Talk:The Disir (episode)/@comment-67.240.168.196-20130622070830/@comment-5102537-20130622085057

I think it would have been a much better idea to make Merlin denying the Old Religion in this case because of its threats and cruel dogmas. In my opinion, it was a mistake that he only did it to save Arthur from Mordred because it played down what the Triple Goddess actually demanded, which wasn't mere acceptance but total obedience. The Disir/Triple Goddess threatened Arthur and the entire kingdom when they demanded him to bow to the Old Religion, thus giving up his and Camelot's sovereignty and being forced to obey the Triple Goddess only.

By blackmailing Arthur and threating the lives of his loved ones, the Triple Goddess destroyed every chance of Arthur accepting the Old Religion. It was entirely her own fault. And actually, Merlin as well as Arthur were entirely right to not accept this dogma, alas the episode didn't emphasize this but only demonstrated to us that Merlin only wanted to save Arthur by letting Mordred die. This ruined the very interesting subject about the Old Religion and its real intentions as well as Merlin's integrity and moral compass when he cowardly wanted Mordred to die and berayed his own kin at the same time in every possible way:

He betrayed Mordred, a fellow member of his kind and every other sorcerer/sorceress/magic-user by telling Arthur that magic had no place in Camelot. It would have been much more clever if he had said that submitting to the Old Religion was wrong but that not all sorcerers or magic users share the Triple Goddess' opinion and/or that not all magic is evil and that they could strike a balance between total obedience and simply accepting magic. This would also have been something which the Triple Goddess could have said. The fact that she didn't, proves that she had no interest in a peaceful coexistance and tolerating each other.