Board Thread:What If?/@comment-5674726-20130722103118/@comment-5674726-20130723124628

Edrea wrote:

For me, Merlin would definitely still help Arthur, however, it is his destiny and he will fullfill it no matter what. Maybe their friendship will be altered but not so much, given the fact that Merlin didn't do anything major to prevent Arthus banishing Gwen out of Camelot. He just smiled sadly and didn't even help her to find a place to stay.

I'd say that there's no question but that Merlin would continue to help Arthur but I could see him being disappointed and disillusioned if Arthur married Mithian.

He may not have made any major attempt to keep Arthur from banishing Guinevere but he strongly disapproved of the prospect of him marrying Princess Mithian, to the point of being hostile towards her and attempting to sabotage Arthur's courtship. He seems to have been deliberately blind to the advantages of the match with Mithian and I'd say that he would not have allowed himself to think that she could be as good a Queen as Guinevere. His behaviour would be understandable in a young child who resents a parent's new partner because they see them as a barrier to Mummy and Daddy getting back together but it was no credit to a grown man. He may have let Guinevere leave but he clearly hadn't given up hope, and had a major problem with the idea of Arthur marrying Mithian rather than realising that he should forgive Guinevere and marry her.

Merlin would know that, if Uther was alive and could advise Arthur, he would have been an ardent supporter of the match with Mithian. He wouldn't like it if Arthur married Mithian because he would be making the choice that Uther and the nobility would have him make, not the choice Merlin wanted him to make. As Fimber pointed out, if Arthur married a princess, the knighting of commoners would be the only thing that distinguished him from Uther. Merlin may have approved of Arthur relaxing the restrictions on who could be knighted but I could see him thinking of it as a no more than a baby step in the right direction. The occasional commoner with exceptional combat skills may have a shot at advancement but it's far from a shattering of the class divide.

On the other hand, Guinevere becoming Queen would be a much more powerful symbol of the Camelot that Merlin wants to see because, while Arthur strengthens his position by recruiting skilled warriors, regardless of their background, he doesn't gain a dowry or an alliance by marrying Guinevere. Spurning the idea of a royal match for her sake shows how highly he values a plain common woman, how much he loves her and how much faith he has in the Queen she will become.

I don't think that Guinevere being a commoner was the only reason Merlin wanted to see her as Queen but I think that it was a powerful motivator for him.

If Arthur and Morgana weren't related, if Morgana had stayed loyal to Camelot and if Arthur had chosen to marry instead - a lot of "ifs", I know - I could see Merlin being happy for them but I don't think that he would be as ardent a supporter of the match because Morgana is a noblewoman. He might be happy to see a Queen with magic but Arthur would still be sticking to the expected behaviour of a monarch rather than throwing out the rule book by declaring to the world that he loves a servant and will marry her.

Fimber wrote:

As for Morgana, the way she was described, I doubt that it would have calmed her if Arthur hadn't married Gwen. This would have been merely an expected success for her and only one step on her way to the throne. And who knows, maybe it would have even been harder for her to reach her goal with Mithian as Arthur's wife.

Morgana took the idea of a servant on her throne very personally so I'd say that she'd see it as at least a little less offensive if the new Queen of Camelot is of royal birth. There'd also be the satisfaction and relief of knowing that she had succeeded in averting a prophecy she found very upsetting. Given that she was responsible for preventing Arthur's marriage to Guinevere, it would be a small victory for her. I don't think it would have had a particularly significant effect on her, and she'd have continued to try to take Camelot. I'd say that one thing she'd be adamant about is that she will not harm Mithian while Arthur lives; she didn't go to all the trouble of keeping Guinevere from becoming Queen to leave an opening for a widower Arthur to take her as his second wife.