Board Thread:Series 5 Discussion/@comment-4623180-20121121030341/@comment-82.24.30.240-20121205163108

Dryuuu wrote: First of all I'd like to thank all the people that answered the last featured question: Did Queen Annis forgive Arthur too easily? The forum question will still be open for a while for people to answer. There is no right or wrong answer, but the most dominant answer was no, she did not forgive him too easily. Now this week's question, (even though this wasn't exactly weekly.. I apologise for my laziness and not putting one up sooner, I hope you like the home page improvements, though, which I also finally got to!) which is about our underrated mentor Gaius, who you can see just to your bottom left, judging whether you are spending your time wisely, reading this thread! (Obviously you are, even more so if you answer it) Gaius is the only other person in Camelot, other than Sir Mordred, who knows Merlin's secret. He made Merlin who he was- but not in the same way Uther made Morgana who she was. Gaius is also the only other character within Camelot who has magic. Him and Merlin have had their ups and downs, one of their biggest disagreements probably being in the Love in the Time of Dragons episode- but Gaius has proved invaluable support to not only Merlin, but also the king. Gaius is always that mentor character who is looked upon for all knowledge- rarely there is something he doesn't have to say. Morgana herself acknowledges his rare amount of knowledge such as in The Secret Sharer, when she says he is the only one in Camelot who knows the Fomorroh.



Gaius also seems to be one of the closest to the queen, apart from the knights, as they have been seen working together and discussing plans in the council chambers.

So as we know Gaius is most certainly Merlin's second in their quest in protecting Arthur and Camelot. He has saved Merlin's ass several times, from both Morgause and Morgana, the main enemies of Camelot. But some discussion has arisen about whether him being around at this point is stretched:


 * He may be holding Merlin from moving to the position of Arthur's official advisor.


 * His age.. considering the life expectancy in medieval times (then again it is a land of magic!). Not to mention those luscious long locks of his.


 * Merlin is an almost as capable physician, and he could fulfill that role (while secretly using magic), as he may be driven by his passing to touch up on that kind of knowledge.


 * If Gaius died, Merlin would be a lot more badass and independent and he would be less held back in experimenting with darker magic..


 * Last point, Merlin seems to have lost all his other love ones, like Freya and Balinor, who matched Gaius in their impact on Merlin's life (even more.. Merlin was willing to leave Camelot and Gaius for them) and characters like Gwen have lost fatherly figures too. When he lost these people, they meant everything to him. He would've given up his destiny for Freya, for instance. He has coped well since. So would he cope well with Gaius?

So those are some points I've gathered from discussion I've seen over the past years. Are they valid enough to justify that Gaius should logically be dead by now? Or is he very necessary for the story, and would killing him would be a bad move, considering he is the only friend in Camelot who knows Merlin's secret? No, this show is set in the Medieval period - Gaius is over 70 years old! (over 25 years ago - great purge, Alice gave Gaius his 50th birthday present before then.) You would never live that long in the Medieval period!