Mordred

"You and the boy are as different as day and night."

- Kilgharrah on Merlin and Mordred  Sir Mordred is a young druid man who was apprenticed to Cerdan when he was a child. He was taken in by Merlin and Morgana after his master, who was ultimately executed by Uther Pendragon for practicing sorcery. Mordred was separated from him in Camelot. Mordred formed a close bond with Morgana and Merlin, but Merlin betrayed him and became enemies. Mordred was the first person to call Merlin by his druid name "Emrys". Kilgharrah foresaw that Mordred would be responsible for the death of Arthur Pendragon and warned Merlin not to help the young druid.

Prophecies
Kilgharrah had foreseen that Mordred would become a deadly enemy of both Merlin and Arthur, and according to his prophecy, Arthur would die at Mordred's hand. Nimueh is also implied to have foreseen this future because she told Arthur, "It is not your destiny to die at my hands" (The Poisoned Chalice). Nimueh later indirectly mentioned Mordred again when she met Merlin on the Isle of the Blessed after Merlin accused her of attempting to kill him and Arthur (Le Morte d'Arthur).

Arrival in Camelot
After his master was turned over to the Knights of Camelot, Mordred used his telepathy to call Merlin for help. Merlin helped him escape the guards and took him to Morgana, who offered to help Merlin hide the boy. Uther declared that anyone caught hiding the boy would be executed along with the child. His arm had been wounded by the guards when they chased him through the town, and he fell sick after the wound became infected. Although Merlin tried to treat the wound, he was unsuccesful and was forced to tell Gaius that he and Morgana were hiding the boy from Uther. Gaius agreed to treat the boy, but would not help them return Mordred to the Druids. Once Mordred was recovered, Merlin, Morgana and Gwen tried to sneak him out of Camelot; but Morgana was caught by Arthur and they were taken back to the castle. They tried for a second time to sneak Mordred back to his people, this time with Arthur's help. Arthur, with Merlin and Morgana's help, managed to take Mordred back to Iseldir and the Druids where the boy finally revealed his name. Merlin almost allowed Mordred to be caught during the second attempt to sneak him out of Camelot due to the Dragon's prophecy, stating that Mordred was destined to kill Arthur, but eventually decided against this and helped him escape (The Beginning of the End).

Morgana later mentions Merlin's help in Mordred's escape as her motivation for accompanying Merlin to Ealdor (The Moment of Truth).

Life as a Druid
When Morgana's magic started to reveal itself, she went to the Druids for help. Mordred informed his people of who she was and he helped care for her. But when Uther's soldiers raided the camp, Morgana was 'rescued' and Mordred was surrounded by several soldiers after briefly reuniting with Merlin. But, using a single spell, he knocked over, and possibly killed, the soldiers and escaped with the rest of his people. Merlin was visibly shaken by what he had witnessed Mordred do (The Nightmare Begins).

Aligning with Bandits
Mordred later on sided with a group of bandits, led by a sorcerer named Alvarr. Morgana stole a crystal and delivered it to the camp, and Mordred was pleased to see her. Back in Camelot, Merlin visited the Great Dragon and he was told of an ancient prophecy foretelling an evil alliance between Mordred and Morgana. When Merlin and the soldiers attacked the camp, all were killed apart from Mordred, who escaped, and Alvarr, who was captured and later freed by Morgana. Merlin tried to stop Mordred from getting away by causing a branch to trip him, but Mordred used magic on two spears so as that they killed the two guards who were chasing him. Following this, Mordred looked over at Merlin and spoke to him in his mind, saying: "I shall never forgive this, Emrys, and I shall never forget." Then he ran into the woods, out of sight (The Witch's Quickening).

The Future
The Great Dragon informed Merlin that Mordred, if allowed to live, would eventually bring about Arthur's death (The Beginning of the End), likely in conjunction with his foreseen alliance with Morgana (The Witch's Quickening). It has been confirmed that Mordred will return in Series 5. The writers have stated that Mordred has a job to do at the end of the story. But Asa Butterfield won't play him, another actor called Alexander Vlahos is set to take on the role. It has been confirmed that Mordred will with work for both Morgana and Arthur and may be a protagonist at one point or another. It is unclear at this moment in time whether Mordred's role while working under Arthur will similar to that of the late Agravaine who acted as a spy for Morgana or vice versa.

Mordred will become a Knight of the Round Table and of Camelot alongside Arthur's most trusted knights.



Trivia

 * Of all the characters in the show, Mordred is only character to have been recast with Asa Butterfield playing the role of the child Mordred and Alexander Vlahos taking over the role as the teenage/adult Mordred.
 * As of Series 5, Mordred is the youngest member of the Knights of Camelot and the Knights of the Round Table. He is an ally of Arthur but his intentions or relationship with Morgana are currently unknown as the actor playing Mordred hasn't had any scenes with Katie McGrath who plays Morgana.

Appearances

 * Series 1
 * The Poisoned Chalice Arthur,_Gaius,_Mordred.png]]
 * The Beginning of the End 
 * The Moment of Truth 
 * Le Morte d'Arthur 


 * Series 2
 * The Nightmare Begins
 * The Witch's Quickening


 * Series 5
 * TBA

Personality
At first Mordred seemed to be an innocent child. He normally spoke telepathically and rarely communicated with his voice. Morgana even started to think he was mute, because he spoke so little. He was frightened whilst he was trapped in Camelot and when his father was executed Mordred sensed it even though he had not actually seen what had happened. Nonetheless Mordred revealed a dark and vengeful personality telling Merlin that he would never forgive or forget him after Merlin led Arthur and his knights to Mordred's camp and tried to stop him from escaping. He had a close bond with Morgana who was the only person besides Merlin and other magic users who was able to hear him speak telepathically.

Abilities and Magic Powers
Mordred was powerful in magic and his greatest ability was telepathy, using it to the extent that he rarely spoke with his mouth. Also simply by screaming, both telepathically and with his voice, he was able to smash glass in Morgana's chambers and blast back two knights that surrounded him, either knocking them out or killing them. He was also able to levitate two spears and impale two guards without saying a word. Kilgharrah said that Mordred was possibly powerful enough to wield the crystal of Neahtid while Morgana was not.

Memorable Quotes

 * "My name is Mordred." - to Arthur
 * "I shall never forgive this, Emrys, and I shall never forget!"- to Merlin
 * "Will we ever see her again?" to Alvarr on Morgana
 * "Now I can take care of you like you did me." to Morgana

Legend
Mordred is known as a notorious traitor who fought King Arthur at the Battle of Camlann, where he was killed and Arthur fatally wounded. In most versions of the legend, he is the illegitimate nephew of Arthur and the son of his half-sister Morgause, but in some versions was the illegitimate son of Arthur and of his other half-sister, Morgana.

Gallery
See Mordred/Gallery for the gallery of Mordred.