Board Thread:Rewatching "Merlin" - Season Five/@comment-5102537-20140329115401/@comment-98.214.159.15-20140404034951

I think that the choice was not Mordred lives (bad choice) or Mordred dies (good choice, when they said he would live). Merlin thought the choice was between getting rid of Mordred and Magic. It was really about Arthur's fate. They said multiple times in the episode that this was his one chance to change it. If he had accepted magic, they would have kept their word and saved Mordred. How would that be a losing proposition? Magic would be allowed, Mordred could be himself, and he would never have any cause to turn against Arthur. They both thought that if Arthur rejected magic Mordred would die. Arthur rejecting magic was obviously the choice that would doom him forever. Merlin thought that it would be ok, though, because Mordred would be dead and no longer a threat. The fact that Mordred lived anyway says to me that it wasn't about whether Mordred lived or died. It was about whether Mordred became evil or not. It was about Arthur's fate, and Mordred's part in it. If Arthur had made the right choice, Mordred would never have turned evil. When Arthur made the wrong choice, that doomed Mordred to turn against him.

Yes, Merlin was incredibly shortsighted in this episode. His words when Gaius asked him what happened to him, "I grew up," were an obvious echo of what Morgana said when Mordred asked her what happened to her. He was letting his fear control him, letting it override his compassion, and making the same mistakes she did. And yet I don't think it was all his fault. He was led by the dragon and by Alator's follower to fear and mistrust Mordred. The dragon impressed upon him that stopping Mordred was the highest priority. It was a self-fulfilling prophesy, and Merlin wasn't supposed to understand the consequences his actions would bring.