User blog comment:Fimber/The Grinch?/@comment-4879894-20121215020813

It"s always a pleasure to read your thoughts, and, to say the truth, it's very rare that I disagree what you say.

The question, above all,  is actually why, you're right and I intend to write a post exclusively dedicated to this paramount question. As we are surrounded by lies, lies of the producers, lies of the actors who say what they are told to say (otherwise, how can we explain, for example, that a B. James said about Uther that it's dangerous to make a villain a likeable character ? 1. He is stupid as the character he portrays 2. He is aware of the dullness of what he says but he can't justify the episode 5.03 otherwise, at the cost of disregard for the fanbase ; as we saw already 10 epi of the current series, it's very difficult, not to say impossible, to believe C. Morgan or K. Mc Grath, when then say that the end will satisfy all the fans and answer all the questions), the question why is a riddle.

The first theory that popped in my head is the inability of the writers to develop a plotline, a character or the interaction between two characters. They only show the ability to wrap up a stand alone episode. I will go further later.

For now, I will only say a few words about one symptomatic episode, The Disir. For fear of letting Mordred alive, Merlin pushed Arthur to refuse magic and expressed this infamous sentence : "There's no place for magic in Camelot". Why this sentence ?

1. To tease the audience about the magic reveal ("Ah ! we got you ! You thought it was the moment, but it was not. You have to wait !" It's quite childish, but it worked)

2. To push the drama to its limits: on a side, we have Arthur on the brink of admitting the magic, ready for the picking ; on the other side, Merlin obviously overwhelmed by an internal conflict and unable to seize the opportunity.

The Merlin's sentence is only explained by a dramatic interest. Psychologically and logically, it's not acceptable. Psychologically speaking, Merlin musn't condemn a boy who has yet shown his absolut loyalty to Arthur, such cruelty is incomprehensible. Psychologically speaking, Arthur musn't act like a boy who is looking for a new mentor, he has to act like a king for god sake. Logically speaking, Merlin acted like a fool : if the prophecy about Mordred is true, the Goddess is necessarily aware of it, then, in the case where Arthur refuse to let the magic return in Camelot, it's impossible that she let die Arthur's doom.

In disregard of  logic and psychologic consistancy, the writers had rather favoured the drama. Obviously, they had no interest in characters' coherent development or in logical narrative.