Board Thread:What If?/@comment-5674726-20130803001002/@comment-5674726-20130805000251

This would have a huge impact on the show. So much of Morgana's viewpoint was heavily influenced by the fact that she had magic, so if she didn't have it, Season Two onwards would be very different.

As it was, I think that there was a part of Morgana that was very resistant to the idea that magic users were evil because she was afraid that her magic would make her evil. She ended up taking it to the opposite extreme and seems to have assumed that all magic users she encountered were good and that they all wished her well - to the point that she wasn't freaked out by either Morgause or Alvarr sneaking into her room while she slept! - and rationalised their actions as being for self-defence. I think that this was a direct result of her isolation once her magic manifested; without somebody with magic to confide in, she felt like an outsider in Camelot and didn't feel safe, so other people with magic represented a community of people like her. Without the ulterior motive to believe in the inherent goodness of all those with magic, I could see her being better able to distinguish between cases like Mordred's and Thomas Collins' (she said that he didn't hurt anybody) and cases of magic users causing harm, like Nimueh and the troll.

I'd say that she and Uther could have built on what they started in To Kill A King, when he promised to listen to her more. He was affectionate towards her in Season Two, and more moderate in his response when they argued - having her chained up in the dungeon in To Kill A King versus sending her to her room in The Witch's Quickening. A lot of the show, and Uther and Morgana's interactions, revolve around magic but on the occasions when it was not an issue, you can see hints of the bond between them. A good example of this is A Remedy to Cure All Ills. Uther's concern for Morgana is palpable and she is not surprised to see it. Although she makes an initial attempt to advocate that Gaius not lose his job, once Uther makes it clear that he isn't prepared to allow this because she nearly died, she understands where he is coming from and doesn't argue any further.

As of the end of Season One, she didn't want Uther dead. She plotted with Tauren but, ultimately, she made the choice not to go through with killing Uther. If her magic wasn't an issue, I could see her making progress in her relationship with Uther, and that they'd have grown closer.

I could see Morgana eventually being a voice for moderation when it came to magic and, while Uther wouldn't change the laws against magic, I could see Morgana being able to influence him to adopt an approach like that of his approach in Season Three; he dealt with magical threats when they presented themselves but he didn't go looking for it. If she was able to do this, she could potentially influence Arthur later.

There are a lot of variables in this scenario.

For example, would Morgause have sought her sister out if she could sense that she had no magic when they first met? It seems unlikely; Morgause was set on getting Uther out of the way and I'd say that she'd have thought that Morgana would be a liability if she had no magic and also that, as she was in no danger from Uther, she could leave her where she was for the time being and their reunion could wait until after she took out Uther.