User blog:SquarePoint/Theory about *The Death Song of Uther Pendragon*

The epsiode *The Death Song of Uther Pendragon* almost shocked me in regard to Uther's rewritten character and what we have been witnessing from series 1 - 4.

I can't and do not want to believe that TPTB were really serious in giving Uther a whole new peronality that has nothing to do with his former one anymore because it would imply that they think the audience is incapable of noticing that his character has been turned around completely and does not match any of the former stories or descriptions we have seen when watching the series.

Here are some of my ideas and I hope that it is not only wishful thinking.

Could it be possible that the spirit of Uther that Camelot encountered was not the real Uther but rather a manifestation of what the different protagonists expect Uther to do and to think?

The pros:

The sorceress gives Arthur the horn to summon the dead even though she knows that Arthur has oulawed magic in his kingdom. She basically has no reason to give Arthur a tool whith which he can summon the dead, except perhaps that she wants Arthur to do exactly this. The question is why.

Igraine's supposed spirit appeared to be a normal human who Arthur even hugged whereas Uther's spirit, in the world of the living, was a blue-shining ghost that could not be touched or be stopped by doors and walls. Why so?

When Arthur first meets Uther's spirit in the Spirit World, Uther first tells him that he misses him. This is something that Arthur would expect his father to say to him. Given that for some weird reason Arthur is still tremendously uncertain, even though he is old and experienced enough to finally know his place and abilities, and given that for some even stranger reason Arthur has always thought that his father has never been proud of him despite how often Uther told him otherwise, Uther's next sentences would also be something that Arthur maybe subconsciously expects from him. When Uther tells Arthur how disappointed he is and how much he disapproves of how Arthur is running the kingdom it would match Arthur's insecurities and expectations, being a disappointment to his father.

When Merlin meets Uther, the first thing that Uther's spirit tells him is that Merlin is just a serving boy and not the slightest challenge for Uther. Merlin would, by all means, expect exactly this behaviour from Uther towards him, given that Uther had stated several times that servants do not deserve the respect that those of noble blood deserve. Merlin must also have waited for a long time to finally tell Uther that he has magic. This is another thing that the wizard would expect from Uther, condemning and attacking him simply for this. It is also possible that Merlin would expect Uther to try to kill him in rage once he learns about his magical powers.

The cons mixed with pros:

To expect a particular behaviour from a spirit, it is necessary to know about them. As far as I understand what was happening on this epsiode, neither Percival nor Gwen knew that Uther's spirit was released into the world of the living. When Uther attacked both of them it can not have been because of their expectations if they had not known that Uther's spirit was even there.

Or were the attacks on Percival and Gwen subconsciously triggered by the secret thoughts of either Merlin or Arthur, unleashing a force that could attack others even when being out of Arthur's and Merlin's sight?

Another point that boggles me is the fact that Uther's spirit tried to tell Arthur that Merlin has magic. If the manifestation of Merlin's thoughts about Uther really told Arthur about his magic it can not be something that Merlin wants. But then... it could be something that Merlin either feared or something that he subconsciously wants to tell Arthur which then was channelled through his imagination of what Uther would be like when knowing about the circumstances.

Arthur on the other hand did not want to hear any further word about how much he failed and wanted to end the scenario as well as saving Merlin, hence sending the spirit back to the Spirit World.

Total Cons:

Arthur would never expect Uther to attack him or even to try to kill him. The only explanation would be that Merlin had been there the whole time and made the spirit attack Arthur with his subconscious thoughts and expectations. But then, Merlin has always known how much Uther loved his son. As a matter of fact, Merlin was the one who figured that when the dragon told him that Uther has to cry tears of remorse in order to break the spell when Uther was under the enchantment of the troll. Considering this I wonder how Merlin could have thought that Uther would really attack Arthur or even try to kill him.

If TPTB really wanted to show the audience that Uther's spirit was not the real one or perhaps not the real one they would have let one of the characters say that it is possible that this Uther was not the real. Either Merlin, Arthur or Gaius would have mentioned that this behaviour was unlike Uther. They could have raised his violent and mean attempts to question in order to let the audience know that something strange is going on and that there might be some more behind it.

Instead the epsiode ended with a scene between Merlin and Arthur teasing each other and no hint was left to make us wonder if this was the real Uther or only a manifestation of the protagonist's thoughts.

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Another theory is that it was a part of Uther's spirit but only a reminiscence of his actual whole personality and soul, only a part of him that could be summoned after his cruel and agonizing death that was the result of a year in total misery. Perhaps he was so angry and mad because he died too soon and without redemption, forced by the violent magic of his own daughter that left this part of bitterness in him. When he told Arthur that sometimes love is not enough which is contradictory to Uther's entire personality, and when he also told him that Arthur trusts everyone too easily, he perhaps did it because Uther himself loved too much and too deep and in the end was betrayed and killed by his own daughter he trusted with his life and kingdom after he had lost his beloved wife already which held his soul captured in misery for decades, all this leaving his bitter part of his soul lecturing Arthur and actually talking about himself at the same time, transferring his own disappointment, experience and bitterness onto his son who is about to make the same mistakes: loving his wife deeply and being devastated should anything happen to her, having been betrayed by his sister Morgana and his uncle Agravaine who even killed Uther.

But then again, if TPTB wanted to let us know that this is what happened and that the *real* Uther or his soul is not like that and that he only did it due to torment and misery, they would have given a hint to let us speculate and assume that what we saw was not all of Uther, if not actually telling us through the protagonists that this Uther acted this way for a reason.

Leaving the audience to think and believe that this Uther we saw in this epsiode was really the one we have seen throughout the series is a total shame and, I'm sorry, even totally illogical.