Board Thread:Rewatching "Merlin" - Season Five/@comment-5102537-20140308144416/@comment-5102537-20140310115334

The showrunners could have explained Uther's odd behaviour like a psycho-ghost if they had wanted to. Instead of intentionally trying to make the viewers think all of a sudden that he had always been that way (which they intended since they later said in an interview that they didn't want to sentimentalise him only because he died and that he was always a dictatorial, selfish tyrant) they could have made the episode point out that ghosts lose their mind when they're in the world of the living (like it is on "Supernatural" - ghosts that remain in the living world for too long get insane and malicious) or that ghosts become some kind of poltergeists when they died in a cruel/brutal way. In Uther's case, his violent death and the fact that his daughter killed him with magic could have been a good explanation for him to get nuts as a spirit. Another explanation could have been that he suffered in the afterlife and lost his mind due to that.

However, the episode made perfectly clear that nothing like that was ever intended but that Uther behaved that way due to his personality. It wanted to make the audience believe that this was the Uther we have always known - a sadistical cracy psycho who even tries to kill his son. And oddly, it worked with some fans. All the complicated, multifacetted and brilliantly portayed character traits throughout the entire show until he died were completely and fully ignored and flushed down the toilet in just a few seconds here in this episode.

What's even weirder is the fact that neither Gaius nor Merlin ever considered for a second that something was wrong with Uther. Gaius, as Uther's longterm kind of friend didn't even want to see and talk to him - and vice versa: Uther didn't want to see Gaius. He didn't want to see Morgana and never even mentioned her. Yet Merlin and Gaius were convinced that Uther, the one who loved his children deeply, sacrificed hisself for his son, and who never tortured his enemies would really torment Gwen and let her burn alive even though she had nothing to do with magic, plus attack and kill Arthur, his beloved son. This episode not only made a mockery of Uther but of every other character as well.

This episode had absolutely nothing to do with the previous seasons, and personally, I don't consider this one as a part of the story. To me, it was only a standalone episode that was lost and unintentionally shown.

Another question that could have been answered was the fact that Uther knew everything about Arthur's life, his wife, the knights and Arthur's achievements with other kingdoms (whatever they might have been...) but nothing about Merlin's powers. If the episode had stated out that Uther only knows what Arthur knows due to some kind of mental connection, he wouldn't have known about Merlin, of course. On the other hand, he should have known about Mordred since Arthur knew who Mordred was. Isn't it extremely weird that Uther never even mentioned Mordred, the druid boy he wanted to execute in season one, but instead attacked Percival, a knight who had helped and freed him and entire Camelot? Percival not only helped Uther and Camelot but also supported the fight against magic that Arthur continued. And so did the other knights as well as Gwen.

Yet Uther attacked those who were actually on his side in regard to magic but spared/ignored the ones who really were and/or who he should have considered to be a threat, namely Morgana and Mordred.

Did any of this make sense? Why didn't Uther warn Arthur about Morgana and why didn't he tell him that Morgana killed him? If he didn't know of it either, well, then we have to wonder again why he knew what Arthur was doing. Not mentioning Morgana as if she didn't even exist made no sense.

Merlin way overstepped the line when he enjoyed telling Uther that there was magic at the heart of Camelot the whole time without Uther having even noticed it. The way that Merlin said it was actually a mixture of a threat and of some sort of sadistical satisfaction. He acted like a pouting little child who wanted to hurt his  father or strict teacher. Merlin had better told Uther that his powers were the reason why Arthur was still alive, why Uther hadn't died much earlier and why Camelot was still standing and not burned down to its grounds. He could have assured Uther that he had nothing to fear and that Merlin was destined to protect Arthur and Camelot. But no, he just threw in Uther's face that he was a powerful wizard and that there was nothing that Uther could ever do. And to make it even worse, he told Uther what a bad king he was, as if Merlin had any idea what it takes and means to be king. He obviously had forgotten that Merlin was Arthur's servant because Uther gave him the job. That there was peace in Camelot for decades until Morgana attacked and that Merlin now served a king who had inherited the most powerful and prosperous kingdom in the land, the one that Uther had built.

What makes Merlin, a grown up man, think that Arthur is a so much better king when Merlin has to save his a*** almost every day and when he still persecutes sorcerers? Is it only because he knighted commoners and married a servant girl? Does he know nothing about how society worked, what other kingdoms are doing and what rules have to be followed? Didn't he see that Uther had managed to keep peace between the kingdoms regardless the differences and the threats from all sides? I'm not expecting Merlin to like Uther, not at all. But I expected him to be much wiser and mature, to have some compassion and insight. Tormenting a tormented soul even more instead of calming him down and giving him some peace was the immature behaviour of a child. If Merlin ever wanted a change and peace in regard to magic, he better not fuels the rage of someone who had suffered for decades and obviously still suffers in the afterlife. Had he convinced Uther that Merlin was needed in order to end this whole chaos in regard to magic against non-magic and in regard to Camelot at all, Uther would have been the best man to convince Arthur.

The conversation between Merlin and Uther could have been a masterpiece and one of the most brilliant conversations ever on the show, had they made Merlin and Uther act according to their personalites and according to the entire plotline. So many wasted chances, I can't believe they did it. Merlin could have told Uther about the prophecy and the destiny. He could have explained so many things and tried to open Uther's eyes by agreeing with him that there was indeed evil magic outside but that it could only be eliminated or stopped by good magic. Heck, Uther, as a spirit, was a magical creature himself. Merlin could have tried to assure Uther that there was even hope for Morgana if he just did it right. Giving Uther's soul finally some peace should have been one of the most important things for Merlin, Gaius and Arthur. Not only for the benefit of Uther's soul, which would have been reason enough, but also for the safety of Camelot, for Arthur's peace of mind and the potential opportunity to change Arthur's stance on magic. Who else and who other than his father could have ever convinced Arthur once and for all?

The problem with this show was always that the characters never knew enough. Everyone was lied to and manipulated and they all were kept in the dark about the most important things. That way, no change was possible.

Arthur's behaviour when he sent his father back to the Spirit World was actually callous. He knew that there was something wrong with him and that there had to have been a reason for his actions, yet he simply told him to hit the road because it was Arthur's turn now. It felt like "go away, nobody needs you anymore. It's my playground now, get your own". After Merlin, Gaius and Arthur had spent an entire epsiode to give the soul of the druid boy some peace so that he can rest, and after Merlin had given Lancelot peace in death when he restored his soul, one would expect that they are doing the same with Uther. Especially since Arthur loved him so much. How come that the soul of a druid boy meant more to Arthur, up to the point where he was willing to sacrifice himself, than the soul of his own father?

And why was nobody, not even Uther, ever questioning Arthur using magic to summon the spirit? Why wasn't this hypocrisy but totally alright? Why did the old sorceress even give the horn to Arthur in the first place? What a coincidence that she had it with her and then met Arthur, the one who persecuted her kind. Made no sense. Or did she know that Uther would return that way and cause mayhem? If so, to what purpose? Arthur, in spite of his speech towards his father about him acting only out of fear, didn't change just the slightest bit. He critised his father, yet he continued his work exactly the same way. So what was it all for? No development with Arthur, no change, no connection to past or future events.

Well, we had the banter in the end. So everything was supposed to be alright, wasn't it? Arthur's father suffers in the Spirit World for eternity but a little banter makes it all fine...