#s1ep10 - the moment of truth

[justaz]

s1ep10 where everything is the same except theres a few other kids around merlin and the gangs age in ealdor and they have the most passive aggressive beef ever

merlin (explaining the tensions while covering his ass bc the villagers may not know about his magic but they know and he cant let arthur find out): and thats mary. she threw rocks at me when i was younger so i shoved a fistful of dirt in her mouth. i just didnt realize there was a worm in the dirt until she was spitting it all out and coughed up a worm. it had the effect of someone coughing up a frog. it fueled a bunch of rumors about me being a sorcerer

mary (after greeting the prince very respectfully): merlin. youre back. how lovely.

merlin, smiling: mary!! yes, of course i am. when i heard that ealdor was in danger i just had to come back and help. you know ive always had a knack for worming my way out of trouble so i thought if anyone can help, its me.

mary: how hopeful. i dont think ive ever seen you wield a sword. or any other weapon. you seem to keep to your…talents.

merlin: we never spent much time together so i cant fault you for not noticing my many other talents. contrary to what you think, i do like to get my hands dirty.

[ao3feed-gwainepercival]

Divine Intervention

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/RS1xFon

by winterwitchlefay

What happens when the tale of Merlin and Arthur gets a push in the right (but stupidly romantic direction) by a cheeky little demon that loves deals and feeds on chaos right after the trial of the unicorn. (Set during s1ep10 Moment of Truth)

Words: 2768, Chapters: 1/3, Language: English

Fandoms: Merlin (TV)

Rating: Mature

Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence

Categories: F/M, M/M

Characters: Merlin, Arthur Pendragon (Merlin), Gwen (Merlin), Morgana (Merlin), Knights of the Round Table (Merlin), Uther Pendragon (Merlin), Original Male Character(s), Original Female Character(s), Mordred (Merlin), Freya (Merlin), Gaius (Merlin)

Relationships: Merlin/Arthur Pendragon (Merlin), Gwen/Lancelot (Merlin), Leon/Morgana (Merlin), Gwaine/Percival (Merlin), Elyan/Original Character

Additional Tags: Merlin is a Little Shit, Good Morgana (Merlin), Good Mordred (Merlin), Everyone Knows About Merlin's Magic (Merlin), Alternate Universe, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Demon Deals, Pet Names, Hurt/Comfort, Angst, Fluff and Smut, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, Nightmares, Everyone Hates Uther Pendragon (Merlin), Freya Lives (Merlin), BAMF Merlin (Merlin), BAMF Arthur, BAMF Freya (Merlin), Friends to Lovers, I don't trust kilgarrah, Gwaine Being Gwaine (Merlin), everyone knows about morgana's magic

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/RS1xFon

[dimplyowl]

OP what the fuck, you’re so right. That line really does stand out, and is something that I’ve always kind of glossed over as just one more lie, but the fact of the matter is, it was completely unnecessary. No matter what side you fall on on the Izzy discourse, I think one thing that’s very clear is that in that moment, in that episode, Izzy is trying to keep Zheng and Auntie from finding out the truth of what happened. Whether you believe that’s from some desire to save himself, the crew, or both, is besides the point. He knows what the punishment is for mutiny, and maybe by making it seem like all they did was knock him out and leave him alive on a beach, Zheng will grant them their lives. But like you said, op, he can do that without the “I could never do that” line. It’s very unnecessary, it’s a very clear lie, it contradicts his threats against Ed in s1ep10, and it’s found out later by everyone else that he very much could and did do that.

So what purpose does it serve? Is it for his own conscience? We only know for sure that Jim and Fang physically hurt Ed during the mutiny, and that’s it. Maybe, if Izzy didn’t actually physically participate in the mutiny, is he trying to save himself the guilt that comes with that?

Or is it to try to endear himself to Stede? He knows Stede hates him. Izzy has been trying to pick a fight with Stede for some reason all episode. (Is this more of that? Is he baiting Stede, trying to get him to argue that he would do that, so Izzy can be defensive about it? I don’t think so tbh). Or does he know that to survive, he needs Stede, and knows that either a) Stede will not try to save Izzy and by extension the crew if he knows that they killed the man he loves or b) that by hinting at his own feelings for Ed Stede will feel some kind of kinship and try to save him?

I honestly have no idea. In this specific instance, maybe it’s a mixture of all of these reasons. What we do know is that Stede later uses Ed complimenting Izzy to get Izzy to train him, and that Izzy continues to use his feelings for Ed as a way to relate to Stede. So it’s clearly something that Izzy does purposefully, and it’s something that Stede notices and classifies as significant.

the most interesting line izzy had imo was one i haven't seen a lot of talk about, it was "no, i could never do that."

because he is unambiguously deliberately lying there. they put a flashback to the end of the mutiny right before he says the line, to make sure you know it. he's saying that because he himself could never let it happen the mutineers didn't actually try to directly personally kill ed, but they absolutely did try to send him to doggie heaven and izzy was standing right there among them, part of the team, making no move to stop jim. the feelings he has about ed were absolutely not enough to prevent him from participating in it. and this is not me condemning him for that - the mutiny and attempt to kill him were obviously justified. but the idea that it could not have happened regardless of how justified it was, because izzy could not have allowed it, it is a lie. izzy believes ed is dead or dying as a direct result of their actions right at that moment, as he's speaking.

(i think it's legitimately ambiguous whether he thinks ed is actually dead at this point or if they knew he was still breathing when they left him and they just didn't expect him to survive. but if he knows ed might not be quite dead yet then worth noting this lie would have made sure ed died slowly, alone, without the person izzy knows he would have most wanted to be there at his bedside.)

but here's the interesting thing: that lie is not necessary. whatever reason he had for wanting stede to think ed was just marooned - maybe he thought it would keep stede on their side to protect the crew from zheng yi sao, whatever - there's no reason he needs to lie about his own feelings to sell that. he didn't really have to offer any justification at all; he could have just said "no, we deserted him on a beach and let nature do the rest, more than he would have done for us" and stede wouldn't have questioned it. or he could have said "no, we could never do that" - the mutiny involved five people who all had some affection for ed from before the kraken days. but he said i.

which means izzy needs something, emotionally, from stede. it is emotionally important to him to tell that lie, because there's no other reason to do it. izzy wants stede, specifically, to believe that he cared about ed as a person in something like the way stede does, specifically cared about him too much to ever do what he did no matter what the provocation (and stede knows how provoked he was!), even as he knows that's not true.

[citharaposts]

Merthur Moments from Every Episode S1Ep10 The Moment of Truth Prev | Next

[amethyst-writer]

that one scene in s1ep10: The Moment of Truth when Arthur helps Merlin put his armor on- brb gonna cry

[hellstenglow]

Fiveya Meta: they need to talk

Endure me, I am on a fiveya-train and my thoughts don’t shut up.

After watching the most recent behind the scene videos of TUA season 2 we can conclude that they did make senseless choices in the plot because in some cases they had to. For example in the case of the snow storm created by Harlan in the final episode, that was added to the script because suddenly there have been a snow storm on the outside set the days before the scheduled filming and they couldn’t clean the place enough, in time for the recording. The snow was added.

I also think they could have written some of the characters better and given them real development (*cough* Luther, Ben *cough*). I wasn’t even a fan of the whole “Vanya lost her memory” thing, but I’ve read that Steve Blackman (the showrunner) doesn’t want to diverge from the original content too much (which is a bit silly to say since they did make major changes since season 1, but okay). I guess that’s why Vanya’s amnesia was still there, although they treated it differently. In the comics it was Mom-Grace who helped Vanya to find herself again and her own value, in the show it was Sissy who did it. I thought it was kind of a hint to the comics the fact Sissy resembled Show-Grace a bit (blond, kind and a mom). Did I think it was unnecessary to have a love interest for Vanya right after season 1? I did, but I justified the choice by thinking that the show wanted to give Vanya a taste of what real love (not like Leonard’s manipulative and abusive love) is supposed to be. I also thought it was a way to show how Vanya needs to stop clinging to the first person who gives her affection, attention and treats her with kindness. I hope she’d realize that and work on herself and family in season 3, first and foremost.

Even with the evident flaws I enjoyed season 2, especially because I decided to treat it as a passing by (detour/digression) chapter in a longer story. All Hargreeves siblings in the ‘60s tried hard to make a new life and ignored their actual life (Allison, Luther, Klaus) or had a convenient amnesia (Vanya) or focused on something too much to lose track of what matters (Diego). Everyone except Ben (who was not treated once again as a full character despite the apparent level up the PR promoted) and Five (who once again was running around in panic mode to stop an apocalypse). Remember Vanya saying, “New timeline, new me.” And Five replying “That’s NOT how it works.”? I may give the writers more credits than it is due, but I hope those two lines were some kind of meta messages for the more attentive viewers. Those two lines can explain perfectly season 2 to be honest.

Nobody can know how long a tv show would run, a fact that expose us to uncertainty. It’s always a gamble trusting writers and showrunners to deliver a good story, but all it’s fair game and one has only to accept it. I do not trust any of them, but I cannot help myself and still hope that they will not ruin everything. With all this said, let’s talk about something I think the show has to tackle in next seasons: Five and Vanya are two points of a theme that needs to be addressed and solved. They need to interact, talk and close their open theme together.

This is not a cohesive meta and I probably will lose myself in too many details, but I hope the message I am trying to convey will arrive. This is only my reading of the show and theories, so you can disagree. I just hope you’d find something interesting and maybe help someone to have a different perspective on what’s going on and where (I pray) the show will go. Here the points I will talk about, if you are in for a very verbose essay, please click on the “keep reading” button. Meanwhile I’ll wear my tinfoil crown and sip some margarita.

Five and Vanya are a theme

It was mean to be Ben

Why the Fiveya’s tension in S2 EP 7’s iconic scene is a symptom of something

I dare to hope in fiveya (at least until proven wrong)  

1. We have a theme: Five wants to stop the apocalypse and Vanya is the apocalypse

It’s a twisted joke of the universe that the very thing Five is obsessed about in season 1 (the apocalypse) was caused by the person he trusted the most (“I’ve decided you’re the only one I can trust” - Five in S1EP1). The red thread that linked Five and Vanya can’t be more evident, that’s one of the reasons why I started shipping them. The family’s dynamic, the siblings’ relationships and bonds are equally important, they add layers and motivations to the story, but if we strip everything else and look at the core, we all know Five and Vanya are at the centre of it.

It’s not a simple coincidence that Five said “I’m the four horsemen”. At first, it’s just a funny line, because Five is drunk and he described himself as those fearsome figures (because he is the best assassin of the whole world and time. Death incarnated in his humble opinion). You don’t take him seriously when he said that line, you don’t pay attention to it.  

However, later it gains a certain degree of truth. Subtly the show tells you that indeed Five is linked deeply to the “apocalypse” (Vanya), as much as the four horsemen (they are the prelude and the bringers of the end) are linked to the apocalypse (in the biblical sense). He lived it. He was trapped there for 45 years. He is obsessed with it. The Apocalypse is his business.

Timid little Vanya is the first person he looked for in the middle of the doomsday’s ruins and arguably his closest friend. On the first day of his return Five only have meaningful talks with Vanya. Five sought her to confide the horror of his memories and share the burden of the truth. He trusted her above everyone else. Then the universe made a laughingstock of him when it was revealed that Vanya caused the Apocalypse. Five didn’t know he was running towards her, despite wanting to go back to his family (her) all his life. 

In the first two episodes of season 1 they made clear that Vanya and Five had an intimate bond in their childhood and still cared for each other after so many years, then the show proceeded to separate them until the finale. They tried so hard to keep them far away from each other during season 1 and we all know everything would have been different if they had time to properly talk, process their situation and find a solution together. Of course, the show didn’t give them that chance, otherwise the show would have ended in episode 3 and goodbye drama!

They did not confront each other in the end of season 1, they let Allison take that role because the show built up their connection as sisters and I didn’t dislike the choice. Did it work thematically? No, Allison has no connection with the apocalypse. That’s Five’s business. He didn’t confront Vanya, he let others take the lead in the most crucial moment and with no surprise the apocalypse still happened.

The other apocalypse in season 2 was still connected to Vanya and again Five ignored the cosmic signals and focused on dead ends. Despite knowing perfectly that the butterfly effect can come from any source, he didn’t even think about Vanya’s being the cause of the apocalypse again. Five should have listened Klaus when he suggested that Vanya might have been the cause. Funny how Klaus told him in S1 that he has an addiction and Five aggressively denied it. Funny how saving his family and stopping the apocalypse are always his top priorities, but Five still deny himself (for a reason or another) the time to confront Vanya (the apocalypse).

We have a theme waiting to be resolved: Five wants to stop the apocalypse and Vanya is the cause of the apocalypse. If Five does not confront Vanya the theme will never have a closure. It’s still open right now. It is still there, waiting to be picked up again. There is no resolution.

2. Vanya and Ben’s goodbye

The scene between Vanya and Ben was one of my favourites from season 2 and after pondering for a while I concluded that it couldn’t have been anyone else but Ben the one who helped Vanya in that moment. My theory is that the show will walk backwards the breaking points of Vanya’s life: Ben’s death, Five’s leaving and Reginald’s abuse.

Vanya is not fixed. How could she when she was barely Vanya in this season? “New timeline, new me” she said, but that was just a convenient escapism mechanism. Years and years of mentally and emotionally abuse don’t disappear in one week. The Hargreeves have still a lot to process and resolve, individually and as family. That’s why I hope the show will progress the story in the right direction and actually work on them in season 3. Especially Vanya, who needs to confront her trauma. That’s why the scene with Ben in episode 9 was necessary.

From Vanya’s book:

[…] Our everyday existence was full of evidence that Dad had [...]-pped into treating us like experiments. Not as children, but like animals. And what happened to Ben was the last straw that finally shattered the illusion for the others …

Ben died long time ago and his death was the last straw that shattered the illusion (for the others) that their father cared about them (even in his own messed up way). Everything changed from that moment and each sibling drifted away from one another after that. Ben’s death was the moment Vanya and the rest of her siblings stopped being a family. The definitive step of Vanya’s alienation from her siblings.

There was no place in the group for her. With Five’s absence and Ben gone (he is a caring brother, with Klaus is like that and I can imagine him being kind to Vanya in their childhood too. Although, Ben is not Five and we have seen him being harsh to her in the flashbacks in S1EP10), Vanya was truly lost.

The tearful and important moment between Ben and Vanya was a reverse moment in my opinion. Vanya needed that from Ben, his death heavily influenced the course of her life (everyone’s life) and it was only fitting that Ben should have been the one helping her to start again. It’s symbolic in a sense, but also very factual.

“Sorry that I left without saying goodbye” – Five, S1 EP2

“At least this time I can say goodbye.” – Ben, S2 EP9

I’m using my fiveya-goggles, but we all thought that what Five said in S1EP2 (when Vanya tried to find him at Hargreeves’ mansion) wasn’t just about him leaving her apartment. It’s a very specific line that works on double levels: text and subtext. The subtext of course refers to the day he run out the house and time jumped. I highlighted these two lines from Five and Ben because I think they share the same theme: leaving her without saying goodbye.

Vanya wasn’t on mission with the team when Ben died, and I doubt she even saw his body (or whatever remains were left) when the Umbrella Academy returned. She didn’t even see his manifestation during the Icarus’ fight, too focused in her own power. The scene between them in Vanya’s mind gave both the opportunity to make amend of untold words and missed moments.

Ben is dead, he is the one he cannot return. His departure is permanent, there is nothing they can do about that. However, they can have a closure. Ben needed to be the one first patching to mend Vanya’s relationship with her family, to remind her that she does belong. This sort of second death (finally move on into the Light) has more meaning than the first one, this time Ben completed the mission. He saved someone he loved (he couldn’t stop Klaus from destroying his life with drugs and alcohol) and could trust his siblings to take care of the rest.

I still think Ben didn’t need to die-die, but in a sense it was time for him to move on into the light. He was afraid to go on, but if he could move on so his siblings. It is time for Vanya to move on her own trauma.

(Yeah, I know. I still have problem with the scene because they erased canon in a way and Ben could do a lot more as character. They erased the fact drugs stop their powers like in Klaus’ addiction and Vanya’s pills, so how Vanya was able to use them under LSD? I tried to explain that to myself by the fact “they needed to bs that canon fact in season 1 and ignored it”.

We can also argue that Ben could have prevented the apocalypse in 2019 by doing the same thing, but in their defence S1-Ben didn’t know he could possess a body. Yeah, how did he do that without Klaus’ power help? No idea, that doesn’t make sense to me either. Ahah. I just swam with the flow at that point and accepted it as it is. Call it the power of superpowered siblings’ love. I’ve seen worse plot holes in my life. I can live with this).

3. Pass me the knife, there is some tension here!

From Vanya’s book:

Though prone to arrogance and outbursts, even more than the average preteen, Five was my sole confidante in the years before he disappeared. It almost seemed fitting […] the siblings to leave us, it would be him who [I fully?] […] who fully trusted me.

I said that Vanya’s walking backwards her life’s breaking points. So, after Ben’s death, she needs to address Five’s leaving. Five was her only confidante in the years before he disappeared, as she wrote in her book. Five was very important to young Vanya (and old Vanya needs to remember that) and I bet when he left, that was a scar never healed.

Vanya missed him and hoped for his return, for a while she kept the lights on in the house every night and prepared for him his favourite sandwich. When Five did come back Vanya couldn’t process that fact properly in season 1, all she could think of was that she didn’t want to lose him again. Five on the other hand decided that he would save everyone on his own and for that choice he made a bunch of tragic rookie mistakes.

Miscommunication is their kryptonite and right now Vanya and Five aren’t able to fully communicate at the same level. Reggie did such a good work at parenting that they’re so unfit to deal with their emotions and relationships, that will always be the root of their mistakes.

Same story in season 2, meanwhile Vanya is on the verge to provoke another apocalypse (although indirectly), as usual Five was too obsessed with his own plans and was not even aware of the situation. He knows nobody is insignificant when it’s about altering the timeline, but he always ends to focus on the wrong lead. The show again did incredible summersaults to avoid the two to interact properly and when they interacted things still didn’t work for a reason or another. She didn’t remember her past, he was not entirely sincere with her. She wanted to start anew (having a family with Sissy, easy-peasy), he is trapped again in a run against time to save his family. They are still not at the same page and for the show that is convenient. They still can play with their open theme (my point number 1 in this meta).

I don’t blame Five in S1 for thinking that if the worse happens, they would need to kill her. I think he was in a very delicate state of mind in that moment, he didn’t have time to process the fact Vanya (his favourite sibling and we all know she is his favourite) caused the end of the world. It was disappointing and cynical, but time was ticking fast, and he had been in his “maniacal-panic” mode for almost eight days. I also think he wouldn’t really kill her; he was the one who convinced the others that they needed to take her with them in the time jump. They need to “fix her” (aka help her to never feel alone in the universe and prove her we do love her) or they’re going to make the same mistakes again and again.

Just to be clear I think if Five wasn’t one day from the end of the world and in a rush to stop Vanya, he would had had the same reaction as Old Man Five in S2. His 14-days younger version take it very well “Fair enough” he said and then proceeded to tell Luther how to save Vanya, no mention about killing her whatsoever. Old Man Five had time (10 days more than our current Five) and a direct clue on how to stop the apocalypse (thanks Luther). Nobody was going to kill Vanya.

“Vanya will always be the cause of the apocalypse, unless we fix her.” - Five S1EP10 

“Vanya is the bomb. She will always be the bomb.” - Diego S2EP8

Vanya is the bomb and she will always be the bomb unless she heals. A fact that can be added to my number 1 point in this meta, there is an open theme and they need to tackle it. Five and Vanya need to confront each other and resolve it.

This takes me to S2 EP7: the iconic stare-power stand between Five and Vanya. THE TENSION was real, and you could cut it with a butter knife. The first time I screamed at my screen, I felt like Gordon Ramsay in one of those episodes of “Kitchen Nightmare US” when someone finally serves him good food.

Of course, the immediate reading of the scene is that Five needed Vanya to come along and Vanya didn’t want to go because at that point these Hargreeves are still strangers to her (amnesia is so convenient), Sissy and Harlan are the ones she knows and loves in that right moment.

They were still able to cut each other with sharp words and hostile glares though. Five let her have what she wanted, not because he feared her, but because as usual he cares more about her feelings than what he would ever admit. It’s the second time in S2 he let her go, his soft spot and favouritism for Vanya was showing once again! *fakes surprise*

I think the tension shown in this scene is a symptom that Vanya and Five are on the verge of something they will (they have to) confront soon or later. This is the subtext reading I came out with.

Even if you don’t look at it with shipper goggle, you feel there is something going on. They let the viewers feel there is a sensitive something whenever these two have an alone scene together. All their alone scenes have a specific grade of intimacy, they made it clear since the scene in front of Five’s portrait. They care for each other, they love each other (sibling love, platonic love, we-could-have-been-something love etc…) and it’s there. However, Five left and Vanya never truly recovered from that. They didn’t process that fact and I truly believe they can’t move on until they heal that scar.

Basically, S2 EP7 Fiveya’s scene = We have to talk, but this is not the moment because the show is only on its second season! THIS TENSION IS HERE FOR A REASON.

4. Hope is the last thing to die

I shouldn’t trust a show, I’ve been disappointed so many times in the past years and showrunners of popular shows tend to be unoriginal and cowards. However, I am an optimist at heart and until season 3 I dare to hope anyway. If proven wrong, there are always fanfictions who can do better job than canon.

If all was lost they could have eliminated Alluther too from the universe because of certain fans screaming “harcest is incest you weirdos”, but Allison and Luther’s situation still exist and still work on the parameter “will they or not”? I imagine for their shippers it was annoying to have such a regression in season 2, but they didn’t destroy it and they still gave them scenes.

Fiveya had even a more subtle situation than Alluther but they’ve been granted the same level of intimate interaction whenever they have an alone scene together. Until Five (the character) will gain an older body (which he can) the whole thing is suspended. However, I think they wouldn’t have been open about the possibility of Five changing back to an older body and spoke about in season 1 if they didn’t have an idea for that.

I brushed off the line Five said to Old Man Five about being forever trapped in his 13-years-old body. It’s canon that there is a way to gain an adult body for Five, the Commission has the technology and even if it’s not the Commission they can mambo-jambo the thing in a way or another. That would never work. The actor is a growing up teenager and from season 1 to season 2 he has already changed. I imagined he will change even more before season 3 will ever start recording (maybe very late due the COVID-19 situation).

Aidan is a fan favourite and I am one of those who can’t see anyone else playing Five, with this said there are still ways for the show to give us fiveya. Young fiveya flashbacks will be always an option to explore the idea of “they had a crush on each other when they were young” and make other viewers understand that it wasn’t all “sibling” love between them. Endgame in a distant season can always have an epilogue with an adult Five (another actor I mean) having a very non-platonic (let adult Fivey kiss please) moment with Vanya, meanwhile building up the longest slow-burn (kinda, deep down I believe those feelings for each other are there) of the century.

Maybe I am wrong, maybe my tinfoil crow is too tight, and my brain doesn’t breathe. Maybe the show will succumb to easy paths and angry bullies. I don’t know, but until proven wrong I dare to hope.

PS: This is a monster of a meta and it probably doesn’t make sense? I hope someone will get what I’ve tried to say. I hope you survive, brave readers. Here a glass of margarita for you. I’d love to hear what you think

[justaz]

s1ep10 will says “oh so you told arthur your secret then?…face it merlin, you’re living a lie” and i desperately need someone to say that to him again in front of arthur and the knights. shiiit au where will survives and visits merlin in camelot years later when arthur is king and they have the same argument. will turns to the peanut gallery where arthur staring at him with a raised brow and goes “how many years have you lived here merlin? and you still haven’t told him. you haven’t told any of them. you may surround yourself with people you call friends, but you are completely alone here.” and storms off.

merlin who also storms off after standing still in shock for a moment, fighting back tears bc will is right. it’s been so draining for merlin to live a life built on lies, to hide himself from his friends, to pretend to be something he’s not. all he wants is to be loved and appreciated for what he is. everyone in camelot loves the merlin he’s carefully crafted, not the merlin he is. lancelot follows after him and is his shoulder to cry on after that whole show.

the other knights are sitting around going “wtf just happened” and theorizing on this secret will mentioned. there’s also a quieter, secret conversation going on where unnamed knights plan out will’s murder for making merlin cry. anyways, lancelot tells them to drop it after they prod him for answers and call him out for being the only one of the knights to know merlin’s secret.

from then on the knights keep at least a quarter of their attention on merlin when he’s near. they watch him as if he’ll slip and say whatever his secret is out loud. gwaine keeps the most attention on merlin and is the first one to find out. he follows merlin out of the room and lowers his voice and goes “you know, i would commit regicide for you if you asked. if you came into my chambers and were like ‘gods arthur is so annoying, lets kill him’ i’d do it in a heartbeat.” he then leans in closer and whispers “and if you had magic, i wouldn’t tell. i’d probably just convince you to use it for pranks.” elyan finds them hugging in the hall, merlin crying into gwaine’s shoulder and gwaine holding back his own tears.

the other knights are slow on the uptake but all eventually get there in the end, except arthur. the king cannot for the life of him sniff out this secret the other knights found out. whats infuriating is that they had banded together in determination to figure out the secret and said they’d help guide one another to the truth once they did or just outright tell each other. instead, every time one of them figured it out and the others asked them about it, they’d just get all sullen and serious and say “it’s not my secret to tell” so arthur really has no idea

merlin has to work up the courage to face arthur and tell him himself. it takes a while. like a WHILE. like A WHILEEEE. merlin makes up with will and the other knights find out about his magic one at a time and express their support and love and apologies for all the inconsiderate and harmful things they’ve said in the past. slowly, merlin’s resolve and confidence strengthens. yet he stalls and stalls and stalls and eventually gwen and audrey the cook and even george figure him out before he can tell arthur.

he’s so nervous he ends up just letting the words fall out of his mouth, “tomorrow you have to be up bright and early for a meeting about queen annis’s visit next week also i have magic” arthur just stares at him from his bed. he’s miffed bc he was SO CLOSE to figuring it out, he knew it!! if merlin had just waited like another week or two he would’ve got there eventually. probably. also he’s been lied to but that takes back burner rn bc merlin just spoiled all the progress he made in figuring out what he’s been hiding. he throws a pillow at him and complains about it.

[ao3feed-gwainepercival]

Divine Intervention

by winterwitchlefay

What happens when the tale of Merlin and Arthur gets a push in the right (but stupidly romantic direction) by a cheeky little demon that loves deals and feeds on chaos right after the trial of the unicorn. (Set during s1ep10 Moment of Truth)

Words: 2768, Chapters: 1/3, Language: English

Fandoms: Merlin (TV)

Rating: Mature

Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence

Categories: F/M, M/M

Characters: Merlin, Arthur Pendragon (Merlin), Gwen (Merlin), Morgana (Merlin), Knights of the Round Table (Merlin), Uther Pendragon (Merlin), Original Male Character(s), Original Female Character(s), Mordred (Merlin), Freya (Merlin), Gaius (Merlin)

Relationships: Merlin/Arthur Pendragon (Merlin), Gwen/Lancelot (Merlin), Leon/Morgana (Merlin), Gwaine/Percival (Merlin), Elyan/Original Character

Additional Tags: Merlin is a Little Shit, Good Morgana (Merlin), Good Mordred (Merlin), Everyone Knows About Merlin's Magic (Merlin), Alternate Universe, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Demon Deals, Pet Names, Hurt/Comfort, Angst, Fluff and Smut, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, Nightmares, Everyone Hates Uther Pendragon (Merlin), Freya Lives (Merlin), BAMF Merlin (Merlin), BAMF Arthur, BAMF Freya (Merlin), Friends to Lovers, I don't trust kilgarrah, Gwaine Being Gwaine (Merlin), everyone knows about morgana's magic

source https://archiveofourown.org/works/45387556