Board Thread:Rewatching "Merlin" - Season Five/@comment-5102537-20140329115401/@comment-5102537-20140331223901

I agree with all of you (also with what you said about Morgana not being mentioned, Areanna123. Don't worry about talking about her too much. Don't we all talk about our favourites? Just write as much about her as you wish).

"The Disir" had the potential to become one of the greatest episodes that could have shaped the show. It was disappointing to see that this chance was wasted once again.

I found it interesting that here, Gwen and Gwaine's opinion about magic/sorcery was quite clear. They obviously fully supported the ban of magic and Arthur's persecution of sorcerers. Most fans probably would admit that in the previous seasons, they had been under the impression that Gwaine and Gwen disliked Uther because of his attitude towards magic, even though it was never mentioned at all. The reason probably was that Gwaine and Gwen were friends with Merlin, thus had to side with him somehow. For some reason, the show made us believe that Gwen and Gwaine had nothing against sorcerers/magic-users despite the very fact that they never really sided with magic. Actually, they were fully on Uther's side in regard to this subject.

So where did Gwaine's dislike towards Uther come from? He himself was a noble, yet he disapproved of them, and by that disapproved of himself.

Gwen naturally had a beef with Uther due to her father's death, yet it always seemed as if she disapproved of Uther's stance on magic.

Now we saw that both supported the law and probably had always supported it. There was even a mentioning of religion when Gwaine called Osgar a heretic.

I don't get it why Arthur dismissed magic as superstition. This was the most ridiculous  thing I've ever heard on the entire show. It would make sense to think of some particular things as being superstition but certainly not of magic at all. Arthur had experienced countless situations that proved the existence of magic to him, heck, he hated magic because it killed his father. Saying it is superstition was like saying that Camelot isn't real or that there are no trees in the world and that pigs can fly because they have got a propeller in their butt.

There was the amnesia again. All of a sudden we saw a whole new story with characters that have never seen and experienced what was shown to us the years before. Why?

The Disir/the Triple Goddes proved very clearly that the Old Religion wasn't a pleasant institution but a force full of dogmas and ridigity. I understand very well that Arthur didn't comply to their demand when they blackmailed and threatened him. Bowing to the Triple Goddes/the Old Religion would mean to give up any sovereignity and independence. Instead of making clear to Arthur that a peaceful coexistance is possible, the Triple Goddess demanded full submission and obedience. Why would anyone want to follow that order? Moreover, if the Triple Goddess knows, sees and presides all, why should she demand such a thing of Arthur when she knew very well that he wouldn't submit anyway? Why didn't she prevent Igraine from dying but instead, obviously, chose her, thus initiated the Great Purge that Uther had started because of this? In reference to what the Lurker in the second comment said, that legend has it that the Disir were goddesses/spirits of fertilty (who also helped women in conceiving children): in case that the writers had this in mind on "Merlin", even though there was no mentioning of it in the episode, they were probably the ones who created Arthur, thus brought the one to this world who was supposed to unite the lands of Albion and whose birth caused Igraine's death. It's only speculation, but given that the Triple Goddess knows, sees and presides all, she knew what would happen. Even more, she made it happen. So, whether or not the Disir were meant to be the spirits of fertility here on the show, the Triple Goddess created it all, everything from the beginning, especially when regarding the very fact that Merlin's "future was written since the dawn of time" and that his future and destiny was connected to Arthur's. It was all predetermined, even Arthur's rejection of the Triple Goddess' demand. Nothing made really sense.

What I got from this epsiode was most of all that the Old Religion (not necessarily all magic) was a very cruel and despisable religion. No wonder that Uther had fought it for so long. And here there was a great opportunity (once again) to clarify the difference between the Old Religion and the new ways that Merlin was supposed to bring about. And once again this opportunity was dismissed and ignored. Merlin should have been in a dilemma about the Old Ways and his own heritage, being a member of the Old Religion. He despised Nimueh's ways and told her that he don't want to be part of this religion in season one already. Why didn't he react to this new situation in a similar way but only wanted to save Arthur, completely disregarding what was really going on? He should have questioned himself and the prophecy, the Old Religion and its dogmas. Instead he was only worried about Arthur. Why didn't it occur to him that Mordred, as a member of the Old Religion, was (probably unknowingly) part of a huge set up and sick game that the Old Religion had been playing with pretty much everyone for eons? And why didn't Merlin want to talk to "his" Goddess, his one and only boss? He had the opportunity to ask questions and to get answers, to tell her what he wants and what he thinks, to find out what the ultimate goal was and what the heck was going on. But like he did with the Diamair, he just ignored it. Again ignored the great opportunity to finally get some answers and to set some things straight.

And why didn't the Triple Goddess/the Disir talk to Merlin, the one and only "saviour" whose "future was written since the dawn of time" by them? I don't understand why once again the bromance was the heart of it all and why everything else which was of the essence was completely overlooked.

Merlin's remark that he "grew up" when Gaius asked him what had happened to the young socrerer, was quite a ridiculous statement, given that growing up on "Merlin" obviously means to become cruel and callous and to murder others. What a very questionable message this was. Had he really grown up, he would have questioned the entire thing, tried to convince Arthur, tried to change something for his kin and talked to Mordred. Instead he sneaked around like a jelous teenager and wanted Mordred dead (again) in order to "save" Arthur. His advice to Arthur to not allow magic was enormously stupid. Normally, telling Arthur that submitting to the Triple Goddess wouldn't be good but that not all magic is so cruel and full of dogmas would have been a much better and mature idea. That way he would have adviced Arthur to reject the Triple Goddess' demand but at the same time to allow the "good" magic at least. There was another way than simply saying yes or no, completely submitting or completely denying.

Last but not least, I found it interesting that again it was mentioned that the land was almost destroyed and in total chaos before Uther came to the land (without any objection or protest from Merlin). Yet more proof for the ongoing and longtime fight between magic and non-magic long before Uther was even born, which doesn't make him responsible for the overall war but only for the Great Purge and the ban of magic in Camelot. If the Old Religion hadn't wanted him to react that way, they had better not killed Igraine even though they had to have known that exactly this would happen.