Board Thread:What If?/@comment-5674726-20140906160658/@comment-5674726-20140930193444

Areanna123 wrote:

I agree with pretty much everything you said, I find it all very likely. I guess I was just looking at things like Uthers' reaction in a different light. Instead of being angry and trying to teach Arthur a lesson, I saw him being worried, the way he was whenever Morgana got kidnapped, but I suppose this situation does differ from a kidnapping. It would be capable Arthur running away from his responsibilities. It doesn't seem to have occurred to Uther that there was any kind of enchantment at play until Morgana made her inadvisable attempt to convince him that Gwen was a sorceress so I doubt that he'd think that Arthur was a victim, he'd see him as foolish and irresponsible for running out on his King and the kingdom he was to rule one day rather than see sense and realise that he needs to drop the servant girl who has caught his fancy. He might hope that Arthur would come to his senses and return but I'd say that he wouldn't question that he was acting of his own free will.

"As for Morgana staying her hand, yes that would be the wise thing to do, but I don't know if she could. She is so freaking emotional, I have trouble telling what she would do at this point in her life. In season one she would generally do what she felt was right, in seasons four and five she usually did whatever was most destructive, but in seasons two and three, I feel like anything could have happened."

I think that Morgause might have to be the one to sit her down to remind her that she can't act in haste. She was at least somewhat more level-headed than her baby sister and I'd say that she would have been clever enough to see that if Uther meets an untimely end a short time after Arthur runs away with Gwen, Arthur will return to claim the throne as soon as he gets word of his father's death and most of the people of Camelot will back him. However, she would not find it agreeable if Morgana softened towards Uther over the years, to the point where she came to care for him as her father.

"People seeing Arthur as an irresponsible brat rings true, because well, in this instance it is. Bailing on the Kingdom (where he is the only known child of the king) for a girl, probably wouldn't be taken kindly. I don't think I would want that kind of king. Though, I don't recall anyone saying anything when he gave a bunch of land over to Mithian, instead of marrying her."

I think that we may safely put that down to the work of the plot device fairies.

Once the writers decided that it was time for Arthur to marry Guinevere, the previously insurmountable objections to the King marrying a servant pretty much disappear, and the same nobles who would have been dead set against the idea are apparently cool with taking part in a tournament in honour of a servant. I think that it would have been so much more effective if Arthur had tried to stage a tournament only to find that, with the exception of Leon and the Round Table knights, all of the knights are claiming colds, sprained ankles and dead grannies so they don't have to take part, while other courtiers abstain from attending.

If Arthur's Council were doing their jobs, they would have been doing everything they could to convince him not to give up the prospect of uniting Camelot and Nemeth and a chunk of land - who cares about the people who lived there, who might have preferred to remain under Camelot's rule and protection? Not Arthur! - just as they should have pointed out the obvious problems with a King marrying a woman who was known to have been unfaithful to him and who would have been viewed as utterly untrustworthy. If Arthur insisted on going through with it, the only courtiers to cheer the new Queen should have been Leon and the Round Table knights.

However, as it was time for them to get married, nobody had a problem with it and they were all delighted.

A writing fail, if ever I saw one.

"Which reminds me of what you said about an arranged marriage for Morgana. I've seen a lot of fanfiction and other fanworks that go with the idea that Morgana isn't married because she absolutely refuses to even contemplate the idea of an arranged marriage. I never agreed with that.

''I think she would be fine with that idea. A number of people seem to see her as a revolutionary or feminist, but I don't. I always thought that she liked the status quo the way it was. Plus if the way Uther treated Arthur getting married is anything to go by, it's not like he would make her wed someone she disliked or was thirty years older than her. Based on Morgana's interactions with Mordred and Aithusa I don't think she would be against the idea of having children, so there's that."''

Aside from a couple of very minor flirtations, Morgana doesn't seem to have been interested in romance, and she was pretty conservative in some ways. For an example of this, see her disbelief at the idea of Arthur marrying Gwen, despite the fact that she and Morgause had previously made a plan that relied on Arthur caring so much for Gwen that he would risk his life for a man he didn't know from Adam because he was her brother. If she believed that it would improve her chances of holding the throne, I could see her going for it. A political marriage would not only show that, unlike Arthur, she was prepared to do her duty by Uther and Camelot, it would give her the chance to establish her line as heirs to the throne, and to add powerful in-laws to her support base.

"I think Merlin would try to keep Gwen as Queen, but would be willing to drop her if necessary."

That would be interesting to see. Merlin was always inclined to tell Arthur to follow his heart and that he would be a better King if he married for love - which I think is a disservice to Arthur, but that's neither here nor there - so it'd be hard on him to go against that and tell him to give up on the idea of marrying Gwen and return to Camelot without her. How would Arthur take it if the friend who had championed the idea of him marrying for love suddenly had a change of heart?

"Morgana as a good Queen. We've seen her ruling twice and both times, I hate to say it, but she was a tyrant. The scenario we are talking about here might change that, as you said, if she keeps Uther alive for a few years then she takes the throne with loyal followers, she beat Arthur, and Uther she is still mixed up about, but mostly kind of loves, and is dead. So, yeah it's possible that in this case she would be a good Queen."

I think that, over time, she might shape into a good Queen. It might begin as her wanting to win the love and loyalty of the people away from Arthur but after acting the part of the good Princess/Queen for so long, it would become real.

"Arthur would look pretty bad if he tried to take the throne from her. I don't think he would do that. My question is what would Merlin do?"

That is a very good question.

To what lengths would Merlin be prepared to go to make Arthur King? Would he be prepared to kill a Morgana who is a good Queen, not to mention one who is bound to legalise magic as soon as she can, to clear Arthur's path to the throne, whether he likes it or not?