Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-24691863-20140413080351/@comment-24629321-20140423021839

What a neat idea, to interpret the characters as tragic heroes and discuss their fatal flaws! You both make a lot of good points. I have to agree with Fimber, I was always left with the impression that Uther loved his children very deeply (although I see where Arthur and Morgana may not have had the whole picture and thus didn't see his love to the extent we did—Morgana, for instance, never knew that Uther wanted to protect her so badly that he'd asked Gaius to use magic to save her). Merlin After, it's interesting that you first point to Uther's blind hatred toward magic. I see this as stemming from love—Uther's love for Ygraine and his inability to cope rationally with her death. It might be a stretch but I wonder if you could see love as being Uther's fatal flaw. After all, it is love for his children (or inability to cope with betrayal of that love) that leads to his downfall in the end—both in never fully regaining control of his kingdom after Morgana's betrayal, and in suffering the fatal wound while defending Arthur.

There's so much to reply to here, I'll have to wait until later to comment on the others...