User blog comment:MerlinUSA/Merlin -- The Big Picture/@comment-101.166.21.109-20130119130157/@comment-5995315-20130119170506

If you hate the ending so much  you feel the need  post how it ruined the show, you'd do better to stop watching Merlin. I don't think Merlin will win the BTA awards because of the backlash against it, and your posts are a case in point. You're clearly  upset, and I'm sorry that nothing I've said has helped you feel even a little less angry.

Merlin is not a family show. Over the past five seasons, thousands of people have died in it. Even the nicest character, Gwen, has murdered three people. Viewers have had more than two seasons' warning that the story arc was taking a serious turn.

With all that happened throughout all five episodes, there was no possible way to give the story a Disneyland ending. It was simply no longer possible. I'm baffled by people who say they didn't see a tragic end coming.

Merlin evolved into a dramatic tragedy, and its ending was classically tragic. This means that there was redemption through the suffering. So once you see tragedy coming, you look out for the redemption.

In the end the show became what it always was -- a love story between Arthur and Merlin. The ending made it clear that their love had defeated their fates by making fate itself meaningless.

Arthur died knowing Albion was safe, and he died in an overflow of love and gratitude toward Merlin that only the most cynical viewer could ignore. That he became wise, fair, just and loving was well established in seasons 4 and 5, so Arthur also died the king of legend.

Merlin got everything he wanted when Arthur accepted him for who he was. Acceptance was what he'd wanted since episode one, and in the finale he got it. Merlin cared about magic and Albion only to the extent that they concerned Arthur. The show makes clear that otherwise, he didn't much care about either of those.

So legalizing magic was never the point of the show. The finale contained a strong message about love and fate, two themes that come up over and over through all five seasons. While magic is also a theme connecting every episode, the finale tells us that it wasn't the most important one.

This might upset a lot of viewers. But if you watch the previous episodes  you'll notice that they were becoming more and more  ambivalent about  magic. It would be hard to build a finale around the mixed messages these previous episodes were giving, especially starting with the Disir episode.

I find it surprising to read so many angry posts  and to find people telling everyone how much they hate the program. Is this a site dedicated to Merlin-bashing? Many of the posts  make it seem so. Again, the negativity could cost Merlin the BTA award.

People would do better to post  what they like about Merlin instead of what they hate. That's what I hope to do. Based on your posting style, I'm guessing you're young. I'm past forty. Younger people have a tendency to think it's good to be cynical, but past a certain point it's not. Please consider how posts like the one above affect other readers.

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Edit: LurkerITW, I looked at some of your other posts. I think you have several problems with the finale that all got packed into this one single post. It may be best to post about each problem separately. Morgana alone would take several posts to deal with.