Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-24691863-20140413080351/@comment-5102537-20140413165448

No worries, Merlin After, even if you didn't like him, there would be no problem at all. We all have our favourites :-)

There is no cruelty of Uther towards Arthur for each quote I've given. The "cruelest" thing he ever did to Arthur was putting him in the cell when he risked his life and Camelot's future when he directly went against his father's and his king's orders. Uther never touched Arthur, never threatened him, hit him or did anything cruel to him at all. He never came across as a father who mistreated his children or used violence towards Arthur, but he was only strict - and not even as strict as parents/kings/royals used to be in medieval times.

The one time that Uther lost control towards Morgana was when he grabbed her by her throat to warn her after she challenged him (again) and directly insulted him as a person and as a king, going behind his back and supposingly conspiring with the enemy (which she did indeed). While this was a harsh reaction in our point of view, as was putting her in the dungeon, it was a more or less "normal" reaction for that time period, plus it was only human. If it had been the other way around and Morgana had kicked Uther or grabbed his throat or punched him in the face or whatever, would we then all assume that he is now damaged and probably turns into a psycho who suddenly hates everone and even wants to kill his own family, running amok like a crazy madman who would rather nuke everything and everyone than trying to change things for the better? I doubt that. We wouldn't even assume that he now suddenly dislikes Morgana.

I find it astonishing that whatever anyone did to Uther, we expected him to act like an absolutely perfect father and a perfect king who never gets any scars and who never lets anything get the best of him. On the other hand, every single negative experience of Morgana and Arthur makes the fans believe that they were damaged and even damaged beyond repair.

Why is that? How come that Uther's past doesn't count and that he always has to be perfect, even more perfect than any normal human being whereas Morgana and Arthur are always seen as victims who can't be held responsible for their own actions, thoughts and personalities?

What's most important is that this (Uther grabbing Morgana) was the only time that he did such a thing. I doubt that this one situation could have ever been any reason for anybody to hate another and to become a sadistical mass murder, driven by revenge until an entire land is destroyed and thousands of people have died.

There is no hint whatsoever that either Arthur or Morgana were ever abused or mistreated before the time that we were being shown on the show. If this had been the case, one of them would have mentioned it at some point in order to make the audience see that Uther used to be a violent/harsh/ruthless father before he showed his love for his children for the very first time.

It's actually only speculation to assume such things, and it doesn't surprise me because we are all trying to make sense of the tremendous plotholes and the inconsistent writing. For example, at one point Arthur could have mentioned that he thinks that he has always been a disappointment for Uther, maybe towards Merlin. Merlin could have asked why he thinks that and Arthur could have mentioned a happening or several happenings from the past, giving an insight in the way that he was raised by Uther. This never happened. Instead, as a matter of fact, Uther has been described as a caring father who was proud of Arthur in season one already.

There is one logical and plausible situation that presents Arthur's insecurity, which is when he tells Uther in "Excalibur" that he always thought he was a disappointment. Uther then admits that this wasn't Arthur's but his own fault. Here we can assume that he had missed telling Arthur earlier that he was proud of him - but that's it.

The important part is that from this point onwards, Arthur should have known once and for all that he had estimated the relationship/situation/Uther's feelings and thoughts wrongly and that Uther really loved him and was really proud of him. Especially since Uther repeated showing and telling both Morgana and Arthur that up until "The Wicked day" when he died.

Same goes for Morgana. She should have known and realised what she meant to Uther when they had this very interesting and open conversation at Gorlois' grave. And again Uther kept showing his love and pride up until he died. Ignoring this never made any sense, neither for Arthur nor Morgana.

There was an important point in their life when they finally got proof of Uther's love that should have changed their point of view, and they got proof over and over again, no less - yet they simply closed their eyes and repeated their false assumptions over and over again, as if somebody had put some French Fries into their ears and tomatoes on their eyes whenever Uther confessed his love and his pride for his children. There is no way that this could have been ignored. It's psychologically and characterwise illogical in just every way.

It would have been different if Uther had proven the opposite to them somewhere during the seasons which would have nullified his former actions and comments, something so harsh or mean that would have convinced Morgana and Arthur and pretty much everyone else that Uther had simply lied to them. At the same time, this would have made him a psychopath. But this never happened, on the contrary.

What I can agree with is the possibility (and I think it's likely) that Uther hadn't told Morgana so openly what he feels and thinks before the conversation at Gorlois' grave, most certainly because Morgana was always quite a rebellious and provoking person who always challenged Uther and caused certain reactions. She had a talent to arouse his anger, and given his short temper, one of his actual flaws, I would imagine that they often had quarrels and strong disagreements. And I don't think that, if so, it was always Morgana's fault but that both had a certain way of provoking the other. But would this be a reason to be "damaged" for the rest of her life? Would this be enough to completely ignore the open conversations, confessions of love and actions of love and caring that actually nobody could ever overlook? Not at all.

It often seemed as if both Morgana and Arthur were spoilt kids who demanded from Uther a daily "I love you" and "I'm proud of you" in order to finally believe it. On the other hand, even that wouldn't have convinced them since obviously, dying for his children didn't convince them either. I don't know what else anyone could ever do to make clear to someone else that they love them. If dying isn't enough, then what is?

Morgana didn't live in Camelot for her entire youth. She came to Camelot when he was ten years old, so she was raised in her most important years by Gorlois and maybe Vivian, depending on how long she lived. We have no idea how she was raised by Gorlois and Vivian. The damage she experienced was most likely the loss of Gorlois and then beginning a new life in a new city with new people at the age of ten. Making Uther responsible for it all is quite far-fetched and only speculation. And not very believable. As a matter of fact, it would make much more sense to me if Morgana was a sad, scared and rebellious child when she had to cope with her new life. Naturally. It's hard for a child to cope with this all. Later, when she was in her puberty, things may have worsened, meaning her rebellion against Uther/the person of authority. Whether or not he told her regularly that he loved her when she was a child and a teenager, she had to go through some hard times that most likely shaped her personality but that didn't meet the criteria of becoming a psychopathical mass murder.

To me there is no doubt that Morgana was simply made a super-mega villain without thinking it through and against all plausible character development in order to make Merlin look even better and to make the show "darker". The typical "it's Uther's fault" never ever worked for me and actually makes no sense whatsoever.

Neither did the assumption that Uther would have killed her work for me. Aside from the fact that he himself used magic to heal her (or better, asked Gaius to use magic), he just didn't make a move or showed any sign of wanting to kill her when he finally learnt of her powers in "The Coming of Arthur". Instead of getting furious and trying to hunt her down, he went broken and had no interest at all in killing or harming her. As a matter of fact, he gave up everything he had and his own life only because of her betrayal. Had he wanted to kill her he wouldn't have gone broken in the first place but had given in his hatred/fear/wrath/rage/whatever This was the very thing that should have convinced Morgana once and for all that she was wrong at the latest.

So no, not Uther's flaws made Morgana who she became, and neither did Merlin's flaws make her the monster that the show all of a sudden and unfortunately presented to us.