Board Thread:What If?/@comment-5674726-20140119214236/@comment-5674726-20140119220613

I could see a lot changing, in different ways depending on whether Uther married Vivienne before or after Ygraine.

First option, first.

If Vivienne was his first wife, then he would have had a child before he married Ygraine, which could potentially have meant that he wouldn't have taken the step of using magic to have a child with Ygraine. Given that his reaction to Ygraine's death was to turn on all people with magic and view magic itself as evil, as opposed to believing Nimueh to be evil which is what one would expect of somebody with a neutral or positive view of magic, I think that it's safe to say that he must have distrusted it before he asked Nimueh for help.

Princesses Elena and Mithian are proof that female heirs are accepted in Albion, as is the fact that both Queen Annis and Guinevere succeeded their husbands as rulers in their own right. That would make it possible, even probable that, while Uther would have liked to have a son to succeed him, a daughter would be an acceptable alternative and, if he and Ygraine did not conceive naturally, he wouldn't be so desperate for a son by her that he would seek to have an heir by magical means, especially if he was warned that he could only be given a son by Ygraine if the life of another was sacrificed.

If Uther didn't go through with asking Nimueh to give him and Ygraine a son, there'd be no Arthur, no Great Purge and, without the Great Purge, no Merlin. However, there would also be no reason for Morgana to turn on Uther and, based on his achievements as a monarch, I could see a very successful reign for Uther, a smooth succession for Morgana and, in all likelihood, a more peaceful future for Camelot than in canon.

If Uther went through with asking Nimueh for help giving him a son, I could see Ygraine's death being even harder on him than it was in canon. In canon, he would have viewed it as essential for the future of his kingdom that he have an heir so, as hard as it was for him to lose Ygraine, he knew that they needed to have a child. However, if he already had a child, and it therefore wasn't necessary for him to have one by Ygraine, he'd also have to deal with the fact that he hadn't truly needed to ask Nimueh for her help, setting into motion the events that led to Ygraine's death.

I could also see it deepening Morgana's resentment if her father's determination to breed with her barren stepmother when he already had a child led to people like her being outlawed.