Board Thread:Series 5 Discussion/@comment-71.195.18.110-20130130220009/@comment-6338919-20130206110647

It's never explicitly said though, so we can't be sure. Just another example for how rushed everything was. There shoould have been much, much more time  - a lifetime - for Arthur to truly appreciate Merlin for what he is, and we were owed a more explicit image of their mutual friendship - as nice as "Thank you" and "I want you to always be you" were, I wanted Arthur to tell Merlin that he considers him to be his friend, his best friend.