#me before this episode: Arthur should listen to Merlin more | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

thekingofthenameless · 1 year

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22 or 23 please

I am so sorry it took me so long to answer this my inspiration fluctuates between things like a ping pong ball! Despite it being about the blorbo of all time 😭

22 is gonna be answered in another post!

23. Unpopular character you love?

MERLIN

And that should be very obvious. 🤣

Listen. I love him. I do. But… I have a few problems with his character now, and that’s because of the writers.

He’s pretty inconsistent sometimes.

For one, his powers. (Or supposed lack thereof?)

He’s described as the most powerful wizard to have ever lived, but he doesn’t… really do anything to show it.

He banished Morgana himself according to Trollhunters, ended the Eternal Night, fought the Arcane Order for a millenia, (all offscreen), was implied to have banished their Titans himself, and was briefly able to put Bellroc and Skrael in chains. That’s… pretty much it.

The discrepancy in his magic is really obvious between Trollhunters and Wizards if you take the time to think about it. For one example, in Trollhunters, he flies when he ends the Eternal Night; in Wizards, he levitates himself on a chest to get himself up to his ship?

For another example, I’ve seen so many people talk about how “weak” he is because he couldn’t make the Amulet or banish Morgana without Douxie’s help. But in Trollhunters, he builds it alone, with Moppet!Douxie only handing him the parts he needed, and he could have used his telekinesis for that. He also banishes Morgana himself, and he thought his magic was gone because of that, not because of Morgana keeping him asleep and stealing it for nine hundred years.

In Wizards, Douxie does most of the work building the Amulet, and he’s the one who banished Morgana because Merlin “couldn’t”.

But those are retcons. There’s literally art of the cave painting where he banishes Morgana in the artbook!

He got nerfed!

He also has powers that seem to only be there for one plot reason, and they’re never mentioned again, as if he, the wizard who is supposed to be the most powerful one of time according to the writers before he showed up onscreen, would forget about them. I can think of at least two: teleportation and freezing time. Teleportation was only used once. Once, a barely noticeable time when he did it in A House Divided to leave Jim alone to think. Not when Galahad’s sacrificing himself, not when Arthur is jumping right towards him, and not when Arthur has him in a chokehold. Freezing time was also only used once! It wasn’t used in literally any situation where it would have been a lifesaver. (Possibly literally.) It wasn’t used when again, Galahad was sacrificing himself, when Jim was slamming the shard in his heart to become, unbeknownst to him, a beast under the Order’s control, when Beast!Jim was holding his son hostage, and when Arthur was, again, jumping right towards him. But it’s used in the next episode after he dies to save Douxie, who I have complicated feelings about. But he’s going to be in another post.

That’s just his powers. Now onto his trauma and how that isn’t shown at all!

He’s already so interesting but he could have been so much MORE.

To sum it up, his apprentice betrays him and indirectly murders his Trollhunters and gloats about it. A very old friend sacrifices himself to buy him time while he’s dealing with his worst enemies being back.

No you know what? I’m pissed about this actually. This, right here, could have been a great thing. This could have been a scene where Merlin quietly admits it, or Nimue, midway through attacking him, realizes his desire/remembers it from him getting Excalibur. And she softens, and he explains why he did it, and he sets her free. It would have shown his motivations a lot more and would have given him a way to shine as the deurotagonist, but no. This quirky asshole who we’ve seen for all of five minutes slams a pillar into her and knocks one of her teeth out when he couldn’t even properly chase down a Mephit! This little bitch empathizes with her and sets her free even after he did that. What does Merlin get? He gets eaten. This badass gets reduced to being comic relief with Steve when instead that could have happened. Just one of the many ways canon in general does him dirty!

For one thing, they made this stupid boy with an accent the protagonist of Wizards, when it would have made far more sense to have Merlin, an already major character, the protagonist. It would have also been more interesting imo but I’m kind of biased. He was also supposed to be the deurotagonist, but that’s more of an informed thing than anything. Grace was surprised when she looked it up on the ToA wiki. He could have so many moments, and this is just one of them.

Then he fucking dies. Arthur gets murdered by one of Merlin’s worst enemies and then they resurrect him as a lackey for who knows how long because the canon timeline sucks And in Wizards, he stabs Merlin in the gut, right through his armor and throws him out a window. He ends dying like a minute later. And just. God. Someone asked the writer I’ve been talking about how that happened, and he was like “Merlin’s armor doesn’t hold up against dark magic that well.” Which doesn’t make any sense. 🙃 HIS ENTIRE TOMB IN TROLLHUNTERS IS ANTI-MAGIC, AND HE LITERALLY ALREADY A VENDETTA AGAINST DARK MAGIC EVEN BEFORE MORGANA BETRAYED HIM. And it’s so annoying when Merlin is portrayed as a weak wizard because he’s the most powerful wizard ever! Canon unfortunately doesn’t really show it BUT HE IS He was the one who defeated the Arcane Order and banished their Titans for a thousand years. He was the one who sealed Nimue in a cave, and he was the creator of the Daylight Amulet. He was the one who fought Morgana and banished her. He was the one who ended the Eternal Night. And in Episode One of Wizards, when he astral projected to that guy, all the streetlights on that street were broken before he even showed himself. But thinking about that made me realize he’s really only powerful when the plot demands it. If the Arcane Order could kill him, they would have when he was fighting them for a millennium. They wouldn’t have killed him by proxy, with a lackey. Especially Skrael, who seems to have a higher vendetta against him than his sibling. And since he can teleport, he should have been to grab Galahad like he will in EE, and he could have teleported out of Arthur’s grip. I also don’t know why his armor isn’t anti-magic when his entire tomb is.

Also HE'S LITERALLY ABLE TO FREEZE TIME IN THE NEXT DAMN EPISODE AND YET HE'S NEVER SHOWN USING IT BEFORE THAT DESPITE THE FACT THAT HE'S A TIME WIZARD AND HIS CENTER OF MAGIC IS SUPPOSED TO BE TIME IT'S JUST STUPID TO ME NOW

I'VE RANTED ABOUT THIS BEFORE BUT HE'S LITERALLY ABLE TO FREEZE TIME IN THE NEXT EPISODE

AND YET HE'S NEVER SHOWN USING IT BEFORE THAT DESPITE THE FACT THAT HE'S A *TIME WIZARD*

IT'S JUST NARM TO ME NOW

ALSO MERLIN IS A THOUSANDS YEAR OLD WARRIOR AND THE ONLY FIGHT HE ACTUALLY WON WAS AGAINST A FUCKING SIXTEEN YEAR OLD

Granted a very skilled sixteen year old but it still!!! Doesn't make sense!!!

So basically Merlin’s death was literally just to give him angst, and if anyone could kill him, he would have died YEARS AGO.

Oh, and canon and fanon can’t decide on Merlin either! Canon says Merlin is the most powerful wizard of all time, but he never gets to show it, and it seems more of an informed thing than anything. And the fact that’s he’s the fucking deurotagonist of Wizards is an informed thing too. And there would been more of his backstory, and more characterization, but it got fucking cut

His exact quote? He said “Leave them alone, Morgana.” He said them. He wasn’t referring to just AAARRRGGHH!!! If he had, he would’ve said “Leave him alone, Morgana.” HE. SAID. THEM.

He can TELEPORT

LOOK AT HIM.

He got done dirty. So dirty.

my ramble about just the canon angst he went through

He breathes FIRE and look at him in this one. HE TAKES DOWN MORGANA WHILE HE’S INJURED AND SLAMS HER INTO THE GROUND.

LOOK AT HIM.

Important characterization scenes for him are cut

MERLIN WAS SUPPOSED TO HAVE A COUPLE OF EPISODES ABOUT HIS BACKSTORY BUT IT GOT CUT OF COURSE

I don't know why the writers did that. Maybe it was supposed an Aesop about how

"Expectations don't live up to reality." Or something.

But if he's really like that, how did he survive fighting the Arcane Order for a literal millennia? Why did Morgana want his magic so much that she kept him asleep for nine hundred years just to get it?

Canon flip-flops on him constantly, and he's only as powerful as the plot needs him to be.

He could have teleported out of Arthur's grasp, or he could have frozen time before that even happened and gotten them all out of there.

He made the Cradlestone to free the babies, and ended the Eternal Night, but they weren't really dwelled on, making him seem more like a living Deus Ex Machina if anything. In Wizards, he needed another master wizard to help him complete the Amulet.

He can teleport!! He was gone. He breathes fire in some storyboards. l'm not joking.

Before he appeared onscreen, he seemed like a revered figure. He's described as a "wizard that has power" in the art book. in EPISODE ONE.

Trollhunters actually makes him seem more badass compared to Wizards where he got more screen time.

He actually is badass, but he doesn't get to show it except for when the plot needs him to.

He was nerfed and I will not accept otherwise.

It was just to give Douxie angst.

me shaking the writers YOU DO NOT HAVE AN EXCUSE

Okay I’m mainly talking about his characterization, but he was done dirty by this too!

Look at him!

He looks amazing.

Then canon downgraded him into just an old man!

I’m sorry, but I can’t take his design seriously when he looks like that compared to his concept art.

There’s also the fandom. I originally thought that I would put it under the cut so people wouldn’t have to see my opinions, but you know what? This needs to be said, and I’m leaving it out in the open.

Five episodes. Five. And that was enough to inspire a whole tag around hating him, people who whispered a word about even liking him were harassed off the site,

And even hated for being traumatized *cough* **Merlin** *cough*

y z

I didn’t specify that it was Merlin in the first rant, but you could probably guess from even that.

*Merlin stomped on Douxie’s self-esteem as soon as he adopted him*!

“*Merlin doesn’t understand emotions! He has the emotional density of a turnip*!”

Another canon to fanon ToA thing is **MERLIN’S WHOLE PERSONALITY!!!**

He’s constantly made into the worst person ever. A bad dad. An emotionally abusive manipulator. A fucking pedophile.

“Quotes”, “meta”, and “evidence” that he’s a bad person are pulled from thin air. I know I’ve said this before, but I really feel like people are just coming up with reasons to hate him, or they’re purposely making him worse than canon so they can hate him. One time, I saw a fic author ADMIT they were writing Merlin worse than canon on purpose.

It fucking sucks to see him be changed so much. I’m know I’m going to do him justice. I know that I’m writing him in character. I have meta from Aaron, actual, honest to God **quotes**, screencaps, etc. But it still fucking sucks. I put the tag Good Merlin on Emerald Embers, but I’m still nervous that someone in the comments or somewhere else will say he’s out of character.

I am so sick of people demonizing him when Morgana is RIGHT THERE!

And yet those five episodes were enough to cause a whole tag called the Merlin hate train, people wishing violent death upon him or giving him ones, and people who gave even one hint that they liked him harassed off the site.

And most of the reason was because Merlin “manipulated Jim into becoming a half-troll!”

But he didn’t. He sat Jim down and laid out his options: 1. take the potion and win against Gunmar and whoever else he would have to fight, or 2. don’t take the potion and die a brutal, painful death.

Also, kind of off subject, but when Jim turned back to human, there was controversy over whether he should have stayed troll or not!

MAKE UP YOUR DAMN MINDS FANDOM

And the voice acting I showed you? Is from that scene. Merlin is a very, very emotionally constipated person because of all the shit and trauma he’s been through over the course of millenia, and him saying that is essentially baring his soul to a child that he barely even knows.

Does the fandom give a shit about that? No!

Does the fandom give a shit when he said “Leave them alone, Morgana.” referring to both AAARRRGGHH!!! and Angor? The latter of whom was a slave at the time? No!

Does the fandom give a shit when he grieved over his Trollhunters’ deaths? Most of them murders? No!

Does the fandom give a shit when he grieved over Galahad’s death? No!

Does the fandom give a shit when it’s implied that he sealed Nimue away to seal her away from Arthur’s massacre of magic kind? No!

Does the fandom give a shit about him being surprised when Jim gives him an affectionate nickname in Wizards? No!

DOES EVERYONE FORGET MERLIN HOLDING DOUXIE’S HANDS AND HIM HOLDING RIGHT BACK?! DOES EVERYONE FORGET MERLIN CUPPING HIS FACE? DOES EVERYONE FORGET HIM CALLING HIM HIS SON? DOES EVERYONE FORGET THEIR HUG IN EPISODE TEN?

YES

And many more things!

They were making tons of aus with Merlin as the villain, *of course*, and they were giving him death threats and saying they would kill him, throw him out of a window, and do a ton of other shit.

I hated seeing it, and sometimes I could literally feel my body getting distressed because of it.

But the worst part of seeing this?

They were wishing death on him because of their own fanon versions.

And even if he is written as a good person? He always only cares about Douxie.

His trauma, his sarcasm, his empathy, all go poof. Reddie is one of the few people who knows that he’s a good person, but even she acts like he doesn’t have any empathy at all. Hopefully I’ve demonstrated that he is a very high empath with the above.☝️ Hardly anyone in the fandom™️ appreciates his complexities at all!

No matter what, whether he’s characterized as a good person and/or good dad, or bad person and/or bad dad, all of his complexities are erased. No matter what.

Actually a lot of them.

Anyways,

and he’s mine now.

Thank you so much for the ask!

#mine #talesofarcadiaforever answers #anonymous #talesofarcadiaforever rants #tales of arcadia #trollhunters #wizards #Merlin Ambrosius #if anyone comes in the notes just to hate on him I WILL BLOCK YOUR ASS I SWEAR TO GOD #Merlin defense squad #long posts

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bonesbuckleup · 2 years

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If you're still doing the wip tag game: Batfam 'Not quite dead yet' and Merlin 'the I CAN FIX IT world tour'?

I am! I just fell asleep and am now catching up.

Warnings for mentions of character death (in varying degrees of permanence) for both of these, so I'm gonna toss it under a cut.

Not quite dead yet: The fic classic of 'character gets hit with a Thing and is trapped in their own head while physically being unable to move/not breathing/no heartbeat and has to listen to their loved ones grieve them' but starring Tim, who really didn't anticipate this level of backlash from his alleged demise. Snip, just after Tim gets whammied, and Jason having been the only one there when Tim "died" and with Dick arriving soon after:

“I didn’t do it, it wasn’t me, I didn’t–I tried to–it wasn’t me,” Jason’s saying, over and over, sounding like a kid who can’t find their parents in a crowd as he rocks Tim back and forth, back and forth, a full body sway, clutching Tim to his chest so tight that it should hurt. Why doesn’t it hurt? “I didn’t do it, I didn’t do it, please, you have to believe me, I tried to help him. Please, please, you have to believe me, I didn’t do it, it wasn’t me, please, Dickie. Dickie, please, I didn’t–”

Jason keeps going, over and over, getting more and more frantic. It’s one of the worst things that Tim has ever heard. At the mouth of the alley, Dick isn’t moving. Tim can’t see his face, only his boots, his legs, the blue V on his chest. He’s stone-still, hands loose at his sides, silent and unmoving as Jason begs, and begs, and begs.

THEN THE BIG ONE. The I CAN FIX IT World Tour:

This one is technically two fics: Take Me Up, which was a complete rewrite of series 4, and Cast Me Away, which was a complete rewrite of series 5.

Aka, Becca got extremely mad at BBC's Merlin (again) and plotted out a 200k+ word fic series to try and unbreak it. Because, like, the basic premise of Merlin is that it's the start of the legend, which means that

The basic beginning premise is that the dorocha stuff more or less happens as is, but then, in the fallout, Gaius and Merlin end up suspected of sorcery. Gaius is killed. Merlin freaks out, the magic is revealed, and Merlin has to flee Camelot. He then spends the rest of the "series" trying to run from his destiny as Emrys (before eventually accepting it at the end of Take Me Up) while Arthur tries to hold power in Camelot, which is hard due to Agravaine (recasted as Uther's scheming younger brother vs. Ygraine's scheming older brother, no longer working with/for Morgana) making plays for the throne and also having his best friend revealed to be magic before disappearing.

Ultimately, in the Take Me Up "finale", Agravaine was going to kill Uther, and Arthur was going to be blamed for it, and he was also going to have to go on the run and prove himself 100% independent of his throne and name. A few highlights:

Gwaine fucking off post-Lamia to run around with Merlin

Merlin setting up a safe haven for magic users in an abandoned dragonlord keep

Aithusa, yes, but also a red dragon, Rhyfel, to signify the coming war

Lancelot comes back, but full Winter Soldier style. Gwen has to break the spell.

Arthur pulling Excalibur while fleeing from his own men, accused of his father's murder

Clash of ideologies between Merlin and Morgana, Morgana as fighting to take what she sees as hers and Merlin as he's basically setting up a magical separatist movement.

Accidental Merlin and Gwaine soul bond because those fuckers should never be left unsupervised for that amount of time

Magical army liberating magic users

Lots of twists and takes and blatant stealing from the actual episodes, but, like, presented and rolling out in a noT SHITTY WAY

Anyway. I don't have a snip, because I wrote what I have 5-6 years ago and....don't really like any of it anymore lol.

#I wrote a thing #WIP meme #mail #greyspeckledwalls #pandering for asks #Batfam #Tim Drake #Jason Todd #Dick Grayson #DC #BITTER MERLIN BLOGGING #like #the BITTEREST MERLIN BLOGGING

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tiodolma · 2 years

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Disir: You are known Arthur, you have always been known. And now you come here. The most sacred of the sacred. To the very heart of the old religion with weapons drawn, trampling hallowed relics, treating our sacred space like you do your kingdom. With arrogance, with conceit, with insolence.

I like to think that this was actually the Triple Goddesses' way of lending Merlin a hand in his mission. Before Arthur even met the Disir, Merlin, who is the personification of magic, had been warning him endlessly of dismissing sorcery as mere superstition. Merlin had been trying so hard to make Arthur see reason and guide him show the least amount of respect to the sorcerers and magic folk. But no! Arthur and his Knights have repeatedly ignored Merlin and scoffed at him, treating Merlin's words as superstition and nonsense, much like how he and his father treat sorcery as a whole.

It's like the triple goddess had been watching Arthur thru Merlin's eyes and life. The triple goddess knows Merlin's pain, and it supports him. She basically gave Merlin a shortcut, a nudge towards their shared goals.

And ofc Arthur fckd it up coz he was Arthur Pendragon.

It's so unfair to pin the blame on Merlin for Arthur's fate in Episode 5 to be honest. Arthur already sealed his fate when he was still hellbent on honoring Uther's policies instead of reviewing his life and changing for the better. He was still the frkn institution, the face, the poster boy of anti-magic faction. He is his own downfall. His choices led him to his fate.

Merlin had been gently guiding him to open his heart to magic on his own terms. It is Arthur who has kept himself blind. Merlin wanted Arthur to come to accepting magic naturally. But because it's Arthur, he has had little success.

But how about Mordred? Listen, Magic doesn't trust Mordred. The fates all talk about how he will kill their supposed savior. Mordred jumping in for Arthur did not help Magic's cause. His rescue from the throes of death is supposed to be the incentive, to prove Arthur's noble heart and force him to accept magic. However Magic has been beaten down and denied to a pulp already. Magic has learned the hard way that that the "easy" and quicker method to acceptance will never do any good and will often backfire. It would be a half-ass attempt at acceptance at best.

Merlin has had enough. Arthur's bane was really himself.

Tho I wish they had more time to talk it out. I think Merlin could have said smth a little more diplomatic than a “hard No.” I get that he was in a lot of pressure though. Arthur’s questioning sounded so urgent and taunting and he had to give an immediate answer. And I feel like Arthur was insincere the whole time coz to him, he was forced to reconsider his beliefs on blind faith with no actual basis.

His words goaded/challenged Merlin into saying Yes btw, like it was some bizzare test. It pisses me off. Merlin’s hands were tied from the start, he had to say that “No.” Arthur was leading him into it. Review the dialogue.

A: My heart says to do anything to save Mordred but I’ve seen what misery unfettered sorcery brings. Before my father outlawed magic, Camelot was almost destroyed by sorcery. In my own time Morgana’s used it for nothing but evil. What would you do? In my place?

A: If I do save Mordred, all my father’s work would be for nothing. Sorcery will reign once more in Camelot. Is that what you’d want? Perhaps my father was wrong perhaps the old ways aren’t as evil as we thought. So what should we do? Accept magic? Or let Mordred die?

Arthur had reasoned that the “magic will reign” instead of yknow, be accepted and embraced. Magic isn’t even asking to take over. It just wanted to be welcomed back and treated kindly. His perception of magic immediately reigning once he allows magic again is such fascist wording tbh. Arthur is still his Father’s mouthpiece. Morgana just reinforces his ideas but it all boils down to Uther.

“I have seen the misery brought by unfettered sorcery. Before my father outlawed magic, Camelot was almost destroyed by sorcery.” The “I am afraid that it will happen again” is unspoken. Way to be paranoid about something that’s yet to happen, Arthur. It’s like this dude forgot how people can be healed thru magic and that Camelot actually used to survive and flourish with it. His own lack of knowledge, unwillingness to learn and deliberate ignorance of magic despite having faced it countless times is his downfall.

To Arthur the only pros of accepting magic is “Mordred living” and “the possibility that his father being wrong.” What a sick joke. For all he declares and stylizes himself that “He is not his father” Arthur still holds his father’s teachings quite dear and have not gone much to explore anything else beyond his own sense or justice. Arthur is fckn complicit in the death of so many innocent people and he still acts like the main victim of it all because what? Opressed people wanted to assasinate him? His sister wanted revenge by taking him and the kingdom out?

I get that Merlin covered for his ass multiple times by telling arthur that humans killed and defeated the mythical beasts. I recognize the effect Merlin and Gaius’s lies have shaped Arthur’s perception, tricking him to believe that magic can be defeated by his own strength.

Still! He’s supposed to be smart and can think for himself. He’s not a damn child. If he can track animals and outlaws in the woods and coordinate war tactics then he can use his brain to piece together events that dont make sense! He can come to the conclusion that there is no way, absolutely no way, that earthquakes and falling branches/rocks just miraculously and luckily happen when he’s in a pinch!

I don’t really have that much sympathy for Arthur because he had access to court records and books and people beforehand! He has Gaius who is like the holder of all magical knowledge! He still had Geoffrey who keeps the history of Camelot! At the end of the Secret Sharer in S4, Gaius had encouraged him to Ask, to Learn. But nooooo he just went on doing what he does best and think ill of all magic practitioners. He could have talked to the druids after s4ep10! He’s had 3-4 years of kingship to seek out other peaceful groups and learn from them! But hey yeah pledging an oath to a goddamn ghost is seemingly enough for him. How benevolent.

Arthur has no excuse other than his fear and paranoia. And unforunately that has bled out to his personal Knights and nobility. Their comments on sorcerers were already so misguided, so hateful, so disgusting in s5.

Imagine being so proud of “having no problems with the druids” yet calling all magic folks as “desperate, deranged and fanatics” in the next instance. Also I just realized that he told a druid in their face that it is "their fault that they were oppressed." LMAOO. Arthur is such a hypocrite. He never once thought of the druids or magic folk with respect. To him letting them live is the best kind of mercy he could offer. As long as they don’t enter camelot or spread their beliefs then they’re fine.

Even so, Merlin still continued to survive in that bleeding pool of sharks. Yet Merlin persevered. He was still quietly and patiently nudging the King to more justified actions while being constantly ridiculed and dismissed. Merlin has been suffering his grief in silence and alone, clinging more and more to his destiny and duty, to his friend, Arthur, coz he has lost everything and everyone else anyway.

But hey put all the blame on Merlin for saying “No to Magic” for one private moment coz he’ll rather prioritize Arthur’s life before anything else amirite?

Stop treating Merlin like he has actual political and administrative sway for fuck’s sake. If one word from Merlin was really all it could take then how come Arthur and Merlin still had to have Gaius intervene just to tell Arthur that Merlin was right to be upset and concerned? Let’s be real, Merlin only matters when Arthur decides that his word matters. Other than that Merlin has to always be chipper, happy and subservient in front of him coz otherwise Arthur would be upset. And that’s only the time Arthur chooses to be kind to him. He wants Merlin’s approval only after Merlin proves to him that he has fckd up. It’s awful that even Guinevere finds it cute.

Arthur still has the last word! Because he is the goddamn King! Arthur has to be blamed. Arthur has to pay for his own choices! He’s always had the agency over his own decisions! Merlin knew that! The Disir knew that! Stop babying this bigoted oppressor!

#bbc arthur #bbc merlin #anti arthur #anti merthur #anti bbc arthur #thots #the disir #get rekt arthur #doomed hero merlin

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jasminedragonart · 3 years

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I dipped my toe back into the Merlin fandom for a hot second there and found some discourse about Gwen which isnt wrong but I just have my opinion about it as well.

So the whole thing is that people push Gwen aside in favour of Merthur because, I don't know, they give a lot of reasons. Because she's a poc. Because the white ship is more appealing and other stuff like that. Which... yeah. But I think we need to ask why that is and I think it comes down to what I always hated about the show which is the writing.

Dont get me wrong I love the show, but plot wise it feels more like the Matt Smith run of doctor who. A lot of filler and not a lot of plot. Or theres an attempt at plot but the writer either isnt communicating with the rest of the writers or just arent that good at writing because it doesnt work. Game of thrones has this problem too.

Do you know why Doctor Who re earned their fame with Ecclecson and Tennant? Because of the writing as well as the acting. The Master? We could see seeds of him being sown episodes back. Some of the fillers were actually plot points. Gravity Falls, they have an excellent plot too. Everything flows and makes sense because they've established their beginning and end and understand how they're making it from one to another.

With Merlin? Either they were playing it season by season or, again, they just didnt know what they were doing because nothing really tied together in the end.

Bringing this back to Gwen. They knew, in Arthurian canon, that Gwen was Arthur's wife. We all knew this going in, and I think this was their big mistake. They relied on that too much as a reason for why Gwen and Arthur ended up together. They didnt approach this from the point of view of someone whose never heard of King Arthur before. If youd never heard of Arthur and Guinevere you never would imagine in the show why Arthur and Gwen would get together. The writers never gave them any chemistry. The actors tried their damn best but in a season we got maybe one, two Gwen episodes? That's not enough.

The reason we ship merthur more than Arwen is simply because the writers built up their relationship like they should have done Arwen. They never should have made Gwen a serving girl either. By doing this she had more chemistry with Merlin than Arthur because as a servant, she spent more time with Merlin than Arthur. She should have been in Morgana's place. Maybe not a ward but a lady in waiting. Someone elevated enough to speak more than one conversation with Arthur.

It's not like she couldn't tell him off as a lady in waiting either. Morgana did. And I guess they wanted to do some queen of the people thing with her, but the thing is when she does become queen in the show she's not even the Gwen we've come to know. She's not struggling with her duties or responsibilities like a serving girl turned Queen would be. Shes some polished woman who even speaks differently. I'm sorry but Gwen would still be Gwen five years after season 4. Arthur was born into his role, Gwen wasn't. It's a lifelong transition we should see her handling. Humanising her to us and to Arthur. We should see them bonding over it. Arthur finally has someone he can complain to about how hard being a ruler actually is because Gwen finds it hard too. We should see him helping her learn how to walk, have inside jokes about council members. We should see them.bonding over Arthur listening to her memories a speech, or Gwen showing Arthur the seeker parts of his own citadel he needs to change.

We see none of this and this is why people find it hard to ship Arwen over Merthur. I love the tangled triangle that is Gwen, arthur and lancelot. We were robbed of that in this show. We were robbed of a lot of things but primarily this because the romance is what MAKES an Arthurian epic. I felt nothing when Gwen betrayed Arthur because there was nothing for them to lose. If they'd built up the relationship properly, if we'd seen the cracks that Lancelot fills, if we saw how Gwen found it truly hard to choose between her king and a knight then I would have liked her more.

She wasn't Guinevere and I feel like this was purposeful? Maybe as, I dont know, some weird way of showing that Gwen can be good? But Gwen in essence isn't good. She's the story of a woman who's in a predicament that a lot of people can probably relate to. She's one of the original love triangles and her problematic behaviour is what makes her famous, what makes her a compelling character because yes we hate her but we hate her because she is reality. She is human and flawed and love makes people do dumb stuff.

We saw this from Merlin. We saw almost all of this in .Merlin's character. He did a lot of things because he loved Arthur. A lot of bad things. And I think they could have done this with Gwen too if they just understood their source material properly. I'm not saying we can't have different interpretations of a character. But there are interpretations and then there is completely rewriting a character. If Gwen was Guinevere I dont think we'd be having the same conversation we were now a d that's just my opinion on this subject.

#Gwen #BBC merlin #BBC Merlin Gwen #Merthur #Arwen

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weakforarwen · 2 years

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The Witchfinder

This was a good episode, sadly, only one of the few which addressed the repercussions of Uther’s war against magic, and in which magic is portrayed as something harmless, particularly in the face of people’s fear of it. It was a simple parlor trick from Merlin that induced such fear in a citizen of Camelot that Uther even felt compelled to send for the Witchfinder.

It’s rather ironic that Gaius was falsely accused and nearly ended up burnt at the sake. How many times did he watch the same thing happen to fellow warlocks and witches, especially during the time of The Great Purge? It took a first hand experience for Gaius to finally turn his back on Uther somewhat, but I’m afraid it was much too little and much too late. It wasn’t enough to tell Uther his paranoia sentenced innocent, magicless people to die, because even if they’d had magic, that would’ve made them no less innocent. It’s not about a due process; Gaius failed to condemn Uther’s real crime, which was his war on magic. But he knew doing so would be treason... It’s even more ironic all this took place after Gaius had convinced Merlin that Uther was a good King and shouldn’t die in To Kill a King. Will Gaius ever learn? I still felt bad for what he went through, though.

Arthur was much too passive throughout the episode. He objected to Merlin being accused of magic (it was too ludicrous an idea for him) and tried to protect and help Merlin in some way, but had still been willing to let Merlin get arrested for the magical amulet found at Gaius’s; if not for Gaius, I fear Arthur would’ve stood by and watched Merlin die. And Arthur did try to defend Gaius after his arrest: he vouched for him and tried to reason with Aredian, but that wasn’t enough either. Gaius would’ve burnt at the stake if not for Gwen, whose voice, as always, was the one he listened to the most.

It’s interesting that, at first, Arthur simply called Gwen “Gwen”, an impersonal form of address, as he didn’t wish to be told he could save Gaius. But as Gwen’s pleading grew more passionate, she became “Guinevere” again, which is the more personal form of address and one he uses when he wishes to stop her rambling. Gwen’s words made him uneasy - he didn’t wish to be reminded that Gaius was a loyal friend and Merlin a loyal servant - but the pièce de résistance was Gwen reminding Arthur he was the Prince and that his inaction had once damned her father: “You did it once before to my father; are you really willing to let it happen again? And you can stop looking at me like that, I know I'm only a servant! I thought you were a prince, so start behaving like one!”.

It was very clever of Gwen to use their difference in rank against Arthur, though she might not have done it on purpose. I don’t think Arthur was at all offended by Gwen’s words or thought she’d spoken out of turn, it’s quite obvious that wasn’t the case, but Gwen may not have know that; after the events of Lancelot and Guinevere, I think Gwen didn’t quite know where she stood with Arthur, or just how much he cared for her. Nevertheless, her word choice was perfect. Gwen reminded Arthur he was the Prince and had duties to his people. The one thing Arthur believed above all else was in his duty to the people of Camelot. If Gwen, a servant, had the courage to stand up for what was right, then so should he, the Prince. Arthur had to lead by example, Gwen played on his sense of duty and on his pride. She also made Arthur recall what he’d said about equality; Gwen was only a servant, but Arthur was supposed to listen to everyone equally.

I can’t figure out if Aredian was a genius or just a fearmongering opportunist. He did successfully find three magic users in Camelot despite his reasoning being flawed at best. Of the three, Gaius had practiced magic in the past, so it wasn’t hard to accuse him though he still had to plant evidence against Gaius. But only Merlin gave Aredian actual reasons to suspect him. Merlin was a witness to the incident but denied seeing any shapes in the smoke. He’s a bad liar; it would’ve been easier to deny seeing the smoke at all. However, Aredian’s assertion that it was inexplicable for two people to see different things was weak; it was very much possible and he knew it, it didn’t prove Merlin’s guilt (though his skittish behavior wasn’t helping his case). Merlin could’ve simply been covering up for someone or unwilling to send someone to their death.

As for Morgana, poor girl was scared out of her wits the entire episode. This was yet another event that sent Morgana closer to the edge. But it made little sense for her to be accused of being corrupted by magic just because Gaius may have used it on her. I know it made sense to Aredian and showed how dangerous his thinking was, but it was also an excuse for the writers to again put Morgana in a situation where she feared for her life because of who she was.

Merlin saved the day but he was, once again, nearly the death of his kind. He even went to Kilgharrah for help, but the Dragon had no advice for him... Truly, no advice at all, huh? What was the point of that scene exactly? To show how unreliable the dragon is, or that Merlin was willing to risk his life for Gaius even if it meant leaving Arthur behind unprotected?

Thankfully, Merlin turned to Gwen, and her help was essential in saving Gaius and getting rid of Aredian. Gwen identified what all of Aredian’s witnesses had in common, cautioned Merlin that he needed irrefutable evidence before going to the King with his findings, and saved Gaius’s life by speaking to Arthur. Merlin was amazing too, of course.

Lastly, I found Aredian to be an interesting character. He was undeniably against magic and far more than a simple charlatan, but he still planted evidence and lied, tortured, and manipulated people to extract unlawful confessions from them and get his way. He used Uther’s fears against him, to make him more willing to pay him whatever price Aredian demanded and to listen to him unconditionally. Nevertheless, he correctly identified Merlin and Gaius has practicers of magic (though Gaius rarely performed any spells), and Morgana as “corrupted” by magic (which is a rather fitting description of what happens to her).

#bbc merlin #bbc arwen #arwen #arthur pendragon #gwen pendragon #morgana #uther #gaius #the witchfinder commentary #the witchfinder

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sopafa · 3 years

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My problem with Rise of the titans.

Okay, to this day, I guess that everyone had seen the movie. So, let’s talk about it.

first that everything: The title.

TROLLHUNTERS: RISE OF THE TITANS.

First word: TROLLHUNTERS.

I mean, I love the show, I have nothing against it, it's great, a nuclear form to start the franchise, and introduces us to a universe. The story, the plot, etc. What’s the problem?

We have seen Jim’s hero journey before. “The amulet did not make me a hero, I already was”, a great quote, but we already had listened to it during the show.

So, the movie did not give us nothing new, it’s literally the same plot of the show. “What does be a Trollhunter mean?”

With that pointed out…

WHAT THE FUCK A TROLLHUNTER IS GOING TO DO WITH THE ARCANE ORDER.

ROTT – TRAIN BATTLE.

Bellroc: “Trollhunter…”

Jim: “Nope. Now I hunt Wizards”.

First of all… the arcane order members are not “wizards”, they are demigods, which is completely different. It’s like comparing a Gnome to a Goblin. Not to mention that the only wizard present during that fight was Douxie, so-

Go Jim, hunt Douxie!

Just- No.

Literally, Jim has not a reason to fight them.

“Oh, but earth it’s my home and-“

Bulshit. The proper Merlin says it: “I create the Trollhunter to defeat Gunmar and destroy Gum-gums”. I mean, I have myopia but even with my bad vision I did not find a single Gum-Gum in the movie, so tell me if I am wrong, but the Trollhunter does not deserve to head this battle, instead, he had everything to be treated as the warhorse, or secret armor, not as the leather.

It would have been great to see a different dynamic.

In wizards we had the opportunity to see Douxie lead the team, talk to everyone and encourage them when there was no hope. Jim was not present during all the best of Douxie’s leather moments, because he was a Troll, but it would have been amazing to see him leaving the leadership to others, even when he is not used to it.

SECOND POINT.

The villain.

So, the arcane order is great antagonist. Their point of view, the grey moral, their designs and presence since wizard. Just amazing.

If they are so great: What’s my problem then?

The development.

PIRIOT.

A) To begin, their first apparency was on wizards, a MINI-SHOW with 10 episodes, where the arcane order are presented as the ones that are behind the main villains.

It's great to the how the power scales with each step our heroes take. It's more difficult to take the antagonist down because it’s not more WHITE AND BLACK characters, but a lot of grey zones. This forces the heroes to change their morality and question their ideologies.

But the short time we have to meet the order compared to other villains on TOA, makes them not feel powerful enough. It feels more like: They are bad, they are evil, they have a pretty good points to destroy the earth, but instead of giving them a chance to know them better, we are going to give them titans to kill and destroy the planet.

So, the problem is the titans and the mass destruction they occasioned, not the order as them. Or at least that’s what the title makes us think.

B) On TROLLHUNTERS, we have ANGOR ROT and GUNMAR as the main villains. We know that they fight Jim, and see their development through the series. Angor Rot wants to recuperate his should, he is following orders and after that, he is taking revenge over Jim. Gunmar wants to domain the world, but instead, he is confined to the Dark Lands, where we see him during Jim’s trip to that place.

On 3BELLOW we have MORANDO and area 49. The epic grows of Aja and Krel, their maturity, their decisions, the Varvatos' “treason”, and the change of role from Area 49, to become an allay at the end. A Great conclusion, that lets us open the opportunity to see the support of area 49 in future projects of TOA.

And on WIZARDS…

Who is the main villain?

Douxie does not fight an “antagonist” on the show. The whole adventure is “Go back to the present and help Merlin stop the order”.

We meet Arthur, and Morgana, peons of the order, that are going to become villains that MERLIN HAS TO FIGHT. Jim and Claire had their arc. But we do not see the MAIN ANTAGONIST to the PROTAGONIST OF THIS SHOW.

We meet the Arcane order, and we see Douxie fighting them.

He is a master wizard, he is the one that has the power to control the genesis seal, the Arcane Order’s goal. So, we can agree that they are the antagonist of Douxie?

That has sense.

On the show we see how they control Arthur and make him KILL MERLIN -The only parental figure and family Douxie had-.

They also are responsible to control Morgana (a friend and companion during his life on Camelot).

Not to mention that he became the guardian of Nari of the Eternal Forest, giving the order more reasons to hate him and destroy him.

In conclusion. THERE ARE A LOT OF REASONS TO BELIEVE THAT THE ORDER IS THE DIRECT ANTAGONIST OF HISIRDOUX CASPERAN.

So, the movie makes no sense having Jim leading the battle against the Order instead of Douxie!

So, if the writers wanted to make the order EVERYONE antagonists, it would be better to have a second season of wizards, focused on Hisirdoux and the defeat of a particular antagonist.

Continuing with the movie, a better title would be “TALES OF ARCADIA: RISE OF THE TITANS”, instead of “TROLLHUNTERS: RISE OF THE TITANS”. In that way, there would be more impact on the presence of other characters around the movie, instead of only focusing on Jim during the CLOSURE OF THE WHOLE FRANCHISE, FOR MERLIN’S SHAKE.

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phantomchick · 3 years

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Merlin fic rec list

To Be A King by clotpolesonly Teen And Up, No Archive Warnings Apply, Gen, Merlin and Arthur, Merlin and Mordred, Gwen/Arthur, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Merlin's Magic Revealed, Canonical Character Death, BAMF Merlin, Dragonlord Merlin, Original setting, Magical kingdom, King Merlin, Royal!Merlin Summary: When Merlin discovers that his father was an estranged prince and he himself is now the only heir to the throne of a magical kingdom, he is forced to leave Camelot for the perils of a royal court. Will Merlin be able to win Arthur's favor again before Morgana launches an attack on a defenseless Camelot? Will he be able to defend his own kingdom at the same time or will all be lost? -

A Matter of Sovereignty by Kizmet Gen, No Archive Warnings Apply, Friendship Summary A visiting prince takes it into his head to brutalize Merlin, but sometimes the solution to a problem is in how you phrase it.

Bumps and Bruises by platonic_boner merthur, implied/suspected abuse, Protective Arthur, Magic Revealed, pre-relationship, teen an up, canon typical violence,

Summary: Arthur notices Merlin’s constant injuries, and decides he needs to step in and protect Merlin.

Finding Home by riventhorn Arthur/Merlin, Hurt/Comfort Summary: Written for a kinkme_merlin prompt. When Gaius retires a new physician takes over and quickly kicks Merlin out of his room and takes it for himself. Arthur finds Merlin sleeping in the stables...and it's winter.

How To Love A Living Thing by Polomonkey Mature, merthur, Merlin/Arthur, Pendragon (Merlin), Hurt/Comfort, Abuse, Violence, Sexual Harassment, Drowning, Guilt, Romance, Protective Arthur, Mild Sexual Content, Redemption, Healing, Canon Era

Summary Guilt ridden and lonely after his confrontation with Nimueh, Merlin slowly begins to isolate himself from Arthur. When two knights take it upon themselves to teach him his place, Merlin finds himself with nowhere to turn. Will he be able to reach out to his prince before it's too late?

Obeisance by casspeach Gen, No Archive Warnings Apply, Merlin/Arthur

Summary: It's not that Arthur won't share his toys, just that he expects to get them back undamaged

All's Well That Ends Well by StormDancer explicit, Merlin/Arthur, Arthur Finds Out, magic reveal Summary: Merlin spent the week and a half that Arthur was gone splitting his time between crafting careful explanations that never ended up explaining the important things, the things that would make Arthur listen, and making half-baked plans to escape to Ealdor. He found a number of fire-proofing spells that would have no effect if they decided to cut his head off, and figured out how to adapt an invulnerability spell he had been trying to find a way to cast on Arthur without him noticing so that it would protect him from being decapitated, but it would have no effect on anything but metal. Despite all his frantic searching, he did not find a teleportation spell, because that would have been too simple and if there was one thing Merlin had learned in his years at Camelot, it was that nothing was ever simple.

Deeds by the5leggedCricket Merlin/Arthur Pendragon, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Episode Related, Oblivious Arthur Pendragon, Teen and Up,

Summary: Arthur is coming of age, and that means he’s about to get Deeds—marks on his body telling him of his soulmate’s greatest accomplishments. But as he tries to find his soulmate, he also makes some worrying discoveries about the kind of person his soulmate is.

Honorable Intentions by smilebackwards Gwaine/Merlin, Guinevere/Arthur Pendragon, Courtship, Protectiveness, Protective!Arthur, Teen and Up, Summary: There are several considerations Arthur would like to go over, starting with the state of Merlin's virtue.

Laundry's Hard Work by supercalvin Gen, Teen and Up, Canon Era, can be read as pre-slash, BAMF Merlin

Summary: Wasn't Merlin supposed to be...tiny? When the hell had he learned to use a sword and not fall on his backside? Where the hell did those scars from? What the hell?

or Arthur still thinks Merlin is the young boy he met ten years ago and he starts to notice things in his manservant that he wasn't aware had changed at all.

Fathom Me Out by supercalvin Merlin/Arthur, Canon Era, Magic Revealed, Teen and up,

Summary: After ten years, Arthur thinks he has Merlin all figured out. But as he watches Merlin, he finds out that he has more questions than answers. The longer he thinks about it, the more uneasy he feels. So he pushes it aside. Except, he can no longer ignore the questions he has about Merlin. Not your everyday reveal!fic

Loyalty Before Royalty by CaffeinatedFlumadiddle Gen, Gwen & Merlin, Arthur and Merlin being the most iconic duo? I think tf not, Gwen and Merlin wreaking havoc? Teaming up against Arthur? That's the most iconic duo there, as usual, Explicit Language, Fluff and Humor, Attempt at Humor, Arthur is so exasperated, someone help him, good thing he loves them both

Summary: "Where did you get that?" Arthur asked, but he already knew the answer. "Gwen." "...and the horse?" "Gwen." "What about the-" "Gwen." Merlin interrupted. Arthur nodded. At this point, he wasn't sure why he even bothered to ask. He was pretty certain his wife was going to knight Merlin any day now.He looked Merlin up and down for a few moments before accepting it all with a sigh. "As long as you get my armor to me tomorrow...I don't care." He finally said, turning away. Merlin cleared his throat. "Gwen gave me tomorrow off." "For the love of God." Or I hate that Gwen and Merlin's friendship kind of withered away in the later seasons so here's a oneshot about her and Merlin abusing her new royal powers because that's what happens when your best friend becomes queen.

Know It All Knight by Shi_Toyu Leon & Merlin, Knights of the Round Table, Magic Revealed, protective leon, Arthur Finds Out, Oblivious Arthur

Summary: Leon couldn’t say for sure when the exact moment was that he figured out Merlin had magic. He’d suspected it for a little while, to be honest. He definitely had it figured out by the time Arthur managed to ‘kill’ the Great Dragon. What Leon could say for sure was the exact moment he figured out that no one else had figured out Merlin had magic.

The Nature of Trust by Lynds Merlin's Magic Revealed, Leon is the Mam Friend, Leon is so done, Protective Gwaine, Lancelot Lives, Canon Era, Arthur Finds Out, Hurt Merlin, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Torture, Canon-Typical Violence, reference to hunting and cooking animals Summary: Leon starts to notice that the knights, one by one, are starting to trust Merlin's judgement. That he keeps warning Arthur about danger, and being right. Is there more to Merlin than meets the eye?

Repercussions by PeaceHeather Fix-It of Sorts, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Lecture, Rants, Episode: s02e06 Beauty and the Beast, Episode: s02e05 Beauty and the Beast, Canon Era, One Shot, Gen Summary: Uther married a troll. In canon, that all worked out fine eventually. In this slight canon divergence, there is at least one noble who's not willing to let it slide so easily.

No Harm Will Come to You Here by fancyh Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Season/Series 05, Merlin's Magic Revealed, Fluff and Angst, temporary amnesia, teen and up,

Summary: "That was magic," Arthur accuses.

"Oh." Merlin just nods, looking unperturbed.

Arthur fights to keep his expression calm, mind racing and heart pounding. "Sorcery is outlawed in Camelot. On pain of death."

Merlin splutters, finally fixing Arthur with an affronted glare. "It's not like I meant to do it!"

***

Merlin gets hit with a spell meant for Arthur and loses his memory. Revelations ensue. Set sometime after 5x02.

Metamorphose by clotpolesonly Merlin/Arthur, Teen and Up, Between Seasons/Series, Episode: s03e01 The Tears of Uther Pendragon (Part I), Episode: s03e02 The Tears of Uther Pendragon (Part II), Mpreg, Magic Reveal, Angst with a Happy Ending, Pining, morgana redemption, some transphobic language from Merlin when he finds out he’s pregnant because of magic but it’s mostly just the shock that does it Summary: When Merlin falls into bed with Arthur, he doesn't expect for to wake up alone. He doesn't expect Arthur to give him the cold shoulder either, but there is something else he expects even less which forces him out of the kingdom for over a year. He returns to find a traitor in the court, an army on the way, and a love he'd thought all but lost waiting for him with open arms.

Four Days To Fall In Love. by CupCakezys Teen and Up, No archive warnings apply, Merlin/Arthur, Morgana/Gwen, Soulmate AU, Arthur Knows About Merlin's Magic, Protective Arthur, Mutual Pining, Angst with a Happy Ending, Secret Relationship

Summary: In a world where everyone has a soulmate (or two or three), Arthur Pendragon knows he is destined to be alone. For Arthur can see his heartstring, could follow it to where his soulmate lived, and that could only mean one thing.

His soulmate had magic, and should they ever meet, Arthur would have to kill them.

Sacrificial Lamb by RurouniHime Angst and Humor, Pining, First Time, First Kiss, Post Season 1, Initial Misunderstanding, But it’s resolved, Happy Ending, Fluff with a touch of angst at first

Summary: Arthur's been overworking his knights, so they come to Merlin as a last resort.

Cheers and Spirits by CaffeinatedFlumadiddle Gen, The knights are kinda fools, but the best king, Humour, Fluff, Fluff and Humour, Knights of the Round Table & Merlin

Summary: Despite all the supposed trips to the tavern none of the knights have seen Merlin drunk. They decide to rectify that. A poor decision, really.

Circle 'round the Truth by enviropony Merlin + Knights friendship, Gen, Magic Reveal, Oneshot, Knights of the Round Table & Merlin Summary: They know about the magic. Or, more accurately, Merlin's magic is the truth the knights circle around, and Merlin's loyalty is the one 'round which they rally. (A character study with some yelling, an action sequence, and a bit of walking.) Post-S4.

Strict Justice by schweet_heart mutual pining, BAMF Arthur, magic reveal, canon au, oneshot, teen and up

Summary: After a particularly grueling battle, Merlin and Arthur share a quiet moment in their tent.

before it breaks by schweet_heart Teen and Up, Hurt/Comfort, Angst, merlin whump, magic reveal, merlin & arthur, merthur

Summary: “It’s not what it looks like,” he says, hand still outstretched, barely a waver in his voice as he lies, outright, to Arthur’s face. “Sire, I can explain.”

“Can you,” Arthur says. He’s aware that he’s trembling, a seismic reaction to the outrage and denial still fighting it out inside his head, but he knows what he’s seen. What it must be. “Well, then, you’d better be quick about it, because it looks a lot like magic.”

Until the Day I Die by Cookie Teen and Up, Oneshot, Angst, Temporary Character Death, Angst with a Happy Ending

Summary: Arthur believed Dragoon had killed his father, and so he plunged his sword deep into the sorcerer. Now Merlin was dying in his arms and Arthur was facing the future alone.

These Castle Walls Bleed Lies by marguerite_26 Mature, hurt/comfort, Magic Reveal, Angst, Merthur, mentions of arthur/gwen, Gwen/Lancelot

Summary: With his father unfit to rule and Camelot decimated, Arthur must assume the role of King. But the truths he discovers shake the foundation of all he holds dear.

before his eyes (he now sees clear) by hwc Teen And Up Audiences, Uther Pendragon is terrible and complicated, Merlin/Arthur

Summary: It takes Uther half a second to see Balinor in Merlin, and he's almost sure of what he should do.

Keep Your Secrets by new_kate, orphan_account Mature, rape/non-con, torture, captivity, romance, alternate universe - canon, canon typical violence, hurt/comfort

Summary: Arthur Pendragon is captured by the bandits. While he waits to be ransomed, he slowly gets to know Merlin, the prisoner being held in the next cell.

Crossing the Line by Ultrageekatlarge BAMF Merlin, Gen, Crack, Oneshot, Magic Reveal, Hurt! Merlin, Humour

Summary: In which Merlin gets bludgeoned, strangled, attacked, smothered, shot with glass, and tossed out a window, burned, whipped, stabbed, thrown down stairs, nearly drowned on dry land, and harpooned, and still manages to save Camelot from seven evil sorcerers, before lunch.

Your Touch Is My Salvation by elirwen Magic Reveal, Canon Era, Oblivious idiots in love, Curses, Teen and Up, Oneshot, Hurt/Comfort

Summary: Merlin suffers from an effect of a curse. Arthur can help more than he initially thought.

A Heavy Heart to Carry by Thursday_Next Rescue, Hurt/Comfort, Magic Reveal, Oneshot, Mature, Merlin/Arthur Pendragon

Summary: When Merlin is captured and injured, Arthur must face up to his own feelings for his manservant as well as the many secrets he discovers are being kept from him.

Can you do that? by no_nutcracker Merlin/Mithian, no archive warnings apply, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Episode: s04e11 The Hunter's Heart, Arthur & Merlin friendship

Summary: Merlin should be overjoyed. He just found his soulmate. If only she was not betrothed to Arhur.

His Remedy for Care by ArgentSleeper Teen and Up, canon au, Episode: s02e13 The Last Dragonlord, Angst, Canon Typical Violence, Hurt/Comfort, Fix It

Summary: Injured in the dragon attack in lieu of Arthur and afraid of being stopped from going on the mission, Merlin kept away from Gaius and never learned that Balinor was his father. Instead it's Arthur that puts two and two together as he seeks the dragonlord out, first to save his servant (not friend- they can't be friends), then to save his kingdom.

A Considerable Head Start by ughbutidontwantto BAMF Merlin, Gen, when villains have more regard for you than friends, Camelot has a serious class problem, Merlin deserves better

Summary: Merlin is frighteningly competent and his friends are correctly concerned. Obviously they're going to follow him out to the woods. And obviously they're not going to like what they hea

The Conscience of the King by ughbutidontwantto Gen, Post-Magic Reveal, Legal Drama, Oneshot, Friendship feels

Summary: Merlin's magic was revealed and now everyone has to deal with it in an official capacity since tragically most of these characters work in government. Arthur, predictably, is struggling to cope.

Out of Sight, Out of Mind by BabyStepsAreStillSteps Merlin Deserved Better, Hurt/Comfort, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Merlin Needs a Hug (Merlin), Episode: s05e09 With All My Heart, Fix It

Summary: When Arthur turned his back on the Dolma that he didn’t know was his manservant, Merlin reminded him that he was missing a very important member of their rescue party.

What if he hadn’t?

What They Owe Us by ironspidereilish Merlin/Arthur, Alternate Universe, Aredian’s a tax collector instead of a witch hunter but he’s still a bastard, Hurt/Comfort, Poverty, Angst with a Happy Ending, Protective Arthur Pendragon, BAMF Arthur, Canon Era, Romance, sexual coercion mentioned, BAMF Merlin

Summary: When Arthur finds out that the castle staff are having their wages held for weeks at a time and can no longer afford food or their homes, he will not rest until they are protected and Aredian is stopped.

The fact that Merlin’s stomach is rumbling while he delivers the prince his breakfast, and Arthur hates the thought of him suffering, only serves as extra motivation to fix this.

royal blood by Rona23 crack!fic, humour, comedy, Balinor Lives, Dragonlord things, Golden Age, Bamf Arthur, Bamf Balinor, Bamf Merlin, Fix It, Magic reveal, Oblivious Arthur, Merthur

Summary: ..... as if Balinor could be killed by Bandits O.o

Alternatively: An alternative take on Balinor surviving and saving Camelot. ... And then proceeding to hold the entire kingdom hostage, because he has a frigging Dragon at his disposal :)

- The way by Naelyn Episode: s04e11 The Hunter's Heart, POV Arthur Pendragon, Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Oblivious Arthur, Until He’s Not, Hurt/Comfort, Merlin Deserved Better, Communication or lack thereof, Canon Divergence

Summary: "One more word out of you, and I swear to God I will send you into exile."

He knows it’s not the pyre, knows there’s much worse, but banishment would mean staying away from Arthur forever – and, as pathetic as that might sound, he thinks he would rather die than let that happen. It is clear that the feeling is not reciprocated, clear that in Arthur’s eyes, he will never come first. There’ll always be people coming before him, and he’s made peace with that long ago – but if even Agravaine can come before him, then anyone could, no? Anyone could replace him. Call Merlin a traitor and have Arthur get rid of him. Anyone could.

Merlin no longer feels safe in Camelot.

or: Arthur threatens Merlin of banishment. To Arthur's eyes, it's all forgotten. To Merlin's, however... Well, let's just say that his faith in their mutual destiny, once unwavering, finds itself faltering at a dangerously quick rate.

Better in the Mourning by CaffeinatedFlumadiddle Gen, Lancelot & Merlin, Knights of the Round Table & Merlin, Grief, Fluff and Angst, Gwen/Lance mentioned, let the characters grieve, 5 Knights of Grief

Summary: Merlin mourns Lancelot's death. The rest of the knights help out. (AKA Merlin gets to take advantage of not having to keep a dead loved one a secret and gets some goddamn support in this castle)

I suppose that I look different (without the robes and crown) by WingedWolf121 Canon Era, Episode: s05e03 The Death Song of Uther Pendragon, Uther Pendragon’s A + Parenting, Ygraine/Uther, Arthur/Merlin, Balinor/Hunith, Dragonlord Merlin, BAMF Merlin, Fix-It, Angst with a Happy Ending

Summary: When Arthur blows the horn of Cathbdhah for the second time, the horn doesn’t just send Uther to the other world. It sends Arthur away as well – to a world where Ygraine never died, the Great Purge never happened, and magic lives freely at court. As do those who practice it.

For Your Information by reni_days Merlin & Uther, Merlin/Arthur, Modern Era au, Oneshot, Teen and Up

Summary: Merlin sighs. "After your...announcement," he explains, "your father decided he needed a bit more information. Which is apparently where I come in. I'm sort of like his gay tutor, it's hard to explain."

Good Fortune by platonic_boner Canon Era, Fluff, Merlin/Arthur, Oneshot

Summary: Arthur makes Merlin a lord, and Merlin does an astonishingly good job of running a village.

Within Reach by foxy_mulder Explicit, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Hurt/Comfort, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Sex, Merlin/Arthur, Angst with a Happy Ending, Oneshot, Slowburn

Summary: Nobody touches Arthur.

Merlin realizes it slowly, and when he does, he wants to kick himself for not seeing sooner. ___________ (Or, Arthur and Merlin's relationship with touch over time.)

Moment of Weakness by TheAsexualofSpades Gen, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Arthur Knows About Merlin's Magic, Protective Knights, Protective Arthur Pendragon, Protective Merlin, Whump, Oneshot, Merlin/Arthur

Summary: After all Merlin's gone through, you'd think it would take some world-ending magic spell or an almost successful attempt on Arthur's life to shake him properly.

It isn't one of those, and Merlin has no idea why.

He just knows he can't be weak.

The Only Reward Bestowed Upon Me by greatdumbking Gen, Oneshot, Merlin/Arthur, angst, hurt/comfort, angst with a happy ending, Episode: s04e05 His Father's Son, Fix-It, Agravaine, Canon Era, Love Confessions

Summary: “You’re wrong Merlin. I don’t need anyone. I can’t afford that luxury. The kingdom's my responsibility now, and mine to bear alone. And you must learn to accept that.”

How could this hurt so much, a third time? Merlin could feel the façade of his casual indifference faltering. His face fell, tears were clawing at his throat, creeping into his eyes. It took all his effort to nod, steel his eyes, and swallow down the rising sob.

(How did Merlin get chosen the be the bait? Why did Arthur start pushing Merlin away? Why couldn't he see how much it was hurting him?)

Maybe Not the Most Awkward Dinner to Happen in Camelot's Citadel, but it's Definitely Up There by HopePrevails Gen, Gwen/Arthur Pendragon, Merlin, Fluff, Domestic Fluff, Oneshot, Humour, past Gwen/Merlin

Summary: When an argument about whether Merlin is remotely attractive or not breaks out over dinner, Queen Guinevere accidentally drops into the conversation that she had a crush on him when he first arrived in Camelot. Arthur takes it... like Arthur.

--x--

“Don’t look so surprised, Merlin.” Gwen said kindly. Perhaps she was the psychic. “You’re sweet and gentle, charismatic-” Arthur snorted. “- and I’m not going to let you walk out of those doors thinking you don’t look the part, either. Remember, even when you first came to Camelot, I-” She stopped herself, snapping her lips tightly shut.

#art by mushroomtale-fanart #their stuff is great #Merlin fic recs #merlin fic rec #merlin (tv)#merlin #arthur pendragon #bbc merlin #bbc merlin fic recs #merlin emrys #fic rec list #fic recs #51 fics total

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a-written-dream · 3 years

Link

Chapters: 1/1

Words: 729

Fandom: Merlin (TV)

Rating: General Audiences

Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings

Relationships: Merlin & Arthur Pendragon (Merlin), Merlin/Arthur Pendragon (Merlin)

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

Additional Tags: POV Outsider, POV Gaius (Merlin), merthur can be read as either platonic or romantic, Episode: s03e12-13 The Coming of Arthur, really its just gaius wondering at merlin and arthurs relationship, Relationship Study, im having a really hard time tagging things recently??, v annoying

Summary:

Gaius knows that when everyone else fails to follow where Arthur goes, there is one who will always be right by his side, even when he pretends he won't be.

–

At the round table, Arthur declares his quest to take back Camelot from the grasp of Morgana and Morgause, and Gaius wonders at the bond Arthur and Merlin share.

It isn’t a difficult choice, for the lot of them, whether to follow Arthur into the depths of a hostile Camelot and the jaws of Morgana and Morgause, even if it means being led to their deaths. Frankly, Gaius thinks, it is one of the easiest decisions he has made in his life.

Arthur stands before them at the round table of the ancient kings and addresses them not as a prince addressing his subjects nor his knights, but as a man addressing his equals, no demand or judgement in his voice as he asks if anyone wishes to join him in his quest to take back Camelot; and Gaius sees the king Arthur will one day come to be. He sees a king that is just and fair who will bring prosperity, peace, and joy to Camelot and the lands beyond, who will listen to his peoples and act with courage, candour, and compassion. He sees the leader that Arthur will be, and knows that wherever he will go, Arthur will have those who follow. It is evident in the loyalty of those standing from their seats around the table, in the way none of them hesitate to make their heartfelt devotion to Arthur – as first knight, as prince, as future king, as their friend – known. And Gaius knows that when everyone else fails to follow where Arthur goes, there is one who will always be right by his side, even when he pretends he won’t be.

It is of no surprise, then, to anyone – least of all to Arthur, Gaius suspects – that Merlin does not stand to join them. There is only the slightest hint of unease in Arthur’s gaze as he clears his throat.

“Merlin.”

Merlin shifts his gaze to look at him with adoration, admiration, and pride in his smile, and none of it disappears even when he shakes his head.

“No, I don’t really fancy it.”

There is a glint in his eyes that must be apparent to everyone around the table, except for Arthur who keeps his gaze resolutely forward. Gaius thinks Arthur might know it is there, anyway.

Arthur and Merlin’s relationship has always been peculiar. It is nothing like that of a prince and his manservant should be; they care for each other as friends would, know each other as brothers do, would lay down their lives for one another as if they have both sworn an eternal oath to do so, though Gaius knows that not to be true – it is simply them, no oath or duty. Gaius has not yet come to understand the nature or depth of their relationship, what they are to one another, but he believes it to be something quite special.

“You don’t have a choice, Merlin,” Arthur states, in a way that is not a demand so much as a plea, a hidden question. Will you be with me in my darkest hour? Will you stand by my side no matter the grave dangers we may face? Will you follow me into death the way I know I need you to?

Merlin simply shrugs a shoulder. “Okay,” he says with an air of apathy as he stands, but that too says more than the singular word would have one believe. Yes. Always. Wherever you may go, whatever we may face, you must know I will follow you once and for all future.

Gaius wonders briefly, how true it is, that Merlin has no choice. Not because Arthur does not allow him any other, but because for Merlin, there is no decision to be made, no conceivable option but to follow Arthur into the clutches of death. He thinks it may have become an integral part of the very fabric of their beings, to follow, protect, and cherish one another.

It has nothing to do with destiny or Albion or the Once and Future King, he knows, and everything to do with Merlin and Arthur, two young men who would do everything and anything for the other, whose bond goes far deeper than their fates could ever have dictated.

The two of them share a fond, warm look, and it speaks volumes of the words they do not need say aloud – least of all to each other; of what they mean to each other; and Gaius thinks, maybe their relationship isn’t so peculiar at all.

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whitewitch95 · 3 years

Text

alright, I'm usually over at twitter or discord spewing my thoughts and prompts, but I feel like the Merlin fandom is bigger over here, so maybe someone appreciates that

Thoughts and a fanfic prompt to s2ep07 The Witchfinder

Aredian accuses Merlin of magic bc of the amulet he placed in the physician's quarters, and from the look in his eye, presumably speculates that Gaius will "confess" that it's his - what Gaius of course does because he loves Merlin like his own son. During the episode, still-innocent Morgana is on Aredian's radar as well, just bc Gaius treated her nightmares, and we learn that although Gaius confesses, Aredian still wants to "expose Merlin and Morgana's evil deeds".

I feel like most people - once we realize that Aredian is an asshole who stages all the "sorcerer sightings" for money, and Arthur once more is more reasonable than Uther and helps Merlin save the day, who is actually doing all the work again - I feel like most people tend to forget that Aredian actually precisely accused 3 real sorcerers of sorcery. Yes, neither of them did what they'd been accused of, but nonetheless, Aredian points them out with eerie precision.

So WHAT IF Aredian actually has some weak magic himself? Like the "funny feelings" Merlin sometimes gets when he just instinctively knows shit's gonna go downhill or when he feels drawn towards other people's/being's magic? Like an actual witchfinder, you know, not skilled enough to play detective and catch sorcerers in the act, maybe not even interested in upholding the laws against sorcery or not, just as long as he gets payment and fame - but what if he makes those seemingly random *finger point* "THAT BOY" accusations that nobody ever questions bc of his own weak magic that makes him sensitive for it?

Okay, so now comes the prompt idea. We all probably laughed when cheeky Merlin exposes Aredian with that toad coming out of his mouth on top of everything else, but imagine he doesn't bc that would be too obvious and instead just places the "fake" evidence in his room - that would leave Aredian the opportunity to use his mouth.

So what if, while Arthur and the knights are searching the room, Aredian thunders that "THAT BOY placed this here, HE'S the sorcerer, you have EVIL IN YOUR CASTLE" and Arthur only scoffs because please, that man is just ridiculous. And then, like *Merlin* did in the actual episode, *Aredian* turns away, half-hidden from view, whispers a spell that has Merlin's magic reacting, body spasming and eyes golden.

And Merlin is just standing there, struggling to hold his magic inside and not have it lashing out, and Aredian is smirking bc there's no way to explain that away, surely he has won now-

And Arthur whirls around, punching Aredian in the face, yelling at his knights about stuffing that man's mouth with a cloth before he says any more spells, and when Aredian fights them bc he finally realizes he's about to lose and then moves towards Morgana, Arthur runs him through with his sword.

Aredian is dead.

Merlin is still breathing hard, even though his magic has settled once again, and while everyone is shocked and panting and Arthur assures himself of Morgana's wellbeing, Merlin is On Edge. Because that was his actual magic reacting, and his own eyes turning golden in response to the spell, and a room full of knights, and Morgana, and Arthur were watching.

But when they all return to Uther, Arthur relays the story and it sounds as if Aredian, traitor of Camelot and apparently an evil sorcerer that has sent innocent people into their death, has enchanted Merlin to look as if he had magic, JUST like he did with hiding that amulet in Gaius chambers, to put the blame onto someone else.

Nobody questions it, not even Uther.

Merlin feels the tightness in his chest lessen, finally able to breathe normally again. He wants to laugh, really. Arthur is SO CONVINCED that his manservant is nothing more than a bumbling, but highly loyal idiot - and he has tried to protect Merlin, he remembers, right in front of Aredian and Uther and the whole court - that Arthur doesn't even consider Merlin could actually have magic.

When the day winds down, Merlin helps Arthur getting ready for bed, serving him dinner, tidying his chambers, still tired and wary, but incredibly relieved.

Until Arthur says, "So, Merlin," and Merlin freezes because that tone sounds chilling. Carefully, he straightens up and looks at Arthur, who's watching him with frighteningly intense eyes, gaze piercing. "Anything you have to say?"

"Uhm," Merlin hesitates, unsure what exactly Arthur means, heart beating wildly. "I don't know what you mean, Sire," he settles on, but that seems to be the wrong thing to say.

Arthur narrows his eyes. "Oh, I don't know. Maybe 'thank you', but I know manners aren't your strong suit, so how about the truth?"

"The truth?" Merlin laughs nervously, dear god, he shouldn't have let his guard down-

"YES, Merlin, the truth," Arthur growls, and then he's out of his chair, stomping towards Merlin. "Because I can assure you, this was the last time I've lied to my knights and my father and the entire court for you if you don't even have it in you to tell me the TRUTH!"

Arthus has him cornered against the bedpost now, and Merlin is trembling ever so slightly. Arthur's eyes are blazing, like a blue, furious thunderstorm, and Merlin knows there's no escaping this; especially because Arthur is right.

So he talks. He's hesitant at first, reinforcing that everything they found out about Aredian is the truth, that Merlin did not lie, that he did not *once* betray Arthur, or Camelot. Arthur looks as if he isn't sure if he fully believes Merlin, but he listens, and that is more than Merlin could've hoped for.

In the end, Merlin's voice is rough from talking, his face pale and tight with worry. Arthur has stepped back from him a while ago, first crossing his arms and snapping out questions, and then he started pacing.

"I swear," Merlin says lowly, "I never intended to bring anyone harm. I was born like this... and I have finally found a purpose."

"And what would that be, Merlin?" Arthur asks, but he doesn't sound harsh; he sounds tired, staring into the flames of the fireplace.

Merlin gulps. Now or never. "Protecting you. I- I wanted to tell you, but I didn't want you to have to choose. Because no matter the outcome... it would've burdened you."

Still staring into the flames, Arthur laughs humorlessly. "And yet it seems I did it anyway."

At Merlin's silence, Arthur finally turns, and he almost looks sick. "Does Gaius know?"

"Yes," Merlin whispers, but he's not afraid that Arthur will punish Gaius for it. Arthus isn't Uther.

"Of course," Arthur mumbles, and his eyes show that he's working through what he's heard so far. "How could he not know? After all, a quite powerful warlock is living with him."

Shifting uncomfortably, Merlin wonders if there's anything he can say to make it easier for anyone, but there are no words he can think of.

Arthur scoffs, shaking his head. "That... that can't be..." he trails off, and he's reeling more than Merlin has ever seen him before. "That would mean-"

Abruptly, Arthur turns away, aiming for his chair, before he whirls around again and once more stomps towards Merlin.

"If you're telling the truth," Arthur snaps, and there's a threatening expression on his face, before it softens at Merlin's flinch. "Then why aren't you affected by the magic? Why do you still want to protect me, so much so that you're putting yourself at risk everyday?"

"I," Merlin starts, unsure. "I told you, I think... that you'll be a great king, and I-"

Arthur shakes his head. "No," he interrupts. "Why is the magic not tainting you? Why... why are you still you?" he finishes, quieter.

Merlins heart feels incredibly tender. "Because magic is just a tool, Arthur. Like sword fighting. A tool that some people can use, and some can't. A tool that sometimes is used for good, and sometimes for evil. Having magic says nothing about a person - but the way they use it does."

Silence, only the crackling of the fire can be heard as Merlin watches Arthur's face, seeing the emotions flit over it, the horrible realization. "Then..."

Merlin doesn't say anything. This is a conclusion Arthur should draw, alone, without Merlin's influence.

Arthur looks up, and the light of a candle reflects in his eyes. He looks vulnerable. Pleading. Incredibly young.

Merlin waits as Arthur turns away once more, running a hand through his golden hair, shoulders tense.

"If it's alright with you," Merlin carefully starts, "I'd look after Gaius now. He's gone through hell these past few days."

"Yes, yes," Arthur agrees, sounding crumpled under the weight of tonight's revelations. "Please pass on my well wishes to him again. What happened to him was... unjust." He gets hung up on that word apparently, because he repeats it under his breath, like a death sentence. "Unjust."

Tentatively, Merlin steps towards Arthur, but he doesn't know if it will be welcome right now.

"Goodnight, Sire."

The door has almost closed behind Merlin when he hears the faint "Goodnight" in return. He smiles. Maybe, just maybe, the horrors since the witchfinder arrived are leading the way to their destiny.

Addition: Maybe, because Arthur's actually kind of smart, he realized that Merlin has magic earlier, but tried to convince himself that he hasn't. And maybe Arthur puts two and two together about the witchfinder having actual magic, and he asks Merlin about Morgana. And maybe that would save her, and the kingdom, and ultimately himself. Just saying.

#merlin bbc #merlin emrys #arthur pendragon #merlin x arthur #merthur #the witchfinder #episode remix #prompt idea #half a fanfic #bc let's be honest I can't not spew copious amounts of words when I try to explain a thought #Merlin's magic revealed #Arthur knows about Merlin's magic #yes these are ao3 tags

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thebetterluthor · 3 years

Text

Listen. Re-watching Merlin has been... An experience.

Like, I know he’s a character loved by many. But for the first time in my life, I honestly don’t see it. I can’t understand what people find likable about him, and I always feel bad tagging the show because I’m dragging him in every post. And I wouldn’t normally drag a character this much, but it isn’t just that I don’t like him, it’s that I absolutely hate his guts.

He’s judgmental to the highest degree. There are tons of people around him with more brains, and more knowledge, and more insight than him, and yet he is the one making all the decisions based on what he thinks is right, even though 99% of the time he’s absolutely wrong and fucks up everyone's lives. The show makes a point of him saving Arthur’s life in the stand alone episodes so Merlin can at least appear to be helpful, but those saves are so staged, and in the greater scheme of things of such little consequence, it doesn’t even register with me.

Like, he always meddles, his meddling always sends things spiraling in the wrong direction, and he’s willing to do despicable things without probable cause. He was willing to straight up murder Morgana on various occasions because he thought she was up to something bad regarding Uther. Even when he didn’t have any proof, only a feeling that was based on his own bigotry, he was willing to murder her for the sake of his fucking destiny.

Because why the fuck is Uther’s life more important than anyone else’s Merlin????? If he was against murdering people altogether I’d roll with it. But no, he doesn’t mind murder as long as it aligns with what he considers to be the right path. What the fuck????

And Gaius is always acting as his enabler every single time he fucks up and that’s even more annoying. Stop coddling this self-righteous little bastard Gaius. For fucks sake.

The show wants me to want Merlin to succeed not because he’s a good man, or because he’s got a great storyline to fulfill. Like I said before, BBC Merlin isn’t even about Merlin, it’s about the Pendragons. The only reason I’m supposed to care about Merlin is because “he’s the most powerful sorcerer and this dragon told him he has a destiny to fullfil”... AND? He’s a piece of shit -personality wise-, his destiny is to go down the toilet, why should I care about him show, TELL ME.

#BBC Merlin #merlin rewatch #Merlin is a fucking villain #by default #he's a villain #I don't care what the show says #listen if I could kill a fictional character I'd kill him istg #and I've seen all of Hannibal I'd be very creative with it

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camelotsheart · 4 years

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MERLIN CHALLENGE 2020 Day Thirteen - Favourite Cast Member Katie & Julian in 5x13 commentary

I know this is a very big stretch from the theme, but Katie and Julian in this commentary were honestly iconic. Includes: mentions of bondage, incest, so, so much subtext and just a horrendous amount of queerbaiting. I’ve compiled a list of the funniest/most important exchanges below the line.

At the start of the commentary:

J: There are no homoerotic undertones to Merlin of any kind.

K: I think so. I mean, whenever I played any scenes with Millie it was always straight in my mind.

J: No, there are definitely lesbian undertones in those.

When Merlin tells Arthur he has magic:

J: It's a very beautiful moment between two men. [Katie tries to hold her laughter]

K: ...You are not helping this commentary at all, by the way, Julian.

J: No, I'm not.

K: I think you possibly have been waiting for the sixty-five episodes to do this one commentary.

J: Yes. I've always been a bit more serious in the previous ones.

K: No he hasn't, actually.

Also in this scene:

J: ...On no level is magic metaphorical in this show.

K: It's funny, because I don't actually feel like you're being sincere.

J: I'm always sincere.

K: You're the exec. You are never sincere.

J: Believe me, I'm a fountain of truth and honesty.

K: Julian is lying right now. Lying.

When Gwen is back in the castle and Leon reports to her that Arthur is still missing:

J: We've gone to the spurned wife who wants to know where her husband is.

K: But she has Sir Leon. Why would she need...?

J: Ah... Well you see, that's another undercurrent in Merlin, isn't it?

K: Sir Leon?

J: Sir Leon.

K: Oh no. It's definitely-

J: Sir Leon and Gwen.

Also in this scene:

K: ...We know that you never gave me any love interests.

J: I gave you Morgause.

K: [She laughs] He says -- in all seriousness!

J: Incestuous lesbianism. What more can you want?

K: You cannot make a show without lesbianism, in all fairness.

J: It's gotta be said.

Also in this scene:

K: I do worry about you guys, actually. I worry that there are men sitting in a room with Merlin just trying to come up with the most ridiculous scenes that they could get past the BBC.

J: That's...

K: He's nodding.

J: Not true.

K: He is nodding! He's nodding -- it's so true!

J: It's a family show.

K: Not in your head.

When Arthur tells Gaius Merlin is a sorcerer:

K: Did Gaius know?

J: What, that he was a sorcerer?

K: That's not what I asked. About the undertones.

J: No, Richard would never think of anything like that.

K: You're right, he's a gentleman.

J: He's a gentleman... A man of genuine innocence.

When Arthur gives Gaius the royal seal:

K: The seal... He's passing the mantle to the woman-

J: Yep. That's the last vestige of his heterose-- I mean, sorry. That's the last vestige of his marriage--

K: Oh my god! [They laugh] This has descended to a level. I mean, I thought I was bad in these - playing up - but I have got nothing on Julian Murphy here. I think we should just throw it all out the window.

J: The way we directed the scene where Gaius tells Gwen is basically the thing of it.

K: I think you must just think of most of these scenes in this episode (as the thing of it), if you don't go-

J: It always helps, I swear.

K: You know, he ain't lying again. He has told me this.

J: If you want to find the emotional truth of it, it does help.

When Gaius comes back to Camelot and talks to Gwen:

J: That's a tricky one for Gaius to explain - why he's not come back to his wife.

K: You-- You're seeing an entirely different show here than a lot of people, aren't you?

J: Yeah, I know. I do.

When.... er, Julian describes it better:

J: This is the scene where Merlin feeds Arthur... I'll just let that hang in the air.

K: I will input what I can. Alex Vlahos is lost in laughter listening to this. He can't quite believe what's coming out of your mouth.

J: It's actually quite a moving scene.

K: And yet that's not what you want to comment on.

And uh, yeah... another one:

J: Now Merlin is giving Arthur a drink.

K: I think he's just giving him a drink there.

J: Yes. They just spend the whole episode on this journey. It's quite simple.

K: Feeding each other?

J: The feeding thing, I think, is in your mind, Katie.

K: You just said it then. I'm just repeating back to you what you said. Don't try and blame this on me! For a start, you guys came up with the episodes!

When Gwaine and Percival are attacking Morgana:

J: This entire sequence is actually a homage to Tom's arms.

When Morgana has tied them up:

J: Oh, Katie. You've tied up the man again.

K: I know. I just like them where I want them, you know. I don't want them to go far.

J: And as you say, thousands of girls watching Merlin want them in that position.... You've tied them both up!

K: Well, like I said - I don't want them to run away when I want them.

When Merlin uses his magic to lead Saxons on a false trail:

[Arthur: All these years Merlin, and you never once sought any credit.

Merlin: That's not why I do it.]

K: Liar!

J: Well, he knows.

K: What are you--

J: You can never be too sure about these things.

K: It's all the meaningful glances now after this DVD commentary that I'm just going--

J: I should say that Katie, just before we wrote this episode, insisted that it ended with a kiss between Arthur and Merlin.

K: That is not what I said. That's what you put into it. I had the most amazing ending.... My ending, which you didn't use, which I thought would have been amazing, is -- Arthur. Mortally wounded on the battlefield. Merlin comes up and cradles him in his arms. Merlin to Arthur: I have magic. Arthur takes his face in his hands: I know. I think I've always known.

When Arthur and Merlin rest for an hour:

[Arthur: Whatever happens--

Merlin: Shh. Don't talk.

Arthur: I'm the king, Merlin. You can't tell me what to do.]

K: Awww

[Merlin: I always have. I'm not going to change now.]

K: [laughs] oh my god....

[Arthur: I don't want you to change.]

K: [continues laughing] Do you know how much trouble we're going to get in from people saying this was a beautiful moment and all you guys can do is laugh?

J: Well I think you need to have both sides of it. And to be fair, we did genuinely think of the episode as a love story between two men. That's what I think it is. Jokes aside and innuendos aside, I remember talking to Justin and saying that's what it's about.

K: You can't deny that Merlin and Arthur love each other. On whatever love way you want to think. There is no denying it.

J: I think it's a purer love than you, say, had for your sister.

K: You say I had for my sister. [Julian laughs] Ok. I don't know how you read that into it.

J: No. We'll stop there.

K: Oh, we won't.

When Morgana rides her horse through the woods:

K: More Katie galloping.

J: I think you did that just so you could see my boobs.

K: I definitely didn't.

When The Scene happens:

J: Now we're nearing the moment. I'll show you where exactly I'd pick is the...

K: ...where it's all been building to -- almost sixty-five hours of TV. Special moment.

... [Arthur: Just hold me, please.]

J: There you are.

K: [gasps] I can't believe you put that in.

J: Well I think it's... you know, he's dying. The man he loves is dying, so he's holding him.

K: I don't think that's what you meant at all when you put that line.

J: It is!

Shameless trivialisation of ruining everyone’s holiday:

J: I don't know how the nation's gonna feel on christmas eve, but anyway.

K: Yeah, it's kind of a downer.

Katie being literally everyone in the Merlin fandom:

[Kilgharrah: No man, no matter how great, can know his destiny.]

K: Hold on a second here, hasn't the dragon been telling him his destiny this entire time?

J: Yeah, but that's the sort of annoying comment that people make when they're not just going with the flow.

K: Oh really? Oh really, is it? [they laugh] Fine then!

#no edits today #but it was enjoyable nontheless #this is the only commentary I've listened to #will listen to the others if i get time #bbc merlin #merlinchallenge2020 #katie mcgrath #julian murphy

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drarry-with-a-side-of-harry · 4 years

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SO Diamond of the Day HMMMMM this episode was not was i was expecting and IT WAS SO MUCH BETTER THAN I’D IMAGINED. HEARTBREAKINGLY DEVASTATING? YES OF COURSE. BUT SO SO BEAUTIFUL. i didn’t think it was going to be almost entirely Merlin and Arthur intimately talking and holding each other and everything coming out. and i’m so so happy that that’s what it was 🥺🥺🥺 it was fully just a Merthur episode. the episode we all deserved despite the tragedy because it did fit well even if it’s heartbreaking okay? 🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺

Merlin: “you’re bleeding”

Arthur: “that’s alright i thought i was dying

ARTHUR BABE COULD YOU MAYBE NOT FOR LIKE TWO (2) SECONDS???

Merlin’s just rambling about everything he’s done and should’ve done and Arthur’s just smiling at him dopily i cannot deal with this 🥺😭 and Merlin just breaks down crying as he tells him that he’s the sorcerer i- 🥺🥺🥺

the way they’re holding each other

Merlin said ‘i use my magic for you, Arthur. only for you’ 🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺 let’s be honest, Diamond of the Day Part 2 is all just 🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺 oh, and some more 🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺

Arthur just fucking breaks when Merlin first does magic in front of him knowingly obviously lmao he’s just so scared and feels betrayed i-

when Gaius comes back with the herbs and Merlin’s angry at his dad Gaius for not getting the best things he could because he’s just so scared about Arthur this boy i swear- 🥺🥺 but Gaius just knows and tells him to go water the horses lmao come on Gaius you KING

it’s so lovely when Gaius is talking to Arthur about Merlin and trying to talk him round and then we get the gem: ‘there are those who say he’s the greatest sorcerer to walk the earth’... ‘Merlin?’ lmaoooo Arthur stop being a little shit for like TWO (2) SECONDS and listen to Gaius

Merlin is just distraught ‘i can’t let you die’ OH BABY. the ANGST i simply could not deal

then they come across the two saxons ‘you have to help us, we were ambushed’ ‘by who?’ ‘tHEse tWo mEN’ nice one Merlin glad to see your ability to lie has not improved since.. the poetry incident lmaooooooo i can’t with him then Merlin fucking magics them into oblivion and all Arthur can say is ‘you’ve lied to me all this time’ 🥺🥺🥺🥺 and the look he gives Merlin just broke me. THE ANGST

then in the forest at night Arthur half heartedly spits ‘why don’t you use magic’ when Merlin’s tryna light the fire oh baby Arthur’s so mad i can’t with this boy. you little arsehole Arthur Pendragon boy’s been saving your life since day one pipe down ANYWAY Merlin gives him a proper answer and says it’s just out of habit and he turns to Arthur and this boy just NODS AT MERLIN AND THE GROUND, WITH A SLIGHT HINT OF A SMILE AND RAISED EYEBROWS AS IF TO SAY ‘GO AHEAD, DO IT’ THE CHEEK OF THIS MAN he just wants to watch him do it. anyway Merlin does and says ‘it feels strange’ and all Arthur can say is ‘yeah’ yeh alright well done mate do better next time i know you’re dying babe but please

Arthur still has the same expression on his face, ever so slight smile, and says ‘i thought i knew you’ and Merlin’s looking at him like ‘wtf man what do you want me to say to that exactly??’ but actually says ‘i’m still the same person’ 🥺🥺🥺 ‘i trusted you’ 🥺🥺🥺🥺 ‘i’m sorry’ 🥺🥺 ‘i’m sorry, too’ 🥺🥺🥺 I’M SORRY TOO. ARTHUR SAID I’M SORRY TOO

OH I’M SORRY BUT I CAN’T ANYMORE THIS IS TOO MUCH 🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺

then a crazy intimate moment where Merlin takes off Arthur’s boots and Arthur’s so confused as to why he’s still acting like this UHHHHH KING that’s all Merlin’s ever done he just wants to be yours take that as you will

then Merlin’s feeding him and Arthur just comes out with it. he doesn’t understand why he would act the servant when he’s a sorcerer 🥺🥺 ‘it’s my destiny’ ARTHUR IT’S HIS DESTINY I- ‘as it has been since the day we met’ and Arthur cracks a slight smile at that 🥺🥺🥺 ‘i tried to take your head off with a mace’ ‘and i stopped you, using magic’ AND LET ME TELL YOU THESE BOYS REMINISCING JUST FINISHED ME OFF ONCE AND FOR ALL WHY IS THIS SO SOFT 🥺🥺🥺 ‘you cheated’ ‘you were going to kill me’ ‘i should have’ ‘i’m glad you didn’t’ and Arthur scoffs i’ve asked you before, can you just pipe down for a sec? thanks. and Merlin’s just saying lovely things to him and Arthur’s just looking at him so intently and sweetly ‘there’ll never be another like you, Arthur’ and then Arthur’s pondering and Merlin looks away like he’s spoken out of turn and idk man getting a bit of a GAY VIBE like he’s admitting his love and shouldn’t have. idk seems kinda gay to me. idk though

the way he holds his head while he’s feeding them yes i know this is just what you do but 🥺🥺🥺🥺

at this point every time Arthur collapses i was crying because i kept thinking he was gonna die at any minute i- i’m a mess

Arthur says ‘why did you never tell me?’ king. KING. how could he??? 🥺🥺 and Arthur just looks so so sad

the way Merlin’s holding him

Merlin tells him he didn’t want to put Arthur in that position of deciding whether or not to chop his head off and Arthur replies with a smile ‘that’s what worried you?’ 🥺🥺🥺 YES KING HE’S ALWAYS THINKING ABOUT YOU. Merlin tells Arthur that he was born to serve him and that he’s proud of that and Arthur’s just looking at him like Merlin’s just given him the world 🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺

‘so you’re not an idiot that was another lie’ lmaooooo king stop ‘no, it’s just another part of my charm’ and Merlin turns back to him and gives him the warmest little smile 🥺🥺 and Arthur has a little smile to himself 🥺🥺🥺

then Merlin’s doing all his little magic tricks to distract the saxons and Arthur’s watching so intently. so quizzically. and says with his trademark sarcasm ‘you’ve done this before’ and Merlin just looks at him and Arthur almost doesn’t know what to say until ‘all these years Merlin, you never once sought any credit’ YEAH WE KNOW KING THAT’S WHY YOU LOVE HIM

i just love how this episode is just the progression Arthur slowly coming to terms with who Merlin is and accepting him for it which is not what i thought it was going to be but boy oh boy am i glad that it is 🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺

Arthur’s starts ‘whatever happens...’ and is about to say something sad and Merlin just- ‘shh don’t talk’ ‘i’m the king Merlin, you can’t tell me what to do’ ‘i always have, i’m not going to change now’ ‘i don’t want you to change. i want you to always.. be you’ 🥺🥺 this episode really gave us everything and then took it all away huh? and then they’re joking and Arthur’s delirious and passes out and Merlin’s got tears in his eyes, just holding his neck to make sure he’s ok 🥺🥺🥺

and then it’s time for Morgana to die and Arthur has to watch Merlin plunge this blade into his sister because that’s who she is even if she’s gone a bit bad lmao and Merlin says ‘goodbye Morgana’ and Arthur’s just staring like he feels nothing at this point 🥺🥺🥺🥺 but then he says ‘brought peace at last’ and i just- 🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺 i’m broken 🥺🥺

and then Arthur collapses. and they joke about Merlin’s magic not being able to save him🥺 and Merlin’s just holding him. 🥺 because that’s what Arthur asks him to do 🥺 please. and Arthur says ‘there’s something i want to say’ and i was just sobbing uncontrollably at this point. and Merlin thinks he’s going to say goodbye. but that’s not it. of course that not it Merlin. 🥺🥺 ‘everything you’ve done... i know now. for me, for camelot... for the kingdom you help me build’ AND IT’S COMING. Merlin tells him he would’ve done it without him and i think we all know that’s not true and Arthur says ‘maybe’ with a smile at him 🥺🥺🥺 AND IT’S STILL COMING ‘i want to say something i’ve never said to you before’ and I FUCKING KNEW what it was going to be ‘thank you’ and i just broke and so did Merlin and Arthur’s just smiling at him and Merlin’s shouting his name but he’s gone and 🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺 he whispers ‘stay with me’ but it’s too late 🥺🥺🥺 and Merlin screams for the Great Dragon.

he tells him there’s nothing that can be done. and Merlin thinks he’s failed but dragon boy tells him that’s not the case 🥺🥺 because he’s built everything that he was supposed to with Arthur 🥺🥺🥺 ‘i can’t lose him, he’s my friend’ oh

‘Arthur is not just a king... he is the once and future king’ i-

and then Arthur’s in the boat and Merlin touches his forehead and he just breaks down crying and if i remember correctly Merlin, Arthur told you no man is worth your tears 🥺🥺🥺 and he just keeps touching him because it’s the last chance he’ll ever get. and he sets the boat off and he breaks down crying again. baby, me too

now, i don’t know if he was meant to light it up and couldn’t bring himself to??? but that’s what i’m thinking currently

OKAY I AM DONE. yes this was a post to help with the trauma. yes it’s long. i am currently dead. i’ll keep you updated lmao

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panharmonium · 4 years

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“now you can still make that happen.”

just a few thoughts prompted by this awesome post by @clotpolesonly, which i did not want to hijack - it is fantastic on its own and does not need my thoughts attached to it. and you should definitely go read it before you proceed here, because a) it’s great, and b) this particular post of mine is not going to make a lot of sense without it.

(a preview, for those who haven’t already clicked through: the linked post above is a terrific analysis of why the second part of will’s line “you’re a good man, merlin. a great man. and one day you’re going to be servant to a great king” feels a little bizarre in comparison to the rest of his dialogue, and how it seems contradictory to what we’ve learned about will’s character previously.)

i LOVED hearing somebody pull this moment out and question it, because this is a moment that i have also thought about a LOT, and while i personally have ended up in a place where i do understand why will might say something like this in this particular context, i ALSO fully agree that this is the most muddled line he has, characterization-wise, because i don’t think the average viewer is going to sit around thinking about how to fit this slightly unusual moment into will’s established characterization, or even recognize that’s it’s unusual at all; they’re just going to CHANGE will’s established characterization to align with this line. and what i mean by that is that i'm pretty sure this line is solely responsible for every fic i’ve ever seen where will’s reaction to arthur is portrayed as either a mistake, an overreaction, or anything other than a legitimate, valid concern about merlin’s safety/well-being, and for that reason alone i’d be happy to have it modified.

but despite this (because i HAVE sat around thinking about how to fit this moment into will’s established characterization), i actually do look at this line in a way that makes it feel natural to me in context, and now that somebody else has brought it up, i figured i’d just write my own thoughts down, in case anybody else has ever spent any time thinking about this. (an unlikely possibility, I realize, given that will only shows up in one episode, but i have given up pretending that i am not super over-invested in this character, so - here i am, once again offering you yet another very long post about a very niche thing.)

so.

first of all, the absolute most important takeaway from the whole “you’re going to be servant to a great king” moment is exactly what OP says (and it’s also exactly the same thing that this particular line is in danger of obscuring, for folks who aren’t thinking carefully about it) - just because will realizes that arthur wasn’t going to let the villagers die without risking his own neck doesn’t mean that will is now riding the arthur pendragon bandwagon. will doesn’t save arthur because he’s suddenly become arthur’s biggest fan; he saves arthur because it’s the right thing to do. will doesn’t have time to sit around and think about it and debate with himself like ‘hm i don’t like this guy but merlin thinks he’s ok and the man did risk himself for our village so maybe i should still help him out.’ he just jumps. instinctively, automatically. he sees somebody in danger and his unthinking reflex is to get in the way. it’s just who he is. he would have done that for anybody who was standing in front of him.

will has not suddenly turned into an arthur stan just because arthur did one okay thing. will still witnesses arthur aggressively interrogating merlin about sorcery, and, like OP says, will still lies. he still doesn’t trust arthur, not with merlin’s life. he still doesn’t think camelot is a good place for merlin. and he still doesn’t think merlin’s “friendship” with arthur is real or safe or healthy or anything equal to what merlin deserves.

so the question then becomes - why on earth does will say what he says???

you’re a good man, merlin. a great man. and one day you’re going to be servant to a great king. now you can still make that happen.

(i’ll be honest, before i get into this - i think OP is right. i don’t think the writers really thought about it this hard. i think it probably was, in fact, just meant to be our customary reaffirmation that arthur is cool and merlin is on the right path, even though that fact looks kind of...questionable by any logical assessment of the situation.)

HOWEVER, i am stubborn, and i’m personally committed to making as much of the show’s canon work for me as possible, so back when i was doing a bunch of characterization work on will last year, i thought about this line a lot. because the linked post above is RIGHT; it doesn’t fit, at first glance, and it would be easy to draw the wrong conclusion from it, if you weren’t paying attention.

and ultimately, after i thought about it for a long time, i ended up in a place where i felt like i understood where this line was coming from, and i no longer felt that it was necessarily out of character (though again, let’s be real - you shouldn’t have to do that much thinking about something to figure out how it could fit with someone’s characterization. the writers could have been a bit clearer.)

but anyway, that said - the following is how i conceive of that bit, if it helps anybody feel better about that scene. this isn’t the only way to think about it, by any means, or the “correct” way (as i said earlier, i do think it’s completely reasonable to say “this wasn’t a super well-thought out line” and discard it). this is just the interpretation that feels most natural to me.

i think, ultimately, what helps me understand this line is acknowledging that will, in this scene, is giving merlin a gift. by lying for merlin, will protects the Big Secret from being discovered, but when he does so, he’s giving merlin back more than just his physical safety. he’s giving merlin the freedom to pursue all of the things that will himself was so adamantly against for the entirety of this episode, all of the things that will repeatedly told merlin it wasn’t good for him to want. his lie saves merlin’s life, yes, but it also ensures that merlin can return to camelot, continue to work as arthur’s servant, go back to the very life that will himself thinks is stunningly unworthy for merlin, but which merlin, for some inexplicable, unfathomable reason, feels is bafflingly important.

will gives merlin a gift, in this scene, despite his own misgivings. and when he says “one day you’re going to be servant to a great king,” that is a gift of another kind: trust. merlin is the one who first described arthur with those particular words, up in the hedgerow, when he and will were arguing with each other. “one day arthur will be a great king, but he needs my help.” and what will is doing here, by using those words, isn’t so much him declaring his own support for arthur as a ruler; it’s him saying to merlin, “i heard you. i listened to you. i don’t know why you’re so convinced of this, and i know we were having a row, but i was still listening to you. i trust you.”

will says this to merlin, in his last few moments, even though will himself isn’t sure about arthur, or camelot, or any of it. it doesn’t matter that will isn’t sure. will doesn’t want to dole out more warnings right now. he doesn’t want the last thing merlin hears from him to be another admonishment, another critique, another “you don’t know what you’re doing and this is going to blow up in your face.” will wants the last thing merlin hears from him to be i want you to have what you want, even if i don’t understand why you want it. i'm giving you what you asked for, just because you asked for it. i’m choosing to trust you.

will has already said everything he needs to say about arthur. he’s already told merlin what he thinks of this whole camelot situation. but sometimes, when you love somebody, you have to take your hands off the wheel. will tells merlin “one day you’re going to be servant to a great king” (repeating something merlin specifically said to him, something merlin said in the middle of a heated argument, something merlin prefaced with “i don’t expect you to understand”), because will is telling him “i heard you when you told me this, even if you didn’t think i was listening.” he’s telling merlin “i have faith in you, even if i don’t have faith in him.” it’s him relinquishing control over the situation.

will has absolutely no reason to trust arthur. he doesn’t trust arthur, truly. he says what he says for merlin. it’s something he offers to merlin, as a gift. it’s part of their reconciliation. it’s why merlin immediately follows will’s now you can still make that happen with “thanks to you.” merlin acknowledges everything will is giving him, in that moment, brushing past the mention of arthur like it’s not even there, immediately re-centering will in the discussion. “thanks to you.” you did this for me. you’re giving this to me.

“one day you’re going to be servant to a great king.” just this line, itself, is a gift. for will to say that to merlin - it’s a gift. it’s an acknowledgment that merlin’s convictions are worthy, even if will doesn’t understand them. it’s will apologizing for saying that merlin doesn’t know what’s best for his own life, it’s will handing merlin the reins, it’s will saying i don’t trust him on his own merits; i trust you. i’m trusting what you told me. i trust you to know what you need, so i’m going to give you everything you want, even if i don’t know why you want it.

and i do think that this is absolutely, 100% influenced by the timing. in a different situation, will wouldn’t have backed down like that. he would have continued to give merlin grief, to ask hard questions, to criticize, to say “why are you being like this; you can do better than this; why are you making bad choices; why are you settling for so much less than you deserve?”

but will is dying, and i don’t think he wants to leave merlin on that note. merlin has already lived his entire life almost completely unsupported by the people around him, mistrusted by his neighbors, hunted by the ruling powers of multiple nations, prevented from pursuing any answers that might have helped him accept himself, always mired down in a bog of self-doubt. will can’t bring himself to leave merlin that same way. he doesn’t want to leave merlin with more ‘i don’t trust you and i don’t support you and i don’t think you should do the things you think you need to do,’ even if it’s offered in the spirit of “i just want the best for you.” he can’t bring himself to do that. so instead he makes a concession, for merlin’s sake, and chooses to offer merlin complete, radical trust, in spite of his own doubts.

it’s...this is a trust fall. this is will saying i trust you to drive this car, even though it looks like you’re about to drive us off a cliff. and merlin, for his part, knows full well that will probably would have pushed harder, under different circumstances, but he also recognizes will’s concession for the gift that it is. he understands that will’s personal opinions may not have changed, but that will is saying ‘i believe in you, despite everything.’ he understands that will is stepping off a bridge with nothing but merlin’s word to assure him that the drop is survivable.

i do still think it’s totally reasonable to feel like this is an unusual thing for will to say, for sure. but for me, personally, when i look at it this way, i see it as fully in-character, because the core thing about will, for me, is that he consistently does things that go against his own interests in order to help merlin. coming back to fight a battle he knows can’t be won, saving arthur’s life, pretending to be a sorcerer - his decisions consistently make his own life worse and merlin’s life better. the things he does are always done for merlin’s sake, at his own expense.

and sometimes - like in this scene - i think the things he says are said for merlin’s sake, too.

merlin and will both know each other too well for merlin to really think that will is jumping on the arthur train. merlin knows exactly what will is really trying to say. he knows it’s a parting gift. he understands that it’s just will’s way of saying, “i’m leaving and i want you to know i love you this much, to jump when you jump, even though i personally think the drop is deadly. that’s how much i trust you. that’s how much i believe in you.”

merlin understands, and will feels understood. they leave arthur and camelot behind, after that exchange. they’ve both said everything they need to say about it. they’ve put that argument to bed, in the best way they can manage, with the time they have available to them. will has made his feelings about arthur and camelot clear, and now he’s also made it clear that he trusts merlin to know what’s right. whether or not that proves to be true, later, isn’t relevant - only merlin can make decisions about where his life is going, after all, and will acknowledges that fact, here, at the end, as a gift to his only friend. he might have taken a different tack if he weren’t dying, yeah. but since he is, he decides that merlin deserves to walk away from this moment with at least the small comfort of knowing that will, when the chips were down, chose to trust merlin implicitly.

that’s the only reason why arthur’s future as “a great king” even comes up in that conversation. the rest of that scene is just about merlin and will, and how much they care for each other.

and for two people who never had anybody else, that’s just as it should be.

#the once and future slowburn #long post #meta #bbc merlin gen #no kings no masters #every time i think i've exhausted every possible topic of discussion related to this episode i am proven.....wrong #XD #i legit loved the post that prompted this one; i had spent so much time thinking about that line last year #and this is the first time i've ever seen anyone bring it up #FANTASTIC EYE @CLOTPOLESONLY #absolutely spot on #like even if i ultimately have found a way to feel like this line makes sense i still agree with everything OP says #i can make it work for myself but she's right; that is definitely an eyebrow-raising moment

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weakforarwen · 2 years

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Le Morte d'Arthur is not such a bad episode. Maybe I was too quick to write it off. I don't know why I didn't like it that much the first two times I watched it. It's pretty good.

Uther was uncharacteristically vulnerable when his son's life was hanging by a thread, but if only he hadn't dismissed Gaius's warnings about the beast. His hubris knew no bounds:

I have conquered the Old Religion. It's warnings mean nothing to me now.

I wonder why he didn't ask Gaius to use magic to save Arthur? Like he did when it was Morgana's life on the line in season 3?

Gaius told Merlin that the beast had "chosen" Arthur:

The Questing Beast chose Arthur. That means the Old Religion has decided his fate.

Did the beast choose Arthur or was it a coincidence? If the Old Religion had decided Arthur's fate, why allow him to live in the end? Even if the Old Religion eventually decided that Arthur should die... Was it a test? To test Merlin?

Why was Merlin so unsympathetic to Morgana in this episode? It's like he couldn't be bothered to show her any kindness. She grabbed him in a corridor, and gave him a vague warning about what was to come, but Merlin just pulled away from her. He was too tired and stressed out to comfort her. The girl was a mess but he just left her standing there, in the middle of a mental breakdown; he treated her like she was crazy, or, worse, invisible. They were good friends for a while, but Morgana become more and more isolated in the castle. Poor girl. There's a "pattern" in seasons 1 and 2. The second to last episode of both seasons were Morgana-centric while the finales were about Merlin's growing powers. I could make a similar argument for seasons 3 and 4. The first parts of the finale were more Morgana-centric, about her rise to power, while the second parts were more Arthur-centric.

I don't understand why Gwen would give such an impassioned speech to an unconscious man. I found that part cheesy tbh, though it "foreshadowed" Gwen's role in the coming seasons, but I loved Arthur's reaction when he woke up. He teased Gwen so cutely. He called her "Guinevere" in that way of his and looked so happy. It was really cute. "Something about the man I am inside". Lmao. I would've been so embarrassed if I were Gwen. She was so flustered.

I'm sorry for how disorganized this post is!

Merlin really did get tricked into that bargain for Arthur's life. Nimueh didn't explicitly tell him he couldn't choose whose life the Old Religion would take, but she did warn him "If only it were that simple.". Poor Gaius knew Merlin had done something risky, but still took the water from the Cup of Life to Arthur. I wonder if he would've done so had he known Merlin would die? Who would he have chosen? The boy he considered his son or the future of Camelot? I really love Gaius and Merlin's relationship. It used to be the heart of the show to me, before it lost some importance, and I keenly felt its absence in seasons 4 and 5, especially in season 5. Gaius and Merlin were truly endearing in this episode. One of Gaius's most known traits is his cowardice, but he was brave for Merlin. He's always the bravest for Merlin.

Poor Merlin had been waiting for death only to find he had doomed his mother instead. He felt betrayed by Kilgharrah, who had failed to read him the fine print. Nimueh did the same. It's like she too wanted to save Arthur after learning of Merlin's great destiny. Nimueh had warned Uther that to give him an heir a life would be taken. She told Merlin the same but allowed him to believe that life would be his. Did Nimueh trick Uther this way too? Or was she honest and he didn't listen? Either way, Arthur was twice "saved" using such methods.

Nimueh said the Old Religion didn't care whose lives it took, but that was bullshit. If the Old Religion didn't take lives at random, it took Ygraine's life knowing Uther would be devastated. Did it not know Uther would take his revenge? Did it take Ygraine's life because she was the only person Uther cared for and the Old Religion must punish the person striking the bargain? Yet it took Nimueh's life knowing her death meant nothing to Merlin. It was probably because the Old Religion was angry at Nimueh. She abused her power when she went back on the original bargain Merlin made just to take Gaius's life.

Rewatching this episode out of order, I didn't mind that Arthur wasn't in it much, but that's probably because I knew his time would come. The writers always struggled to find a balance between Merlin and Arthur's characters. Merlin was the titular character and a famous figure, but his destiny was to help Arthur. That was the premise of the series; King Arthur was the figure we all knew. However, in the first two seasons, the writers often focused too much on Merlin. On the plus side, Melin's powers were still underdeveloped, so Arthur was actually allowed to be independent and prove himself without Merlin's interference. On the contrary, in the latter seasons Arthur had a much bigger role, especially once he became King, but wasn't allowed to do much because he had to need Merlin, who had grown incredibly powerful and wise. When the writers needed to show us that Arthur was truly the King he was prophesied to be, they failed. Yet they failed Merlin too, because there was a limit to how much he could interfere in the story before Arthur lost all relevance.

I'm happy to be your servant. Till the day I die.

Oh Merlin, why was that so touching yet so depressing?

Last thoughts, why was Kilgharrah so angry at Merlin in the end? Because he killed Nimueh, or because he saved Gaius?

#bbc merlin #bbc arthur #bbc gwen #bbc arwen #merlin #arthur pendragon #gwen pendragon #arwen #morgana #gaius #kilgharrah #nimueh #le morte d'arthur #le morte d'arthur commentary

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