Board Thread:Rewatching "Merlin" - Season One/@comment-5102537-20130406100756/@comment-5674726-20130409005836

I wonder if Merlin considered the potential consequences of his decision not to help Arthur rescue Mordred.

Had he been able to resist Mordred's pleas, Arthur would have been caught in the act of helping a condemned prisoner escape, which would be virtually impossible to hush this up. I don't doubt that Arthur would have sworn blind that Morgana knew nothing of his plan, to protect her from Uther. Uther would have been furious with Arthur.

Arthur's budding friendship with Merlin would have suffered a very heavy blow, one from which it could very well not have recovered. I could see Arthur thinking that, if Merlin didn't want to be part of the rescue, he should have said so straight out instead of committing to help and then leaving him in the lurch. Merlin could very easily have found himself fired, since Arthur no longer felt that he could trust him, which would mean that he wouldn't be in a position to protect Arthur when Arthur next stood in need of a magical save.