User blog comment:Knightofthecart/Uther, the once and future king, part I/@comment-5102537-20130101112329/@comment-5674726-20130213002408

I think that it's probable that Uther already had serious reservations about magic before Ygraine's death. We know from Gaius that magic caused chaos in Camelot before Uther took the throne, so he may have been making moves against those who practiced dark magic, but not against those who didn't use magic to do harm. Given that he welcomed Nimueh to court, he may have been seeking to build peaceful relations with magical communities like the High Priestesses.

I'd say that he wouldn't have made the decision to use magic lightly. If he and Ygraine were married for a few years without any sign of a little Pendragon, the future stability of Camelot was at risk, especially as there was quite a lot of conflict with other kingdoms back then. I'd be surprised if Uther never had his Council strongly hinting that he might need to consider setting Ygraine aside and remarrying - his reaction when Nimueh referred to her as his "barren wife" would hint that that wasn't the first time the term was used for her. He loved his wife and wouldn't want to give her up but, at the same time, he would have been very conscious of his duty to his kingdom. If Nimueh's help predated Morgana's conception, then Uther could tell himself that he might be the one who couldn't father children, and that if that was the case, giving Ygraine up wouldn't necessarily be a solution to his problem. If they used magic to bring a son into the world, they would never need to know which of them had the problem.

I'd say that Uther's guilt over his wife's death would be because it's probable that he used magic against his better judgement. Instead of letting Ygraine go and remarrying to produce an heir, he toyed with forces that, deep down, he knew shouldn't be toyed with because it seemed to be the only way he could keep the wife he loved and fulfil his duty to his kingdom by giving it an heir. Had he set her aside and remarried, she would have survived. Morgana's birth would have confirmed that the problem was never with him, which would have added to his guilt. I'd say that he carried the guilt of taking the easy way out, thinking that magic would give him what he wanted, little realising that it would cost him his beloved wife.

The power of life and death is not something that anybody should be toying with and this is a lesson that Uther learned the hard way. Knowing the circumstances of Ygraine's death makes his fear that people would turn to magic to cure the plague very understandable. For all he knew, a magical cure would mean that, for every person cured, somebody else would die in their place. It could also mean that his decision to have Gaius use magic to save Morgana was an even bigger deal than it appears to be at first glance, since Uther would have thought that it was possible, maybe even likely, that somebody else would have to die in her place and that, if so, it was more likely to be somebody close to him than a random stranger.