Board Thread:Series 5 Discussion/@comment-71.195.18.110-20130130220009/@comment-5102537-20130327142910

"I'd say that one of Merlin's chief motivations to protect Uther was that he didn't think that Arthur was ready to be King. After the reveal about the circumstances of Arthur's birth, Merlin kept Arthur from killing Uther because he was worried about the effect it would have on Arthur if he killed his father, not because he thought that Uther deserved to be protected. By Season Four, Arthur had been ruling Camelot for over a year, and had made changes that Merlin approved of, ie. knighting commoners, so Merlin deemed him ready to be King and was prepared to let Uther die so Arthur could take the throne."

Yes, Arthur and his well-being was first priority to Merlin when it came to saving/helping Uther. However, there was also compassion and most of all sensibility shown in him, especially after Gwen told him in "To Kill the King" that killing Uther wouldn't solve anything and would make her as bad as him which Merlin completely understood. He also saw Uther's softer side, especially when he cried in front of Merlin and told him his most private feelings about himself and his children when Morgana was about to die. Merlin also knew that Uther loved his children and that he would do anything for them. In "The Tears of Uther Pendragon", Merlin came to the sleeping Uther who suffered from nightmares and cautiously covered him with the blanket which was a quite caring gesture. He also knew that Uther trusted him with Arthur's life which Merlin surely respected. And in "A Remedy to Cure all Ills", there was no sign of Merlin and Gaius trying to comfort and protect Arthur only but helping Uther came totally natural to them. In "Le Morte d'Arthur" Merlin knew that Uther had no idea that Igraine would die and actually sided with him by that when killing Nimueh, his own kind, but not Uther (and "The Sins of the Father" was yet another chaotical change of plotline when suddenly Merlin had forgotten about his own deal with Nimueh but instead blamed Uther. Not even worth to discuss since season one was totally overlooked in this epsiode) All in all the first three seasons showed Merlin being protective of Arthur but also being kind and sensible enough to not let Uther die.

"His motive to heal Uther wasn't to spare Arthur pain but to secure an advantage. When Arthur indicates that he is prepared to use magic to save his father, instead of having Gaius tell him to go off for a walk by himself for a couple of hours and not ask any questions if his father has made a miraculous recovery by the time he returns, Merlin orchestrates a charade with "Dragoon the Great", which ends up giving Agravaine the time to update Morgana and booby-trap Uther."

Yes, sadly. The Merlin of the first three seasons would have tried to help his best friend Arthur and wouldn't have wanted someone who was suffering and destroyed to die. It was quite weird that he saved Uther while he was still a threat to Merlin but let him (and Arthur) down when Uther obviously had changed and/or was now open to a change in case he had recovered from his deep depression. It was like kicking somebody when's down.

"Had Morgana been a better strategist, she would have snuck into the castle and healed Uther herself, ensuring that he knew what she had done."

Yes, totally. Since he knew already that she had magic, she had nothing to lose. By changing Uther she would have changed entire Camelot, including Arthur.

"She could have caused quite a bit of infighting in Camelot, since Arthur had had a year to get used to doing as he saw fit, even when he knew that Uther would disapprove of some of his actions, had he been able to voice his objections. Not only had he knighted commoners, against his father's express wishes, I can't imagine Uther approving of a situation where a servant girl thinks it's okay for her to interrupt a meeting of the Council and advise the lords. He certainly wouldn't approve of Arthur's desire to marry a servant girl, particularly if it meant jilting a princess after bringing her to Camelot as his intended bride. There would have been quite a bit of friction in Camelot, not only between Uther and Arthur when they clashed on various issues but between different factions in the court who supported one over the other."

Either that or things would have worked out in a positive way. I'm quite convinced that Uther knew very well about the new knights but simply didn't care anymore but was questioning his whole life, his every decision, opinion and tradition. It's very unlikely that he never noticed new knights running around in Camelot when he knew Lancelot and Gwaine and when Arthur reported to him on a daily baisis. Also, he sat at a table with all the knights (except for Lancelot) at Arthur's birthday feast. He talked to Arthur which showed that he realised what was going on and he also knew very well that it was Arthur's birthday. If he had been completely captured in his mind, he wouldn't have known about Arthur's birthday and wouldn't have reacted to him. This all should have been reason enough for Merlin to finally realise that Uther wasn't the man he used to be and that a change was possible if it hadn't even happened already. This would have been the best chance for both Morgana and Merlin to try to bring about a change and to see that Uther did care and was capable of reconsidering.

As for Arthur going aganst his father's wishes/traditions/codes/laws, when regarding this from "Excalibur":

'UTHER Do you solemnly swear to govern the people of this kingdom and its dominions according to the statutes, customs and laws laid down by your forebears?

ARTHUR I do, Sire.'

Arthur even broke his own oath. I doubt that being the regent king enables him to break every rule and even his own oath while the king is still alive. And even after Uther's death, Arthur had sworn to govern the people according to the statutes, customs and laws laid down by your forebears.

"On an emotional level, Morgana would have given Uther hope for a reconciliation, which could have worked to her advantage since he would be bound to want to preserve any chance that she might return to him and wouldn't have wanted Camelot's forces hunting her and shattering any hope of reconciliation."

I agree. But I think that Morgana didn't care about such things anymore. Love and happy endings weren't on her list, instead she wanted the throne and total power. Uther, whether he loved her or not, was simply in her way and his love and even a change wasn't important to her. She hated Arthur for loving his father and for respecting some of his ways (plus the fact that Arthur was in her way too). If she had still been a sane person, she would have understood that Arthur naturally loved Uther. Unlike her, Uther understood this concept when Odin sent an assassin to kill Arthur and accepted that Odin acted out of grief and revenge because he had lost his son. Instead of hating and persecuting him, he let himself being convinced by Arthur to put it at rest. A bit of that in Morgana would have made her more believable and more interesting.