Board Thread:Questions and Answers/@comment-110.33.239.213-20121226023324/@comment-5102537-20130929103317

Druidgirl wrote: The whole point of Merlin - was to bring peace and freedom to those with magic by protecting Arthur who was supposedly meant to bring it about. Arthur didnt live long enough. Merlin failed.

Yes, and basically, it was Merlin's destiny to protect Arthur only until he is king. Kilgharrah told this Merlin in season one. They've changed this in season four without referring to it, so even at that point of time the whole prophecy was just a fickle and replacable opinion. Nothing has come to pass, except Arthur's death that was foreseen by others.

It would have made sense if Merlin had figured some inconsistencies when Arthur became king, remembering that the dragon said that he was supposed to protect Arthur until his coronation - and if the finale had stated out that the prophecy wasn't a real prophecy but maybe only manipulation by the dragon and those who wanted Merlin to achieve whatever he really was supposed to achieve.