Board Thread:Rewatching "Merlin" - Season Three/@comment-5102537-20130914110054/@comment-5102537-20130921113351

Reaper47 wrote:

But when Morgana went to seek help from the Druids about her magic when she accidentally broke the window using magic when she woke up from the nightmare, I felt kinda sorry for her. She was so sweet and understanding, and she could have used those qualities to become a greater character and not fall to the dark side. But I agree, some of, and if not, most of - the things that Uther did during the Great Purge did affect Morgana and her reasons for turning against him aren't all for her advantage.

Morgana wasn't in Camelot during the Great Purge. The only things that she experienced were those she saw being done to magic-users when she was in Camelot already. While she surely also felt for those who practised magic, I've always been under the impression that her opposing Uther in the first two seasons was rather teenage-like rebellion than only compassion for magic users, not to mention that she herself had already experienced some unusual things going on with her when having the visions. So she actually fought for herself, most of all. Nevertheless, she also wanted to help others in the beginning and had good reasons to disapprove of the punishment for sorcerers/those who used magic.

However, she never really knew Uther's reasons (maybe only later in case that Morgause had told her about Igraine) and during the show she never asked Uther what had happened back then and where his hatred came from. While it was understandable that she sided with magic and wanted to help others in the first two seasons (whereas she didn't care about her kind in later seasons anymore), her insane hatred was unjustified. She was responsible for her actions and it's a much too easy way out to always blame others, like the show blamed Uther and Merlin for her turning to the dark side. It was her doing alone - unless she was enchanted or brainwashed by Morgause, for example.

As for the episode, I think it was average. It was good to learn more about a character's background, in this case about Gwen when her brother Elyan was introduced.

I also liked some scenes, like when Arthur told Uther the lie about having lost a wager against Morgana, even though I wonder why Uther allowed him to get the silk himself instead of simply sending someone else to buy it.

What I didn't like was Cenred and Morgause's cliché-like super-villain behaviour. Cenred could have been an interesting character if he hadn't been described as some kind of a medival stereotype punk or biker of a ganster-gang or drug dealer who was about to make the business of his life. A bit more humanity and intelligence would have done a better job.

Same goes for Morgause and Morgana who were only plain evil and mean. In my opinion, such things eliminate all the thrill and make the villains boring.

Fortunately, Arthur loved Gwen enough to be willing to rescue Elyan. I think we all feel that this was the right thing to do and we think we would have done the same in his position. However, by doing this - even though it was most noble and I'm glad that he did - he risked his life and Camelot's future once again. He either didn't think it through or he actually didn't care much about Camelot and his father. As noble as it was - and ethically, as right as it was - it was also quite stupid. If it hadn't been for Merlin's powers, Arthur would have been tortured, probably revealed secrets about Camelot which might have led to its destruction and then he would have died.

I love Happy Endings but sometimes I think that such heroic things were a little naive on the show. I would have preferred a more pressing reason for Arthur to risk his life. One could argue that love is pressing enough, which is true, but I think it would have been a good idea to emphasize at some point that Arthur wasn't as interested in his duties as he was in Gwen. And by that, someone could have mentioned that this wasn't the appropriate behaviour for the future king and the Prince who could be used to help destroy an entire kingdom. A little more conflict would have been a good idea.

Anyway, it was an average but not so bad episode with some interesting scenes. For example, the one when Uther finally gave in and agreed to send a search party for Gwen. This was more than anyone could have expected from a king and Uther in particular. This one contributed to the plot about Uther growing softer towards Morgana ever since their conversation at Gorlois' grave.