Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-31492005-20190107021918/@comment-37017073-20190430173147

75.115.169.143 wrote: It really sucked what happened to Morgana, I knew of the legends, but was under the impression the show was taking the story in a new creative direction by making Morgana so beautifully wonderful, with Merlin and Morgana being centered between good and evil, but ultimately facing it all together!

Morgana was "wonderful" in the beginning because the writers followed a pattern of reversed expectations for the main characters. Wise wizard Merlin is introduced as a rash, bumbling fool; just King Arthur as an arrogant bully; Queen Guinevere as a humble serving girl; and outcast witch Morgana as an empathetic courtier.

The writers did this because the series was set "before they (the characters) were famous" and they wanted to show/explore how they grew into the characters of legend. Over the course of the series, Merlin earns his wisdom through trials, tribulation, and yes, many mistakes; Arthur learns to follow his heart and do what he believes to be right even if it means disobeying his father or stepping out of his shadow; Gwen learns to be more assertive and grows into power as her relationship with Arthur deepens and he begins to actively seek her counsel; and Morgana allows her desire for vengeance and growing feud with Uther to embitter her, infect her other relationships, and turn her against the people and kingdom she used to care about.

In the end, I can only blame the outcome of the show due to sucky, sucky writing to characters and a tv series that could have been so much more.

"Not What I Wanted To Happen" ≠ Bad Writing.

Morgana's problems with Uther date all the way back to the first episode and festered and grew in response to a number of established issues: his tendency to ignore her counsel, his relentless persecution of magic-users, the discovery of her own magic, etc. In turn, Morgana's growing feud with Uther led her to ally herself with people like Tauren, Mordred, Morgause, and Alvarr, all of whom shared and encouraged her vendetta and had goals that aligned with it.

This may not have been what you wanted to happen, but that doesn't change the fact that Morgana's arc was neither contrived nor out of character. Her flaws and issues were clearly established and the choices she made were given narrative weight. It's not the writers' fault that her fans continually latched on to her positive traits and refused to acknowledge the darkness that lay beneath.