Board Thread:Series 5 Discussion/@comment-3239341-20121230112149/@comment-32037221-20170518012311

75.117.216.131 wrote: While Arthur does die in the old legend, this was not the same as the legend - it was a prequel of sorts as a very young man - it just doesn't fit the storyline of this series to have it end this way with him dying so very young and not accomplishing everything they said he would with Merlin - starting with the very first episode of the series. That just doesn't make any sense as the things the events of the entire series, starting in the very first episode, that we are building up to see over the course of 5 seasons...ends with none of it occurring. Then they compound this horrendous decision to have Arthur die with the title character Merlin apparently exiling himself from the rest of his friends to wonder in grief for a thousand years or more. That's just disgusting on the part of the writers - renders the entire series completely pointless. There are endings which aren't good and aren't particularly satisfying for a series, but having one that destroys the main storyline of the entire series to render the whole series unwatchable again is another thing entirely - if we were to try watching it through again, all of those deep conversations between Arthur and Merlin, Merlin and Gaius, and Gaius and Arthur, so many other conversations and events (such as the Fisher King and the Dragon)...ultimately no longer have a meaning - knowing how it will turn out for our main story heros...all of those great, amazing episodes and show moments now ring hollow as we know it isn't going to happen - ending in death for Arthur and never ending regret and misery for Merlin. Even if they stuck with the ridiculous decision to kill off Arthur - Merlin should have been depicted as going home to continue Arthur's work by serving his Queen, Gwen (also Merlin's friend) and her court (where he had other good friends) and completing the work he started. Gwen and Arthur were married for a time so it would have been entirely conceivable she would have had his child...perhaps even showing flash forward scenes of Merlin continuing to serve and then mentoring as a father figure the fatherless child of his good friend in the same way Gaius had done for him - and see the ultimate depiction of this great Kingdom and Albion we were waiting to see. That would have shown Merlin had closure to his grief and was honoring his friend's memory by continuing what they had started together. Instead, they depict Merlin as abandoning his friends in his grief - he was not shown in Gwen's Court - and wondering aimlessly for a thousand years in hopeless misery...as though his life had and has no purpose. That's just messed up. The writers should be ashamed of themselves - they created an amazingly well done story and then decided to just up and ruin all those amazing scenes by rendering meaningless. 5 years later and still fans talk about it so passionately. Quite touching imo.

I completely agree that they fluffed the ending. I have rewatched Merlin a couple of times but I don't necessarily always watch the last season because of the ending :/ I hope they do a movie soon (wishful thinking, I know).