Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-31492005-20190107021918/@comment-79.24.112.24-20190512022151

While I like Morgana as character (and is perhaps the most interesting to play with in fanfiction as in canon-divergence/what-if?s) and her journey to "hell" pains me when I watch season 1  - knowing how she'll become by the time we reach the final half of season 5 - I agree that her descent to bitter and evil person wasn't out of the blue. As said above, perhaps her character development should've been written with more "nuances" (but every main character suffered this; characterization wasn't kind with poor Arthur and S5 Gwen as well) but the seeds were already there back in season 1 and we all (non-Morgana haters) just decided to ignore them or simply didn't notice during the first view.

The issue here is just that the same negative traits that made her the evil-very-evil sorceress were initially perceived as "positive" ones, since she used those traits (manipulation, be ruthless if necessary and so on) to face the person we all perceived as the true villain of the story (Uther) or to help the victim-of-the-day (Mordred). These very traits make her the strong and stubborn woman of a medieval-like era who is the only one to headbutt with Uther and, since she's the only one to apparently fight against Uther's injustices and take the victim's sides (hide Mordred, not agreeing about celebrating with an execution in 1x01, etc) we believe her a positive character, and are blind to her flaws. Because yes, Morgana Season 1 is as full as flaws as any other of the main characters, if you look closely.

I feel that much of the "nuances" that escape us are just there, and you need to watch the tv show other times to notice - like you notice details previously unseen after the second and then a third and then a fourth view of a movie. Did the writers f*ck up and missed many opportunities with this show? Yes. Was the show campy and too comical in situations when humor was inappropriate (Lady Vivian parting scene comes to my mind)? Yes. Was it better if they just took an "adult" approach since the beginning? Yes. But it has less faults, regarding the characters writing, that we give it.

'''Speaking about Morgana. Does anyone ever understand why she started to hate Arthur so much (in Season 3)?'''

We all know (and can be sympathetic about it) why she hates Merlin since her return in 3x01, and why she wants Uther to suffer, but her hatred for Arthur is unmotivated (IMHO): he followed Uther's orders, yes, and he could be a king as opposed to magic as Uther (although, not forget that he did save Mordred, and raided the Druids camps because he was lead to believe they kidnapped Morgana - see replies above, and he was more likely to open to magic before Morgana's turn to the evil side) but she never did something personal to her to warrant a so big hate from her. I cannot recall something vicious he ever did to her (and we can talk about what she might've perceived as slights to her in the later season when he was just defending himself, his crown and his people) but, at least up to Season 3 finale when he deposes her, he did nothing to her. She needs him dead to get the throne, I understand that, but she doesn't just want to dispose of the legitimate male heir (because of her perceived birthright as Uther's first child that Arthur has somehow "stolen" her - which is bullshit, but that's another story), she relish on seeing Arthur suffer. She smirks at the very thought that Arthur is slowly dying in "Eye of the Phoenix", when she could've just told Morgause where Arthur was headed to and have Morgause do the dirty job to ambush him in the Perilious Lands and kill him in cold blood (at this point the sisters didn't know Arthur had a sorcerer at his side/shadow so such a plan had 100% chances to work): no, the plan she agrees to be active in (she just doesn't stand by while Morgause does the magic: she is the one doing the magic!) just speaks of ruthlessness toward a person that was a friend/brother-like to her in the last 10+ year, the guy who spoke for her when Uther leashed out on her (To Kill a King), who saved her arse and finished her job (Mordred), who rode out to save her (when he thought she had been kidnapped) and generally showed worry when she was hurt or in danger and happiness when she was safe and healthy again (the "kidnapping by druids", "Lancelot and Guinevere", "The Fires of Idirsholas", 3x01!!, etc).

The same applies to Gwen. She wants to rid of someone she perceives as "usurper", but how come she wants Gwen to suffer so much and gets pleasure in seeing Gwen cry and plead for her life (Queen of Hearts), when Gwen has always been her best - and possibly only - friend? Up to this point Gwen has been nothing but loyal to her (Gwen will "betray" her only in "The Coming of Arthur"), and she repays that loyalty with... "The Castle of Fyrien" and then "Queen of Hearts".

Now, this is something the writers never explained us and I call "poor writing skills". Not Morgana's change from kind Ward to Evil Sorceress.