Board Thread:Rewatching "Merlin" - Season Two/@comment-5102537-20130727145913/@comment-5102537-20130730210428

Edrea wrote: I got some things I can't quite understand. First of all, I just noticed that Uther didn't seem to have his own manservant or anybody who attended his needs. Even when he was ill, Gaius told Leon to watch him closely for changes. And so many other times too when Uther got sick. Especially when he lost his mind after Morgana's betrayal. Gwen was the one taking care of him, why?

Like I said earlier in my blog, Merlin was practically yelling a spell behind Arthur when suddenly the castle started to collapse out of nowhere, but Arthur didn't notice or hear a thing. Well well, plot convenience some might say.

Another thing, when Arthur and Merlin arrived at Camelot, everybody was asleep. Arthur then worried about Uther and tried to find him, in the middle of his worry mind, he stopped to Morgana's chamber and carried Gwen to bed. It must be Morgana's chamber, because why would Morgana and Gwen would be there if it was not her room. And Uther was asleep in his own room, it must be because he was sick and even though he forced himself to work or read and fell asleep in his chair, it must be in his own room. Why Arthur didn't go directly to Uther's room and stopped at Morgana's room first? When Arthur said it himself, "this is the first place they are going to look". But apparently it was not the first place he looked. lol..:)

Uther had a man servant who we saw the first and one and only time  in "The Tears of Uther Pendragon" when he dressed himself and was helped being dressed the morning after Morgana had returned. It was the scene when he told Gaius that Morgana was very much like her father (being strong) and when Gaius replied that she had indeed lots of traits inherited from Gorlois... But yes, I had often wondered why a manservant was never be seen, except for this one episode, and why Gwen looked after him after Morgana's betrayal. Of course, it was plot convenience - it not only showed what a hard working and kind woman Gwen was but it also gave her a reason to stay in Camelot. With Morgana gone, Gwen had no job anymore but at the same time they wanted her to appear in the episodes to move the relationship with Arthur to the next level (kissing each other, Agravaine turning Arthur against her when he breaks up with her for a while). In reality, a woman would have never been "hired" to look after a male "patient", especially not the king. Uther was quite helpless and literally exposed to Gwen in many ways. This was tremendously humiliating for Uther since there was little to no privacy for him anymore. Gwen was obviosuly allowed to come to his chambers whenever she wanted or had to. Who knows what exactly were her obligations. And seeing him being a helpless shadow of himself most certainly would have never been tolerated if he had been lucid enough to object. Actually, it was quite mean to let Gwen do the job for both her and Uther.

As for Arthur not noticing Merlin doing magic, well, it became some sort of a running gag during the seasons. He not only never noticed but he also often passed out whenever it was convenient. For some time I thought that maybe Arthur knew all along but kept it a secret himself. Alas, he obviously was indeed as naive and unaware as they demonstrated during the entire show. Quite unbelievable, though.

Great observation about Arthur and Merlin going to Morgana's chambers first when they actually were on their way to Uther's chambers. I didn't notice until you mentioned it. Very weird indeed! :-D

Judging from the looks that Merlin gave Morgana, I would say that he was convinced that Morgana knew what was going on and never considered the possibility that she might be unaware of the situation and being used by Morgause.