galaxy Garrison location that Arthur attends. His mother, meanwhile, was a talented pilot before she and her crew went missing during a space mission gone awry. After this incident, Uther pulled his funding near-immediately, and was the main reason behind the coverup, having pushed for the Garrison to look as little into the disappearance as possible and to instead mark it as pilot error. Arthur, snooping inside of his father's study one day, discovered this tidbit of information. Wanting to figure out the reason behind his mother's disappearance, he enrolled in the Galaxy Garrison behind his father's back.

Guinevere 

Gwen began attending the Galaxy Garrison after her brother, Elyan, went missing on a mission to space. She had suspicions that the Garrison was involved in covering up what truly occurred, or at least willfully conducted a shoddy investigation. She enlisted the help of her childhood friend, Morgana, to help her investigate.

Morgana, Gwaine, & Lancelot

Ward of Uther Pendragon, Morgana began investigating both the man and the Garrison at the request of her childhood friend, Guinevere.

Regarding Gwaine and Lancelot, I have no real backstory for them yet, considering I'm making this up as I go at an ungodly time of night. Might try and figure out something for them later, but no promises on that front.

Miscellaneous Info

Morgana's mother, Vivienne, is Altean. She was not on Altea when it was destroyed. She was initially captured by Galra soldiers, but one took a liking to her and hid her away. When they were close to being found out, her Galra lover put her into stasis to hopefully be freed when the war was over. He then died creating a diversion away from where she was hidden. Unbeknownst to both of them, she was pregnant when she was put into stasis. Bla bla, Morgause is born. Morgause is taken in by Haggar as she shows great potential. Vivienne later flees and crash lands on earth where she meets Uther Pendragon after disguising herself as human. Affair occurs, Vivienne gets pregnant with Morgana. After Morgana is born, Vivienne admits to Uther that she isn't human, and Uther doesn't take it well. He hands her over to the Galaxy Garrison for research purposes, but does not reveal that he had a child with her. She probably dies while with the Garrison, idk.

Mordred will probably be an Altean/Galra hybrid as well.

Ygraine and Elyan (and possibly Leon and Percival) were part of this AU's version of the Kerberos mission. Ygraine does not survive this, but Elyan does. (Or, alternatively, she does survive, and a few chapters later sacrifices herself for her son or something, as things like this tend to go.)

Aithusa has two potential applications in this AU. Either an A.I/Robot like Pidge's Galra drone, or an actual creature. Either option works. Either way, Aithusa's favourite of the bunch is obviously Morgana. No clue what to do about Kilgharrah though.

In the end, this AU is just a funny little idea I had, generally inspired by A Casual Tuesday - Spagoleon - Voltron: Legendary Defender [Archive of Our Own] which is a DRv3 Voltron AU. It's far more fleshed out than this fledgling au though.

[scionofguineverependragon]

for some reason i can’t find my morgana post anymore so it might’ve gotten deleted…idk how to tumblr…but since i had the text saved imma repost it 🤷🏾

ok so i saw the "morgana never turned evil, morgause did to her what morgana did to gwen" theory again and i just felt like laying down my thoughts on this

like, i understand i really do (once upon a time i wanted this too). but i dislike this theory be it is a thing used to victimise morgana and absolve her of her wrongdoings, especially towards gwen.

morgana's treatment of gwen is so cruel that people want to find a reason to excuse her of it. but morgana is a big girl, she knew what she was doing; which was apparent in the stuff she said. eg. "evil" gwen says she never loved arthur that it was all a trick, when there's evidence of the contrary because she is brainwashed asf. morgana when confronted with "i thought we were friends" says "so did i", and "you were so kind what happened" says "i grew up" that shows that she KNOWS herself and the choices she made. she confronts merlin in the hand he played in hurting her. she says "uther taught me well", she never denies her past. she is not magically brainwashed, she is a woman who got hurt and decided to turn against everyone, even those who cherished her. she decided to not care who she hurt to acces the power she deemed was right fully hers. those are her choices.

it can also feel like a disservice to morgana bc she has always made her own choices and stood by it since s1. while living under tyrannical uther, unlike many others, morgana always felt like she could talk back to him and she did.

saying that morgana for three seasons until her deadly end was not herself—when truly apart from a moral change, she sure spoke like the outspoken morgana with strong opinions and a sense of self-justice she always was—is doing her a disservice.

[the-king-and-the-druidess]

AU: Lady of the Mists. Uther put up with Ygraine's death, and the Purge never happened. Lady Nimueh remained in Camelot as a Court Sorceress. She replaced Arthur's mother, and often his Father when he was losing himself in the memories of his lost love. Nimueh reared Arthur, taught him, helped him to respect the good force of magic and its immutable laws; she loved him because he had Ygraine's the most blue of eyes. But when he turned seven, she suddenly left the Castle for the first time for a long time.

"Aunt Nimueh, I missed you so much!" Arthur hugged her when she arrived, her azure cloak smelling of night dew. "Where have you been? Why did you leave me?"

Nimueh smiled gently at the boy, "There is someone else that I have to take care of, my Prince."

"What?.." Arthur was already jealous of this person.

"There is a girl that was brought on the Island of the Blessed, my old home. I help her with her magic and visions. She's very nice, her name is Morgana. You'd love her."

Little Arthur didn't like either that name or the fact that he had to share Aunt Nimueh with some slip of a girl on some unknown island. He was sure this girl must be bad.

As the years passed, Arthur grew older, Nimueh's absences became longer. But when she returned to Camelot, she always dumped Arthur with stories about that Morgana, about how beautiful, smart, brave, strong and cheerful she was. He thought his Aunt Nimueh probably seemed to be setting this stranger up as an example to him. Arthur couldn't stand, perhaps hated the very name of this Morgana. He often thought if she loves the things he loves: horses, shining swords, lute music, pranks and her father. If she has one, of course. Plus, do the priestesses girls ever have fun?.

A few more years passed, and the year of his crowning as crown prince came. His father held a great feast; all the nobility and knightdom of Albion gathered to celebrate. Arthur enjoyed the attention and love of the court, but something was missing. The only mother he knew. And suddenly Nimueh entered the grand hall, followed by a lovely young woman in mist-coloured silks.

"My dear boy, let me introduce you to my pupil, Lady Morgana, daughter of Sir Gorlois."

So this was the Morgana? The annoying bane of his childhood he never met but knew so well? Arthur was fascinated by the beauty of her green deep eyes, and decided to put aside his prejudices and be a gallant knight. Maybe he was wrong and Morgana was good after all, if Aunt Nimueh loved her. He definitely was wrong about her. He was foolish, childish. The next day at the festive tournament, Arthur handed Morgana a triumphal wreath on his spear, wanting to appoint her queen of the tournament and escorting her to the next feast and dancing but she, with an elegant and teasing smirk, arranged everything so that the wreath fell into the hands of Guinevere, her maid.

Arthur had never been rejected before. He got angry, and blushed, and was offended and head over heels. And so the battle of love and rivalry has begun. Nimueh looked at them and smiled, she just knew her brilliant children would love each other, for it has been foretold long before they were born.

[theroundbartable]

I don't like the Lamia episode.

Well, I mean, I absolutely love competent Merlin with being a court physician (finally) but the Lamia ruins so many things for me.

I know a lot of people like to joke that Merlin is ace/nonbinary/ gay when Gwen asks him why the Lamia has no effect on him. As funny as that is, it doesn't fit the narrative.

You know what? If this argument is about the affect of her magic, then there should have been women in that village whom the Lamia attacked. Lesbian women. Then, in my fandom clouded brain, GWEN should have been affected by the Lamia's magic. And Leon should NOT have been.

It doesn't make sense that she only ate men because they are "stronger". This episode has Gwen in it, who has fought in the battle of ealdor! And of course, the show features Morgause and Morgana as skilled sword fighters. Why would they go back on that narrative in this episode? Because they are villagers? Men villagers are worth anything but village women aren't? Again, battle of ealdor episode taught us that that's not the case!!!

I hate this episode entirely out of spite because it doesn't match with how I see the rest of the show. (And it ruins my headcanons... And yes... ships)

So, here is how I get by that episode and turn the facts in my favor:

It's the Lamia's taste. She likes men better than anything else. Purely based on taste. Not sexuality, she EATS people. She could, technically, affect anyone but doesn't because she's a picky eater. That's why her magic works on Leon (whom I hc as aro/ace) because it's a magical condition. Uther managed to love a troll due to magic, I find this absolutely reasonable.

And since Merlin is a magical creature, as the show suggests, she doesn't dare touch him/ can't affect him.

I rest my case.

[caniruineverything]

i get by with a little help from my friends

ft. merthur and a bit of whump/angst (and a teensy bit of morgwen)

Summary: Merlin doesn't understand why Arthur's acting weird, but when Uther takes it too far with his words one day, Merlin realizes why.

"Mer-lin!" At the sound of his name, the warlock spun around, only to be met with an irate Arthur slamming the door behind him as he walked in. And he had been in such a great mood earlier, he thought to himself.

"Yes, sire?" If he put a bit more ire in the greeting than normal, well that was between him and the long list of chores he was sure was heading his way.

"Have you really been cleaning this whole time?" The question was rhetorical, but Merlin answered anyway, foolishly.

"Yes, sire. Your room is quite messy. Really, it's a shame no one ever taught you how to clean up after yourself." And, well, on any other day, the jab wouldn't have been of any importance, but that day, Arthur was in quite the mood.

"Well, it's a shame no one taught you how to speak to your Prince. Leave, I don't want to see your stupid face." The words caused something in Merlin to shrivel up, despite his attempts to stop it. He'd thought he and Arthur had been getting closer. He'd apparently thought wrong.

He left, moving away from the room and the unreasonable prince as fast as he could. As he exited the palace, he realized Arthur had not given him anything else to do. Part of him wondered if that had been purposeful, but he quickly dismissed the thought. After that display, it was clear the prince had no intention of being generous.

With nothing else to do he walked home to see if there was anything Gaius needed him to do. The old man answered that he did not, in fact, have anything that needed to be done. Instead, he suggested Merlin go help out Gwen or the knights. Deciding this was both a good idea and a way to pass time, which moved slowly when he was away from Arthur, Merlin left to go do just that.

As he approached the palace steps, mentally making a list of the places Gwen was most likely to be found-he knew from experience that it was very difficult to find people in the palace-when a voice called from somewhere to his left.

"Merlin? I thought Arthur dismissed you."

"Gwen!" He couldn't help it, a grin broke out on his face at the sight of his friend, a sweet but slightly confused smile gracing her lips. "Just the person I was looking for!" At her questioning glance, he elaborated. "Yeah, the clotpole did let me out early, not sure why, so I wanted to see if you needed any help." He paused, and she took her cue to respond.

""Oh! Thanks." At this, Gwen smiled kindly and continued, "Nope! Morgana let me out early too, said something about the nice weather." Merlin smiled, knowing Morgana too was weak for Gwen's smile, just in a different way than he.

"That's kind of her. Well, if you need anything, you know where to find me!" She grinned back, seeing his smiling face, and continued on to her house. He stood there, once again with nothing to do. Should he check on Arthur again?

The urge to both see the prince and make sure he was okay was not something one should feel for their employer, let alone their prince and their friend, but, well, he had taken one look at the prince when the latter had been consoling a woman looking after her ailing son and fallen head over heels. Yes, that prat could be such a cabbage head, but he could also be caring, and brave, and kind. And handsome, that little voice in the back of his head spoke up, but he banished it with a quick not the time.

So yes, he did want to check on Arthur. But at the same time, what Arthur had said has hurt. Merlin worked hard because Arthur expected nothing less, and it still wasn't enough.

But Arthur was a prince, and he was Uther's son, so it was almost to be expected. Almost, because even though it was explainable did not mean that it hurt any less.

He decided against reentering the paper in search of a prince who clearly didn't want him there, and returned home. At Gaius's raised eyebrow, he just said Gwen hadn't needed any help, and walked into his room. And no, he definitely hadn't closed the door more forcefully than normal.

He used his free time to read through the book on magic Gaius had given him. Sitting under his thin blanked with aagically conjured light to see by, he could almost forget about Arthur and his behavior. Almost.

Merlin blinked awake blearily, light glaring in through the window. He brushed a fallen lock of hair out of his face, then sat up. As he did so, he both heard and felt paper rustle, and looked down. He had apparently been using the magic book as a pillow, and there were a few drool stains on one of the pages. He quickly magicked away the stains and returned the book it it's hiding place, then turned to his clothing to get ready for the day. Now, to wear the red or blue neckerchief. . ?

He made it almost to the palace steps before he remembered. Arthur. He had been in such a foul mood the other day, and with a prince with anger management issues and a tendency to bottle things up, Merlin did not know what to expect.

When he had gathered up the courage to walk to Arthur's room, he was greeted with the sight of the blonde glaring at him, picking at the good in front of him.

"You're late," were the first words out of the prince's mouth. "I had to get woken up and delivered breakfast by George." His distaste was clear, and on another day, Merlin might have laughed. Not that day, though, when he was already feeling the sting from the careless words.

"Oh, poor you." It was almost hilarious how obvious the double take Arthur was trying to hide was, as he had clearly been expecting sympathy, but Merlin was not in the mood. "You should be happy, you had a servant who didn't talk back."

"Well, Merlin, you should be happy. I have a long list of chores headed your way, just for being late." Merlin sighed. Why him? Why did he have to bother with the unreasonable man who happened to be both his employer and the prince of Camelot?

"Yaaaaayyy. . ."

"That's the spirit! Now, you'd better get started or you won't finish by tonight, and we can't have that." By Arthur's tone, Merlin could tell he was implying something important, and though he really didn't want to, he gave into the blonde's ploy to get him to ask.

"What do you mean by that? What's happening tonight?"

"Oh, did no one tell you?" God, the nerve of this man. "Father's having a feast in honor of the new alliance. And yes, before you ask, you do have to be there." Damn, how had he known that was what Merlin was going to ask before the latter even opened his mouth? "Because, idiot, you ask that every time. Of course I knew." Okay, now Merlin was slightly freaked out.

"Did I say that out loud, or did you somehow acquire mind reading skills?"

"I could read it on your dumb, expressive face. You didn't need to say it, and I don't need to read your mind to know what you were going to say." Arthur scoffed at Merlin's confused face and ordered him to get to work before he wasted the day trying to understand a simple sentence.

All day, Merlin simultaneously carried out his chores, fuming at Arthur and his pompousness, and ran their earlier conversation through his head, trying to make sense of it. And make sense he did. It was no secret that they two were developing a strong bond, but he hadn't realized how strong it was, if the prince was able to deduce what Merlin was going to say before he said it.

But of course their 'strong bond' wasn't enough to keep them from bickering like a dysfunctional couple. Resigned to his foul mood, and with no intent to forgive the prince any time soon, he got to work on the long list of chores Arthur had handed him.

By the end of the day, Merlin had somehow managed to get everything in Arthur's ridiculously long list done. Well, not somehow, he may have used a bit-just a bit!-of magic to help. The list was otherwise way too long for him to finish by midnight, much less in time for the feast. The only good part about any of it was that he got the satisfaction of seeing Arthur's shocked face when he realized Merlin had actually been able to complete the list. Well, he had also been given a bit of the food for the feast to taste test (impeccable as always), which had been nice.

His last task was to help the prince prepare for the feast. Bathing him, dressing him, and just making him look like the prince he was. If Merlin was honest, there were a few things he liked about feasts.

For one, there was the fact that he was allowed to eat some of the leftover food, which was even better than the food the kitchen normally prepared. There was also the fact that Arthur looked even more presentable than he usually did, and while Merlin thought the prince looked handsome in anything, it was nice to see him get dressed up a bit. And the feast provided something to make the evening a bit more entertaining, which was something, at least.

By the time he was done getting Arthur ready, it was time for the feast. Merlin looked over the prince one more time to see if he was ready, and he was. But Merlin also noticed that Arthur seemed a bit more nervous than he usually did for a feast. Was it that this was celebrating an alliance and he didn't want to do anything to put that in danger?

Merlin wanted to ask, he wanted to make sure his friend was okay, but before he could, Arthur spoke.

"Well, Merlin, are you ready?"

"Wh-what? Why are you asking me if I'm ready? You're the one who needs to be ready, not me."

"Well, yes, that is true. But you know if I'm ready or not, and you're not ready until I am. I'll ask you again. Are you ready?"

"Yes, sire." For once, Merlin's voice was completely free of any sarcasm or mocking. He sensed that Arthur was nervous and he didn't want to make things worse.

"Alright then. Lets go."

The feast was a typical feast, all things considered. There was good food and wine, a few performers, and speeches from Uther and the allied kingdom. Arthur did not give a speech that night, which Merlin did not find particularly odd, as not every feast required a speech from the prince.

Though Merlin did notice that Arthur was more tense than normal, he figured it was just the blonde worrying about how the guests would find the feast. What he did not notice, however, was the way Arthur's eyes kept darting to his father, and the way Uther was nearly glaring at his son.

There was one slight hiccup during the whole thing, which was, in Merlin's opinion, not bad at all. One of the servants, a tall skinny boy with brown hair, spilled wine on Uther. In the boy's defense, it was not much, and Utter had bumped into him slightly, but that did nothing to quiet the king's rage.

But before Uther could say or do anything, Arthur leaned over and whispered something to his father. This calmed the older man down only slightly, and now his rage seemed directed at Arthur. Nothing happened however, except that Arthur apparently dismissed the servant, as the boy scurried away as quickly as he could.

If Merlin had paid a tiny bit more attention to the king and his son, he would have noticed how Uther's anger remained, and how Arthur was clearly masking his fear.

But he didn't, so he paid no notice as, when they were walking back after the feast, Arthur was silent. Merlin figured that he was simply tired, as a feast would tire anyone out, especially someone who was as involved as Arthur.

When they got back to the prince's chambers, Arthur dismissed Merlin as soon as the latter had finished getting Arthur ready for bed. Merlin once again figured he was simply tired, although he did begin to suspect something was up with the prince.

Hey, he wasn't stupid, not by a longshot, but he hadn't really seen anything that would make him worry. His whole job was to protect the prince, whether Arthur knew it or not. He would never purposefully do anything to put his friend in danger, and not just because it was his job.

That night however, he did remember Uther's angry glare at his son, and the way Arthur curled in on himself infinitesimally. Unfortunately, he fell asleep before he could think any more about it, and by the time he woke up in the morning, he had almost completely forgotten it.

The beginning of the morning the next day was pretty predictable. He woke up, got dressed, ate a hurried breakfast, and left to go wake up the prince.

When he got to the prince's room, however, breakfast in hand, he discovered that Arthur was already awake and dressed. Merlin set the food down on the table and looked the prince over.

"Wow, sire, you managed to put on your shirt correctly, nice job. However the back of your shirt is not quite tucked in. Here, let me get it." But when he reached over to help fix the shirt, Arthur batted his hand away.

"It's fine. I can do it myself. Thank you for telling me." This was very odd. When had the prince ever woken up and gotten dressed before Merlin arrived in the past?

Actually, he could remember a few times, and it was always odd. He was not usually able to get everything on right, either. Also, why had he not let Merlin help him? That was certainly unusual.

The rest of the day was relatively normal. They went on a hunt with the knights, as Uther had ordered Arthur to capture an assassin who had killed a few villagers overnight, for an unknown reason. It was nice to get back into the woods, and Arthur seemed happier because of it, joking around with Merlin and the knights in a way he hadn't in the last couple days.

The hunt, despite Arthur's best efforts, was unsuccessful, and they did not manage to capture the assassin. The hooded man escaped, after a fight that ended with Elyan slightly injured, and the entire party disheartened.

After a short visit with Gaius, Elyan was fine, and Arthur and Merlin headed back to the palace. Arthur was acting odd, not talking much, and when he did, he was very short with Merlin. Merlin opted for silence instead while he took Arthur's chainmail off.

"I have a meeting with my father to discuss my failure in apprehending the assassin. You are free to leave. Enjoy your afternoon." It was phrased so oddly. To discuss my failure. Was that really all Uther wanted to talk about? Arthur had accomplished a great many things, and yet Uther seemed only interested in the few failures. He really did expect his son to be perfect.

Arthur left, and though he had been dismissed, he did not have anything he needed to do, so he decided to stay and tidy up the room a bit. While he was in the middle of cleaning the fireplace, his magic suddenly became alert. The hairs on the back of his neck rose, and he became convinced something was wrong.

He didn't do anything about it, as he didn't even know what was wrong. He waited it out, and it dissipated slightly. There were a few more times during his cleaning that he felt it rise up, and then it began to rise steadily until the door creaked open.

Merlin looked up, and his heart seized in his chest. Arthur walked in, tears dripping down his face, and bruises on his face.

"Oh, Arthur, what happened?”

"Merlin?!? Why are you still here? I dismissed you." Though he sounded angry, the tears hitting the floor said otherwise, and his face did not show any anger.

"I, uh, wanted to do some cleaning. Seriously, what happened?"

"Nothing, Merlin, please just leave." It must have been serious if the prince was using please.

"No, Arthur." Merlin stood steadfastly in front of the crying prince. "You're my friend, and you're hurting. I want to help. What happened?"

"Nothing. My father just-he just got angry. That's it."

"Arthur. That is not it. You are crying. Please tell me what's wrong. It hurts to see you hurting."

"Fine!" More tears dripped down his face, and he looked up angrily. "He was angry that the hunt failed, and he yelled at me. When I told him I'd done the best I could, he just said that. . ." The prince trailed off, clearly very pained.

"Arthur. What did he say?" It was becoming hard for Merlin to just stand there and not go off to kill, or at least maim, Uther.

"He told me," Arthur sobbed harder, "he told me that Ygraine died for me, and I was wasting her death by just existing." The blonde broke down, sobbing loudly, not caring who heard him, and Merlin's heart broke. How could anyone say that to someone, let alone their own son?

"No, no. Arthur, you are a wonderful person, and your mother would be so proud of you for everything you've done. Uther doesn't deserve you, he never has, okay?"

"No, I'm useless! I can't do anything right! The feast, the hunt, and now I can't even take a lecture. Just leave, I'm not worth it."

"Never say that. Never. I love you because you are kind, because you always strive to do the right thing, even when it is harder. You saved that boy from getting flogged. You tried to catch the assassin, and the only reason you didn't is because you were protecting your friends. Uther is wrong. You are not useless. I love having you in my life, I'm grateful for it every day, and I know Gwen, Morgana, and the knights are too. You're amazing, Arthur."

That was the first time Merlin had gotten to voice his thoughts on Arthur in a long time, and it felt nice, even though it was brought on by Uther being an asshole.

"Do you mean that?" Merlin's heart broke impossibly further by Arthur's unsure tone.

"Of course I do! We're all incredibly lucky to have you around." Arthur just cried harder, stilling when Merlin wrapped his arms around the prince, sensing the blonde might need a hug.

When the prince sank into it, he realized that Arthur likely didn't get many, if any, hugs.

"Are you injured?" The prince was silent, and Merlin's heart rate skyrocketed.

"What?!?"

"He just slapped me a few times, and I have a few bruises. It's not that bad." This prince. Now Merlin was beyond pissed. He had assumed Arthur's face was red from crying, but now there was a handprint visible. That was why Arthur had dressed himself! He hadn't wanted Merlin to see the bruises.

"Are you alright?"

"I will be," was the quiet response.

"Take all the time you need. I need to go hunt down a king"

"Merlin, please don't. He is still my father."

"Fine. For you." They were silent for a few moments while Arthur composed himself and Merlin thought up ways to creatively harm Uther, not that he would actually carry them out. After a few minutes, Arthur's soft voice broke through his thoughts.

"You. . . love me?"

"I-What?" He thought back over what he had said, and blushed hard. Damn it, he had confessed to Arthur!

"I'm so sorry! I mean yes, I do, but I didn't mean to tell you. You can fire me, you'll never have to see me again, I'll-" He was speaking really quickly now, trying to apologize and reassure the prince.

"Merlin! Listen to me! I, uh, love you too. So please, don't leave. Ever." No way. No. Way.

"You-you love me too?"

"Of course I do. You're Merlin, how could I not?"

"What does that mean?"

"That it was inevitable that I'd fall for you, you clumsy oaf." Of course Arthur would compliment someone and then insult them, all in a declaration of life. Oh my god, he loves me!

"Hey! Thanks?"

"Now get over here." What? Why? Then, his silent questions were answered as Arthur kissed him. Their lips moved together as though they were made for this, and Merlin wondered if they had been. Two sides of the same coin. How had he not realized how romantic that sounded?

When they broke away, breathing hard, Merlin pulled Arthur in for another hug, sensing how touch-starved he was. The prince melted impossibly more into Merlin than before.

"You don't need him. You have me, you have Morgana, you have Gwen, and you have the knights. You have people who love and care about you. You don't need him."

"I. . . don't need him. Okay. I don't need him!" Arthur sounded as though he had been freed from prison, and in a way, he had. As Arthur stood up and got ready for bed, tired from crying and professing love, Merlin realized that as long as they had each other, and their friends, they would be okay.

[tiodolma]

I've always thought the prophecy was about both striking a balance. Merlin was meant to keep Morgana in check and Morgana was meant to keep Merlin in check.

Me too. Even Alice Troughton in the dvd commentary with Colin Morgan for s4 admitted that love/hate were always coexisted with each other.

Morgana certainly had the power and the invincibility for it, to keep Merlin in check, to draw him out, to make him face his dark and human side, to make him face his wrongs his sins and his victories.

Unfortunately Morgana didn't have the information he had. Merlin had all the information and he used that against everyone. Moreover her magic matured too late (with respect to Merlin's).

I think the real tragedy of Merlin's life was that he was already conditioned to kill from the very start (ep 1x06 Remedy To Cure All Ills ironic title ngl). That episode alone started it all. He was so so new and naive to everything and in that episode he showed absolutely no remorse at "accidentally" killing someone who offered him guidance and knowledge (at the expense of gaius).

And look I get it, he panicked. But after that he never wondered why Edwin was so so righteously angry at Gaius. Remember, Gaius sold Edwin's parents out to Uther and let young Edwin escape. Edwin's gravitas was so justified, you know? Merlin never tried to learn about the things Gaius did to protect "others" and most importantly to protect himself and his position. Even if Gaius thought black magic was evil, he still threw others under the bus for fighting for their lives. He still left Edwin (and Merlin) an orphan.

How does this relate with Morgana? You see from that point on, from episode 1x06 up to "2x03 The Nightmare Begins" Merlin has already killed at least seven people, most of them magic users.

Edwin,

Mary Collins (indirectly but him thwarting her plan zapped her of all energy),

Aulfric,

Sophia,

The Black Knight (who had a reason for it's anger),

Tauren's goons,

Nimueh

Sigan

Hengrist's goon's

plus he almost choose to get Mordred killed... 2 times.

He knew the reasons most of these had, but they didn't matter to him, he was never allowed to properly emphathise with them (Gaius taught him very very very well). Because his orders were always to "eliminate the threat" "kill them" for the sake of his destiny.

As Morgana's magic truly manifested in S2, Merlin was already too far gone and too far deep in the liar and vigilante game. Merlin was continuously performing treasonous and unlawful tasks UNCHECKED for two years! TWO YEARS!

TWO YEARS OF "JUSTIFIED IN HIS OWN HEAD" HOMICIDE AND MURDER WITH NO REAL REPERCUSSIONS.

And also I get why they had resorted to that kind of actions. One of the definitions of extremism from wikipedia said:

In addition, extreme acts are more likely to be employed by marginalized people and groups who view more normative forms of conflict engagement as blocked for them or biased.

That kind of radicalization and extremist training by both Gaius and Kilgharrah was effective as hell.

Morgana only started the proper coups at around mid-s2. She hasn't truly killed anyone for magic yet (aside from Tauren in S1). Even in Fires of Idirsholas she felt guilty of accidentally collaborating with Morgause.

It took 1 year of isolated training away from everyone for Morgana to be fully radicalized, forged in the fires of extremism herself. Even then, even in 3x01 and 3.02 when she killed one guard and she actively helped set in motion Morgause's terrorist attack, she still was willing to hear Merlin out in the crypts. She even laid out all her cards, showed her strengths and vulnerabilities for him to see and judge. Morgana still choose to be diplomatic despite it all.

What Morgana didn't know was that she wasn't dealing with a proper negotiator, she was dealing with a vigilante and secret agent who has three years worth of (1)all the vital information, (2)unchallenged power, (3)unchecked morals, (4)numerous kills, (5)experience in deception and (6)extremist conditioning. And the worse part was that the person who she thought was her friend, Merlin, even with everything he had, genuinely believed he had nothing to offer in exchange for her peace.

I think that's the tragedy of it.

With her truly coming into her full power only at s4, Morgana was too late to have a chance to inspire change in Merlin as a proper equal to him. Merlin has been in that overpowered and unchallenged state for 5 years at most. And by the time Morgana had become truly confident in s4, both of them had gone in the farthest ends of the extremes of their idealogies.

Merlin knew everything about her. But Morgana lacked the most important piece of information, the identity of Emrys.

No one could keep Merlin in check in the proper diplomatic manner anymore.

They have to come to arms.

[veryhappyunbirthdaytoyoutoy-blog]

OKAY, okay, I'm rewatching S2 episode 3 of Merlin, and I have FEELINGS about what happened, so I have to talk about it.

To give a quick recap, this is the episode in which Morgana's nightmares have gotten to the point where her magic begins to physically manifest, setting fire to her room and exploding of vase of flowers that Merlin had given to her. Merlin decides to help her (giving a nice big middle finger to both Gaius and Kilgarah, who were both VERY much in the wrong here) and tells her where to find the druids (she gets injured too, which happens because she left alone and walked through the forest at night with no armor, but that's neither here nor there). Well, Uther thinks she's been kidnapped, and when Merlin goes to find and warn Morgana, the hounds pick up his scent, and he accidentally leads the knights to the camp. The druids have to leave, many are killed, Uther is now SURE the druids kidnapped Morgana, and overall things go pretty Bad.

Okay.

First, I would like to note that, while I understand Morgana was very upset and scared when she started doing magic, had Merlin and Morgana put their heads together for one ( just one!!) evening before Morgana took off for the druids, they could have come up with a plausible excuse for Morgana to leave -- maybe going to help in one of the orphanages in the lower town, or going to buy a special kind of fabric, or something -- and Uther wouldn't have gone berserk and think she was kidnapped. Instead, she left the evening Merlin told her, no plan, no armor, no sword, no excuse, and without thinking of the consequences. Which, as everyone knows, did NOT turn out well, and cut her visit VERY short.

Which I'll come back to later.

While she was in the druid camp, there was a druid man that was helping her, explaining to her that magic was a gift and not something she had to be scared of. He also said something that I thought was important and basically led me to write this whole thing. He said that Morgana should pity Uther -- which, up until this point, is not something that Morgana has EVER been told -- because his hatred of magic had "driven goodness from his heart." The druid man made it clear that Morgana shouldn't hate or fear her magic but also, and don't miss this, told her that she shouldn't hate Uther, to pity him instead.

Now, the reason that this is so important is because hatred was a trap Morgana fell into MANY times. Feel free to argue this, but the way I see it, it was ultimately Morgana's hatred of Uther that led to her downfall* and caused her to become so cruel, caused her to turn to Morgause, and made her feel like she had to do all the horrible things she did.

So my second point is that, had Morgana spent a significant amount of time with the druids instead of being discovered and having to run, more than likely, Morgana would never have gone dark. Had Morgana got to cultivate her powers in a peaceful place that taught her to use her magic for good and to deal with her hurt and fear in a healthy manner, Morgana would have never felt it necessary to align herself with Morgause. Morgana was happy with the druids, she didn't even want to go back to Camelot (though she would have, if only to keep the druids safe), and she felt for the first time as if she belonged somewhere. Call it imprinting or whatever, but had she got to spend some more time with the druids, had she learned their peaceful ways, had she not had to watch them die because they were suspected of hurting her, she may not have grown so consumed with hatred. Remember, at this point, Morgana was still young, and had the druids been who influenced how she felt about, and used, her magic, it would go against everything the druids would have taught her to join up with Morgause and bring Camelot to its knees.

Anyway, I could keep on writing about this forever, but then again, this post is already WAY longer than I had intended... But basically, to sum it all up, most of the bad things that happened to Morgana throughout the rest of the show could have been stopped right here if only Merlin and Morgana had come up with a plausible excuse for Morgana to spend some uninterrupted time training with the druids. That's all.

Feel free to tell me what y'all think!! If you have a different opinion, I would love to hear it.

*Okay, so what led most directly to her downfall was actually being poisoned by Merlin, but that wouldn't have happened had she not resented Uther enough to turn to Morgause and become a threat to the kingdom (thus resulting in Merlin having to get desperate), so really it's still true.

[honestlyandrogynousnightmare]

Arthur in Sins of the father...

Fyi, prepare for grammatical errors because beta reading just isnt my thing..by that i mean im lazy but yknow

I have to say, this is probably one of my favourite episodes ever. Not only is it actually well written, its focused on Arthur and how much he misses his mother and Bradley did an incredible job in this episode. 

I like how Arthur centric it is. Most episodes do end up revolving around Merlin (well no shit sherlock the show is called merlin) but having this episode focus on Arthurs struggles is a nice change and gives us a better view into his character as well as gives us a glimpse of what Arthur would be like without his fathers brainwashing.

What this episode highlights more than anything is how much Arthur wants to meet his mother. All his life he has been told to obey his father and not trust sorcerers and then the moment a sorceress mentions that she knew his mother Arthur goes against both of those things just to meet her. It doesnt matter what lengths he has to go to, he still does everything he can for that one conversation and i think that shows just how much he wants that maternal figure in his life, even if its for a few seconds. In all honesty, i would say he’s pretty desperate by this point. His father never mentions his mother or anything about her so so he cant even paint a picture of her in his brain which just makes him want to meet her more. In those moments when hes going after Morgause, we kind of see a different side of him, because for once in his life he has a chance to learn something about his mother. And you just cant blame him for being so desperate at this point. We dont see much of this, but Arthur grew up without that love every other child experiences, not even from his own father. Someone in his position cant spare time for feelings, and that key ideology that his father drilled into his head remained there from childhood onwards. Having this one chance to know something about the person his mother was, isnt something he could let himself miss.

Another thing he is bound to be feeling is guilt. The first instance is being the cause of his mothers death. Before he found out about the magic thing, it wouldve been so easy to jump to the conclusion that his birth caused is mothers death as she died in childbirth (or as he was told). But after he was told that he was born of magic, i think that while part of him blamed his father for not reading the fine print on the contract (i dont know who came up with that joke, it for sure wasnt me), he still blamed himself because the creation of his life is what took his mothers life away. Not only that, but at the end of the episode when Merlin told him that the illusion was fake, its clear enough that he feels guilty for almost killing his damn father, trusting a sorceress in the first place and also disobeying  his father. 

And back onto the whole thing about Arthur being desperate, he trusted a random woman (and i repeat, a sorceress) about knowing his mother. Not only that but he fully believed the illusion. Idk this just makes me so sad because he had that little spark of hope, not only about meeting his mother but also believing that not all sorcerers are evil. He didnt question these things, he went straight into them, which to me just again shows how desperate and hopeful he was at that point. 

Obviously all of that was completely crushed when he attempted to murder his father and then merlin told him that it was all a lie butttt lets backtrack a little. 

What i love about this episode more than anything is that is shows us that Arthur isnt completely brainwashed (using that word again because synonyms requre effort) by his father, he doesnt hang on every word that is told to him by Uther and all it takes to convince him that his father is wrong is one illusion.Him fighting with Uther and, even for that short period of time, believing that magic isnt evil, gives us an insight into the person he is. Hes not a bad person. He may be naive and ignorant because of the way he was brought up but  if he was educated properly as a child then he wouldnt agree with his father so much. The question everyone always asks is what would happen if merlin hadnt stepped in? i think its fair to say that Arthur wouldnt hate magic so much and maybe the whole golden age of albion would actually happen, but arthur would be miserable. i think thats the main thing that pushed merlin to lie again, because by that point in the series its obvious that he doesnt fight for magic, he fights for arthur. Like yeah arthur saying that magic is evil at the end of the episode does clerly crush merlin but i dont think he would be able to live with Arthur being so miserable and guilt ridden over killing his father. Either way, this is about arthur and not merlin (though ill probably write a paragraph on that sooner or later) so let me pose you the final question (that i will also answer because im here to spread my unwanted opinions).

Is this entire episode pointless for arthurs character development  or not. 

when i first asked myself this question, the obvious answer was yes, because arthur went full circle. from hating sorcery to still hating it in the end. But what i later considered is that even if he went full circle, there was a journey he had to endure. If anything, he hates sorcery even more now simply because he first hand witnessed a sorceress “lie” to him for her own gain and to try to destroy the kingdom. All those things his father taught him about sorcery are essentially happening, and the fact that he was lied to about a sensitive subject like his mother, would just make the situation worse for him.

The thing about arthur and sorcery, is that he is never actually able to find his own stance on it. People manipulate him back and forth, whether thats Uther, agravane, morgana, morgause, random magical enemies of camelot who think starting war and conflict will make arthur hate sorcery less, everyone manipulates him and drags him into different directions. He never makes that opinion himself. Idrk, this isnt even relevant but im on a roll of pointing out sad things so whoohooo

So what is my point? If this hadn't happened, maybe Arthur would have an easier time making his own judgement and stance on magic, but of course its bbc merlin and we cant have happy endings.

Welp hope you enjoyed this rollercoaster of emotions, have a lovely evening ..or day?

Either way. As always. I blame uther

[immortallycelestial]

here’s how i think morgana finding out she had magic should have gone plus some merthur/morgwen

morgana was absolutely terrified when that candle suddenly lit in the middle of the night

she instantly ran to merlin’s chambers and broke down crying, saying she hated herself but didnt want uther to kill her

merlin being merlin made butterflies appear and dance around her to cheer her up

she was shocked at first but asked him to teach her

that was the first thing he taught her, at 1 in the morning

they began having lessons every week that gaius would come to and offer his expertise

eventually gwen came in and found them, but loved their magic and became a lookout

merlin taught morgana how to use her magic for good

although once she learned how to use it for practical jokes she never stopped

the castle was plagued with harmless pranks

they could never figure out who or how it happened

meanwhile morgana would be laughing in her head as merlin mentally scolded her

he did find it hilarious when she made arthur’s pants disappear during a banquet

one time they were out practicing by a huge cliff and merlin laughed so hard at her setting her eyebrows on fire he rolled right off

morgana was terrified he was dead but he just got back up with a broken ankle

thats when they figured out he couldnt die

she began to pull pranks that would be fatal to other people on him, which he never figures out because they never actually hurt him

one time gwen caught her putting poison on his brownies and was extremely concerned and scared until they explained the situation

as weird as it sounds it helped morgana keep her... *cough murderous urges cough* in check

when uther was killed by the assassin, morgana and merlin revealed their magic to arthur

he took a few days to get used to it, but soon after removed the magic ban

merlin became the official court sorcerer and morgana became his apprentice

around that time, morgana realised she was in love with gwen

they were sitting in a field practising magic with merlin when gwen laughed and morgana’s heart went ohfuckfuckfuck

after that her head was consumed with thoughts about her

finally after a month she has enough

it was dinner, and morgana, gwen, arthur, and the knights were eating together

gwen smiled at something elyan said and morgana’s heart thumped painfully

she couldnt take it and grabbed gwen, kissing her intensely

the knights of course cheered their heads off (especially elyan who had suffered many hours of gwen venting her love and was so done)

arthur just sat there with an open mouth

merlin rolled his eyes and took a long swig from his goblet

“took you long enough” he snorted

“like you can talk.” gwen retorted, cheeks flushed and beaming

“you and arthur have been dancing around each other for eight years!”

the knights were crying of laughter by now

leon looked like he had just aged ten years

merlin flushed deep red and arthur looked wildly between gwen and merlin

“so- wait- you-“ he stuttered

“you- you feel... the same?”

merlin rolled his eyes

“you cabbage head...” he muttered

then he grabbed arthurs shirt and pulled him into a kiss

literal fireworks exploded over their heads (courtesy of morgana, grinning like a maniac and holding gwens hand)

when merlin and arthur finally broke apart gasping with red cheeks, the knights cheered and tackled him

“THANK YOU MORGANA HOLY FUCK-” gwaine yelled

leon was banging his head on the table by now

the next day, morgana and gwen married

it was a small ceremony with just their close friends and family

arthur officiated it, stealing glances to merlin the entire time

mainly because he had borrowed one of arthur’s shirts and it was so low cut on him arthur couldnt focus

morgana just wore one of her dark purple gowns

gwen borrowed one from her fiancee that had never been worn and it fit her perfectly

it was light pink with white flowers embroidered on the bodice and a slight lace train

morgana could barely tear her eyes away from her bride and didnt even wait for arthur to finish saying “you may kiss the bride” before sweeping her up passionately

the audience of 7 cheered wildly

after the ceremony morgana came up to merlin

“thank you.” she said

“for what?” he asked

“for helping me. for teaching me all those years ago how to control my magic and use it for good. and for helping me control my... urges by - well, killing you.” she laughed

“anyways, without you, i wouldnt be here married to the love of my life. i wouls probably be dead or trying to kill everyone and take over camelot.”

merlin just grinned

“anytime, gana.” he said, and walked back to arthur.

[a-written-dream]

Chapters: 1/1

Words: 1,788

Fandom: Merlin (TV)

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Relationships: Merlin & Arthur Pendragon (Merlin)

Characters: Merlin (Merlin), Arthur Pendragon (Merlin)

Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Dystopia, Alternate Universe - Cyberpunk, Alternate Universe - Future, Gen or Pre-Slash, Rebellion, Arthur Knows About Merlin’s Magic (Merlin), Cybernetics, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Captivity, Identity Reveal, Evil Uther Pendragon (Merlin), Self-Doubt, Self-Hatred, pretty canon-typical though, POV Merlin (Merlin), The Merlin Melee Challenge 2021, Fights, Rebel Leader Arthur

Summary: Because they had been captured and suddenly Arthur was no longer just Arthur, he was Arthur Pendragon, son of everything they fought against.

Or: In a world years into the future, Merlin and Arthur fight against the tyranny of Uther Pendragon with an entire rebellion by their side. But Arthur hasn’t been entirely honest and even locked up in a cell Merlin can’t help the burning feelings of betrayal and anger. - For @merlin-fic-server’s Melee Challenge. Prompts: ‘I wish I’d told you’, punk, coin & Russian Violet

The metal is cold against Merlin’s back and against the skin of his wrists, even though he’s been pressed against it for the better part of an hour. He wonders briefly if it’s on purpose, if they keep the cell so cold to inflict more distress and discomfort. He wouldn’t be surprised if it was.

A florescent light flickers above their heads, and the only sound in the small space is their breaths bouncing off the walls. There are dents in the door from where Arthur tried to break it down, but even with his strength the door didn’t budge, and with the power-dampening cuffs around Merlin’s wrists, Merlin’s magic is all but useless. Arthur kept trying for a formidable amount of time, but when his hand gave off a sickening crunch of metal, he screamed in frustration and punched the wall for good measure before sinking down onto the floor.

Metal scraps still litter the floor around Arthur’s legs where he’s sitting in the corner now, a long time later, the fight all but drained out of him, head in his hands. The silence is heavy and thick and awkward, tense with Merlin’s anger and confusion, with Arthur’s guilt and anxiety.

“I wish I’d told you-“

Arthur’s voice is quiet and yet it seems to echo and boom within the metal box they’re locked into. It startles Merlin out of the apathetic calm he’d been lulled into by the silence. They’re waiting for their inevitable executions, and yet the sound of Arthur’s voice makes a white hot feeling of betrayal course through him.

“What,” he interrupts, “that you were leading a rebellion against your father? Believe me, Arthur, I wish you had too,” he snaps.

Because they had been captured and suddenly Arthur was no longer just Arthur, he was Arthur Pendragon, son of everything they fought against.

Arthur winces in his corner, running his hands through his hair. “No, I-“

Merlin doesn’t let him finish, too angry to keep the words bubbling to the surface down any longer. “How could you keep this from me? From all of us?” Merlin has been by Arthur’s side for years, fighting with him, protecting him, supporting him, and yet Arthur’s kept something as monumental as this a secret. “How could you not tell me?” Why did you not trust me?

“Why?” Arthur snaps, finally looking up to meet Merlin’s gaze. His blue eyes flash with anger, and Merlin is sure his own dark purple ones are just as angry. In Merlin’s fury, they unhelpfully provide him with the weaknesses in Arthur’s protective plating, with information on just where to send a spark of electricity and magic to shut down Arthur’s entire power system and deal the most damage.

Merlin blinks the detailed blueprints away. He has them memorised, but even betrayed and angry and hurt, he would never do anything to harm Arthur.

“Does it matter?” Arthur continues, voice hard and cold and wounded. “Does it matter that he raised me? That I grew up trying to be loved by a tyrant? That it took me years to finally understand the extent of his atrocities and his crimes? It sure doesn’t make me blind to them, now.” There are tears in his eyes and guilt in his voice. “Sure doesn’t make me blind to the horrific things I’ve done in his name, done to people like-“ you, he doesn’t finish. Like Morgana, like Mordred. To people with the ability to infuse their tech with magic. “I hate him, Merlin, and I hate that I still love him, but nothing, nothing, could ever make me see past the things he’s done, the things he is still doing to his own people, to my people, to our people.” He grits his teeth and clenches his eyes shut, brow furrowed in a painful frown. When he opens his eyes and looks at Merlin again, he looks so very tired.

“I tried to kill him on sight, when I first understood, really understood. I screamed my throat raw as I condemned him from the cell he put me in, and then I decided that I would do everything in my power to make sure his rule comes to an end. I can’t continue to watch people suffer under his hands, no matter how much my wretched heart still aches for his love and approval. I can’t let him continue to slaughter innocent people simply because they exist in a way that doesn’t appease him or because they disagree with him, even if I can never atone for what I’ve done. I will live with the guilt for all my life but I couldn’t, can’t, continue to live without trying to right the things he’s wronged.”

Merlin can’t do anything but stare at him, for a long stretching moment, watching as Arthur holds his gaze and swallows, his Adam’s apple bobbing up and down. This, this is why they follow Arthur, why the whole rebellion would be willing to lay down their lives for him, because Arthur is a man who hurts with injustices he’s grown up never knowing but has intimate knowledge of, because he sees wrong and does anything he can to make it right, because he’s willing to go against everything he’s been taught to believe and everyone he’s been taught to love to save people he’s never met. Because he’s willing to kill his own father if it means the rest of the world gets to go on living.

“You should have still told me,” Merlin says quietly, his chest aching at the pain in Arthur’s eyes.

Arthur averts his gaze, clenching his hands into fists in front of him. The sound of metal grinding against metal fills their cell.

“I didn’t want you to see me any differently,” he admits quietly.

Merlin’s heart throbs with hurt. Does he not realise Merlin could never? Does he not know the world could turn and end and he would never see Arthur like anything other than the best, the most important person he knows?

“Arthur,” he says softly. He doesn’t continue until Arthur lifts his gaze to look at him. “When I look at you, I see a man who is honourable, compassionate, and kind. I see a man who would do anything to change the world for the better – even go against the father who raised him. I see my best friend,” Merlin watches Arthur grit his teeth and blink the wetness from his eyes, “and I couldn’t see you any differently even if I tried.”

Arthur gives him a hesitant, forced half-smile, hands relaxing against his bent knees.

“I’m hurt you didn’t trust me enough to tell me,” Merlin admits, and Arthur glances away, shame pinching his brows together. “But I’m not angry at you for being someone’s son.”

When Arthur looks back at him, Merlin smiles. “We cannot help who we are born as, only who we choose to become, and every day I have known you, Arthur, you have chosen a path that is good and just and right, that goes against everything you’ve been born into and raised to believe, to be someone who is kind and fair and understanding. And that makes you the greatest man I’ve ever known.”

Arthur’s eyes are brimming, but he’ll never let the tears fall. He never does. There’s a smile on his lips though, and this time it’s soft and small and real.

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you,” he says quietly.

Merlin smiles at him again, and he hopes it’s reassuring and forgiving. “The rebellion would do well to know.”

Arthur shakes his head. “They wouldn’t follow me if they did,” he says, as if he truly believes they wouldn’t, as if he doesn’t understand all the reasons each of them have to stand by his side.

“They would,” Merlin tells him, certain and sure. “Sure, there might be backlash from some, but most of them have followed you for long enough to know that it doesn’t matter. They trust you with their lives, Arthur, with the future. Not because of where you come from, but because of who you are. You have proven time and time again that you are willing to lay down your life for the cause just the same as the others, that you will sacrifice everything you have to give for a better world if you must, that you will not hesitate to go through hell to get us there. They don’t doubt your loyalty to them or to the world we’re trying to create, and it won’t change with this truth. They follow you because you are a thoughtful and caring leader, no matter the circumstances of your birth; the only thing that binds you to Uther is your blood and your name. They know that, just as well as I do,” he says. He’s grinning now, the edges of anger only a drop left simmering in his stomach. “You are the rightful heir to the throne, but more importantly, you are their chosen leader, and they will follow you because they choose to do so. Trust them like they trust you.” Merlin holds Arthur’s gaze with steady eyes, and he wonders if the fire he feels in his chest is as clear to Arthur as it is to Merlin. “It matters where you come from only because the world deserves to know that even the son of Uther Pendragon will not tolerate his tyranny or bow beneath him.”

Arthur swallows again. “I don’t know if I can do it.” He looks at Merlin, conflicted and uncertain and scared. But Merlin can see that he’s made up his mind, probably long before Merlin told him to. Perhaps he just isn’t ready to face it alone.

“I’ll be there every step of the way.”

Arthur’s smile is tentative and grateful.

“Thank you, Merlin.”

There’s a beat of silence where all they do is smile at each other, and then Arthur closes his eyes and takes a deep breath, flexing his broken fingers. When he opens his eyes again, the fight and the purpose that had first pulled Merlin in shines with the brightness of a hundred suns and Merlin grins so widely his cheeks hurt.

“So, how do we get out of here?”

Metal scraping against metal catches their attention as something slides underneath the door. The brass object on the floor is flat, thin, and round and they both look down at the coin, hundreds of years old and completely useless in a world where physical currency hasn’t existed for well over a century. They only know one person who still carries those around.

They turn to grin at each other.

“Gwaine.”

[theonceandfutureking6481]

BBC's Merlin Season 1 Episode 3: The Mark of Nimue Analysis

*SPOILERS FOR THE WHOLE SHOW*

First off I always look fondly on this episode, mainly for Morgana being hilarious and epic, I mean she has the best line in the whole episode:

Arthur: You could get hurt

Morgana: So could you.... if you don't get out of my way

This episode is also fun and interesting from the perspectives of plot, characters and themes. Sorry, this is extremely long, I have a lot of opinions about Merlin.

Gwen and Merlin

This episode is in many ways about Gwen and Merlin's friendship, it is the driving force behind all of Merlin's actions within this episode and is the stepping stone for this show considering how to find a balance between acting for the greater good without suggesting that the ends justify the means.

Merlin and Gwen are first off just very sweet, their friendship is really characteristic of this show's representation of friendship overall, just genuine love and consideration for others. It is also self-sacrificing, that's one thing about the relationships in this show they are so self-sacrificing.

When Merlin says to Gwen "I didn't like to see you upset." It reveals a wonderful fact of Merlin's characterisation that I would argue stays consistent for the whole show. His motivation is always grounded in how much he cares for the people around him. He cares deeply about his friends and they are largely his reason for doing the things he does. This line is a wonderful parallel to in season 3 when Merlin decides to let Morgana die (after he accidentally trips her down the stairs), but then in the end he heals her because he couldn't watch everyone's grief. Merlin cannot separate his actions from the people he's doing them for, and he can't stand to see people hurt when he has the power to fix it because the people he loves are his motivation, they are the reason he wants a better world. This show does establish (as I'll discuss further down) that what seems immediately right (healing Gwen's father etc) isn't necessarily the right decision to make for the greater good. This is some ways always questions the validity of Merlin's motivations and his actions, but I'd argue it more seeks to find a balance. Besides a Merlin who didn't act motivated by his love for others is not a Merlin that could have helped Arthur build Camelot.

Medievalism: duty and social obligation

Quick disclaimer cause I'm touching on a more scholarly issue here that I have limited knowledge of, so I will undoubtedly make mistakes and this is my opinion. Everything I write is my opinion, but that's more obvious when I'm commenting on the themes of a fictional world rather than making a comment on actual fields of study which is what I'm doing here.

BBC's Merlin is an example of medievalism, it is an engagement with the medieval era (or ideas/images associated with it) for modern times. I honestly don't know that much about medievalism, or the medieval era, certainly not enough to make an extensive commentary on its representation in Merlin. One thing I would argue is that Merlin's representation of friendship has its roots in idealised views of the virtues of the medieval era. For many people the Middle Ages represents a time of duty and social obligation, this on one hand does lead to a stringent class divide but it also finds its idealisation in the sort of friendship represented by Merlin. The premise in most societies that place great value on social obligation is that the needs of the community outweigh the needs of the individual, that people should sacrifice themselves for the community as a whole. Every society places emphasis on this in different ways and to greater or lesser extents and our view of it as being prevalent in the medieval era is largely an idealisation based in some historical reality but also our own desires about what this era represents. There is a kind of social responsibility in the relationships in Merlin, there is a great emphasis on loyalty which is part of this idealisation. However, Merlin makes it more personal than is often depicted. We idealise social responsibility and obligation, it is often tied into the social roles of people such as loyalty to a king, or paying back debts of honour which is a form of social obligation. Merlin is more about friendship, it takes our idealisation of medieval social obligation and makes it the obligation and loyalty we owe to people who love us and who we love. I will always say that fundamentally Merlin as a show is about love, and it emphasises what we owe to people in our lives in a way I believe echoes idealisation of medieval loyalty.

This idea can also be seen in Arthur's fundamental trust of others, his fundamental assumption that everyone around him is not seeking to harm him, and that people are generally good. This ties a bit into the idea of social obligation. Arthur's idealised world is one in which people have bonds of social obligation towards each other, that people are seeking to act in the interests of the community. It's an idealisation, both of the medieval era but also an idealisation in Arthur's own head of the world he lives in.

Morgana and Gwen

Their relationship is somewhat expanded on in this episode, and they are just so sweet. Gwen gives Morgana flowers to cheer her up and its just lovely. They have a very genuine and close relationship. Morgana also has great respect for Gwen, for the work she does, and she treats her with respect.

Morgana: "If she was a sorceress, why would she kneel on the cold stone floor every morning if she could make these things happen with a snap of her fingers, like an idle king."

Aside from being one of Morgana's many quality burns towards Uther, this also illustrates one of her greatest characteristics, her empathy and genuine respect and admiration for what Gwen does everyday. She doesn't see the class divide in the same way Uther sees it or Arthur pretends to see it.

Also interesting note I heard in a Merlin podcast (I can't remember which episode), it could have been the episode about this episode. It's called Destiny and Chicken (you can listen to it on Spotify and anywhere else you find podcasts- they even did an interview of Bradley James who plays Arthur at one point), and its very good. But, they said something interesting about the paralleling between the relationship between Merlin and Arthur and the relationship between Morgana and Gwen. Both are fundamentally important and genuinely caring relationships for the character. However, for Morgana and Gwen (unlike Merlin and Arthur) the class divide remains much more in place, Gwen treats Morgana like her friend but she also treats her like her mistress in a way Merlin just doesn't with Arthur (especially not so early in the show when he's not so admiring of Arthur). This isn't to say their relationship is bad or has problems, its just different whilst still acting as a parallel. I'm not sure exactly the extent to which I agree or what this says overall in themes but its definitely interesting to think about.

Uther: "A Good and Terrible King."

This episode shows Uther at both his best and his worst which is always fun because Uther is a genuinely interesting character. I got the line from my favourite Merlin fanfiction Coronation by rageprufrock, which you should definitely read, I'll link it down the bottom, it's not too long so you can read it in half an hour. It's a character study of Arthur more than anything else and its amazing, wonderful and deeply poetic. Uther is not a huge part of this fanfic, its about Arthur's character and his relationship with Merlin and his kingdom, I'm not even sure he actually appears. This line though perfectly tapped into how I always felt about Uther so it connected:

"He's been a good and terrible father, a good and terrible king."

I often think in characterising Uther we do tend to villainise him to an extent which I personally don't find accurate. This is obviously just my opinion, and I have a tendency to think the best of people so more intensely negative views of Uther are very jarring for me. He did terrible things and I truly believe he is the ultimate villain of the show but he is very human and he could be a good king and he loved his children more than anything else. We cheapen Merlin's point if we cast Uther as pure evil, everyone is capable of evil just as much as goodness. Uther is the tragedy (like Morgana) of a person who could have been good or at least halfway decent corrupted and destroyed by his own hate and ignorance. That's the point of the parallels between Uther and Morgana, we love Morgana and she was capable of so much good, but she corrupted herself with hate.

Onto this episode, Uther shows both his capability and goodness as a king in this episode as well as his hatred and ignorance. Uther's initial reaction to the fact that the plague is caused by magic is a concern about his own authority, which isn't entirely unfounded, but does reveal a huge priority of his which is control. He fears not being able to control, that's were his cruelty as a father comes from and to some extent his opposition to magic. This does not show Uther in the best light, but his actions later in regards to dealing with the plague show a decent king who cares about his people. This scene in which he tells Arthur to shut off the lower town perfectly illustrates this:

Arthur: But what about the people who live there

Uther: Don't you think I haven't considered it? What else can I do? I have to protect the rest of the city

In this situation Uther is right, there is very little other choice, he's making a hard call but it's one he has to make, and he seems genuinely distressed at having to make it. He does care about his people's well being, and he feels the burden of their protection, he can be a good King. Much of Arthur's story is in breaking away from the legacy of Uther, and rightly so, but Uther also taught him many things and one of those things is the duty Arthur has towards his people, it's a duty he takes even more seriously than Uther, but nonetheless he learnt it from him.

This however, as I've hinted, is not the whole story of this episode, Uther is also shown at his worst, and his worst is his ignorance and prejudice towards magic. He is willing to sacrifice justice and even sacrifices logical thought to his blind persistence that magic is evil.

Arthur: She's right Father. You hear the word magic you no longer listen.

Uther: You saw it for yourself, she used enchantments.

Arthur: Yes, maybe. To save her dying father, that doesn't make her guilty of creating a plague. One's the act of kindness, of love, the other of evil. I don't believe evil's in this girl's heart

Aside from what this says about Arthur. Arthur's comment about Uther hits right to the point of things "you hear the word magic you no longer listen". You no longer listen implies its a choice, and it is. Uther has made the choice for the last 20 years to choose to go on a dogmatic campaign of hate against magic because its easier than considering the alternative, that he was complicit in his wife's death. What Uther says immediately after "there are dark forces threatening this kingdom." is the argument used by so many people throughout history, used to justify so much hate. That there is an evil out there threatening the stability of life, that the world must be controlled and people have to live a certain way or risk destroying their own lives. It's an argument that justifies campaigns of hate and makes them personal to ordinary people who usually wouldn't care, and it is always a lie, that's not how the world works.

This episode thus shows Uther at his best and his worst, both a dutiful king and a stubborn tyrant. It's a tragedy of what he could of been, and shows how twisted up people can become when they justify their decisions with hate and fear.

Arthur

This is the first episode where Arthur really opposes Uther, he directly questions Uther's indiscriminate hatred of magic, and an episode where he realises to an extent he perhaps hadn't before some of the ways in which Uther has failed as a king. He also consciously acts in deception of Uther, because he can see Uther can't see sense. Arthur shows far more nuance of view than Uther does, understanding (even whilst still accepting as he will for a long time that magic is dangerous and it corrupts) that using magic doesn't make you automatically evil. To see the world the way Uther does is a conscious choice, you have to choose to be blind to the virtues of every apparent magic user you come across, you have to believe harmless spells are the signs of greater evil. Arthur is not someone who lets his own cowardice blind himself to reality, and so his worldview can see far more nuance than Uther can.

"One's the act of kindness, of love, the other of evil. I don't believe evil's in this girl's heart."

He further has a very positive view of others, Arthur will always see the good in people and that is a great strength in my view. In a lot of versions of the story Arthur's not just inspiring because he's good but because he assumes others are good too, he trusts people to do the right thing and I do believe that, that can inspire people to do the right thing. It's funny in Merlin Arthur's trust gets betrayed so many times but it never really hardens his heart, he continues to trust people no matter how many times he gets betrayed. This can be seen in his perception of Guinevere here, he will not assume she is evil because she has made a mistake, he can see the virtue in her actions, and he will assume goodness until proven otherwise. Innocent until proven guilty, in other words. It's its own form of justice, a justice Uther is forgetting, its a tenant of many legal systems and its a tenant Arthur clearly supports.

Arthur is also seeing his role as the king of Camelot in creating a Camelot that he would like to live in.

"Yes I am yet to be king, and I don't know what type of king I will be. But I do have a sense of the type of Camelot I would wish to live in. It would be where the punishment fits the crime."

It's not the Camelot he would wish to rule, its the Camelot he would wish to live in. Arthur wants to live in a just world, he wants his people to be treated with justice just as he would like to be treated with justice. This further illustrates that unlike Uther he is not letting anger or ignorance blind him to reality, he wants the world he lives in to be fair without exception.

Finding the Balance between The Greater Good and The Immediate Good

The Greater Good is a tricky concept, you can justify any amount of cruelty if it will lead to good later on, but do the ends justify the means? It's not really a question its ever possible to provide a definitive answer for. It's easy to say that they don't, that you should just do the right thing, the nice thing, the good thing in the moment but actions have consequences and doing the good thing all the time (especially in a position where thousands of lives depend on you) is not usually possible. Merlin tackles this theme, I believe, quite well, trying to find a balance between acting for the greater good and acting with what is immediately good, and this episode is a good example.

In a just and fair world you would be able to do good all the time, but this is not the case for everything, though you should never use the worlds not fair as an argument for not doing good things but I digress. Merlin's decision to save Gwen's father ultimately backfires on Gwen because the world is not fair, the world Uther has created mean even these acts of love are punishable with death. Because, for Uther, magic is magic, and magic is evil. Gaius was, in this situation, ultimately right, Merlin can't always do what is easy and what feels right because the consequences may not be good. In other matters like closing off the lower town, Arthur's initial response is concern for the people who live their, but Uther's right he has to make this one tough decision because otherwise he risks the whole city.

However, Uther's attitude to Gwen (aside from revealing his own stubbornness and prejudice) is an example of the greater good taken too far. He has absolutely no evidence that killing Gwen will stop this plague, but he's making that sacrifice anyway because it might, that is not justice or fair or anything resembling goodness. And he justifies his decisions with what I've already said is an age old argument- "These decisions must be made. There are dark forces threatening this kingdom." This is just another version of any easy choice, acting without regard to the greater good is an easy choice but so is ignoring what is immediately right in pursuit of some ambiguous goodness. He's confusing his own weakness and ignorance for strength.

The point Merlin is, I believe trying to make is that there must be a balance. Sometimes you have to pursue the greater good, but the ends don't really justify the means.

There is a reason Arthur and Merlin will create the Camelot of legend and Uther and Gaius don't, Merlin and Arthur aren't going to sacrifice their own goodness for the sake of the greater good. Merlin for one ensures Arthur never has to, its sad but Merlin in many ways makes the harsh and cruel decisions that Arthur never has to make. However, he also often doesn't make those decisions. He reaches a point where he wants to let people die, but he never actively attempts to kill Morgana or Mordred by himself unless it is an absolute in the moment choice between them and Arthur, and even though there is plenty of moral ambiguity about that and plenty of debates you can have about that. Fundamentally the point remains, Uther would have killed them and that's why he could never be the king Arthur would be or the influence for decency Merlin would be, the ends don't ever entirely justify the means. Besides if Merlin had thought that and killed Mordred and Morgana for their possible futures he would not have been the decent person he was and he could not have helped Arthur build a good Camelot, Camelot would not have existed if Merlin had acted entirely with the greater good in mind to ensure Camelot's future.

Other Stuff

Gwen's scene in the cell is so terribly sad, she's trying to be brave and her final request to Merlin is just so sad, "Remember me." She's so young and its the injustice and cruelty of Uther's kingdom that's condemning her, his own blindness to anything involving magic. We all want to be remembered don't we, especially when you die so young that you've barely had the chance to live. -----Also Guinevere will be remembered, she is a legend so there's something very bittersweet in this. She is not forgotten, then or ever

It's funny watching back to season 1, Merlin spends a lot of the time complaining about how Arthur will never recognise him for who he is. He wants recognition. But by the end of the show, yes of course he'd like recognition but he's learnt to just put up with never getting it. His priorities have changed so much.

There's this thing that happens a lot in season 1 and 2 (and I think a bit in season 3 but its less funny then) where Morgana persuades Arthur to do things by insulting him and its the funniest thing ever, and the first instance of it is here. I like to call these her 'epic sibling powers' cause they are just such siblings and its hilarious every time

"You are one side of the coin, Arthur is the other."- Kilgaharrah--> Just, yes.

Also when Arthur gets Merlin out of when Merlin confesses to being a sorcerer—> he's obviously making stuff up on the spot—> like he might sort of believe it (the stuff about Gwen) but fundamentally he's just trying to protect him without really knowing for sure why Merlin's lying

"One day people won't believe what an idiot you were."- Gaius--> Fun little nod to the audience who know Merlin of legend (as nothing like the BBC Merlin)

Also at this point we don't know why Uther really banned magic so there is an element of moral greyness to it all. We know magic's not evil, we know Uther went too far but at this point there is still a question about 'how too far' did he go?

Coronation by Rageprufrock (seriously read it. It's amazing): https://archiveofourown.org/works/5749

[scionofguineverependragon]

ok so i saw the “morgana never turned evil, morgause did to her what morgana did to gwen” theory again and i just felt like laying down my thoughts on this

like, i understand i really do (once upon a time i stood behind this too). but i dislike this theory bc it is a thing used to victimise morgana and absolve her of her wrongdoings, especially towards gwen.

morgana’s treatment of gwen is so cruel that people want to find a reason to excuse her of it. but morgana is a big girl, she knew what she was doing; which was apparent in the stuff she said. eg. “evil” gwen says she never loved arthur that it was all a trick, when there’s evidence of the contrary—because she is brainwashed asf. morgana when confronted with “i thought we were friends” says “so did i”, and “you were so kind what happened” says “i grew up” that shows that she KNOWS herself and the choices she made. she confronts merlin in the hand he played in hurting her. she says “uther taught me well” she never denies her past. she is not magically brainwashed, she is a woman who got hurt and decided to turn against everyone, even those who cherished her. she decided to not care who she hurt to acces the power she deemed was rightfully hers. those are her choices.

it can also feel like a disservice to morgana bc she has always made her own choices and stood by it since s1. while living under tyrannical uther, unlike many others, morgana always felt like she could talk back to him and she did.

saying that morgana for three seasons until her deadly end was not herself—when truly apart from a moral change, she sure spoke like the outspoken morgana with strong opinions and a sense of self-justice she always was—is doing her a disservice.

[deborahdeshoftim5779]

Merlin & Arthur’s friendship: clichés versus reality (Part II)

Following on from Merlin & Arthur’s friendship: clichés versus reality Part I, here is part II. 

CLAIM #3: Arthur *constantly* denied that Merlin was his friend

This claim assumes that Arthur was 1)- serious when he did deny being friends with Merlin and 2)- unwilling to change that viewpoint.

Arthur had no need to either deny or admit to being friends with Merlin. Even when he said in episode 2x13 that, “I know I’m a Prince, so we can’t be friends,” the implication is that he does want to be friends. After all, he was insisting that Merlin confide in him. This pattern would repeat in many episodes to come. 

Bear in mind that Arthur has described other people as friends, too. This includes people we never saw onscreen. A clear example comes from episode 5x05, when Arthur was so moved with grief by Sir Ranulf’s death that he personally led a collection of knights to bring the sorcerer Osgar to justice. He explained to Gwen that “...he was a friend. We knew each other as boys.”

So why would Arthur have trouble admitting that Merlin was his friend? The viewpoint that being more arrogant and prejudiced in the earlier seasons, Arthur would not admit to friendship with a servant, does not hold as much water as some think. As early as episode 2x05, Arthur called Merlin a “true friend”, because he (mistakenly) thought that Merlin was criticising Lady Catrina on his behalf. 

Admittedly, the best examples of Arthur accepting Merlin as a friend come from Seasons 4 and 5. 

In episode 4x01, Merlin said, “I always thought that if things hadn’t been different, we’d have been good friends.” Arthur’s response? “Yeah.” During the crucial episode 4x03, Merlin sat outside the throne room all right, facing a crossroads between the end of his dreams and remaining loyal to the king. Of course, Arthur had no idea about this, but he appreciated the gesture. “You are a loyal friend, Merlin.” In episode 4x05, Arthur called Merlin “old friend”, which is self-explanatory. 

It’s also worth noting that even after claiming in episode 4x05 that he didn’t need friends, when Merlin later said, “I’m your friend!”, Arthur did not disagree. 

Now, I could cite the example of episode 4x07, where Arthur said to Merlin, “I’ve had my heart broken once today. I don’t want to lose another friend.” Self-explanatory. But was this proof of their friendship? No. Arthur was essentially threatening to end his friendship with Merlin if the latter continued criticising Agravaine. Later, in episode 4x11, Arthur again threatened to banish Merlin for the second time (thus ending their friendship) if he accused Agravaine of treason again. This once again shows how Arthur associated loyalty with family first. 

One of the best examples comes from episode 4x13: “I came back because you’re the only friend I have, and I couldn’t bear to lose you.” Is Merlin Arthur’s only friend? No. However, out of all Arthur’s friends, Merlin was his best friend, and losing almost everyone and everything else made him realise that yet again. 

Then we have all the actions which prove Arthur considered Merlin as a friend. 

For example relied on Merlin’s opinion, as Princess Mithian rightly observed in episode 4x11. “One thing I’ve learned since being here is that Arthur values your opinion above almost all others.” 

He complained about Merlin’s periods of silence and broodiness, like in episode 3x05: “Come on: I’m missing your usual prattle!” In episode 3x09, after noting that Merlin was upset, he said, “For goodness’ sake, what is your problem?”

Another example comes from episode 5x01, where Arthur noted Merlin sitting outside the camp and took the time to find out why he was “so upset”. 

The example from episode 5x05 is self-explanatory: “Seriously, I haven’t seen you smile these past three days.” Arthur relies on Merlin’s cheerfulness to remain optimistic, because he faces the constant threat of death. Notice that shortly after Merlin’s sombre mood, Arthur stopped dismissing Osgar’s warnings about The Disir.

As if this were not enough, look at Arthur spending downtime with Merlin. A great example comes from episode 3x04, where Arthur decides on “a nice, cold tankard of mead” after hunting. In episode 3x13, both were sitting on the courtyard steps discussing the future of the kingdom. Even despite his strenuous denials and ingratitude in episode 4x05, you can see Arthur gesture for Merlin to sit down the morning after they captured Caerleon.

What about all the hunting trips? Arthur knows that Merlin hates hunting (in fact, he takes pleasure in this fact), yet still brought him along, as episodes 1x13, 3x04, 4x11, 5x03, and 5x11 show. 

By far my favourite example comes from episode 5x12, when Arthur and Merlin were playing dice at the tavern. (I don’t know iwhat this game was called.) In my view, this happened regularly. Why else would the common people watch and laugh while Merlin poked fun at their king? (Percival’s face was classic.) And why was Arthur playing against Merlin? When did Merlin learn how to play dice? Who taught him? When? 

Obviously, I do not know, but it’s worth asking. 

Despite being speechless after Merlin “won” the game, Arthur let Merlin “win” all of his money. (Clearly, Arthur was the better player: “Feel free to retire at any time.” The king only used theatrics to get the right dice roll, while Merlin cheated with magic each time. If Merlin hadn’t “coughed”, then Arthur would have rolled correctly a second time. Hence why Arthur said beforehand, “Enjoy this moment, Merlin… while it lasts.”) 

Look at Arthur, who was dressed in a plain shirt, rather than his armour and cloak. When we put this scene in conjunction with episode 3x04, where Arthur again wore plain clothes, we can see that he enjoyed these moments of normality. “There’s no better place to measure the mood of your people than the local tavern… I’m just a simple peasant like everybody else.”

So where is this strenuous denial? Nowhere. Arthur never constantly denied that Merlin was his friend. Nor did he only admit this in secret, otherwise the great dice scene in episode 5x12 would never have happened. Sure, the people might have been astonished to see their great king playing against a servant, but they must also have known that if Arthur allowed himself to be “beaten” at a game by his servant, the latter must be his friend. 

CLAIM #4: Merlin was usually/always (in the) right

Wrong. Being right most of the time does not mean being right all of the time. Merlin failed to realise this, and consequently made grievous errors throughout the series. The most grievous errors came when he tried to fight against death. Episode 3x05 shows this; all of the grief and pain suffered by Arthur, Gwen, and Uther stemmed from Merlin mortally injuring Morgana in a bid to prevent her from killing the king. 

He effectively ignored the warning to “use what you see for good.” 

Then we have the example to end all examples; Merlin’s recklessness, presumptuousness, bold-faced hypocrisy, coldness, prejudice, and most of all, jealousy towards Sir Mordred. 

Even as early as episode 1x08, Merlin almost let the boy Mordred die on account of a prophecy. At least back then he questioned it before hiding in bed like a coward. Mordred also blamed Merlin for Uther’s carnage in episode 2x11, though in the case of that episode and episode 2x03, I think Merlin’s actions were no worse than presumptuous. 

It gets far worse in episode 5x02, when Merlin yelled, “You should have killed him!”, to which Arthur rightly said, “What is wrong with you?” Mordred saw that he could not jump across the gorge, so he surrendered and walked away. (He probably knew that Arthur would arrive in Ismere soon, as his later conversation with Morgana demonstrates.) 

Later on, Arthur gave Merlin another strange look after Merlin said, “I told you, you should have killed him when you had the chance.” How could someone usually so compassionate insist on executing a man who stopped threatening them?

Remember how Merlin reacted to Arthur killing Caerleon in episode 4x05, despite having plenty of evidence that Caerleon was a threat to Arthur’s life?

By the way, episodes 5x01 and 5x02 are my favourite examples of Merlin being horrendously wrong. Other episodes include 5x05, and the crucial errors he made in episode 5x11. (I watched most of episode 5x11 last Sunday, and I was floored. It shook me more than 5x12 and 5x13, which I had also been avoiding for years.) 

Going back to episodes 5x01 and 5x02 (because episode 5x11 is too depressing): if Arthur had listened to Merlin’s “advice”, he would have abandoned his knights to a slow death in slavery. He would also have committed murder, simply on Merlin’s say-so. If you kill someone who is defenceless and has surrendered, that is murder-- regardless of whether, like Merlin, you are desperately scared of a prophecy and speaking without thinking. 

Also, if Arthur had rushed back to Camelot on Merlin’s say-so, he might well have been assassinated by Ruadan. 

Most of all, almost everything that Merlin “advised” violated Arthur’s core beliefs-- the very beliefs that made Merlin respect Arthur in the first place. It’s astonishing that Arthur had to explain no less than five times that he would never abandon any of his men, otherwise he would be abandoning his own values and the values that built Camelot. 

So desperate is Merlin to fight against death that he either quietly ignores this advice, or claims he agrees, only to try dissuading Arthur later on. 

Just to be clear: I perfectly understand that beneath all Merlin’s horrible advice and prevarication, he does not want to lose his friend. 

However, just watch Merlin’s marvellous inconsistency throughout episode 5x01. First, he plays Devil’s Advocate by asking Arthur, “Do you really think Gwaine and Percival could still be alive?” Arthur says he has to find out, because they are knights of Camelot. Merlin says, “I understand.” Of course he did. 

Bear in mind that this happened before Merlin learned of the prophecy. Some have therefore asked what made Merlin unwilling to look for the missing knights, who were his friends. 

In Annis’ castle, Merlin said, “I’m not sure we should go to Ismere.” On the other hand, Arthur, acting on reliable information that Morgana had rounded up slaves, took this as a sign that his mission was right. Merlin tried arguing, then gave up. One might assume that after two rational explanations, Merlin would see reason, particularly since even Kilgharrah could not confirm that the fated battle would take place. 

But no. After the knights left Annis’ lands, Merlin complained again that Morgana was “powerful… dangerous.” So, Arthur explained yet again that “no matter what lies ahead of me, I won’t abandon them.” Merlin respected this answer, because he said, “I understand. I wish I didn’t-- but I do.” (Why does he wish he did not understand why Arthur would risk his life for all of his soldiers?) 

But the very next day, after the ambush, Merlin turned to rage: “The two of us against Morgana, are you mad?” He tried stopping Arthur from going any further. So Arthur explained himself again. Consequently, Merlin continued following Arthur. 

The very same night, he once again insisted that, “We have to turn back.” Arthur explained himself yet again, and Merlin promised to “protect you or die at your side.”

Which one is it? Not to mention that in episode 5x02, instead of apologising for his carelessness, Merlin said, “And I told you to go back to Camelot.” This is silly, given that Arthur had already refused to return on numerous occasions until he had rescued his men, assuming they were still alive. 

The most hilarious example comes later, when Merlin says, “We can’t let them hand us over to Morgana: we need to get out of here, we need a plan.” But when Arthur comes up with that plan, what does Merlin say? “You’ve got to be joking!”, “You should have killed him!”, “Next time, we might not be so lucky.”, “We’ll never make it in there.”, and “How did you talk me into this?” 

Again, which one is it?

I know why Merlin behaved this way, of course. However, there’s a difference between the noble goal of protecting your friend, and ignoring everything and everyone else in order to reach that goal-- particularly through controlling means. Throughout the series, Merlin’s biggest fault comes from his controlling tendencies, which always backfire. And he never learns.  

In this way, Merlin shackled Arthur with unrealistic expectations about a Golden Age based on prophecies that he could not verify. Somehow, this Golden Age had now become evading Arthur’s death. He wanted Arthur to share that belief. Worse, even while his motives came from a noble goal, he treated other people as expendable. 

Another example of Merlin’s absurd reasoning comes from the fateful episode 5x05. Putting aside the fact that Merlin tried claming that sentencing Mordred to die was an acceptable price to pay “for Camelot”, he also previously claimed that, “I do care. About who you are, Arthur. Who you are destined to become.” 

This makes zero sense, given that Arthur had already taken the throne and “brought peace to the kingdom” (episode 5x03). What more did he have to achieve? It depends on who you ask: bringing back magic, uniting the five kingdoms, eternal peace, avoiding the prophecy about Mordred, bowing to the Triple Goddess, being the greatest king this land has ever known… 

Can you see how unrealistic this is? Moreover, can you see how Merlin used Arthur as a vehicle of his own unrealistic ambitions? This is why the Golden Age never happened: it was a myth. It allowed the Druids, Gaius, Kilgharrah, etc. to live vicariously through the new king. 

Bringing back magic was impossible while Morgana continued using it for great evil. (And the Triple Goddess, who complained about Arthur persecuting sorcery, allowed Morgana to continue that evil conduct.)

Arthur did take considerable steps to uniting the kingdoms, particularly when he signed a treaty with King Odin in episode 5x04. But eternal peace? Impossible, otherwise episodes 5x01 and 5x02 would not have happened. 

The unbiquitous prophecy about Mordred was never backed by evidence, leaving Merlin in a state of constant paranoia, and causing him to make horrible errors. This despite the fact that, by his own admission, “I like him [Mordred] myself.” [1]

Bowing to the Triple Goddess was nothing but blackmail using Mordred’s life as a bargaining chip. This once again shows how many sorcerers had caused chaos and misery. Remember, this same Triple Goddess used torture techniques such as controlling people’s minds using the Fomorroh, as Morgana explained in episode 4x06. 

While I believe that the persecution of peaceful sorcerers was wrong, Arthur had no quarrel with the Druids (episode 5x11), and he still had good reason for banning sorcery (also explained in episode 5x11). Nobody, not even Merlin, gave him a reason to change his mind. Kara definitely did not, for she wasn’t executed for being a Druid: she was executed for murder and attempted murder. 

As for being the greatest king this land had ever known… Well, Arthur appreciated that statement in episode 4x12. However, when Merlin spoke of the greatest kingdom in the world in episode 4x13, Arthur said, “You’re making this up.”

In episode 5x01, Merlin claimed that, “Arthur, without you, Camelot is nothing.” Arthur disagreed, saying that abandoning his men was worse than surviving Morgana. Even in episode 5x04, Arthur accepted his death. “So be it. But understand this, Odin: you kill me, and you’ll have all of Camelot to answer to.” Odin was astonished that a king could have such confidence in the face of death. 

The most important example comes from episode 5x13. Merlin said the same thing about Camelot being nothing without Arthur, to which the dying king said, “There was a time when that was true. Not now. There are many who can fill the crown.” And of course, he gave the royal seal to Gwen. Can anyone argue with this? 

I guess you could say that Arthur didn’t believe his own hype.

Indeed, Arthur felt satisfied about what he had achieved in his life. “Everything you’ve done, I know now. For me, for Camelot. For the kingdom you helped me build.” (Episode 5x13). That was it. Arthur knew that he had changed Camelot for the better, that Merlin killing his half-sister had brought “peace at last”, and that he owed Merlin an unpayable debt for helping him to achieve all of these goals. 

Why did Arthur accept the certainty of his death for so long? Because he believed his cause was right, and his death would help save the lives of thousands in Camelot. Dying in service to Camelot was his real destiny. It was inevitable, and to him, it was the most honourable act he would ever undertake. 

You cannot know how great you will be until you die. “That’s the way things work, I’m afraid. You get the glory when you’re not around to appreciate it.” (Episode 4x06). At that point, you will never see your legacy. Merlin either did not know that, or he did not want to know it. 

Arthur’s death ultimately serves as the greatest evidence that Merlin was wrong the whole time.

TO BE CONTINUED IN PART III

FOOTNOTES

[1]  I don’t doubt that Merlin liked Mordred. In fact, the scene in episode 5x05, where Merlin buried Osgar, shows how difficult it was for him to maintain his mistrust when the druid was so polite and perceptive. So why the contradiction? Why claim you like someone, yet insist that they would commit regicide? The answer is that Merlin used the prophecy as an excuse. In fact, his prejudice against Mordred had more to do with jealousy than the prophecy. After being involved in an attempt to trade Arthur and Merlin as slaves to Morgana, Arthur knighted the druid for one noble act. Did Merlin aspire to be a knight? I don’t know. He definitely wanted that same level of trust and respect given to Mordred, though, and knighthood created a bond that a servant could not have.

[emachinescat]

Welcome to Masterlist Monday!  Every Monday I will be sharing a fanfic master list - sometimes of my own work, sometimes of other people’s, and sometimes a mixture of the two!  These lists come from my own personal stores of fanfics, collected over the many years I’ve been reading and writing, and I’m so excited to share them with you!  (Also, I just really like making lists.)  Today’s list is...

My 10 Most Popular Fan-Fictions* 

*On AO3, based on number of Kudos.  It was fun looking through these and seeing what stories ended up being the most liked.  Some of them surprised me, honestly!  If you read any of them, I hope you will enjoy them, too! :)

1. Too Far | Merlin | Rating: T 

AU tag to 'Lamia'. How far is too far? Looking at the bloody, battered form on the cold, stone floor, with Lamia's green eyes focused hungrily upon the weary men, the knights realized that this time, they might have crossed the line. Enchanted or not, they've gone too far. 4x08

2. Ransoming Emrys | Merlin | Rating: T

Arthur isn't the only one that people will pay handsomely for. A band of renegade druids that know how much the legendary "Emrys" is worth has decided to auction him off to the highest bidder. How far will Arthur and his friends go to get him back, especially when Merlin's secret is revealed?

3. The Visiting Prince | Merlin | Rating: T

"Stay away from him!" The visiting prince snapped his eyes to meet Arthur's challenge. "Why?" he sneered. "He's just a mouthy servant. He needed to be taught a lesson." An old 'friend' is in Camelot and Merlin is paying the price.

4. Follow the Leader | Merlin | Rating: G

When Merlin follows Morgana to her meeting with Morgause in 3x1, he doesn't know that he, too, is being followed. Arthur is there to witness everything that transpires. Will he be able to rescue Merlin and will he even want to when he finds out the truth?

5. Stone Cold | Merlin | Rating: G

Tag to 'The Darkest Hour'. Merlin's been in some pretty sticky situations. He's been hurt and injured, but if he falls, he always gets right back up. But this time, as Arthur stares at the too-still form of his servant at the base of the wall, Merlin doesn't get up. Spoilers for 4x01

6. The Finch and the Mockingbird | Psych | Rating: T

Henry's past comes back to haunt him in the worst of ways when a psychopath bent on revenge goes after his son in a deadly game inspired by the dark themes of revenge in Harper Lee's 'To Kill a Mockingbird.' Now father and son must fight for their lives and for each other, because this guy is determined to kill a mockingbird: a snarky, faux-psychic mockingbird named Shawn Spencer.

7. Between | Merlin | Rating: G

When Uther finds out about Merlin’s magic, Arthur has already known for some time – and Arthur has no intention of letting his father kill his servant. Written for Febuwhump on Tumblr. Day 17: identity reveal

8. For Arthur | Merlin | Rating: T

Merlin is seriously injured while protecting Arthur, throwing himself into danger without a second thought to himself. "Merlin didn't even register what he was doing until the dagger was in his chest."

9. Henry’s Allegory of the Doghouse | Psych | Rating: G

Just when Henry is wondering if trying to repair his relationship with his son is worth it, after all, he gets a call that changes everything. "Mr. Spencer? It's Gus. I'm at Santa Barbara General. There's been an accident." Spellingg Bee AU; part 2 of "AU That Glitters" series. Contains spoilers and whump.

10. A Game Well Played | Merlin | Rating: T

AU to 3x7. A terrified Gwen stumbles into Camelot after being missing for a day, tears streaming down her face, bearing grim news that sends Arthur on a quest through the enemy's territory to save his stolen manservant, no matter the cost. And the cost will be great.

[and-damntheconsequences]

Can we just... talk about 1x12, as an episode??

Can we talk about how it wasn't his views on magic that really turned Morgana against Uther? Not at first. Because she fought him long before she had magic and this episode is a great example. She didn't hate him because he hated magic, she hated him because he was cruel, because he didn't care about anyone that wasn't himself or his children. It was only when that hatred turned to fear for herself that she became so twisted.

Morgana was ready to have him killed because he had wronged her friend. Morgana would have risked everything — and you can't tell me she didn't at least consider the possibility she could be caught — because to her it was the right thing to do. For Gwen, even though she never told her. For people she loved.

This kind of set the groundworks for who she would become. She turned back at the last second, but everything up until there was an echo of how she would be later. The manipulation, the anger, the hatred, though everything she did in this episode was entirely justified.

It's brought up later, to Morgause, when she says she changed her mind because she believed he cared for her. The last thing in her way is that Uther might love her and, at the end of everything, she doesn't want to betray that. It's only when her magic comes, when she has no one left to be loyal to, because she believes they would all burn her, that she allows herself to turn against them all.

I don't know if I'm explaining my thoughts at all well but it's a good episode.

AND ALSO

Can we talk about Merlin and Gwen??

Because Merlin is given the choice to let Uther die.

And it's the easier choice. All he'd have to do would be nothing at all. He'd be much safer, all magic users would, it would be revenge for Gwen's father, and Mordred's, and everyone else he's killed. But Merlin doesn't.

And its not for Arthur. Its definitely not for Uther, even though Gaius tries to defend him. It's not for his own sake either, because he wouldn't be in any trouble for what happened — Uther isn't about to die by magic.

It's for Gwen.

It's because he asks Gwen what she would do. And she answers that she wouldn't have Uther die, because it wouldn't fix anything. It wouldn't bring anyone back. Gwen, who is, at this point, absolutely Merlin's best friend, doesn't want him dead. Merlin looks at her, and realises that he hasn't (yet) lost anyone to Uther personally. But Gwen has. If anyone deserves to choose if he lives or dies (of the people he knows at least) it's her, and she chooses for him to live. Merlin saves him because of that.

He acts on, and holds onto, her beliefs.

And like, I've said before that Merlin stopped Arthur from becoming Uther, and Arthur was what stopped Merlin from becoming Morgana, but that's really not entirely true. From the destiny point of view, absolutely. Merlin held onto the purpose that Arthur gave. It was the belief that he and Arthur could create a better world that moved him to protect those he did.

But it wasn't Arthur that taught Merlin kindness, or forgiveness, or compassion. It was Gwen.