#merlin 3x01

[emrys-merlin]

Underrated scene.

You can see from his face that Merlin hates Uther (and Merlin, like Morgana, has many reasons to hate Uther, more than anyone else), but here he's still nice with him, he feel pity for him, not only for Arthur, but because Merlin is a better person than Uther.

[pippin-katz]

Rewatched The Tears of Uther Pendragon: Part 1 and you know, Merlin could’ve tried a lot harder to talk to Morgana about poisoning her. She calls him out, tearful and hurt (acting but he doesn���t know that), and he just says “I didn’t want to.” That’s it, and then he lets her do her remorseful bullshit, and says it’s good to have her back.

Mother fucker, maybe say a little more than that? Maybe even say you’re sorry?? Tell her you figured out the spell, and how you tried everything else you could think of? Maybe actually show how much it upset you to do it? How much you didn’t want to?

Maybe, just maybe, she would’ve listened to you a little bit, and maybe, JUST MAYBE, she would’ve thought about her actions going forward a bit differently!

[merlin-gifs]

MERLIN | 3x01 "The Tears of Uther Pendragon: Part 1"

[toshsato]

MERLIN Rewatch: 3x01 THE TEARS OF UTHER PENDRAGON PART 1

Morgana Pendragon

[evedaser]

rewatching merlin is so wild because 80% of your thoughts will be comprised by one of the following:

"holy shit how did no one figure it out they're so unsubtle"

"HE JUST DID MAGIC IN FULL VIEW SURROUNDED BY CAMELOT SOLDIERS AND NO ONE SAID ANYTHING"

"... pretty..." (drooling, regardless of the character's moral alignment)

"wait... THAT'S what worked!!!???"

"you can't seriously have just said that"

"and you expect me to believe they aren't gay"

[dont-let-me-eat-pears]

the way morgana keeps looking to merlin for help in “the fires of idirsholas,” trusting and depending on him as the good friend he’s always been to her, up until the moment he betrays her

[claratyler]

morgana in season 3 is so funny..me when i lie

[maximilff]

sorry i forgot to livebagel watching merlin with abbie yesterday, here are some highlights

we watched. one episode btw

[sneakyboymerlin]

Can I ask for you to talk more about what you said in the tags of this post? Morgana went evil because she was classist and not because she was hurt? Can you go more into depth on that? I feel like Morgana's arc and her motivations are really hard to decipher because of the way she was written. Like one episode it seems like she just wants Uther dead, and then the next she wants Arthur dead too and she wants the crown and she's going after Emrys and that shift always confused me a little.

I always thought the interpretation that Merlin could have helped her more was valid. Like, yes I am completely in agreement that the entire point of 2x03 is that Merlin helped her when no one else would. But he also took back that help as the season went on, and betrayed her when he poisoned her. There WAS more he could have done, I think. He could have been honest about himself, but he wasn't. He could have simply told her that he suspected that maybe she was the center of the sleeping spell in the Fires of Idirsholas, but he didn't. He could have tried convincing Gauis to help her on his own, without bringing Merlin into it, but he didn't. (Even Katie McGrath said that she blamed Merlin for what became of Morgana.)

And yes, I know why these things didn't happen. Because the dragon told him not to and Gauis told him not to. But in the end these WERE Merlin's choices. And maybe if he had chosen differently, so would have Morgana.

Like, yes I agree that Morgana's choices were her own. But I don't think she made those choices in a vacuum.

As to the bit of her being classist, I think I understand what you mean? But I'm still confused because I wouldn't exactly call Morgana from season 1-2 or even season 3 a classist person. She was good back then, shared values with Arthur about what a better world would look like.

I'm just so intrigued by what you might mean, and I'm always looking for new ways to look at this story. It's lovely that after all this time there's still more to discuss.

Lot to unpack here.

For one thing, Morgana feeling hurt didn’t encourage her to kill or allow the killing of random uninvolved people, but especially the Druids + their sympathizers who were arrested in 2x03. She ignored her kin’s plight in favor of her own comfort, even though she is granted protections that those people couldn’t dream of. She’s very much a class traitor from the start, because she tends to be thinking more about how she feels than how others do. She’s more blatant in her self-loyalty later on, but it’s always been a theme with her.

As for Merlin, 2x12 was a mutual betrayal between him and Morgana. Morgana betrays him first in this episode by endorsing the fever spell that Morgause casts on Camelot. While she’s not fully informed at first, 1) Merlin has no way of knowing that (especially since she has formed similar alliances in 1x12 and 2x11), and 2) Morgana embraces Morgause’s plan after the fact (explicitly so in 3x01/2). Merlin then poisons Morgana in order to end the fever spell on Camelot, choosing the greater good over her as an individual. To clarify point 2 here, Morgana is aware long before 3x01 that Merlin poisoned her because everyone in Camelot was slowly dying, but she makes it clear that she understands this in 3x01.

I also fail to see how Merlin revealing his own magic would have changed anything. Morgana already knows that Merlin is pro-magic (also discussed in 3x01), they simply have different methods by which they aim to achieve that goal. Both are flawed, as Merlin’s relies on tyrants like Uther changing their minds, and he places blame on the oppressed group (even if he’s a part of it) for not demonstrating that magic can be good, when it doesn’t matter how well this is demonstrated, since magic is not banned for any logical reason.

Morgana’s plan is also flawed because she prioritizes herself over anyone else, meeting Uther’s tyranny with more tyranny. This is where the classism comes in. Morgana’s sense of entitlement is rooted in her status as a noblewoman. As 2x03 demonstrates, she values her own safety above the safety of her people, and when her descent is portrayed more openly, the first changes we see are in her mistreatment of Gwen, her maidservant. In 3x01/2, she also finds the townspeople to be disposable (including the Druids & sympathizers she knows live among them) and blackmails Merlin using her status as a noble. She also tries to kill Gwen because she can’t stand the thought of a “mere servant” taking the throne. She’s good to Gwen as long as Gwen functions as her underling, but as soon as Gwen is set to outrank her, everything that makes her appear distinctly better than other nobles disappears.

But ultimately, it’s Morgana’s actions that tell us this. These actions aren’t bad because she was hurt, or because she has magic. Every bad thing she does is bad because she is classist. The harm she does comes from a place of entitlement and inflated self-importance. While she may justify these actions with the hurt she’s suffered, being hurt did not make her do those things. Classism is the reason she becomes a tyrant, and it’s the reason she mistreats the “commoner” class. Again, her dismissing random civilians, especially the Druids & sympathizers, as disposable to preserve her own comfort? Comes from a place of classism. Her getting Gwen arrested on false charges and blackmailing Merlin using her power as a noble? Acts that are motivated by classism.

But back to what Merlin could or didn’t do. Morgana knew that Merlin was pro-magic, but she would never have agreed to his methods, as we see in 3x02, because she did not have faith in Uther or Arthur changing for the better (understandably so, and she’s proven correct). Whether Merlin is just pro-magic or has magic himself does not change this outcome, because it is about methods, not identity. Even when she finds out that Merlin is a sorcerer in 5x12, this does not change her mind.

And again, as far as Merlin knew in 2x12, Morgana was very much in on the plan with Morgause. He even tests this by asking Morgana why she reacted the way she did about Morgause and catches her in a lie. If he tells Morgana that he suspects her involvement, with the information he has (that she is allied with Morgause), then what? It makes no sense to bring it up. He never tells Agravaine that he suspects the man’s involvement with Morgana, either, because he doesn’t suspect that Agravaine could somehow be innocently/unwittingly doing these things. One could argue that Morgana could have confided in Merlin about her earlier interaction with Morgause (when the curse was cast) since she trusted him so much, but alas, she did not. And that’s understandable, too. Also, if you’ll recall, Merlin did try to get Gaius to help Morgana. They had a whole argument about it. Gaius concluded that gaslighting her about her powers was helping her. Merlin had to give up and go to Kilgharrah, and then when Kilgharrah wouldn’t help, either, he searched out the location of the Druids on his own and sent Morgana to their encampment. What Katie McGrath thinks about it means very little since she is just one (1) opinion against the visible canon facts. Merlin too blames himself for what Morgana became, but that doesn’t make him right.

The fact is that Morgana is her own person and her mind isn’t going to be passively changed. She’s always been fiercely independent, opinionated, and actionable. The desire to blame everyone but Morgana for her own actions also has a lot to do with her being a rich white woman. People assign a ~delicate, passive~ demeanor onto her, even when she shows her ruthlessness (whether that is simply standing up for her beliefs or torturing people). Morgana did not just get passed around and manipulated by everyone. If anything, 2x12 seeks to establish that it is Morgana herself who can make these decisions and change the future, rather than sitting around passively watching it happen. And by choosing to join with Morgause, she changes everything. The rest of the series is a chain reaction to this one crucial moment when she makes up her mind.

[wumiings]

The thing that really gets me about Merlin and Arthur’s dynamic re: being simultaneously friends (implies equality) and master/servant (unequal) is the way they both understand what this means so differently.

Like, Arthur is not deliberately cruel as a person. He sometimes lashes out in anger— particularly to cover hurt, fear, or insecurity— and is not above using his and Merlin’s relative stations to his advantage in the moment. But while this is certainly not okay, it does not characterize most of their interactions.

Most of the time, when Arthur insults Merlin, or roughhouses with him, or assigns him too many chores just to be petty, he clearly seems to think of it as friendly banter/play. And when Merlin insults him right back, or complains without real heat, or half-asses the chores, Arthur takes it as confirmation that they’re on the same page.

Because here’s the thing: when Arthur says, “You’re my servant, so we can’t be friends [paraphrase: but under other circumstances, we might be],” what he means is that they are obviously friends but they’re not allowed to call each other that, or act like it. It’s against the social rules of their environment to acknowledge their friendship.

But that is not what those words mean to Merlin. He does see Arthur as a friend, but not in the sense that they’re just playing along with the roles of servant and master. Because unlike Arthur, there is an inherent threat to Merlin’s safety and well-being implied by any reminder of those roles.

“You’re almost like a friend [except you’re my servant]” doesn’t just mean they can’t use the word. It means “I have power over you, and in moments when it’s inconvenient to treat you as a friend (see: the anger), I can and will use that power to put you back in your place.”

It’s a reminder that Arthur has fired, overworked, struck, imprisoned, threatened with exile, and held a sword to Merlin’s throat before, and so long as Merlin needs to keep his magic a secret for the sake of staying by Arthur’s side, he is powerless to do anything about it. It could happen again.

Merlin insults Arthur because he knows he can get away with it (as long as he stops when more serious threats are invoked). He complains but allows those complaints to be taken as jokes/exaggerations, because he doesn’t expect his hurts to be taken seriously and doesn’t feel comfortable making himself vulnerable to Arthur about how his actions affect him.

The chores situation in particular aggravates me to no end, because Merlin is routinely expected to do things that do not by any means fall under the purview of a personal servant. Why would he be mucking out the stables?? Surely there are stable hands who are paid to do that. And why does he do the laundry himself instead of delivering it to the laundress?

All this in addition to apprenticing with Gaius (or working as a fully qualified physician post-4x08) and going along on patrols/missions/etc. doing what I’m pretty sure would normally be a squire’s duties? As none of the knights seem to have one??

Admittedly, Merlin sometimes insists on going along on missions for Protecting Arthur Reasons, which is not Arthur’s fault, but still. Arthur knows the kind of hours Merlin is putting in. Which makes moments like in 3x01, when he undervalues, belittles, and then intentionally undoes Merlin’s hard work (cleaning the floor) so frustrating to watch.

But again, Arthur is not cruel! I never get the sense that he truly enjoys causing Merlin real emotional distress. The problem is that he consistently underestimates the amount of distress that Merlin is actually in — partly because (as previously stated) Merlin often undersells his own feelings.

TL;DR - Merlin is Arthur’s friend! His only/closest friend!! Arthur looks at Merlin and sees someone brave and loyal and absolutely worth risking his life for. But his privilege blinds him to the ways in which he fails to treat Merlin like a friend should. Outside of life-or-death situations, he doesn’t often behave as though he values Merlin (his time, his effort, his capabilities, or his friendship) particularly much. And that’s a fucking tragedy.

[gaiussleechtank]

A while back I was writing a one-shot based on the deleted scene where Arthur gives Merlin his mother's sigil and how it basically means proposing or stuff like medieval wise.

But I watched the episode (3x01) that the scene was from and I noticed something something that just broke me a bit.

This is the episode before Lancelot dies - I havent watched Merlin in ages so bare with me - but from just watching that episode I felt so bad for lancelot.

Like, the scene where the knights are heading off to defeat the dorocha, gwens there to say goodbye to them all and when she comes to Lancelot it's no romantic send off between lovers with Gwen hoping that she'll see him again. No, she's asking him to look after Arthur. And God's you can see it in his face that he's hurt by it that she hasn't considered his safety.

And again, the knights have set up camp the night or so before facing off the dorocha, and him and Merlin are collecting wood, Merlin talks about protecting Arthur and his destiny to the Prince/regent. Once again you see lancelot's heart break, because Arthur means the most to Merlin. Not Lancelot who knows his secret.

I don't think Lancelot sacrificed himself to the veil because he's noble to the kingdom or loyal to Arthur.

It was because he knew that his death would hurt the two people he loves the most less than it would if Arthur was the one who died.

[merlin-gifs]

MERLIN | 3x01 "The Tears of Uther Pendragon: Part 1"

[ughmerlin]

A YEAR IN REVIEW: 2023 CREATIONS

rules: post your favorite and most popular post from each month this year (it’s okay to skip months)

tagged by: @yenvengerberg, @alinaastarkov and @taiturner thank you loves!!

january

☀️ most popular: incorrect merlin quotes #9 🌙 favourite: MERLIN MEME [1/1] season

february

☀️ most popular: MORGWEN + wlwyearnbot 🌙 favourite: MERLIN MEME [1/2] prophecies

march

☀️ most popular: how to become a girl dad ft. joel miller 🌙 favourite: jesper and wylan in shadow and bone s2

april

☀️🌙 most popular & favourite: BARBIE POSTERS: BBC Merlin edition

may

☀️ most popular: merthur + all things end 🌙 favourite: morgana + mermaids

june

☀️ most popular: jaskier in the witcher 3x01 🌙 favourite: MERLIN MEME [2/2] prophecies

july

☀️🌙 most popular & favourite: aziraphale and crowley in good omens s2

august

☀️ most popular: incorrect merlin quotes #10 🌙 favourite: WHO SAID IT: witch bitch edition

september

☀️ most popular: MERLIN + tumblr asks 🌙 favourite: merthur + i, carrion (icarian)

october

☀️ most popular: 30k celebration: morgwen + purple 🌙 favourite: merlin halloween watchlist

december

☀️🌙 most popular & favourite: merlin finale anniversary + what could've been

tagging (if you want and haven't done it already!): @crowley-anthony, @ivashkovadrian, @girlbutcherwife, @dindjarism, @morgana-pendragon, @singularities, @jakeyp

[adhd-merlin]

5, 6, and 7. worst things they ever did

5. Worst thing you think Uther ever did.

I think the genocide.

6. Worst thing you think Arthur ever did.

Hard question! He's meant to be a character who's fundamentally good and well-meaning but still needs guidance to make the right choices (that's like, the whole destiny thing at its core, and Merlin's role) and because of this he often acts in ways that are extremely frustrating, and sometimes just plain wrong.

— On a personal level:

To Merlin – there are quite a few times in which the way Arthur acts towards Merlin crosses the line between banter and bullying. Two that stick in my mind are Arthur wiping a dirty rag across Merlin's face when he simply asked him not to walk over the floor he had just cleaned in ep 3x01, and Arthur throwing a metal object at Merlin's neck while his back was turned in ep 3x04. I know he throws things at Merlin often, but usually he can at least see it coming! Arthur's behaviour felt unnecessarily harsh. (I don't remember what Merlin said but I don't even think it was anything particularly offensive in this instance).

To Gwen – when he broke up with her because Agravaine convinced him she was an unsuitable match (ep 4x05). That was a horrible thing to do after everything Gwen had been through and after all the promises he had made her, and she's a better woman than me for bearing no resentment towards Arthur afterwards.

— As a King:

Probably summarily executing King Caerleon (Queen Annis's husband), still in ep 4x05.

It's no coincidence that two of Arthur’s lowest points are in this episode, given it's meant to show Agravaine's negative influence on him, and Arthur reckoning with his father's legacy and having to figure out what kind of king he is going to be. The title is very apt.

7. Worst thing you think Merlin ever did.

Eh. Morally, that he considered letting young Mordred die, I think. He had decided to let it happen, Mordred had to beg him for him to reconsider.

For the actual consequences on innocent people – freeing Kilgharrah. Not his fault, I know but... man.

↳ merlin ask meme 📬

[goodwhump-temp]

SG1 Whump - Daniel Jackson

1x01 Children of the Gods - Knocked out 1x04 Emancipation - Regressed to primitive state 1x07 Cold Lazarus - Killed 1x13 Fire and Water - "Dead" 1x17 Enigma - Thrown out of gate high velocity, concussion, weak 1x18 Solitudes - Mind controlled, raped, catatonic 1x19 Tin Man -Consciousness & body duplicated 1x20 There But For The Grace of God - Quantum mirror, shot 1x21 Politics - Shot, blinded 2x01 The Serpent's Lair - Shot, badly wounded 2x02 In the Line of Duty - Zatted/hostage 2x03 Prisoners - Strangled unconscious 2x05 Need - Captured, almost dies/unconscious, addiction, extreme withdrawals, passes out, mental breakdown 2x13 Spirits - Tranquilized 2x17 Holiday - Mind transferred, in pain, coma, almost dies 2x19 One False Step - Induced anger, headache 2x22 Out of Mind - Captured, fake memory simulation device, manipulated 3x01 Into the Fire - Caught in explosion / shrapnel 3x02 Seth - Hit by ribbon device, mind controlled 3x04 Legacy - Schizophrenia, mental institution, drugged 3x06 Point of View - Shot 3x07 Deadman Switch - Runs into forcefield 3x08 Demons - Struck by lightning 3x09 Rules of Engagement - Shot by an intar 3x10 Forever in a Day - Ribbon device injury 3x13 The Devil You Know - Drugged/tortured 3x14 Foothold - Drugged/doubled 3x19 New Ground - Tortured, unconscious 3x21 Crystal Skull - Invisible, shocked 3x22 Nemesis - Appendicitis 4x03 Upgrades - Strength virus, fever, passes out 4x10 Beneath the Surface - Amnesia, enslaved 4x11 Point of No Return - Drugged 4x13 The Curse - Ribbon device injury 4x17 Absolute Power - Unconscious, learns consequences of knowledge 4x18 The Light - Addiction to the light, extreme depression, flatlines 5x04 The Fifth Man - Zatted 5x07 Beast of Burden - Zatted, tortured 5x09 Between Two Fires - Knocked down 5x13 Proving Ground - Shot by an intar 5x16 Last Stand - Crash landing; knocked unconscious 5x19 Menace - Thrown, head/wrist injury 5x21 Meridian - Radiation poisoning, dies, emotional 7x06 Lifeboat - Mind overwhelmed, headaches, life at risk 7x12 Evolution pt 2 - Beaten, tortured, shot 7x15 Chimera - Dreams manipulated, shot 8x03 Lockdown - Zatted twice, shot, passes out 8x06 Avatar - Dies in video game, shocked multiple times 8x07 Affinity - Zatted 8x10 Endgame - Zatted 8x12 Prometheus Unbound - (zatted + shot + kicked) by Vala 8x17 Reckoning pt 2 - Pierced with sword 8x18 Threads - Captured 9x01 Avalon pt. 1 - Passes out from Jaffa bracelets 9x02 Avalon pt. 2 - Passes out + restrained 9x03 Origin - Almost dies in fire with Vala (of course) 9x04 The Ties That Bind - Passes out x2 9x06 Beachhead - Almost passes out/adjusting 9x16 Off the Grid - Captured, beaten 9x19 Crusade - Body controlled by Vala 10x02 Morpheus - Sleep virus 10x07 Counterstrike - Choked 10x09 Company of Thieves - Zatted by a smuggler 10x11 The Quest pt. 2 - Merlin powers, extreme knowledge (pain) 10x14 The Shroud - Zatted, exhausted 10x16 Bad Guys - Stunned 10x17 Talion - Unconscious 10x19 Dominion - Suffocating 10x20 Unending - Emotional (same)