User blog:Waterwecna/Mordred: the notorious traitor



Mordred is without a doubt one of the most mysterious characters in Merlin. Not only is his story full of holes and unanswered questions, but he himself is a character that is in general difficult to understand. Especially now that he is a young man, and a much different person than he was as a child. Mordred is a character, who simply cannot be understood with one closer look: like Morgana herself, he has many reasons that have made him act the way he has, only his reasons are shrouded more in mystery than hers have been.

I like many others (I presume) thought I knew well how Mordred was going to act this Series. After saving the lives of Arthur and Merlin, he would go to Camelot, prove his worth and become a Knight. But the latest episode changed so much that I feel as if I am back to square one when it comes to understanding Mordred. One of the things that I was expecting was a strong alliance between Mordred and Morgana. That was not only so because the characters had previously had a strong connection with each other, but also because of what the Great Dragon had said about them in "The Witch's Quickening": "The ancient prophecies speak of an alliance of Mordred and Morgana united in evil, but this union must be stopped, whatever the cost." To me, this does not make any sense any more, not after the latest episode. Why would the makers of Merlin use such a sentence in the series, if they were not going to follow it later on as well? Yes, some of you may say that there is still a chance that Mordred and Morgana will unite. But honestly, after how Mordred acted tonight, I seriously doubt Morgana will trust him again. Not anytime soon, if ever again.

But let us go even deeper into this issue. Now Mordred as we know is a traitor already in the legends, as in the end of the story he kills Arthur in the Battle of Camlann. The fact that the same fate will await Arthur in the end of this series surely is not a surprise. Yet if there ever was a person that I never thought Mordred would betray, it is Morgana. Not only because it does not happen in the legends, but also cause he truly seemed to care about Morgana. But Mordred is now much older, and if he ever was predictable as a child, he certainly isn't it now. So why did he do it? Is there a certain reason why he is angry at Morgana? Or was this decision with much deeper roots than it might seem at first?

Now think about what exactly was happening: Morgana was about to kill Arthur. Merlin was not able to save him at the time, which meant that Mordred had to make a decision : either choose Arthur or Morgana. Still, the reason why he chose Arthur wasn't in my opinion just because he liked him. No, there most likely were much bigger reasons behind it. I have heard rumours of Mordred craving the throne of Camelot for himself, and I must admit: in the light of his recent actions this makes perfect sense. He will use Arthur to get to the position of power, and in the end destroy his former ally. Mordred is a traitor after all. But there is another question that cannot be answered as easily as the previous one. When he had made the decision to betray Morgana, why did he have to realize it in such a brutal way? Sure, he was in a situation where he could not use magic, but couldn't he have just hit Morgana so she loses consciousness? Why would he betray her in such a painful way if it could have been done in a much easily and more painlessly? Only time will tell.

I am sure that many of you have heard the rumours that Mordred may actually not be a villain after all. After tonight, I think there cannot be a question that he is. Stabbing ones allies certainly is not something that a hero would do. Although he acts like a faithful ally of Arthur right now, I do believe that there will come a day when he betrays his trust. And I base that argument not only the fact that it was shown in Merlin's vision, but because Mordred generally is a traitor by nature as we know from the legends. If he is already capable of betraying the ally he has had for many years, he certainly is able to betray Arthur, his newest ally, as well. But why did Mordred actually become a traitor? Although at the current state it is very hard to tell, I do definitely believe that Merlin stopping him from escaping in "The Witch's Quickening" had something to do with that. There certainly must have been other reasons as well, but as he has been away from the series for a long time, it really is very difficult to tell.

But one thing we can be certain of: Mordred will definitely not remain the same character he is right now. Hopefully, we will soon find out more about his actions and what happened during the time when he was away. Mordred is without a mysterious character, but all that uncertainty is actually keeping us from understanding his character better. But whatever the reasons for his betrayal against Morgana might be, we can be sure of one thing: this was not the last time he crossed someone.