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none-ofthisnonsense · 2 months

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Merlin S2E3, “The Nightmare Begins”

Okay so Morgana’s eyes have some the magic glow. This has totally not been foreshadowed for a whole season previously.

(On another note, by far the biggest inconsistency is where Gwen lives.)

OH SHE MADE THAT CANDLE LIGHT UP

So Uther is right about the way it happened, but wrong about the person. This is just Morgana. But I do love to see this episode it’s definitely one of the better ones (and I’m only 3 minutes in!)

For once I would’ve liked to see Merlin figure things out for himself.

Merlin and Morgana are parallels in SO MANY WAYS I LOVE IT SO MUCH THEY’RE MY FAVOURITE CHARACTER FOILS

Ohohoho he’s bringing flowers I can see how this could be misconstrued

Gwen and Morgana ARE friends. Better ones than Arthur and Merlin. I want to read a modern, high school AU of these four.

Katie McGrath is GLORIOUS. And Morgana is by far the best-written character.

The music in this episode!!!

The CGI definitely improved between S1 and S2.

Merlin establishing that he’s not interested in Morgana and being completely misbelieved is a feeling I can very strongly relate to. I feel you, Merlin.

I don’t ship them but they would have potential as a romantic couple. (Or just let them develop as besties who would kill for each other, that’s fine too.)

I LIVE for Merlin and Morgana interactions.

“I’d be lost without you, Gaius.” IT’S MY FAVOURITE FATHER/SON DUO SAYING THEIR LOVE FOR EACH OTHER I LOVE THEM

The music in this episode is once again great.

This is the guy who played Doctor Moon in Doctor Who, isn’t he?

MORDRED!!!! MY LITTLE GUY!

Uther was a good king (ish) at the start of S1 but as time is going on he is growing increasingly unreasonable and isolationist.

Telepathy is a curse, isn’t it?

Oh fuck wait he’s leading the knights to the druids isn’t he

Uther does care for Morgana like his daughter! She and Arthur are spiritual siblings confirmed.

The druids seem calm. I’m sorry that they’re about to get decimated.

Of all people on Camelot Merlin is definitely the one who understands the most.

The sudden change when the fog appears is really well-done, and the whole fog music is great.

AGLAIN NO

Times like these I do believe Uther considers Morgana like his daughter. Even if most of the time he doesn’t act like it.

“Merlin.” “My lady.” is giving me Gaius-talking-to-Nimueh vibes. M&M (ha) are by far my favourite duo and I’m so happy we get so much of them!!

Merlin being so happy begetting to talk about magic :) and seeing someone else be as enthusiastic about it as he is!!

Okay it definitely looks like they’re fucking. From Arthur’s POV.

“You can’t hide anything from me, Merlin.” well-

A HUG!!!! WE’RE GETTING A GAIUS/MERLIN HUG!! I love them so much they’re the best family duo

LOVED this episode.

#Merlin #bbc Merlin #Merlin s2 #Merlin s2e3 #the nightmare begins #merlin liveblog

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weakforarwen · 2 years

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The Witch’s Quickening

This was an exciting episode, and an important one; too bad it’s kinda riddled with plot holes?

Mordred was found by a group of renegades with magic whose leader convinced Mordred, and later, Morgana, to fight his cause. What I don’t understand is why this group rarely used magic. When Arthur attacked them, Alvarr was captured and all his people killed. Why did no one use magic to fend off the attack? The only time Alvarr used magic was to escape from prison with Morgana’s aid, and even then all he did was open a lock. I guess having magic and being able to use it are two different things.

Something else I didn’t understand about Alvarr’s escape was how Morgana was able to drug the guards stationed outside his cell with only a small vial of Gaius’s sleeping potion. Just how powerful is that potion? It could knock down a horse, apparently, yet failed to stop Morgana’s dreams...

Morgana’s central in this episode. Her connection to Mordred is as sweet as it is mysterious, but it’s her connection with Alvarr that drives her actions. Mordred convinced Morgana to steal the crystal from Uther, but Alvarr charmed her into switching sides and risking everything for him. His death, or sentencing, deeply upset Morgana and made her lash out at Uther, but I understand her anger and she was brave for “disowning” him. Morgana’s changed. This wasn’t the first time she criticized Uther for being a murderer (she did it in the pilot episode), but every confrontation takes her one step closer to the point of no return.

Morgana has slowly been losing it this season: her relationship with Gwen is all but gone - she was even rude to Gwen this episode and didn’t apologize, and she despises Uther and knows everyone in Camelot would turn against her if they knew she has magic. She’s all alone in the castle... If only there was someone else like her, with magic, who could make her feel less alone, huh?

Uther often talks about the days of The Purge, but I still don’t understand how he managed to eradicate magic from Camelot. For example, he used Merlin’s father to imprison Kilgharrah, but even if Balinor called the great dragon to Camelot, someone else had to trap him inside the cave, right? And if dragons are so hard to kill how is Kilgharrah the “last” of his kind? Dragons can’t be killed with magic, and the season finale shows humans can’t kill them either. Did the dragonlords, who are supposed to respect dragons, kill them before being killed by Uther? Uther had the help of Nimueh, a High Priestess, to help Ygraine give birth to Arthur. Did she help trap the dragon? I can’t see why she’d do that... And how did someone as powerful as Nimueh let Uther destroy everything related to the Old Religion? How did Uther manage to track down and steal so many powerful magical objects? How did his Army hunt down and kill those with magic? Are most who are born with magic too weak to defend themselves? I fear that must be it. Most don’t even learn how to wield their magic properly... But it’s still impossible to believe that Uther alone could trick so many warlocks and witches and destroy so much of the Old Religion. He must be some kind of genius.

Also, did Uther suspect Morgana of freeing Alvarr after their argument? I believe he did, but he let it go...

Merlin’s role this episode was to stop Morgana, Mordred, and the group of renegades from getting the crystal. At first, I wondered why he would stop them from killing Uther, but then Alvarr told Morgana he would destroy everyone in his path... Honestly, Uther waged a war against magic and took many innocent lives, so if people with magic wanted to take back their rights, they had little choice but to wage a war against Uther. However, innocent people would die in the progress and Alvarr himself didn’t seem too trustworthy, so I understand why Merlin wants to stick to Arthur. If Arthur can become King and bring back magic, there’s no need for bloodshed. In theory, Arthur is the “peaceful” solution - except that, in order to prevent a war between Uther and those with magic, a lot more blood ended up being spilled.

Merlin is seduced by the crystal to see the future, and I believe he saw Kilgharrah taking his revenge on Camelot. Shouldn’t the crystal have shown Merlin something a tad more exciting and important? Also, Merlin lowkey tried to kill Mordred this episode, and Mordred told him he’d never forget what he did, but fast-forward to season 5 and he’s forgotten everything... How did Mordred survive without a family? Was he taken in by the Druids? What happened to him between seasons 2 and 5? So many questions, so little answers.

Lastly, is it just me or was Arthur an even bigger asshole to Merlin than usual in this episode? After watching seasons 4 and 5, I got used to Arthur being almost decent to Merlin, so their dynamic in the early seasons is shocking. Just in this episode, Arthur screamed in Merlin’s face that he was good at nothing, called him useless and a coward a dozen times, and threatened to kill him. Merlin was barely even fazed, which is either impressive and shows he’s confident enough to not be bothered by Arthur’s petty insults, or sad because he just takes it...

#bbc merlin #merlin #morgana #mordred #arthur pendragon #gwen pendragon #uther #the witch's quickening commentary #the witch's quickening

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camelotsheart · 3 years

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I think it's really interesting how one of the worst barriers in BBC Merlin is ignorance.

Almost everyone in the show is trying to do the right thing from their perspective. It's the ignorance of certain things that makes their actions seem wrong to different people, and it’s easier for the audience to relate most with Merlin because he knows as much as they do. Morgana (at least up till the end of s3) and the sorcerers supporting her are trying to engage in revolution to free themselves without knowing that Arthur is the one destined to free them. Arthur is trying to protect his people. Merlin is trying to do both, but with the knowledge of his and Arthur’s destiny.

How many of the sorcerers who attacked Camelot knew of Merlin and Arthur's destiny? I can only remember Nimueh, who's antagonism seems to be more of a personal hatred of Uther and his betrayal, similar to how Morgana's hatred of Arthur overcomes her sense of justice in s4 and 5, and Mordred, who I think would at least have second thoughts of opposing Arthur had he knew Kara was given a chance. It's very telling that Alator was quick to change sides after he learned of Merlin's identity despite supporting Morgana before. He even says that there are many people like him who are willing to sacrifice their lives to bring about the golden age.

Was Alvarr and his band of renegade wrong? Was Mary Collins wrong? Was Edwin wrong? Were the people who wanted revenge upon Uther for the loss of their loved ones wrong? Is it wrong to understand Kilgharrah's motives when he attacks the kingdom who killed all of his kind and entrapped him in a dungeon for 20 years? Everyone plays with different views of right and wrong because those views are not centralised in the first place. This is what makes the series so interesting - because it wants the audience to have stakes on both sides of the conflict.

This works for Arthur's side too. Arthur's most positive views of magic comes from season 1. That's because in that season the memories of the druid raids are closer to him than in later ones, and also because he is given more positive experiences with magic (the ball of light, Will, the unicorn, etc). However, after that point all the magic that he encounters, according to the knowledge which he possesses of the situation, has been used negatively.

He nearly dies because of a creature of magic, Sigan tries to take over Camelot, druids kidnap Morgana, a troll uses his father to take over Camelot, Gaius nearly dies because of Aredian, Morgause tries to use him to kill his father, a shapeshifter kills Camelot's citizens, the undead attack Camelot, a dragon kills innocent people, a goblin wrecks havoc, he is nearly killed in a tourney by the use of enchanted swords, Morgause and Cendred use Elyan, Gwen and Morgana to get to him, Dragoon tries to bring dishonour to Camelot by enchanting him and Gwen, Morgana betrays Camelot, Gaius is tortured (yes, his actions does play a large part in this and he is shown to wrecked with guilt by it. There's a reason why in the next episode he talks so highly of Gaius), a monster of magic kills people in outlying villages, Morgana takes over Camelot and kills innocent people again....

The only positive experience he has with magic in seasons 2 and 4 is the knowledge that Dragoon tried to save Uther. And yet in season 5 he still stops a sorceress from being executed despite people claiming that her magic brought down a plague upon the village. He still gives Mordred a chance to become a knight (I hc that Arthur knew Mordred was a druid, but not that he had magic. Mordred was half naked when being treated by gaius in 5x05. Arthur would have seen his druid mark, unless he came in after Gaius bandaged him up. He also doesn't question how Mordred knows Kara, a druid). He still believes that in his heart, he should save Mordred and lift the ban, but his mind - his experiences - become an argument against his heart. And it is a strong argument from Arthur's point of view. You could say that Arthur was a hypocrite when he used magic to save Gwen and Uther, but you could also say that there was a part of him still hanging on to his views from season 1. What Dragoon and Dolma says to Arthur in both occasions regarding magic echoes Arthur's own views at finding a poultice at Gwen's - to save her dying father, that doesn't make her guilty of creating a plague. One's the act of, of kindness, of love, the other of evil. I don't believe evil's in this girl's heart. / There is no evil in sorcery. Only in the hearts of men. / I know you have suffered because of magic, as many have. But not all magic, and not all sorcerers are the same. I wish only to show you that magic can be used for good. And I think that after 5x09 Arthur does internalize Dolma's saying. He never once speaks against Kara's heritage as a druid when he talks about or to her. He explicitly states that her wrong is in murder, not in possession of magic.

This is what Merlin understands - that the conflict comes mainly from differing points of views caused primarily by ignorance of the prophecy itself. Merlin sees in 2x08 that Arthur is completely able of accepting magic and going against Uther, just like he knows that those who possess magic have an ultimate right to fight for what they believe. As one of the most informed people in the show, this is the line that Merlin tries to straddle everyday; to give his people freedom by making Arthur the king he is destined to be, even if to outsiders the two seem mutually exclusive.

The true wrong of the show was to place that burden on one shoulder alone.

#bbc merlin #merlin meta #idk if his makes sense 😂#i had this thought in the middle of class. break and had to type it up #time to focus back on my studies 😔✌️

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theonceandfutureking6481 · 3 years

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BBC's Merlin Season 1 Episode 4: The Poisoned Chalice Analysis

This is one of my favourite episodes, in this season, mainly for Merlin and Arthur. They are wonderful in this episode, and this is the first episode where you really see them starting to truly care about each other. This is a show fundamentally about love and the relationships between every character, and Merlin and Arthur are at the core of the show. Everyone in this episode though is so brave, and I admire them all so much. I talk a lot about a lot of different elements of Merlin on here but what I really love about this show is how much the characters inspire me, how much I admire them because I'm not sure I could ever be as brave as these characters, but I'd like to be.

Merlin's courage

There's not much in detail I can say about this but Merlin is so brave at the start of this episode. To burst into the king's hall and publicly accuse another king of attempting to poison Arthur. It's funny but one of the parts of Merlin's courage I most admire isn't his bravery to die for Arthur, it's his willingness to speak out when somethings wrong, his willingness to publicly embarrass himself, his willingness to be brave even when he could be wrong. It's a reachable form of courage, I don't think any of us frequently (or ever) have the opportunity to die for others, but in many ways the fact that we could all be as brave as Merlin in this way, that's what makes it feel so much more unattainable and thus more admirable.

The bigger courage though really is when Merlin drinks from the goblet, honestly even though Uther made him, Arthur probably would have drunk it but Merlin didn't let him. Merlin knew he would die if he drunk from that goblet, because he believed Nimueh to be telling the truth (which she was), but (as Arthur says) "he did it anyway." To meet death so willingly, it's not like jumping in front of someone in the moment in a battle, he had to make the choice to drink that poison because he is willing to sacrifice his life for Arthur's. And it hasn't got anything to do with destiny yet, he cares about Arthur, Arthur's his friend and Merlin's a good person. It's just a very noble moment for Merlin, Uther was making him but at the same time you could see Merlin choosing to drink from it, that's a choice and that was incredibly noble.

Arthur and Uther

There is tension between Arthur and Uther in this episode, between their views on the world and honour. It is, I think essentially summed up in.

Arthur: Because his life's worthless?

Uther: No, because its worth less than yours.

It's funny, you can see Uther's perspective here. He is right about one thing, Arthur is the future king, even if he's not inherently worth more than Merlin the stability of the kingdom rests on a secure succession and Arthur is Uther's only heir, there is more at stake here.

But Arthur's also right, a world in which any single person's life is protected more than others because of their social position is not a good place. It is not something Arthur believes in, but in Uther's world its just a given, it's not even a question that people ask.

Uther: This boy wont be the last to die on your behalf

Arthur: I can't accept that

Arthur never accepts this inevitability, he always seeks to risk his life first before any one else's and people follow him because of that, people (even his enemies) see the nobility in him because of that. His refusal to accept what to Uther appears to be an inevitability of kingship (Not a welcome one granted but one nonetheless) is what's going to make him a better king than Uther. As Morgana emphasises when she's persuading Arthur to go.

Morgana: And what sort of king would Camelot want? One that would risk his life to save that of a lowly servant, or one that does what his father tells him to?

Isn't this really just the point, Arthur will be a better king than his father because for him his right to rule is in some way always premised on his fulfilment of what he sees as right. Arthur is always trying to prove himself, especially in the early seasons. In Season 2 Episode 2: The Once and Future Queen when Arthur is fighting in a tournament under an alias so people don't know its him (and they will hopefully not let him win), you really see this.

Gwen: You have nothing to prove, least of all to me.

Arthur: I have everything to prove, to myself.

This is the fundamental point, Arthur is always trying to prove himself often to his father or others but always primarily to himself. Because he needs to prove to himself that he can rule Camelot, that he is deserving of it, so for the fact that he's going to be king to hold any weight he needs to do what he thinks is right, because if he doesn't then what sort of king would he be anyway?

This ties I think into what I mentioned in the last episode about Merlin and the greater good. The idea that Merlin never really makes the choice to kill Morgana or Mordred, except for in a moment where it was Morgana or Arthur, where it was a certain in the moment choice. Yes, he reaches a point where he tries to let them die but this is different to outright murder, and I think perhaps a Merlin who would have killed them is not a the Merlin we know, it is not a Merlin that could have formed Camelot. Arthur and Merlin's goodness comes from always trying to do the right thing, whatever the sacrifice to themselves, and if they hadn't been those sort of people then there is no way they could have been people who made a better kingdom.

Gaius: Arthur may give you a hard time, but at heart he's a man of honour. Not many people would have risked what he did for a servant

Uther

Uther's interesting in this episode, he has one of his worst moments in the show, not the worst thing he's ever done but certainly one of the worst things we witness. He purposefully lets Merlin die, we could understand it when he wasn't letting Arthur go after him, but to try to destroy Merlin's only hope for a cure to teach his son a lesson, that is cruel and so wrong. This takes valuing Arthur's life more than Merlin's to a whole other level, he values Arthur's obeying of him more than he values Merlin's life.

This goes to another feature of Uther's character I was just thinking about. He constantly mistakes control for love. He seeks to control both his children, he wants them to obey him, and if they openly defy him or disagree with him he punishes them. But he does love them, probably more than he loves anything else. When Morgana stages a coup against him and tells him how much she hates him he is broken, and he literally never recovers he does love them that cannot be denied but he spends so much of his life mistaking his controlling them for an expression of his love. It is an expression of his fear, he is scared of being out of control as he was when his wife died. Magic can be dangerous but mostly it caused him great suffering (although really it was him), so he seeks to control it absolutely, there is no nuance there and this is how he behaves towards his children. Hate and fear are terrible things to be motivated by, and Uther shows that. His hate comes from his fear, and his cruelty comes from there as well.

One thing, Uther does accept his fault at the end of this episode. It's not really adequate but its better than nothing and in its own way shows that Uther is capable of character development, and the fact that he will fail to do it in the most important ways is sad. His moment when he says to Arthur that Nimueh "is evil", it is so clear he is talking more to himself than anyone else. Isn't that a sign of trying to persuade yourself, he has to tell himself that Nimueh's evil cause ultimately she was just doing what he asked, and if he doesn't villainise her absolutely than its his fault too.

The one moment that really does redeem Uther a little in this episode is when he tells Arthur that "You did the right thing... I'm proud of you Arthur, never forget that." The last comment is telling, Uther knows he's not the best father, he knows that Arthur probably doesn't realise that Uther is proud of him. So the 'never forget that' is a reminder, I think, for when Uther inevitably forgets that himself. It is a reminder, for us, in its own way that Uther is trying to be a good father, and at least in this realm Uther realises that he very often fails.

Morgana

One interesting thing I noticed in this episode was how frustrated Morgana is with her life. I've never really noticed it before, but its in everything she says and does, even in the episodes before this. Even before she turns against Arthur and Uther and Camelot she is angry, not just at them, she's angry at her life. You can tell she feels like she doesn't have the power to do anything, like she's being controlled and perhaps like she isn't able to anything good or right because of Uther and her position, she feels pity for all the magic users but she is a part of the body that persecutes them. How do you reconcile that?

Morgana: Sometimes you have to do what you think is right and damn the consequences

There is so much frustration in that, and everything she says in this scene. I don't know exactly what this says about Morgana's character or her eventual place in the story but its interesting to note. Perhaps its to say her hatred of Uther and eventually Arthur isn't only because of her sympathy for magic users and eventually her own fear and feelings of being unloved but perhaps has its roots in her anger at this time, in Uther's control and her own powerlessness.

Merlin and Arthur

This is Merlin and Arthur's episode, so its kind of funny it took me so long to get to them, but there's really not that much to analyse in the wider scheme regarding them. They just are, and they are wonderful.

This is the episode where you see they do truly care about each other and they are truly good friends They risk their lives for each other with barely a second thought, and yes that is partially their own honour and decency but it is also fundamentally their care for each other that motivates them. You can tell when Merlin's thinking about destiny when he saves Arthur, it becomes such a huge part of his characterisation later on even though he loves Arthur more by that point he also admires him more so Arthur's destiny seems more important. Merlin doesn't really admire Arthur that much yet, he respects him and cares about him but the sheer admiration he will have for him comes later, and it is that admiration that makes him care even more about Arthur's destiny, because he believes in it far more. Right now though it is just their goodness and their friendship that motivates them.

The final moment between them though is beautiful. The moment when Arthur goes to Gaius' chambers just to check that Merlin's all right, even though he's obviously been told he is. He brushes it aside as usual, brushes how much he does actually care about what happens to Merlin (I mean Arthur did just go on a perilous quest that could have led to his death for him so I think Merlin gets it). But the moment at the end of that scene is lovely. There is just such mutual respect and recognition of each other and what they've done for each other, and the way they look at each other is just so wonderful.

Merlin: Thank you

Arthur: You too

Nimueh

One quick note about her. We will find out eventually what her motivations really are, that she's obviously not just evil. That she is angry at Uther and understandably so. And I wonder if in her there is a parallel for Uther I hadn't considered before. Both of them were involved in Igraine's death and Arthur's birth. And it was as a result of this action that Uther outlawed sorcery and began the great purge. She out of everyone knows best how hypocritical Uther really is. And in her own way, though it is obviously not her fault, it is her actions that set off the great purge. Uther made the choice to blame her and all magic but nonetheless it was a spell she cast that was the trigger, and I wonder if in her own way she feels guilty (just as Uther feels guilty about his wife's death) but like Uther she takes it out in anger rather than guilt. I'm not saying she should feel guilty, perhaps over Igraine's death but certainly not the great purge. However, she most probably does, and like Uther I think she's refusing to feel that guilt, and to avoid that guilt she chooses hatred and anger instead.

Bravery

Everyone in this episode though, is so brave. Gwen, Merlin, Arthur and Gaius all do risky, brave things that could get them killed, though maybe not killed in Gwen's case but certainly in huge trouble. Gwen sneaks into the dungeons and Gaius does magic. We will learn more about Gaius' character later but he is in many ways not a brave person, he is the sort who witnesses injustice and stays quiet, he's not brave. But he's brave here, he does magic, for Merlin, because he loves Merlin like a son. All the courage and bravery in this show comes from the love people have for others, and that's an important message, that the people we love and our own ability to love others can inspire us to be better people and to be brave.

Their immediate response to Merlin's apparent death moreover is guilty, they have nothing to feel guilty about, it's Uther's fault, but they blame themselves anyway. There is in that a contrast to Uther, who refuses to blame himself. They don't take their pain out in anger, they accept it and even though they have nothing to be guilty for the fact that their immediate response is guilt does say they are better people, braver people than Uther.

Other things

Morgana holding that butter knife ready to fight Bayard's men is the funniest thing ever. Like its an impressive butter knife, but it is still so clearly a butter knife.

Also so many bad guys plans in this show rely on Arthur or Merlin being fundamentally good people, like when your plan involves using people's goodness against them you need to re-evaluate your choices in life. I suppose its part of the point though- that they are willing to harm the innocent or take advantage of goodness in their anger. Uther punishes goodness in this episode.

My new motivational quote—> Gaius: "As the Old proverb says: Hard work breeds..........a harder soul." Merlin: "There is no way that's a proverb. You just made that up."

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monotonous-minutia · 3 years

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Merlin mini-rant

I really like the show but one of the things that doesn’t sit quite as well with me is the handling of who started as possibly my second-favorite character, Morgana.

I like heroine Morgana. She’s sassy and spunky and sweet, has a little more humility (and possibly humanity, at least at first) than Arthur, so they balance each other out at the start. Despite the fact that (and I’m still not really sure why they do this, because it doesn’t last long) the narrative seems to ship them at first, they have a really sweet, genuine sibling relationship that helps build the foundation of their friend group/found family. Morgana is physically strong and agile without the narrative making her sacrifice her femininity to be so (as is too often seen). She’s also very smart and talented in ways that others aren’t; while several characters are off winning physical battles afar, she’s at home winning battles with words. There are many episodes in Season One where the story would not have ended as well as they did if she hadn’t said what she did, to whom she did. She knows the ins and outs of the palace, she knows who’s who, and she knows what everyone’s priorities are, so she can almost always find the right thing to say to make them see sense, and often come to realizations that help them grow as people. She has a deep, innate empathy to those around her regardless of rank, while still recognizing ranks enough to utilize her power appropriately (and sometimes just be a little priss--she’s young, y’know). She’s incredibly gay with Gwen and I love it.

I also like villain Morgana. Her journey from the above-described heroine to the ruthless villain we see by the end of the series is well-thought-out, and the slow deterioration of her morality based on the events she goes through is both heartbreaking and makes me want to bang my head into the wall. She continues to be incredibly powerful, still using her wit and words as weapons, as well as becoming an alarmingly great sorceress. Her degeneration from the stately figure we see early on to the deranged witch by the end of the action is meticulous. And the fact that she’s still very attached to Gwen even after all these developments, and even when Gwen makes the choice to stay in Camelot, is an interesting touch that adds a depth to her that isn’t always seen with villains.

But I gotta say I love heroine Morgana more, and not really just for emotional reasons.

I’m not mad that the main villain of the series ends up being a woman, because the idea that women can’t be villains is just ridiculous to me. And, as said before, her arc is very well-written imo, so it doesn’t seem like a cop-out, like “we just wanted a girl villain bc girls are bad.”

I am a little mad that when the main villain turns out to be a woman, it leaves only one woman in the principle cast of heroes. Not that Gwen can’t totally hold her own, but it would have been nice to have her dynamic feminine duo with Morgana (and their ridiculous gayness) for the rest of the series, rather than leaving the majority of the action up to the men. Plus, I think keeping Morgana around as a hero might have given Gwen more outlets to be involved in the main action as well, since these two are definitely a power couple.

Dramatically speaking I think it might have worked better, too. Again, I like the villain arc Morgana gets--it isn’t rushed and it’s well-thought-out. But I think it would have been even nicer to have them be two different characters. Maybe keep Nimueh around for a few extra seasons, and/or introduce someone else with the same powers Morgana ends up with. Or keep Morgause; she could even still be Morgana’s half-sister, but Morgana refuses to join her, adding another layer to the hero/villain dynamics. Her backstory could be similar, and we could see parts of it along the way as it intertwines with the rest of the plot.

But I would have loved to see Morgana stay in Camelot as one of the lead heroes. Early on she doesn’t seem to have any desire to gain the throne (and I always thought the whole “she’s-actually-Uther’s-biological-daughter” thing was a cop-out anyway), so I can totally see her finding herself in a supportive, advisor-type role to Arthur as he takes on more and more responsibility. Their sibling dynamic would provide a lot of genuine sweetness and sassy banter throughout. She could continue to provide valuable assistance during the adventures, using her words and knowledge and influence to help out, becoming wiser as the years go on and helping Arthur build a strong kingdom.

She could have continued her super-sweet relationship with Gwen, supporting her as she slowly becomes more important in the court, vouching for her despite her rank, and continuing to be incredibly gay.

I think it would have been really cool if she and Merlin connected early on about their magic and confided in each other. I would have loved to see the two of them struggling together as they harness their powers, and bonding over that; and Merlin for once being able to take on a mentor-type role where his contributions are actually acknowledged, as he helps Morgana through the early stages of her revelations. Plus, it would help both of them feel much less alone, which not only saves Morgana from the villain path, but also gives Merlin some of the attention and support that he needs and never effing gets.

I think it would be funny if Arthur’s impression that they’re flirting continued throughout the series as a running gag, especially as they’d be making excuses to spend more time together so they can help each other with their magic. They could even use it to their advantage at times to get him off their backs. (On that note, I can see Morgana concluding the series with no other love interest than Gwen, though it would also be funny if she continually received suitors that were more running gags or funny side-plots to other stories).

I can almost see it like this: instead of refusing to tell Morgana that he also has magic in 2x3 (“The Nightmare Begins”), Merlin actually does tell her, so instead of her going to the Druids and starting that path of conflict, she and Merlin become closer and her goals become more focused and she’s less scared, and that prevents her from going down the path of darkness.

As Morgana works to understand and control her powers, she could learn about its history and lore and the Old Religion and stuff and be able to help identify sorcery and mythical creatures when they come across them.

And her relationship with Mordred could add yet another layer to the hero/villain dynamic; she could take on a mentoring role for him when he joins the Knights, maybe even helping him out with his magic and trying to get him into her and Merlin’s little “magic circle.” Merlin’s suspicion of Mordred could cause some juicy personal conflict between him and Morgana, and Mordred’s inevitable betrayal would be devastating in a dramatically satisfying way, if that makes sense.

All in all, I do like villain Morgana and her whole villain arc; but I would have liked it even more if she’d stayed in Camelot as one of the heroes, keeping her place in the principle cast of characters and remaining an important part of their friend group/Disaster Bi Club.

anyway....those are my thoughts...idk if anyone on here even knows what I’m talking about lol but I wanted to get it out there; I usually do my TV show rants on Twitter but the character limit for posts prevents long stuff like this.

#this will likely be a short-lived obsession so opera fans have no fear #just some random thoughts I wanted to get out of my system #Merlin #The Adventures of Merlin #Morgana Pendragon #character analysis #tv show rants #bbc merlin

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aspiring-wildfire · 4 years

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Okay not to be Merlin on main in 2019 BUT i think what kills me the most about this stupid show and keeps me coming back to it is that it had so much potential and it was so underutilized

Like seriously every character arc had the potential to be so incredible and so many of them fell so flat- and don’t get me wrong, i love the show, i love how fun and funny it was, and there are definitely some really good moments that have the epic legendary feeling to them (Arthur pulling the sword out of the stone, Merlin fighting Nimueh, Merlin killing Agravaine, the coronations, some of camlann, etc) but like. There’s so much more they could have done, both plot/legend-wise and character-wise

Merlin deserved to actually have his powers explored (if Cornelius Sigan could make the tides roll back MERLIN CERTAINLY COULD- he’s the most powerful sorcerer ever and he can do magic just by instinct and the most they have him do the whole fucking show is blast some lightning, and only twice!! This boy was supposed to be made of magic and able to harness the LIFEFORCE OF THE EARTH come ON there were SO MANY FUCKING CHANCES TO HAVE HIM BE SERIOUSLY POWERFUL and they diDNT USE ANY OF THEM)

Arthur deserved to have a consistent fucking characterization (and yes, i get that he’s noble and good AND a prat and that those aren’t mutually exclusive but they yo-yo his relationships w people around SO MUCH, especially his relationship w Merlin- I think the most glaring example is the scene in season 5 where Arthur Merlin and mordred take Gwen to the ‘sorceress’ to cure her and Merlin disappears to go, y’know, become the sorceress, and Arthur’s so clearly worried and protective but then as soon as they get Gwen back he like??? Just forgets about Merlin??? And that’s not the only time but they flip between them having this really meaningful relationship and it just being played for comic relief like ‘oh haha Arthur doesn’t care abt merlin’ and it makes me so uPSET also he should have had so many more ‘Once and Future King’ moments)

Morgana deserved a FUCKING REDEMPTION ARC (or at least part of one i mean fucking come on she’s not even the ultimate villain in a solid chunk of Arthurian legend and she was such an interesting and complex character and idk this is less a writing thing and more just an ‘i love morgana and desperately wish we got to see more of her and Arthur as siblings ESPECIALLY w how toxic Uther’s parenting was’ thing)

Gwen deserved not to have her character flattened in season 5 (i love her she’s my girl and I’ll defend her to my dying breath but once she became queen it became so much less about her and her symbolic importance as representing the people of Camelot and so much more abt how she affected Arthur and it makes me mad- she lost a lot of the endearing awkwardness and level-headed moral compass that made her so wonderful in the first place)

And i could go on!! Mordred deserved to be able to choose good, Arthur should have found out abt Merlin’s magic WAY earlier (personally I’m a fan of the ‘Arthur’s always known bc Merlin SUCKS at subtlety’ route but that’s just me), Gwen and Arthur should have had a better developed relationship (they were cute and all but there was no real substance to it? Like idk they just... didn’t really understand each other as much as like, Gwen and Lancelot did or Merlin and Arthur), Aithusa should have been so much more important to the story (and so should Kilgarrah tbh), we should have seen SO MUCH MORE of the knights, we shouldn’t have just skipped over the golden age come ON, Lancelot shouldn’t have died so soon and definitely shouldn’t have been brought back as a shade to romance Gwen like wtf, morgana shouldn’t have turned on Gwen (her dearest friend) in a split second over a vision of her as queen, the magic=gay analogy should have been explored further (just TRY to tell me its not a metaphor), and Arthur (and Morgana imo) should have healed all the hatred and pain that Uther caused and been a better person than him

Idk yall im just sad and frustrated about how much potential went unrealized

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brighter-side-of-the-coin · 4 years

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Merlin Fic Rec - Canon Era Longshots

Some longer Merlin fics I couldn’t put down the first time I read them ♥ (All canon era, >20k words)

Sweeter Dreams by Tierfal (35k)

Following a rather different ending to 2.10 ("Sweet Dreams"), Merlin and Arthur head to Olaf's kingdom of Valden to put things right. In the process, Merlin racks up an impressive series of treasonous crimes: insolence, incompetence, tripping while running for his life, and accusing the crown prince of snoring are only the beginning.

Crave the Brush of Spring by elissastillstands (112k)

There is no safety in Morgana's arms. Morgana makes her angry, and afraid beyond that, because Gwen thinks of Morgana with her unrelenting, cruel righteousness and feels something stirring in the space beneath her ribs, an echo of the fury she has buried since she came of age. She thinks of Morgana, and her tongue breaks, and her skin feels too tight and too small to contain her.

It is Ygraine who asks Nimueh to help her conceive a child born of magic, and though she knows what will come to pass, Nimueh is powerless before Ygraine's desires.

Decades later, that same child rules over a Camelot haunted by its past. The kingdom is besieged from without by a powerful Morgana seeking justice, and from within by its own broken laws. Gwen and Merlin stand at Arthur's side in his bitter war against his sister, but as their secrets come to light, Gwen must grapple with her gravitation towards the woman she once served. In the face of the slow dissolution of her world, Gwen finds herself confronting what she has long tried to bury in the name of loyalty: the power of grief, the force of anger, the weight of women's love and women's hunger.

the time is drawing near now (yours to claim it all) by ariadne_odair (58k)

Camelot holding a tournament is never good news for Merlin. Visitors to Camelot inevitably mean trouble and when one of those visitors sets their eye on Arthur, Merlin isn’t sure if Arthur is at risk of being seduced or something more ominous.

Uncovering a murder plot isn’t nearly as scary as confronting his feelings for Arthur, but at least Merlin hasn’t been kidnapped. Yet. Or revealed his magic to Arthur. Yet.

His destiny may have other ideas.

If Thou Wolt Haue it Red by Skitz_phenom (33k)

Affected by a rather nefarious - if delicious - bit of magic, Merlin is forced to navigate the complications of keeping a step ahead of Arthur (lest he ask the right questions), getting to the bottom of who's responsible (and why they'd want to trouble Gwen) and perhaps trying to understand why some of the truths he's working so diligently to avoid might not be the ones he expects...

The World I Built for You by Fulgance (32k)

If I told you to execute Mordred, would you do it? Merlin wondered, losing himself in the blue of Arthur's eyes. Can I save you like this, even if it damns me?

Bucket up, all for Luck by ImperialMint (29k)

Merlin didn't really expect it to take five Knights, two old men, a woman and a horseshoe for his plan to work, but then again the extent of his plan had been more along the lines of an adamant 'I'm not in love with Prince Prat (except, really, I am)' than an actual plan.

The Serving of Servants by CaffeinatedFlumadiddle (81k)

When a new position is made in the royal household to oversee the servants, Arthur didn’t think much of it. It was only days later when he noticed the mysterious injuries appearing on frightened servants that the prince decided to go undercover and to find out what is going on.

Meanwhile, Merlin thinks the newest servant is a mess.

Arthur learns what it is like to be a servant and learns some interesting thing about his own servant.

Alone, Until I Get Home by emmbrancsxx0 (57k)

During a trip to Forest Sauvage, Merlin learns of a plot to overthrow Arthur and bring war to the five kingdoms; and Arthur learns that Merlin has magic.

To Save a King by WordsAreTrulyBeautiful (60k)

Altering the future is a dangerous game, but when a new prophecy comes to light, Merlin must travel to a long deserted land to save Arthur's life. His magic and his heart be damned.

Little Thief by scribblemoose (30k)

When Leon's still suffering from the dragon's attack several months later, Merlin is anxious to help. Meanwhile Arthur goes hunting, Merlin dabbles in things that he shouldn't, and they find themselves on a quest with an unusual companion....

Before the Sun Breaks Another Day by accordingtomel, adelagia (109k)

Three months after her disappearance, Morgana returns to Camelot with a hidden agenda, but she's not the only one keeping secrets, and a series of unintended revelations forces her, Merlin and Arthur on an intertwined journey of revenge, redemption and love.

In My Veins (Cannot Get You Out) by rebeccaann08 (halesmoon) (24k)

When Merlin uses the Cup of Life to make Arthur invincible, something goes wrong. Arthur is immortal, but now Merlin is dying.

#my fic rec #fic rec #fan fiction #merthur #morgwen #arthur pendragon #merlin #bbc merlin #morgana #gwen

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koalas-koalas-everywhere · 4 years

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Where did the idea that Merlin is bad at healing magic come from?

Ok, that was a clickbaity title, I know where it came from: that scene in the Crystal Cave where he can’t heal Arthur’s wound. Possibly, also his struggle to heal him from the poisoned arrow in The Coming of Arthur Part 1. However, although I understand 1) the desire to nerf him at least a bit and 2) the delicious irony of someone as good as Merlin and who would like to be gentle as much as he does being crap at healing magic but good at combat, I don’t think this is very accurate.

I mean, this belief is the farthest thing from baseless. I mentioned TCC, and I can’t explain why he’d be unable to heal Arthur other than lack of skill (beyond theorizing that the magic of the Cave was impeding him because he was supposed, destined, if you will, to ask for Taliesin’s help and agree to look at the crystal in exchange, which admittedly doesn’t have much support from canon, or Merlin’s general lack of magical ability that caused him, for example to make a rose instead of a strawberry for Freya, although that was in the previous season). Then there’s TCoA, although that one’s a bit... complicated, for reasons I’l talk about in a minute, and, last but not least, there’s the Hollow Queen, where Merlin tries to heal himself but he can’t. Besides that, there are some instances when he didn’t try to heal people so we can extrapolate that he was unable, like when Mordred is hurt in The Beginning of the End, when Will and Freya are dying in The Moment of Truth and The Lady of the Lake* or when Arthur passes out in The Last Dragonlord.

The one from TCoA is complicated, because as I said before, he struggles, and by the time the scene cuts off it seems like he failed, but when Arthur wakes up, he only seems to have problems with the wound itself, not the poison, and doesn’t feel the pain until he walks on it. Then, without a hint of the fever he had before, he walks all the way to Camelot, a day or more, until he can’t go on anymore, but Merlin tells Gaius the spell didn’t work, BUT then Gaius says the wound’s infected, not poisoned, which would be explained by the whole traipsing about with a wounded leg and no treatment, so... I’m not sure what to make of it.

Then in THQ, there were the ameliorating circumstances of being... you know... dying from poison. It’s more a matter of power than healing skills (when he tries, his eyes flicker like cheap old lightbulbs when he tries to do magic). But we’ll count it.

So that makes it 5 times he would have liked to heal someone with magic but couldn’t due to what we can assume is a lack of skill (I’m not counting Mordred because I don’t think he’d dare to use magic in that case, since Morgana seemed to want to be involved and kept up to date in his treatment, proved by how she watched as he did it without magic), two of which are dubious because he seems to be at least partially successful or because there were extenuating circumstances.

Then there’s times where there were people to heal but the circumstances were... peculiar.

One was his father in The Last Dragonlord. He dies much more quickly than Will, not to mention Freya, which suggests an even worse wound than the one the woman who grew up with Druids, notable healers, said was too deep to heal. Merlin says he could save him, but Balinor cuts him off so he could give his last words, presumably because he, a man we also know possesses some healing skills, knew it was pointless. I really have to wonder if there was anything any ordinary sorcerer could have done (I mean, not to victim-blame, but I didn’t see Balinor trying to heal himself), that even Merlin himself pre-The Diamond of the Day could have done, so I’m reluctant to draw conclusions about his healing abilities from this.**

While he heals Gwen in With All My Heart, technically he does it not through any healing magic but by taking her to the Cauldron of Arianrhod and summoning the Triple Goddess, so it doesn’t help measure his skills either.

Additionally, (and here’s where I start to answer one of the most important questions in this post, which has remained unsaid until now, but which has underlined every single line to the moment: “what the fuck are you ranting about you big dumdum if all you’re going to do is agree that Merlin’s bad at healing?!” It’s about the refutation) there’s his healing of Morgana in TCC. This one’s also weird, because he does heal her, but he needed Kilgarrah’s help to do it. It’s possible that he only gave Merlin the spell, like he did with Sigan, but he has a strange sound effect in his voice when he casts it, so it could also be that he had some extra guidance from Kilgarrah to help him along, such as a power boost or an instinctual understanding of how to perform the spell. Like the last one, then, I don’t think this example gives us any reliable information on his healing skills.

But! It does start us off on the next part of this discussion, which is the times Merlin has successfully healed someone.

The earliest example of this is The Mark of Nimueh, where he heals Gwen’s father, Tom. He just sneaks in, puts a poultice under his pillow, casts the spell, sneaks out, and done! Man awake in seconds, cured by morning. Of course, success isn’t as interesting as failure (might be the reason why they continued this particular storyline by having Gwen accused of sorcery instead of just letting her live), but two things stand out about this healing. The first is that Merlin used a poultice for it, which will come up again later, so make a note of that. The second is that this happens before TCC, so it’s unlikely that Merlin just took that failure to heart and tried to improve.

But, TCC is the next time since then that he makes an attempt at healing magic, which, whew, talk about a time gap! That’s two seasons, and at least 2 1/2 years! Make a note of this, too. The time after that is, at least, in the same season - TCoA, in which we’ve settled that Merlin seems to have partial success with Arthur’s wound. (“Yes, you’ve already said this before!” Just go with it.)

Next, there’s The Wicked Day. We know that he did the spell right because everything went to shit. Once more, he used aids for the spell, a potion and incense form sage.

The very next episode, Aithusa, without a clear idea of what they’ve been given, only that they’ve passed out and have difficulty breathing (he might have figured out what it was from the smell of the poultice that he found in the stew), he manages to save all four knights and Arthur from poisoning, this time only with an enchantment.

Then he heals Gwen’s leg in The Hunter’s Heart. Once again, only a spell. Funnily enough, it’s the same wound he tried to heal in TCC, only in a different place.

Last but not least is the poison Gwen uses on Arthur in A Lesson in Vengeance. By the time Merlin has an opportunity to treat him, he’s moments away from death - Gaius says his heart’s nearly stopped, and Merlin himself doubts he has the power to heal him. No potions or herbs, although it’s interesting to note that he does motions similar to chest compressions.

So, to keep tally: his success rate when dealing with poisons and drugs is 100%, and it’s the same for times when he got to use aids such as potions and poultices. It also applies to all healing attempts not subject to extenuating circumstances (magical interference such as the Lamia’s spell or the blade being forged in a dragon’s breath, and when Merlin had to heal himself while he was dying) from TWD forward.

We can see him improve from TCC (season 3) to ALiV (season 5) - he actually makes significant improvement from TCC to TCoA, and from there to TWD and Aithusa. It seems like he learned from his experience in TCC and decided to make up for his lack of natural talent at healing magic by studying. And here’s where it gets really funny. Because we’ve established that there was a time, long before TCC, where he healed someone successfully, and that was Tom, in TMoN. If you’ll remember, around that time Merlin was much more likely to fail the first few (hundred) times he tried a spell, like the one to make that dog statue real and the one to enchant a weapon to fight the griffin. So, way back then, Merlin went, made a poultice, cast a spell and succeeded on his first try, when before (and after) that he’d have difficulties with new spells.

It... actually looks like he had a natural talent for healing magic.

Okay, hang on! you might say. You spent the first half of this fucking novel talking about his healing goofs, don’t come at me with this bullshit now! you might say.

And here’s where you should pull out those notes I asked you to make. Because between TMoN and TCC there’s a world of difference.

To start off, in the first one he had preparation. He’d been able to look for and study an appropriate spell in his book shortly beforehand and, most importantly, he had a poultice. He’s had a perfect success rate when using those. Look at Dragoon - I’ve talked before about how hilarious it is that Merlin struggles to turn off a spell most have trouble achieving, let alone keeping up. In that first ep, Queen of Hearts, Merlin prepares a whole ass ritual to age up,*** but later needs a potion to go back to his own age. On the other hand, every time after that he just casts the spell and he has no trouble undoing it. While it’s conjecture, it’s a pretty solid theory to say that potions and the like, as I’ve been foreshadowing, function as aids when casting spells. They can be necessary, but sometimes they just give the sorcerer a boost. It follows, then, that any spell cast without them will be weaker, such as, say, the one in TCC.

But! He doesn’t use potions for almost any of the other times, either!

Well, that’s kind of tied into my next point: time.

As we’ve established, almost three years go by between TMoN and TCC, and Merlin doesn’t try to heal anyone in that time. He does, however develop his magic in other ways. By The Moment of Truth he can summon a tornado! By Le Morte D’Arthur he can cast the spell he so struggled over in Lancelot! He can summon a shield that can withstand dragon fire! Went against a Sidhe and a Pixie! He- okay, he got better at combat magic. You might see where I’m going with this.

But right then, he needed to heal Arthur! He’d done it before! But... he’d gone rusty.

Honest to God. Yes, this is conjecture. No, I don’t have any proof other than what fits with canon. No, I don’t think it was intentional on the writers’ part.But in my mind and in my heart this is what happened. He was originally good or rather decent at healing magic, but after not using it and instead doing other kinds of magic for so long, during what were technically**** formative years for him as a sorcerer, that he actually lost the hang of it. To be fair, though, he makes up for it pretty quickly.

I didn’t think this through to the end before I wrote it, when I started I thought I’d just conclude there were more examples of Merlin being good at healing magic and that would be it, but putting it all together I’ve found a probably unintended pattern of Merlin having a natural talent for healing, but being forced to neglect it for the sake of combat magic. In conclusion, I’m sad.

*Scenes which I just watched to make this post and now I’m crying fucking hell what I do for stupid meta.

**I don’t apply the same logic to Freya because the length of time that must have passed between the scene in the tunnels and her death by the lake, not to mention the amount of jarring that she must have gone through in the trip, makes me think that there probably was a window of possibility there that they just didn’t have the resources to take advantage of. And. I mean. The strawberry scene. I’m just more likely to believe Merlin still had a way to go, magic-wise, but it’s also because of this that I’m not convinced that this is about him being bad at healing, specifically, as much as not being that skilled in magic overall.

*** I also rewatched the scene where he does it and ho-ho-ho-holy shit, his excitement at his idea is adorable.

****Because he was born with magic, he learned ways to use it way before going to Camelot, but this was a new stage of his studies that consisted f different things learned and different ways to learn them and different ways to apply them.

#Merlin BBC #Merlin #am I metaing yet?#I said in conclusion I am sad your honor

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thegreymoon · 3 years

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Salty Ask list: 9. Most disliked arc? Why?, 20. What is the purest ship in the fandom?, and 27. Least shippable character? The saltier the better!!!

Thank you for the ask, anon!! 💜💜

OK, I will answer both 9 and 10 (because the most disliked arc is no. 10 😅) I have already answered some of these earlier, so I will copy/paste those, if that’s OK!

9. Most disliked character(s)? Why?

For Merlin:

Agravaine. He’s just the worst. So greasy and sleazy and just, yuck. Yuck, overall. He’s not even one of those characters one can love to hate, like, for example, Uther, who is also simply the worst, but who will preoccupy you in ways you never saw coming! When it comes to Agravaine, everything about him was so thoroughly hateful, frustrating and unenjoyable, the highlight of the entire season was finally watching him go splat against the wall! The second most hated is that girlfriend of Gwaine’s at the very end that was plying him for information. That entire sequence is just so mind-numbingly infuriating, I can’t even think of it without getting angry. It almost ruined Gwaine for me entirely.

For The Untamed:

Oh, finally an easy one!! 😂😂 Wen Chao, Wang Lingjiao and Wen Zhuliu are in a tight race for the first place here and who is winning depends entirely on who I’m looking at in that precise moment! Of course, Wen Ruohan and Wen Xu can get into the hate bucket too, but they were so bland and boring, they cannot really compare. Jin Guangshan is also the worst, I can’t stand him. The only reason I hate the Wens more is that Jin Guangshan is actually a competent villain on a higher scale of villainy than the previous lot. Jin Zixun is also awful, a ridiculously unredeemable character on every front and Su She can also have an honourable mention.

10. Most disliked arc? Why?

For Merlin:

Oooh! There are so many!! But I think the ones that I rant about the most often are those related to Gwen! Everything about Gwencelot makes me rage! I dislike him and how he treated her and just do not see this epic ~love~ there, at least not on his part, yet they kept bringing him back to mess up her life over and over again.

Mind you, I am not the biggest fan of Arthur in this context either, he was a terrible boyfriend (though a somewhat better husband because Merlin picked up the slack), even though Arwen >>> Gwencelot by miles and miles. I hated how he would break up with her every five minutes over nonsense and then come crawling back. I hated how she always immediately forgave him, all grateful and relieved, and I always felt like she didn’t really have a choice because the power imbalance between them was staggering. Plus, the fact that she was the one who nursed Uther in his last months after everything he had done to her, and that Arthur had let it happen, infuriates me to no end.

My loathing for that whole cheating arc is infinite. I hate how the writers could not make up their minds about what they wanted to do with her. On the one hand, they were such cowards in their attempts to keep her ideologically pure, they had already sacrificed a lot of her quirkiness and character to suit Arthur’s needs and wants and to make him look good, so they were reluctant to have her actually cheat because it would undermine him. I don’t understand why they even had to have that entire arc if they were so afraid to go there. She was supposed to be under mind-control, and then they pointed out that the spell works by bringing suppressed emotions to the forefront! Why was that necessary? I mean, you can’t have it both ways! Either do it and own it, or just leave it alone! It would have been so easy to have her choose Lancelot and develop a proper romance there, and then to have Lancelot die, and Gwen fall in love with Arthur afterwards, as he supports her while she grieves. But, no, they had to take this cheap shot at her and humiliate her and have her cleaning pigsties just so that Arthur can angst about it for a few episodes. I am forever mad.

I also dislike the whole evil!Gwen arc (though a part of me did enjoy watching her go apeshit after quietly swallowing so much injustice throughout the entire five seasons of this show). I feel like they were intentionally undermining the character and her entire relationship with Arthur. The whole cheating nonsense so late into season 4 had already done so much damage, then they went and pulled this poorly-thought-out crap in the second half of season 5, when emotions were already running high and nobody was in the mood to be forgiving of someone trying at and almost succeeding in killing Arthur, who was so much more beloved among the viewers than her. Just imagine how much better spent that time would have been if they had... oh, I don’t know, developed Mordred more and given him a proper reason to turn against Arthur!

Ugh 😒

For The Untamed:

I dislike the whole Yanli/JZX romance. I don’t know what he’s like in the novel and the other adaptations, but he gets on my very last nerve in the drama and I never actually saw him do anything meaningful to redeem himself for all the crap he pulled and all the humiliation he piled on to her. I also don’t like the whole Yin Iron nonsense. It just doesn’t tie in properly and the plot holes and inconsistencies it leaves behind are gaping and huge (but, happily, nobody is watching this for the Yin Iron plot 😆). There had to have been better things to do there, especially since it is something that does not exist in the source material. The worst parts of the drama for me somehow always tie back to the Yin Iron.

20. What is the purest ship in the fandom?

For Merlin:

Hmmm… when it comes to the most popular ones, I think none of them, because they all get complicated and dark to some degree. But on a platonic level, when it comes to friendships, I would go with Merwen, Merlance and Merwaine. Merlin and Gwen are delightful together, but I have a hard time shipping them romantically without Arthur, there is just no path forward for me there that does not involve him too, and that tips the dynamic into something much more complicated (but still happy for all three of them because I am so not down for jealousy and competition between Merlin and Gwen, Arthur has two hands and he can damn well use them).

I also think that Lancelot’s love for Merlin was pure, but I just don’t ship it at all and think that there was never anything there except for friendship (I can see Arlance going sexual, though). The same goes for Gwaine, I think that he loved Merlin unconditionally, and as far as friendship goes, it is pure, but if I ship them sexually, then all purity goes out of the window, not just as far as the sex is concerned (because the sex they would be having would be positively filthy) but also because I just can’t imagine a universe in which Merlin does not love and desire Arthur more. The angst, the pain and the darkness are off the charts.

As for the less popular ones, I think the purest is Percival/Elyan regardless of whether you see it as romantic or platonic. There is just so much mutual love, admiration and respect between them! No angst, no lies, no triangles, no drama, just taking care of and supporting each other and living in domestic bliss.

For The Untamed:

WangXian, no contest. They fell in love as kids and continued to love each other for the rest of their lives, even beyond death. The way they love each other is so absolute and so selfless! They both respect and admire the other, they are so supportive and accepting of each other, quirks, flaws and all, and they kind of set the gold standard as far as relationships go!

27. Least shippable character?

For Merlin:

Eh... this is a tough one. I actually had to step away from this question and think about it and I didn’t come up with anything because the entire main and recurring cast is very shippable. There are, however, characters that aren’t shipped as much as they could be (Elyan, baby, you deserve better 😢), and then there are also characters that result in unsavory ships that are best left unmentioned (but because these are salty asks, I am going to mention them anyway).

The first one that came to my mind was Gaius, but he is actually very shippable because there is no rule that says you have to ship him in the canon timeline. He has a serious canon het love interest, and a crack one as well. Also, let’s not forget Uther. I’ve seen the fandom float this one as a crack ship, but it is actually very serious and plausible. There is so much complicated history there, decades of it, and definitely a deep, albeit toxic relationship that can absolutely be (and likely even was) sexual. If I was less busy and more inclined to get anon hate, I would totally be open to writing it myself.

I have seen a lot of people list Uther as an answer here, but Uther is very, very shippable! Anthony Head is handsome and charismatic, and he has so much presence as Uther, he could have chemistry with drywall if the script called for it. Again, there is no rule stating that a ship should be wholesome and happy, so let me go over the most obvious ones. When it comes to m/m ships, I already mentioned Gaius, plus I definitely felt it whenever the neighbouring kings came over to visit Camelot (my personal favourite was Lord Godwyn). Uther also has three canon het ships (why, yes, I am counting the troll), most notably Ygraine and Viivienne, and he is 100% shippable with Nimueh (though I prefer Nimueh with Ygraine). Last but not least, there is Morgana. It is squicky incest, yes, but it is also very obvious, if you have the inclination to go there. My jaw was on the floor on my first watch when he confessed that she was his actual biological daughter, because up until then, I totally thought that things would get sexual between them in canon.

Agravaine is also an obvious (I would even go as far as to say a semi-canon) ship for Morgana. Do I hate it? Yes. Do I think she slept with him to get him to deliver her Arthur’s head? Again, absolutely, yes. Even Kilgharrah is very shippable and he is a giant firebreathing lizard (obviously, laws of physics require transmorphing him into something smaller and (hopefully) human-shaped for the p0rn).

For The Untamed:

Jin Zixun and Jin Zixuan. I am forever mad Jin Zixuan (somehow) ends up having sex in canon anyway. My first thought for this was Wen Chao, but no, he is absolutely shippable. Like I said, the ship does not have to be nice, and Wen Chao is very nasty, but also very sexual (plus, there is always Wen Zhuliu).

The one character that I personally am the least inclined to ship is Wen Ning because he is so childlike and it feels like he never mentally developed into an adult.

Salty Asks

#salty asks #merlin #the untamed

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amatchforyourmadness · 4 years

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retourne-toi

Chapter: 1/10

Words: 2210

Summary:

“Arthur." Merlin's voice calls, through the haze of cold and the devastation of death. He lays his forehead against Arthur's back, in-between his shoulder blades when he refuses to turn, blinking the tears from his gaze and holding his head high. “Arthur.” Merlin pleads, forehead still against his back, long fingers holding tightly onto the king's arms, before he rises his face to press a kiss to the back of Arthur's neck and noses along his hair. “Turn around.”

(in which Arthur goes back in time, to find Merlin right after having lost him).

[AO3 link]

“You're not walking out of this cave with me, are you?”

It's a slow realization, and a heavy one. It’s always that way with Merlin though, and he struggles with the matter of breathing faced by the revelations of the weights the brunette behind him carry on his shoulders with a smile, all hard decisions in his name for years on end without his knowledge.

He thinks of what it took of him, to realize Arthur wouldn't make it, to turn from his course to Avalon and towards the crystal cave, using of his blood and Arthur's to reach back into time and into a second chance.

“Alll magic has a price, Arthur.” He sounds so serene, almost whimsical, and Arthur feels like a girl for thinking those things, but maybe it's just the fact that he is about to lose him. “I can't bend all laws of balance to my favour.”

“You did not tell me of this price. You did not say, it would be you.”

“It was me or you, sire.” He says, and it takes all of him to not smack him across the face when he listens to the smile in his voice, sucking a breath sharply as his Merlin’s finger reach to brush over the side of his chainmail where Mordred had ran him through, now only tender flesh and mended skin. “It's not hard to guess what my choice would be.”

He wants to cry, because it was true. He often forgot that Merlin drank poison for him two weeks into knowing him, because the list of almost deaths was so extensive it was hard to keep track now that he knew it all, the softly whispered confession of Merlin's voice had been his one distraction in the arduous way through the cave. He struck a bargain for Arthur's life with his, he fought and killed Nimueh, he fought Morgana countless times, he was captured by a troll in the dungeons, Alator, there had been the Lamia, the fomorroh, the dorocha, and so much more.

The walk through the cave was long and arduous, and after they — well, Merlin — had opened the portal through the core crystal, it has been dark and cold. Merlin had warned him he could not turn back, because if he looked behind him, to the future they were abandoning, they'd be back into the cave, he would bleed to death in Merlin's arms, and everything would have been in vain.

Still, time was a funny thing in the cave. Merlin said there had been barely hours between the moment they had walked in and now, but it felt like months. Had he been alone, Arthur would surely go mad, but he wasn't. He demanded his truth, and Merlin told him, easily and freely — too easily, too freely — and he should have known.

Merlin was born with magic, he was the warlock of a prophecy regarding Arthur, he was the most powerful warlock to ever live, he was meant to protect Arthur. His father had been Balinor, he had loved a girl once, the girl had died. Will hadn't been the sorcerer, he had. Lancelot knew, because he has enchanted his spear. Back then, he had planned to be the sacrifice, but Lancelot had gone ahead and spared him.

Arthur couldn't be more thankful, and even though he couldn't look back, he reached for Merlin's hands, and he interwined his pale fingers with Arthur's. His hand was colder than usual, but warmer than the cave. Merlin had whispered his biggest confession so softly Arthur has barely heard it over the heavy thumping of his heart. How a small, magical nobody of Ealdor had loved the Prince of Camelot for as long as he could remember. He had had to stop, to kneel in the damp ground and let the stupid man hug him from behind, holding onto his hands and arms as tightly as he could, sobbing on heartbreak and joy as he told him about a King who had once been a Prince and who realised he loved a stupid, brave and selfless boy in the moment he had seen him on a bed, dying from a poison he drank for him.

‘All this time and you never told me?’ Merlin has whispered, chuckling softly though his voice too had been heavy with tears. ‘Who are you to say anything?', he had retorted with a snort, ‘You've magic and you've been in love with me too, you're the bigger fool.’

Merlin's lips had brushed his shoulder as he pressed the words, warm and meaningful against his chainmail.

'The best kept secrets of Camelot.’

Time was a funny thing in the cave. They had confessed their love merely moments ago, he knew. It has been sweet and warm and glorious, and Arthur had never been as happy, not even when he married Gwen, not even when he saw Merlin defy death to return to him time after time.

Now he felt like he had never been as unhappy. The tears that spring to his eyes once more were not of joy. He felt like he might die at any moment.

But he wouldn't die, because who would die would be—

“I should have made you swear.” He whispers, voice and breath shaky at his innocence, his stupidity, his naivety in believing Merlin’s words. “I should have made you swear you wouldn’t put my life above yours, I should have made you swear you would be safe.”

“Old habits die heart, my King. Don’t hold what I chose to do against you.”

“I’m holding this against the both of us.”

The mouth of the cave was just ahead, and it was light and bright and wonderful, glowing with promises. And he didn't care for a single one of those, because Merlin wouldn't be with him. He lets his head hang forwards, limp and defeated and strangling all his words inside.

His breath gets stuck in the back of his throat for a moment before a mournful sound rips itself out of his lungs. He knows what he's asking, he knows what this means, he knows what will happen and he won't do that because if he does that—

“You will leave me.” He moaned, shaking his head and trying to pull from his grasp, to guide them into the light, to keep Merlin. Gods, he just wanted to keep Merlin. “If I look at you now, I'll walk out of this alone. You'll leave me.”

“Arthur..."

“Merlin, I cannot do this alone!”

“You won't be alone. I'll be with you, I've always been with you.”

“But he is not you.” He screams and his voice echoes, loudly “I mean, he is you, but not this you. He does not know what happened, he won't know.” A shaky hand hovers above his and he squeezes tightly, hoping that if he holds him tightly enough he will understand. “He won't be you.”

He just wants to keep Merlin.

Can't he be allowed that?

“No, he will be better.” No one could be better, he doesn't want he to be better, why can't he see that? Why can't he see that? “When you tell him, he'll be frightened for a moment, but he won't be scared.” And be can hear in-between his words, ‘he won't be scared as I was’. “He won't grow skeptical and cynical, and he will know you care for him. And above all else, you will be you.” Merlin's spalms over his chest, right above his heart, a heart that should not be beating, and that will keep it's pulse if he looks back at the expense of his. “You're all I ever needed to be great and brave, Arthur.”

“I don't want you to be great or brave. Lord knows you already are too much of both to your own good.” He murmurs, holding his hand tighter, still refusing to look back at Merlin. “I don't want you to change, I just want this.”

He feel the ghost of Merlin's smile against the side of his neck.

“You're all I ever needed to love you too. It's true now, and it was true back then.” Arthur closed his eyes and waits for the other shoe to drop. Merlin can't just be sweet, he has to be an ass about it, call him a prat or something. “Hell, I know that I'll be happy to not have to wait as long to kiss you.”

The grin is involuntary, it's just his natural response to his cheekiness.

“Shut up, Merlin.”

“Not a chance, sire."

Time was a funny thing in the cave. They could have lived a lifetime here, he thinks. He feels stronger by the second, so he can hold tighter on Merlin's hand when the others' grisp falters. It's hard not to wonder what a lifetime shared with Merlin would be like, even in here, even if he could crown him, even if he couldn't see him.

His voice would be enough, his presence would be enough, the knowledge that no harm could reach him, even if the safe nest he had found is a long black corridor of stones and magic that he could barely see a palm ahead of him for the longest time.

And there, in the cold, hopeless dark there is just the same old temptation, whispered in a beloved voice, soft with defeat and heavy with premeditated loss.

“Turn around, Arthur.”

He's just too close to breaking, and if anyone in the world knows how to tempt a Prince of Camelot, it's Merlin. So he shuts his eyes and makes sure he can't see a thing as he turns to him, hands travelling up to his face before his lips steal any other traitorous words he might say from him, take his breath and give him his, and until it's just that perfect bubble where all that exist is them.

Time was a funny thing in the cave. He could have kissed Merlin for a millennia, and still it wouldn't feel enough. The kiss stretches into an eternity that sets fire to his chest, warms his heart and burns his lungs, and he needs air, but he also needs Merlin, so he pushes a little more. The fool tastes of blueberries, and he can only picture how many he stole from his plate when delivering him meals. His hands holds onto Merlin's hair and he can't say which of them let out that needy noise, but the need is mutual.

Still he needs air. Cursed air. He breaks the kiss, forcing himself to keep his eyes closed and leans his forehead against Merlin's, noses his cheek and along his jawline and down his neck. The cave echoes with their heavy breathing.

“Please, don't leave me.” He pleads again, and he hopes, he prays that this time he will listen.

Instead, Merlin presses his face against Arthur's, and breathes like he needs to strengthen himself for the moment they are to face.

“Find me, and I'll never leave you again.”

It's a promise, he knows, but it's not the one be wanted to hear. Still, Merlin hugs him, pulls him tightly against his body, and, finally, he gets his wish, because as Arthur hugs him back, this side of desperate, his hand finds a warm moistness that is too familiar. Arthur opens his eyes I horror, scarlet stained hands moving to hold onto Merlin's arms, to put some distance so he can try and make sense of what's happened.

“Oh my God.” He lets out, breathless and gutted.

He is smiling — heaven knows how this man can still smiles, despite everything — and the smile seems to show how hollow his cheeks have grown, skin sinking in the places flesh is lacking. He's thinner, so much thinner, and cold as death. And on his side, directly opposite to the one Arthur walked into the cave, clutching so his insides didn't fall out, Merlin bleeds his life away as if that didn't hurt at all.

That's when Arthur realizes: the magical explanation was bullshit, Merlin just couldn't let him turn and see the sacrifice he was committing even as they walked. He had traded his life for this spell, and he had traded his health for his and he could not bend the laws of magic to not demand their price.

Blue eyes start to glow golden, and he sinks his fingernails in the too-fragile shoulders.

“Merlin—"

“Rhethoen toa.”

He tries to scream, but it's like he's being blown away, torn from Merlin and into the blinding light

When his eyes open again, he's laid on his bed, years in the past, and a younger Merlin is opening the curtains with a bright smile.

“Rise and shine!”

#Merlin #AO3 Merlin #Arthur Pendragon x Merlin #merlin x arthur #Emrys #arthur pendragon #im already on a merthur roll #Merthur #good morgana #morgana pendragon

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anorakofavalon · 5 years

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Missed Opportunities for Magic: Merlin & Morgana

(AKA: An Open Letter of [Constructive] Criticism to the Writers of Merlin)

I wrote this essay when I contemplated how much more rich Merlin could have been as a show had the writers decided to romantically involve Merlin and Morgana. I decided to write it as if I was addressing them directly because it was just easier for me to sort through my thoughts and main points that way. Sorry it’s a little long, but I’d love to have a discussion about it!

---

As I did with the last Open Letter I wrote, I’d like to start off by congratulating the writers of Merlin: Julian Murphy and Johnny Capps & Co. I think that they created something truly wonderful in this show, magical even. To me, it’s one of the most charming of all the BBC shows I’ve seen so far, and most definitely one of the most underrated. Not only that, but it has created a truly worthy community. Many years have passed since the show has ended, and still the community is numerous and inviting and incredibly active. Immortal as Merlin himself. I can only hope to create something a fraction as impactful as this someday. And so any criticism I make, any observation I mention, do understand that it comes from a place of complete love.

That said, I think it’s time to get on with this little essay. I really hope I don’t come off as pretentious, but here we go. I’m here to comment and critique one major lapse in the writing of the show, a major weakness that I find is representative of all the other writing missteps that occur in the story as a whole, though I will of course be going over some notes on how it could have been improved or adapted given the circumstances in-story. But I’m being a bit vague, and perhaps indulgent. Let’s begin with the biggest issue: You, the writers.

Before I scare you off, the issue do not have much to do with your writing per se. Perhaps a better way to state it would be the lack thereof, which is to say, I believe your fatal flaw has been inaction. This is in regard to a missed opportunity, the single biggest missed opportunity I have ever seen. That missed opportunity? Merlin and Morgana. I could not tell you what possibly motivated the exclusion of a romantic subplot between these two characters while you were working on the show. I wasn’t there, I am not you, and thus it is not my place to say. But I can say, from what I have seen, that all the cards were stacked and ready for you, as storytellers, to go in that direction. The actors were quite game, and in fact, Colin and Katie have absolutely wonderful chemistry on-screen and off-screen. Not only that, but they are two of the greatest dramatists ever to have graced the halls of BBC Studios. As is evident by more or less every single scene they’re in, both individually and together, they are beyond talented and able to convey great amounts of emotion with just their eyes. I’m very glad you and the directors chose to have close up shots of their eyes. It worked to great effect.

So why didn’t you take that route with Merlin and Morgana? I can think of a number of solid reasons, but among them I find three to be more prominent. The first possibility is that, as Merlin was a family show, you did not wish to indulge yourselves with a romance that is a little bit darker, perhaps more Shakespearean in nature. That is somewhat fair, but considering that you had Merlin kill very many people and ultimately make some very morally dubious decision throughout the show, including poisoning Morgana, I highly doubt that could be the sole reason.

I think the second reason, though a little bit more cruel of me to remark upon, is perhaps connected to the first. As a family show, maybe you were afraid to include something so risky and unexpected. It would have been a risky play. But you yourselves had eliminated the safe play, Freya, by having her killed off early in the show. I understand why, of course, from a thematic perspective it was important to do so in that episode, but I am obligated to comment on it. If you had wanted a safe story of love for Merlin, you had eliminated that possibility. You could have gone the risky route, but decided to go nowhere instead, in terms of romance.

The third potential reason is that you wanted to keep the general sweeping focus of the show solely on Merlin’s friendship with Arthur. Now this is a much more reasonable justification from a storytelling perspective. You might have considered a romance with Morgana at any point in the show to be, as mentioned earlier, both indulgent and ultimately useless. After all, she would turn evil, but Merlin would be by Arthur’s side at the end, so why not focus entirely on what is firm and stable? A romance with Morgana of any sort would have been, in the long view, futile. And as such you cut it out of the writer’s room. But I have a major contention: a romance between Merlin and Morgana would not have been useless or futile even if it led to the exact same ending.

As it stands, the Arthurian legend is, and always has been (at least since the days of Sir Thomas Malory), a tragedy. There is very little in the legends that is not tragic towards the end. Merlin and Nimueh. Guinevere, Lancelot, and Arthur. Mordred. Morgana herself. The fate of Camelot. In the show you recognized that completely and came through in that regard. But, at least where Gwen and Lancelot are involved, decided to deviate from that direction. You put the value of the tragedy on the fact that Merlin wasn’t able to achieve his destiny, that in spite of everything he had done he still failed and Arthur died. That magic never did return to Albion. That Albion never came to exist at all.

Assuming that this was always the planned ending for the show, that there be tragedy (which is reasonable, given the source material), then what harm could there possibly have been in making it more tragic? A romance wouldn’t have been futile at all. It would have been tragic. And that is exactly what it should have been. Both from a meta storytelling perspective, as well as a character perspective. In not including a romance early in the show, perhaps around season 2, you robbed yourselves of making the ending of the series an even more poignant and emotional one. You robbed yourselves of a subplot that could have multiplied the impact of any episode or decision or scene involving Merlin from season 3, 4, and 5. And all that would have occurred if you simply kept the current plot intact, with only a small subplot for Merlin and Morgana having been added. You tiptoed in that direction during the first episodes involving Mordred, or where Merlin and Morgana teamed up to save innocent people like Tom. And so I conclude this paragraph with some advise: don’t be afraid to do something risky, if you believe it will enhance the story. Have faith in yourselves!

Now, that said, we ought to discuss the story itself, overall. It’s a great story, and the show is so incredibly compelling, but I have one very big issue with it. It’s nothing in the plot itself, except for an absence of a Merlin / Morgana romance, but something else instead. You did not fulfill your promise.

In every single story, the very first page holds a promise. In every script, the first five minutes. Because, consciously or not, writers have to make a promise to an audience. It’s the only way of grabbing attention in a meaningful way. Let us contemplate Harry Potter for a moment. The first few pages concern themselves with a matter that is absurdly plain and normal and totally boring: The Dursleys. Except… except there’s just one little thing that is off. The cat. The implication is, of course, that by the end of the story, or even earlier, we will have been exposed to something very much not absurdly plain, normal or boring. We will have been introduced to something absurd, and interesting, and compelling.

So what was the promise for Merlin? Given that it’s a character-driven TV drama that started with a scene of a man getting his head lopped off for having magic right in front of a protagonist who has a lot of magic in a city where having magic is a big no-no, I’d say the promise is the following: Merlin has to hide his magic from Arthur and the Court of Camelot. At some point he will reveal his magic to Arthur and the Court of Camelot. That’s the promise.

Whether you meant to or not, this was the wider implication of such a scene. It is what all the viewers waited for with baited breath. Every episode was tense. When will he reveal it? When will the confrontation between him and Arthur occur? Will Arthur turn him in or will friendship prevail?

We waited for a very long time. As a matter of fact, the promise was never delivered upon until the very last episode, but by then it was too late. It didn’t matter. Arthur could have passed away without ever having known that Merlin had magic and it would have made no difference plot-wise. Sure, it hurt to watch that. There was an emotional impact there. And perhaps it is part of the tragedy, that Arthur never understood who Merlin was and what he’d done for him until it was too late for it to make a difference. And while all of that is well and good, it left most fans heavily dissatisfied. We were promised a reveal, and we got nothing instead.

A Merlin and Morgana romance could have delivered upon the promise and simultaneously multiplied the reveal tension. Not to push the point too hard, but had Merlin revealed his magic to Morgana, the promise would have been somewhat fulfilled. There would be someone in Camelot that knew. It would only be natural, since Morgana herself is magical and would understand. Moreover, she was at the execution as well. It would give Merlin someone to talk to, a way to show his character growth.

But when Morgana would inevitably become impatient and fed up with being on the sidelines of Uther’s actions, when she decides to stop the slaughtering of magic-kind by any means necessary, especially under Morgause’s influence, it would add tension. Would Morgana betray Merlin’s secret to Camelot? Would she tell Arthur? Would she turn away Merlin’s friendship, love, and tutelage for Morgause, her sister?

It’s a similar tension as in season 3, when Morgana holds it over Merlin’s head that he poisoned her. But this time, both of them would have more at stake. They would both be acting against love for one another in the pursuit of peace. Both wanting to succeed but not wanting to hurt. It’d have tied their hands behind their backs, which is the best thing to do for a character. Because it forces them to become better (or worse).

It would have made the characters richer, more interesting to behold. If Merlin and Morgana loved each other but disagreed on such a fundamental level on how best to pursue magical peace, it would simultaneously make their convictions more important and give them both plenty of internal conflict. It would give Merlin pause, cause to doubt Kilgharrah and Gaius. It would make Morgana perhaps doubt Morgause more. It would make it that much more painful when they both decided that their destinies were more important than their own desires. And that much more painful when, at the end, it didn’t even matter. Imagine the very powerful performance McGrath and Morgan could have delivered in a scene like this? Where they both have to choose something greater than themselves over each other.

It’s very easy to forget sometimes that romance isn’t just a plot device reserved for, well, romances. Romance is a very powerful storytelling tool because it has power over character. Romance is a plot device as well as a character device. As in real life, romance makes two characters learn and grow and challenge themselves and each other. It’s not a gimmick to be thrown onto a story, fun as it might be. It’s something that should be impactful. By putting Merlin and Morgana in a relationship, even if only briefly, you would have had the opportunity to raise the stakes further and higher than ever before. It would have pushed their character arcs.

The lesson here is to not be afraid to make characters doubt. Merlin only seemed to have contemplated leaving Camelot behind a handful of times. Often for love. Freya is an example of this -- and that’s considering he only knew her for a small amount of time. I can’t see why the same protective instincts that moved him to protect her didn’t also move him to guide Morgana and her magic. Regardless, imagine the sheer internal conflict you could have created by having him and Morgana fall in love, and then be faced with the ultimate choice. Because, ultimately, Merlin’s entire arc is about how much he is willing and able to sacrifice for Arthur’s sake.

That said, I have more or less exhausted my list of grievances with the writing of the show. There was very little wrong with the writing itself, but there was, at least to me, a very major gap that could’ve been filled with a romantic subplot. That is to say, there is nothing wrong with what is there, but rather what isn’t. In spite of all this, however, I must say that Merlin was a creative and charming and positively wonderful show that has changed my life for the better. And as such, I hope I didn’t come across as too harsh or pretentious. Because what you have managed to craft was nothing at all short of spectacular and I respect it very much. Which is why I wished to convey that having a Merlin / Morgana subplot would have enhanced the existing plot in more or less every single way. They’re mirror characters, and as you two said yourselves, “She is the darkness to your light, the hatred to your love.” Which is why perhaps, I hoped that there would be a little more love and a little less hatred in the show. Just to balance things out.

And with that, I conclude this essay. May destiny lead you to another property worthy of your writing. And in the words of Kilgharrah… your gifts were given to you for a reason.

#mergana #mermor #merlin x morgana #bbcmerlin #katie mcgrath #colin morgan #meta #bbcmorgana

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takaraphoenix · 5 years

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Now that I finished my rewatch, I gotta admit there is one thing that I find inherently... problematic with Merlin. And that’s the narrative of it all.

In absolutely no other setting would we be rooting for the Arthur-type character, as he is presented in this show, to be quite honest.

Look at it from a removed-from-magic point of view.

We have a country and the leader of that country decides that This Minority is inherently evil and needs to die. The people belonging to This Minority are slaughtered, all of them, adults and children alike. If you as much as show that you are part of This Minority, you get the death sentence, no matter if you ever actually did anything wrong in your life.

And then the leader changes. But the new leader is actually a general who led many of those slaughters and the new leader doesn’t actually change anything.

Now, this is not meant to hate on Arthur or say that I think he’s a villain. We, as the viewer who intimately follow him and get an insight into his deepest thoughts, saw how much regret he held for the deaths he caused, when Elyan was possessed by a child that had died through Arthur’s actions, Arthur was ready to sacrifice himself because the guilt weighed on him so hard.

But he never actually changes the law. Magic-users are never actually welcomed back to the country. He keeps that law around. He himself still regularly brings up that he believes magic to be bad, even if he starts having more and more doubts about that, he never fully changes his stance on it.

I just genuinely don’t understand how they could fuck this show up so badly.

For the first three seasons, the narrative presented was that the evil genocidal leader would be replaced by a new leader who would bring hope, peace and unity to the kingdom.

But instead of spending the seasons 4 and 5 actually doing that, giving Arthur proper plotlines in which he comes to accept magic, to bring the people banished back into the kingdom... honestly, all of season 4 was bullshit filler material, there was nothing consequential happening in that season at all somehow.

And the people we’re supposed to root against, the ones presented as the villains in this narrative - they are all part of the suppressed minority. Nimueh, Morgause, Morgana, Mordred. All of them have lost their people to this ruling family’s persuit of magic. All they actually want is not to greedily become the new ruler of the land; they want to dispose of the regime that has persecuted and slaughtered their people.

And you really can’t tell me that that doesn’t seem problematic...

For the first three seasons, the narrative was still very much focused on Uther as the one they oppose and things were on a very intriguing, more complex level. Because... honestly, I never rooted against Nimueh, Morgause and Morgana then. I was cheering them on in their attempts to kill Uther because that bitch deserved to die and I wanted Arthur to become the king who would bring peace and who would bring magic back to the land.

The fact that the writers repeatedly have Merlin save Uther’s life though was already a bit... confusing for me personally. And then they got there, Uther is dead, Arthur is king - now we could get to the promised good part, the change in the land, the justice that the magic folk deserves.

...But instead, the magic users continue being framed as the villains and Arthur never changes the law, never embraces magic back and somehow it all seems inherently pointless too because this great prophecy of a united Albion and of peace... never actually kicks in, the one thing that was promised from literally episode one on never actually happens.

I’m not entirely sure where I’m going with this, but this show had such a good foundation in the first three seasons and somehow seemed to entirely forget what the point of it even was in the last two seasons. It fucks over the narrative in a way that makes the overall feel genuinely uncomfortable to me and it never actually does its characters justice - Arthur deserved to get that storyline of learning that magic is not bad (for, you know, more than the damn twenty minutes of dying in the final episode where he slowly started to come around on Merlin’s magic), that people are complex, the storyline that’d make him the Once And Future King.

I think I’d have genuinely preferred it if the show ended after the season 3 finale in a slightly open way. Uther seemed dead, Arthur had gathered the knights of the round table, Morgause was defeated. It all set it up like now, Arthur would be king and would bring peace. It’d have been a much more satisfying ending than watching two rather inconsequential seasons, followed by Arthur’s immediate death without him ever doing anything that even remotely makes him a Once And Future King...

#me? salty? it's more likely than you'd think #Phoe Rewatching Merlin #BBC's Merlin

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camelotremix · 5 years

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Camelot Remix Week 2

Fic: Escape from Earth for Lyss2011 (Merlin/Arthur – G – 1.6k) Summary: In his second life, Arthur strives to continue what Merlin started. Anything to feel closer to his best friend. Along the way, he finds a deeper understanding of math, life, and the universe. Fic: Happy Hour (the Open to Misinterpretation Remix) for Polomonkey (Gen – G – 1.9k) Summary: For the most part, Mordred's workplace isn't that bad. The workload isn't too heavy, his boss treats him well, and his colleagues do their best to be understanding when he's having a bad day. Apart from Merlin, that is. Merlin hates him, and Mordred has absolutely no idea why. Art/Fic: Our scars will reveal the truth (The Heal Remix) for Artypendragon (Merlin/Arthur – T – 2.5k) Summary: To kiss a hurt away. Arthur is watching Merlin sleep after the Questing Beast incident. He sees the scar left by Nimueh and bends down to take a closer look, but Merlin wakes up and Arthur has to explain what he was doing. Fic: Tumbled From My Lips (The Easy Like Sunday Morning Remix) for Slantedknitting (Merlin/Arthur – T – 14.5k) Summary: Arthur had allowed himself to forget that they weren't actually dating, building the lie around them like the oversized jumpers Merlin always wore, soft and comforting, as they cuddled up on the couch. Luckily, before his mouth could suggest something even more romantic-sounding, like kissing, Mordred texted him about their next date. Or, Arthur's (failed) attempt to get over Merlin. Fic: The End of All Things for Amphigoury (Merlin/Arthur – G – 1.9k) Summary: Arthur has brought the Ring to Mount Doom, but declares that he cannot destroy it. What can Merlin do to help fulfil the Quest they've shared? Fic: Heat Rises (the Silver Lining remix) for AJSRandom (Merlin/Morgana – G – 1.9k) Summary: Merlin tries to teach Morgana magic. Morgana has her own ideas. Fic: Something Good (The Bad Remix) for Dhampir1508 (Merlin/Arthur – M – 4k) Summary: After being stood up for a blind date at his favourite restaurant, Arthur went clubbing only to end up with a terrible one night stand. It was a day that should be removed from the very fabric of the universe.

#camelot remix #round up #week two #merlin/arthur #merlin/morgana

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camelotremix · 5 years

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Camelot Remix Reveals 2019

The Camelot Remix 2019 Reveals are finally here! Thank you again to all our wonderful participants, we have had some fantasic remixes and we hope to see you all again next year! Your ever-loving mods, Kitty, Fifty and Wasp ❤️ Fic: Emrys_MK wrote How Merlin Put the Extra Back in Arthur’s Ordinary for Fifty-Fifty (Merlin/Arthur – NC-17 – 3.6k) Summary: Arthur often dreams of a familiar yet faceless someone from another time and place long ago past. He knows this person was important to him, but try as he may, this elusive dream-dweller remains a mystery… that is until a chance meeting in the heart of 2019 London brings the past and present together and turns an ordinary day extraordinary. Fic: Clotpolesonly wrote Speccy Is The New Sexy for LFB72 (Merlin/Arthur – Gen – 1.6k) Summary: Merlin gets new glasses. Apparently he looks like a whole new person, because his boyfriend doesn't even recognize him! Or maybe it's just that Arthur is a bit thick sometimes. Fic: Digthewriter wrote I don't know (how to play the game of love) for EachPeachPearPlum (Merlin/Arthur – Mild R – 1.3k) Summary: Arthur has strange dreams. Fic: Arthur_Pendragon wrote Date the Flooze (The Cool Cool Cool Cool Remix) for Rou (Merlin/Arthur – T – 5.5k) Summary: Detective Merlin Emrys, Pan-Albion PD 99th Precinct (Camelot), rues the day he cravenly swept his feelings for his captain, Arthur Pendragon Million-Abbreviations-and-Medals, under the rug. Now he’s struggling to tell Arthur how he really feels, hoping against hope that Arthur hasn’t slipped out of his grasp already. Art: ViridianJane created Belonging for Aeris444 (Merlin/Gwaine – G – Art) Summary: Gwaine pretends to think that it's Camelot he considers home; it's only in the middle of the night that he might admit that home isn't necessarily a place. Fic: Tari_Sue wrote The Very Cunning and Brilliant Plan of Uther Pendragon, CBE (The Invitation Remix) for Aranei (Merlin/Arthur – PG13 – 7k) Summary: Uther Pendragon [CBE] does not approve of his son's choice of girlfriend. He will not stand for this! Fic: Wyvern wrote A Crown of Stars (the King of Nothing Remix) for Destroyerofhearts (Merlin/Arthur – M – 3.7k) Summary: Morgana has taken over Camelot, and Arthur, Merlin and the others barely managed to escape and are now on the run. However, she’s looking for them and Arthur must consider something he’s never had to consider before. Fic: Linorien wrote Escape from Earth for Lyss2011 (Merlin/Arthur – G – 1.6k) Summary: In his second life, Arthur strives to continue what Merlin started. Anything to feel closer to his best friend. Along the way, he finds a deeper understanding of math, life, and the universe. Fic: EachPeachPearPlum wrote Happy Hour (the Open to Misinterpretation Remix) for Polomonkey (Gen – G – 1.9k) Summary: For the most part, Mordred's workplace isn't that bad. The workload isn't too heavy, his boss treats him well, and his colleagues do their best to be understanding when he's having a bad day. Apart from Merlin, that is. Merlin hates him, and Mordred has absolutely no idea why. Art/Fic: LFB72 drew and wrote Our scars will reveal the truth (The Heal Remix) for Arthur_Pendragon (Merlin/Arthur – T – 2.5k) Summary: To kiss a hurt away. Arthur is watching Merlin sleep after the Questing Beast incident. He sees the scar left by Nimueh and bends down to take a closer look, but Merlin wakes up and Arthur has to explain what he was doing. Fic: Lyss2011 wrote Tumbled From My Lips (The Easy Like Sunday Morning Remix) for Slantedknitting (Merlin/Arthur – T – 14.5k) Summary: Arthur had allowed himself to forget that they weren't actually dating, building the lie around them like the oversized jumpers Merlin always wore, soft and comforting, as they cuddled up on the couch. Luckily, before his mouth could suggest something even more romantic-sounding, like kissing, Mordred texted him about their next date. Or, Arthur's (failed) attempt to get over Merlin. Fic: Mrs_Leary (harlequin/julie) wrote The End of All Things for Amphigoury (Merlin/Arthur – G – 1.9k) Summary: Arthur has brought the Ring to Mount Doom, but declares that he cannot destroy it. What can Merlin do to help fulfil the Quest they've shared? Fic: Blacktail_chorus wrote Heat Rises (the Silver Lining remix) for AJSRandom (Merlin/Morgana – G – 1.9k) Summary: Merlin tries to teach Morgana magic. Morgana has her own ideas. Fic: Ingberry wrote Something Good (The Bad Remix) for Little_Dhampir (Merlin/Arthur – M – 4k) Summary: After being stood up for a blind date at his favourite restaurant, Arthur went clubbing only to end up with a terrible one night stand. It was a day that should be removed from the very fabric of the universe. Art: Altocello created Guttered (The Flickering Flames remix) for Emrys_MK (Merlin/Arthur – G – Art) Summary: In which Arthur, worried about Merlin, finds him sitting alone in near darkness. Fic: Malu_3 (Grainne) wrote In Too Deep (The 'Mole' Canon-Era AU Remix) for Elveatas (Ricecake) (Gwen/Morgana – R – 4.7k) Summary: She sees the way he looks at Gwen. Still. And while she cannot fault Sir Lancelot for his excellent taste, she hasn't survived this long by being overly trusting. He's hiding something, she can tell, and while the rest of Camelot seems content to lick his boots, she is determined to expose him. Expose his secrets, that is. Fic: Destroyerofhearts wrote The Selkie's Skin for Blacktail_Chorus (Merlin/Arthur – G – 1.14k) Summary: Arthur was 14 when his father brought home a grand trophy from his campaign out at sea. Fic: Slantedknitting wrote We Are the Muses for Tari_Sue (Merlin/Arthur – M – 6.2k) Summary: Morgana convinces Arthur to do some nude modelling for her art class. Merlin is in the art class. They both get distracted. Fic: Aranei wrote I have sinned for 8verity8 (Merlin/Arthur – NC-17 – 1.5k) Summary: Some of us are born to sin, others are lead to it. Art: Eisbaerfussel created Bath Among The Stars for VerdantMoth (Merlin/Arthur – G – Art) Summary: This image was burned into Merlin's teenage head when he stumbled into the closed swimming hall at night. Fic: Penndragon27 wrote In the Shadows, In the Light (One of Many Faces Remix) for ViridianJane (Merlin/Freya – G – 592) Summary: Freya has watched Merlin for so long... she just wants him to see her too. Fic: Little_Dhampir wrote This Scheduled Sex Thing for Moonflower999 (Merlin/Arthur – NC-17 – 2.5k) Summary: Merlin and Arthur give this scheduled sex thing a chance. Art: Rou created Honeymoon Impressions (A Selfie Remix) for Clea2011 (Merlin/Arthur – T – Art) Summary: Turns out they'd have a few more photos to show to Hunith when they got home. Fic: AJSRandom wrote Gwaine’s Day Out (The A Little Help Here Remix) for Clotpolesonly (Gen – G – 3k) Summary: When Gwaine volunteers to accompany Merlin on an herb-picking trip, he has no idea what’s in store. Art: Amphigoury created Of All The Gin Joints! (Remix It Again, Sam) for Digthewriter (Merlin/Arthur – G – Art) Summary: "Of all the gin joints, in all the towns, in all the world, he walks into mine!" Arthur's old flame has arrived at Casablanca. Fic: Clea2011 wrote Love Potion Number Nine (The Shy Remix) for Eisbaerfussel (Merlin/Arthur – T – 11.3k) Summary: Merlin had hoped that after Princess Vivien’s visit he wouldn’t see a love potion again for a long, long time. But Princess Vivien, as it turned out, was only the start of the problem. Fic: Aeris444 wrote Merlin's birthday (Merlin's day off Remix) for Penndragon27 (Merlin/Arthur – PG – 10.1k) Summary: It's Merlin's birthday and it looks like it will be another busy day at work. Fic: Moonflower999 wrote Paradise Found (The Heart That Made A Family Remix) for Mrs_Leary (Gaius/Geoffrey – T – 4.4k) Summary: On Boxing Day Geoffrey asked Gaius, his life partner of many years to marry him. Now it's all coming together! Happy Pride! Fic: 8verity8 wrote Same, Same, But Different (Whatever We Are, We Are The Same Remix) for Wyvern (Merlin/Arthur – M – 7.7k) Summary: Merlin has an older (half) brother Arthur, from his Dad's first marriage, but to be honest Merlin has always felt like more of an only child than anything. Arthur seems cool enough from what little he remembers, but hell, Arthur left for London when Merlin was like 6 and he only saw Arthur at important family functions. Then he left for the states and for years Merlin didn't even see him at all... It's not like they have a brotherly connection or anything. Or Merlin's modern coming of age story that ends up taking a wild left turn when Merlin's absent (hot as fuck!) half-brother Arthur returns. Art: LFB72 created The Holly King and The Oak King (The Alban Arthan and Alban Helfin Remix) for Altocello (Merlin/Arthur – T – Art) Summary: The Holly King and the Oak King are the two halves that make up the circle of the year. Only one can rule thus the contest for supremacy continuously plays out as the seasons turn. Merlin is the Holly King; he reigns during the darkest times, when the light wanes and there’s a chill in the air. The height of his power is during midwinter solstice but as the days stretch, Merlin gradually becomes weaker. At the Spring Equinox he must fight to maintain his Kingdom from Arthur, The Oak King, Merlin’s summer counterpart and adversary. The fight is fierce but as the hours pass, the balance tips in Arthur’s favour and The Oak King finally triumphs. Arthur takes control and the days grow long and warm, he gains strength, reaching his peak by Midsummer solstice. As the nights draw in, Arthur’s hold slips and by the Autumn Equinox Merlin’s wounds have healed and he is ready to do battle where it's his turn to conquer. Despite being adversaries, without one, the other would no longer be and one cannot truly hate what makes him whole. Nor can one be with the enemy he has learned to love. It is lonely being a king, except for the equinox. The equinox is when they can be together, equals for a short time until the perpetual cycle begins again. Fic: Tari_Sue wrote Recurring Dream (The Waking Dream Remix) for Linorien (Merlin/Arthur – G – 1.5k) Summary: Three boys on holiday in Wales stumble upon an old ruined castle. Fic: Elveatas wrote All I Want (The Make My Wish Come True Remix) for Geeklover (Merlin/Arthur – M – 3.9k) Summary: It doesn’t happen often that Arthur takes Merlin to bed, but it’s happened enough times that it’s become a bad habit. And it's a habit that Merlin is finally trying to break. Fic: Polomonkey wrote Take Care (The Dart to the Heart Remix) for Malu_3 (Arthur/Gwaine – PG – 2.5k) Summary: Arthur and Gwaine take care of Merlin whilst in Jarl's captivity. Merlin only wishes they would take care of each other too. Fic: Tari_Sue wrote Not Completely Useless (The [hopefully] Not Totally Horrible Remix) for Kitty_Fic (Merlin/Arthur – M – 681) Summary: Arthur’s new manservant just might have his uses after all. Fic: Fifty-Fifty wrote It Meant Something (The "It Didn’t Mean Anything" Remix) for Ingberry (Merlin/Arthur – M – 24.7k) Summary: Merlin only has to do two things; one, don't let Arthur know about the magic, and two, don't let Arthur find out about the massive inappropriate crush he has on him. Oh yes, and also find out how to break the spell he accidentally cast on them leaving them stuck together 24/7, which makes the first two things so much harder to stick to.

#camelot remix #2019 #reveals

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