Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-24691863-20140413080351/@comment-5102537-20140429103103

Merlin After wrote: Interesting! Where did you write about the destructive force of the family? It's a sad message, I agree, but not an unrealistic one. Like most things, families can be a positive force or a negative one, often at the same time. That's what much of our greatest literature and theatre is all about.

Here is the blog I mentioned. In case you'd like to comment, it may happen that a comment disappears. Happens a lot on blogs for whatever reason. So maybe testing it first by writing and sending only one sentence or word would be a good idea. If it works, generally an edit in which the rest of the text can be pasted will do the job. Never forget copying your comment before sending it or it might be lost :-(

http://merlin.wikia.com/wiki/User_blog:Fimber/When_family_is_what_destroys_you

Very interesting points, Anglophile, Ozymandias v and Issy5209.

I agree that nobody actually was a hero (anymore) on "Merlin". I considered Arthur, Merlin, Gwen and Gaius the heroes up until the end of season three. In the first season, Morgana was also considered heroine by me until she slightly changed in season two, yet I still thought that she had the potential to become a heroine and join the others in whatever way.

Gaius changed from season four onwards, probably also because he was being put aside for the most part in order to put Arthur in the focus. Nevertheless, I still found him very interesting which was also due to Richard Wilson's unique way of portraying him, I think. At the same time I lost my interest in the younger protagonsists completely, even in Gwen when she was either shown as a happy queen like Barbie girl or as an enchanted evil woman, which was contradictory to her former wisdom and strength of character. Not to mention the knights who, all of a sudden, behaved like a teenage-football team (even Sir Leon) that mildly bullied the supposedly weakest link (Merlin) and had very little substancial to contribute aside from showing their attractive buddies, which was also a shame since especially Gwaine used to be such an interesting character (let alone Lancelot who, conveniently, was killed off.)

Sex sells, as usual, and I believe that this was a part of why the show turned more into a teenager-show with good looking young "lads". Unfortunately, this turn to an even more superficial audience killed the drama. For obvious reasons, attractive and sexy young people who show their half-naked bodies or "flirt" with each other in a brotherly way couldn't operate with the former depth of the show anymore. It was somehow incompatible. So the result was that the actual storyline changed and served the protagonists only, took away their actual goal and by that made them anti-heroes in order to add more thrill.

In my opinion, the showrunners were/are extremely talented and skilled in telling a fascinating story. The first three seasons proved that to me, even with Morgana getting totally mad out of the blue, because there was still enough room for a logical explanation and a possible change/redemption later. This is why I was so disappointed in the last two seasons because I've seen how good they actually were in fascinating the viewers with a great story and fresh new ideas.

I would completely understand Merlin getting harsh and turning to the darker side for a while, given what he had gone through. As a matter of fact, I had even expected it. Alas, Merlin's change was never ever explained, shown, mentioned, questioned, developed, founded. It was just there, from one moment to the other. Had they shown Merlin developing into someone who demonstrates his reasons for becoming more callous and indifferent, like, for example, due to his disapprovement of the Old Ways or hatred towards his opponents because of his ongoing surpression, his father's death, the loss of Freya and whatnot, things would have been logical and Merlin would have had a believable character development. But the single sentence "he grew up" towards Gaius when it was about wanting Mordred dead simply wasn't enough. A temporary turn to the darker side until he sees the light again and remembers his mission and actual good heart would have been a great thing. Maybe even some conflict with Arthur. Instead we got a suddenly callous young man without a visible development who all of a sudden became a coward and a submissive servant who had lost sight.

As for the genocidal thing, I'm having a problem with this term. Yes, it can be compared to a genocide in its actions but maybe not in its reasons. The magic-users weren't actually a race or a different species but they had superpowers that were dangerous. To me it was always about what they did or could do with the "tools" at hand but not about who they were (meaning a particular race/culture). This can be argued, of course. However, it wasn't about the purity of a race or the fear of losing territory to another culture but about a threat caused by a supernatural power and a religion that wasn't only about beliefs but about the active use of this power. In comparison to the crusades, for example, the slaughter was because of what people believed, and in regard to sorcery back in medieval times, it was about superstition and things that scared the hell out of people. But it wasn't real. Here, on "Merlin", magic was very, very real and uncontrollable.

In comparison to the horrible genocide during WWII it was about different cultures based on their visual appearances and heritage but never about a real threat due to some superpowers that ruined the land (opposed to magic on the show that almost destroyed the land before Uther took the throne). Magic wasn't a race or a culture but a thing that was run by powerful entities (the goddesses). I would have preferred the anti-magic fraction to try to eliminate the power istelf instead of killing the people who used it. But then, it was impossible to eliminate the power, so the never ending circle of death and destruction took place. It was a fight that could have never been won by anyone.

Either way, the Great Purge can't be justified, of course. It can be explained but not justified or being supported.

The entire plot about the Old Religion could have been such an interesting story if the show had dealt with it more carefully and a little more detailed, since it was the reason for all the problems in the Merlinverse. Merlin would have been the real hero if he had tried to establish magic in a peaceful new way by leaving the Old Ways's dogmas and cruelties.