Board Thread:Series 5 Discussion/@comment-6905051-20130327100352/@comment-5102537-20130330115955

This is a good question. Given that Arthur had no problem with servants/peasants/commoners due to the fact that he knighted commoners and married a serving girl, there must have been some other reason why Merlin often didn't succeed in guiding Arthur.

On a cynical note, it was done that way because Merlin was supposed to remain being just Arthur's servant in order to build up tension, since only the viewers and very few characters knew who Merlin really was. The silly banter was so intensively emphasized that a listening Arthur would have taken away the usual master and servant-relationship. Also, Arthur needed to do at least some things on himself in order to not appear to be totally dull. They have failed in doing so because Arthur was always influenced by others and hardly noticed and realised anything, but it would have been worse if he had always asked for Merlin's advice or if he had always listened to him.

The constant reset-button with Arthur hopping from one side to another by sometimes ackowledging Merlin and then dismissing his advice or warning again was quite annoying. It often seemed as if the characters suffered from amnesia all the time.

But it's not only Arthur's fault. In my opinion, they also very much overdid Merlin's submissive behaviour and his constant attempt to play the fool. There was a reason why Uther thought that Merlin was an idiot, and there's a reason why Arthur often thought that Merlin was some kind of a weird person: sometimes wise, sometimes silly and stupid. When a person behaves much too submissive, the other one won't take you seriously anymore and naturally feel superior to you.

I enjoyed Merlin's behaviour towards Arthur in The Crystal Cave when they returned to Camelot, showing him his bad mood and dismissing Arthur's attempt to behave like Merlin's master again. Sadly, this was only one of thevery rare occasions. Merlin hardly stood up for himself, so Arthur must have had a hard time to accpet him as a friend rather than a kind and well-serving servant.

Their whole relationship, from the beginning to the end, was the thing that obviously most fans loved but it was the very thing that was the most irritating to me on the show. Always up and down, most of the time silly, never really building up. To me they weren't close friends and they had no chemistry, probably because their relationship actually didn't evolve.

Why Merlin always accompanied Arthur on every mission is as much a miracle as the fact that Arthur always went on missions himself when he was king already. There was a reason why Uther stayed in Camelot and sent his men. A kingdom without a king is as worthless as a door without a door handle.