An AU where Merlin is literally a God in Mordred’s eyes. Like, a genuine God.
In this AU Mordred and Merlin’s relationship is not fucked up by prophecy. So, everytime, kindhearted Merlin saved Mordred without hesitation. And Mordred grew up in a Druid camp that reinforced the idea that Emrys was a literal god. So naturally, HE WORSHIPPED MERLIN.
Once Arthur became king and magic was legalised, Mordred came to Camelot to become a knight because that was the best way to serve Emrys.
But when he arrived at Camelot, he struggled to comprehend the fact that Merlin was… human???? A very clumsy one, in fact. The rest of Camelot, though might know about Merlin magic, did not know how great ‘Emrys’ actually was so they were just confused, concerned, and/or entertained by Mordred’s ‘crush’ on Merlin.
He would stare at Merlin the entire first meal they had together, and people would be like: awww, Sir Mordred is crushing on Merlin so hard!!
Mordred: Emrys??eats??food?Food??Is ?eaten?by? Emrys?emrys?consumes?meal????
Or when he saw Merlin tripped on the training field
Mordred: i think the area is cursed. Strongly cursed.
Leon: what—
Mordred: THEN WHY ELSE WOULD EMRYS TRIPPED?????
Arthur: So, how have you adjusted to life in Camelot so far? Is there anything that is bothering yo—
Mordred: Merlin
Arthur: what did my stupid manserva- I mean Court Sorcerer do-
Mordred: I saw him drank water today
Arthur:
Mordred: He just drinks water????? From glass?????? Like?? He drank?? Water???? You know??? Literal water????????????? For drinking???HE??needs??water?to??live?why??
Morgana: why did I saw Mordred ran out of the meeting room screaming that you guys are trying to ‘Destroy his faith in his religion’. You knights better not bully him because he is a druid and has magic—
Gwaine: I told him Merlin is not here because he needs to take a shit.
Lancelot: Hey, Mordred, I noticed that Merlin has not received the note I asked you to deliver to him yet.
Mordred: But I already send it to him?
Lancelot:
Lancelot: Tell me how
Mordred: I burned it at the altar
Lancelot: what altar—
Mordred: and pray to him, as one should???
Merlin: WHY IS THERE SOMEONE SCREAMING IN MY HEAD THAT I HAVE AN IMPORTANT MEETING TOMORROW AT NOON!?
Or when they went on a long mission or hunting and Merlin, out of his old habit, made food for the knights
Mordred: ‘this is the most excellent food ever had bestowed on me, I shall never forget about this Emrys. I will pray to you even harder. I am the luckiest Druid to ever live—- ‘
Percival: … is the stew that good?
part 1| part 2 | part 3
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I love merthur. They are the type of soulmate troupe I die for.
But after reading a lot of merthur fanfiction, I’m on the verge of hating Arthur’s character. Merlin just has to work so hard, even in the good ones, and most authors don’t even seem to realize that their manservant and prince relationship doesn’t work when it turns romantic. Arthur needs to change, he can’t treat his lover as a servant. And he freaking needs to grow up and learn how to deal with emotions and be there for Merlin. Else it won’t work!
Honestly, I like merthur, probably will always ship it, but at this point I just want to grab Merlin and shove him at Mordred so he can feel what it is to be loved, emotionally supported, and to hear words of appreciation... I certainly don’t think they are soulmates, in fact, I think Merlin is far from what Mordred needs, but I can’t take it anymore. I’m going Merdred.
What I have learned from this is that soulmates doesn’t automatically equal happy ending, even when soulmates, the actual people in the relationship still need to grow, and evolve, in order to become the true soulmate they were intended to be.
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Oh deities. I can already here people screaming.
What do you think about Mordred? And about his realtionships with Arthur, Merlin and Morgana?
*I can already feel the glares*
I added in relationships with knights, but… tada?
Thoughts In General
Mordred originally starts off as a creepy child (12ish I'd say). No hate, ofc, but The Beginning of the End really shows a creepy stare. Idk, Asa Butterfield’s eyes are chilling which was very fitting for the role. He gets… better. The Nightmare Begins shows a more carefree child initially with hope and joy, which suggests the glaring and the anger from the first season is more based on being literally trapped in Camelot, which is fair. We see Mordred’s power come into play here, knocking out, or possibly killing, some knighs [And Merlin has the audacity to act shocked as if he hasn’t killed plenty of people at this point].
The last that we see of young Mordred is The Witch’s Quickening, in which he is kinda getting manipulated by Alvarr, and the last we see of him for a very long time is him swearing revenge-ish to Emrys who tries to cause his death. So like, I too would be swearing revenge if this bastard tried to trip me knowing it would likely be my death after. Like, Emrys, to the Druids, was supposed to be this protector-type figure. Sure, to magic and stuff, but,,, ouch?
Anyway, Mordred leaves the scene until he gets thrown into existence again as a young man (20-24 years old?) in Season 5. Alexander Vlahos’ portrayal seems very 👌, perfect and on point. Anyway, things happen, Mordred becomes a knight, swearing to protect Camelot and whatnot and he’s good at it. Supposedly, according to Arthur, one of the best, or will soon be. Sure, this is foreshadowing, but I’d like to think its just that Mordred is that good. He want’s to show off. He want’s to be the best (for both Emrys and Arthur). He wants to prove to everyone that he is good.
There are snippets in episodes through the season that show his character. He is strong, both in magic and in his morality. He refuses to ‘out’ Merlin when hunting Finna, he stands with Arthur when Guinevere is enchanted, and then, we see him spare a girl. It doesn’t mean much at the moment outside of Mordred is sparing someone escaping from a group of dead knights.
Kara, we learn, was an old friend. But someone who rejects the goodness of what may be within Arthur, and with brazzen impulse also later tries to kill the King. Mordred at this point is pulled in two ways, his loyalty to his friend, and loyalty to the King. It snaps, because of course it must, when Kara is killed, and Mordred leaves Camelot for Morgana.
A fall from grace, but up to this point, Mordred has firmly stuck to his own understanding of honour. He perceives Merlin having done nothing he should have, and thus must be considered the true enemy here, giving up his name to Morgana (who should really have figured out something at this point, that serving boy is too hardy to kill somehow).
Then, with a sword forged in Aithusa’s breath, he fights Arthur. Arthur hesitates upon seeing Mordred, giving him every chance to strike him down. And when Mordred himself falls to Excalibur, he smiles.
I’d like to believe this smile wasn’t malice or revenge based, but a sense of completion. He did what he had to, to protect others. To, hell, obey the prophecy that dictated it will be a druid who will kill Arthur.
Must that druid have been Mordred from the very beginning? Could a different person have taken that spot? Was it made to be Mordred based on Destiny or the actions Merlin took against Mordred? Who knows. I certainly don’t.
Knights
Older Mordred is shown to respect his fellow knights who treat him like a little brother. He certainly feels friendly with Elyan and Percival the most (though that may be my head saying Gwaine noticed Merlin keeping Mordred at arms length and did the same cause Gwaine is a ride-or-die friend).
Percival - 46 works under the Mordred/Percival tag, with plenty of hurt/comfort and angst feelings around.
Elyan - 5 works in the Elyan/Mordred tag, which is very unacceptable, this pairing needs more love wow… Ok, but from what there is its so soft and cute, do recommed checking that out actually. Only 1 multichapter, the others are under 2k.
Gwaine - 16 works for Gwaine/Mordred, which is very pwp heavy it seems, also plenty of modern settings. Personally don’t ship it due to my head going ):< but I think the dynamic there would work.
Leon - 12 works for Leon/Mordred which is shocking to me more in the fact that my head constantly wants Leon with no one cause he just doesn’t want connection like that but, lots of gift giving and modern fics so it actually works I suppose.
Lancelot - 1 fic in a different language and I havent a clue what it says. Which is fair, considering Lancelot in the show is dead by the time Mordred shows up.
Morgana
Mordred, as a child, had a close bond to Morgana. She helped him when she really didn’t need to. He looked at her and saw a friend, a figure of protection. Someone who got undoubtedly punished for helping him when the knights caught up to them on the street. Later, then, Morgana falls into his care when she arrives at the Druids encampment. Later more, we see Mordred and Morgana hugging when they see each other. It doesn’t feel, as some would depict, as motherly, but more friends? Maybe a sibling type? I imagine the writers were attempting to give the feeling of family to the two to attempt the familial connection between Mordred and the Pendragons (Anna or Morgause are often depicted as his mother depending on the author). Indeed, when he felt alone and betrayed, he turned to Morgana, betraying his character arc for most of Season 5 and fell right to the Prophecy’s hands.
There is currently, as of writing this, 74 works under Mordred/Morgana, so it’s certaintly not a popular ship to have, but there is a distinct feeling of hurt/comfort in the relationship that I could understand.
I also like the fandom idea that Mordred was the one to find a way to get Morgana + Aithusa out of Sarrum’s cage. Not sure how my head constructs it, but I like the base idea of it, you know?
Merlin
There is a power dynamic here that is, at the base, unbalanced. Much like how Arthur/Merlin is unbalanced, but in this Mordred and Merlin both know fully what the other may be capable of, unlike Arthur who is predominantly in the dark.
Mordred grows up with kinda a hero-complex in his mind for Emrys, whereas Merlin grows paranoid of the future Mordred may follow. Many times the relationship has hints of, erm, darkness? But it also has hints of hope of better futures.
Currently 492 fics for the pairing Merlin/Mordred… with my own on oct 29 being the most recent at the moment. That’s a mood, thanks. Not many writers for it, but it does have a theme of angst and pining and ignoring angry flying lizards that breathe fire, and a bit of pwp added in to some. Plenty of Modern fics, Good Modred fics, generalized romance, Genderswapping, and only 15 are tagged as underage.
I know many people do not prefer the shipping of Mordred with anyone due to age and peadophilia hints in relationships, which is completely fair, however by Season 5, as a knight Mordred would be 22. Not… excusing things, really, but…ahhh… I think I may be digging a hole right now and am shutting up so onto…..
Arthur
Arthur is protective, which is mainly just part of his character, but to Mordred it’s different. Like how it is with Merlin, Arthur and Mordred are constantly choosing to save each other’s lives when they could have not (or were discouraged on it w/ that crossbow scene). This is, mainly, asense of decency, of two good men with honour. Once Mordred joins the knights, Arthur is quick to see Mordred is strong, easily one of the best.
The two work well together, which feels similar to Morgana’s analysis into familial relations, more due to trying to stick somewhat to the myths of Arthur being both Uncle and Father to Mordred. Luckily, we don’t actually need to worry about that with Merlin BBC due to the whole Druids stuff, but the feeling of…familial love or more still is present in the relationship here.
Then… with 93 works under the Arthur/Mordred tag, we end up with a high number of Modern/AU works with Hurt/Comfort and Angst predomenint. However, it should be noted that within these 93 works, 56 also tag Merthur. Unclear how that’s working, I’m just literally on Ao3 looking at numbers and questioning how.
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Chapters: 3/3
Fandom: Merlin (TV)
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Relationships: Gwen/Merlin/Arthur Pendragon (Merlin), Merlin/Mordred (Merlin), Gwen/Merlin/Mordred/Arthur Pendragon (Merlin)
Characters: Merlin (Merlin), Mordred (Merlin), Gwen (Merlin), Arthur Pendragon (Merlin), Gaius (Merlin), Hunith (Merlin), Gwaine (Merlin), Percival (Merlin), Leon (Merlin), Elyan (Merlin), Kilgharrah (Merlin), Original Characters
Additional Tags: Good Mordred (Merlin), POV Mordred (Merlin), Mordred Needs A Hug (Merlin), Mordred Angst (Merlin), Mordred is done with Merlin's shit, POV Alternating, POV Merlin (Merlin), POV Gwen (Merlin), POV Arthur Pendragon (Merlin), Awesome Gwen (Merlin), Queen Gwen (Merlin), Gwen Knows About Merlin's Magic (Merlin), Gwen Knows About Morgana's Magic (Merlin), Arthur Finds Out About Merlin's Magic (Merlin), Merlin's Magic Revealed (Merlin), Magic Revealed, Slow Burn, Established Relationship, Developing Relationship, Pre-Relationship, Mutual Pining, Polyamory Negotiations, Polyamory, Awesome Hunith (Merlin), Morally Ambiguous Character, Character Development, Introspection, Gwaine Being Gwaine (Merlin), Minor Gwaine/Percival (Merlin), Mordred's Magic Revealed (Merlin), Magic Ban Lifted (Merlin), Falling In Love, Not Canon Compliant, Not Actually Unrequited Love, Demisexuality, Demisexual Mordred (Merlin), Redeemed Morgana (Merlin), POV Morgana (Merlin), Morgana Knows about Merlin's Magic (Merlin), Arthur Knows About Morgana's Magic (Merlin), Immortal Merlin (Merlin), Aging, Parent Merlin (Merlin), Parent Arthur Pendragon (Merlin), Parent Gwen (Merlin), Parent Mordred (Merlin), Canonical Character Death, It's Gaius Due To Aging, Dragonlord Merlin (Merlin), Court Sorcerer Merlin (Merlin), Minor Elyan/Mithian (Merlin), Parent Elyan (Merlin), Parent Mithian (Merlin)
Summary:
Mordred returns to Camelot, no longer a child, but a man, with an agenda that eventually changes the kingdom as a whole for the better.
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