User blog comment:Morganacharmedfan/questions/@comment-4190137-20121102074551

I can answer those question in two words: plot holes.

The producers have decided to fool us fans by secretly eliminating elements of the story from previous series, and attempting to disguise it with new superfluous plot lines with of course an addition of their so called 'darkness'.

I would answer those questions from a Merlin-point-of-view but I can't since there is no indication of anything.

So they're all plot holes.