Board Thread:Series 5 Discussion/@comment-82.156.4.128-20121224212052/@comment-75.117.216.131-20170517041420

I came across this show on Netflix and decided to give it a try as I like the fantasy / adventure genre. I fell in love with it - what an amazing series. Then, I found a spoiler about how this show ends on accident...but am glad I did. I have decided NOT to watch the final season. I feel like I wasted my time, quite frankly. It's sad that they decided to ruin the entire story in one episode - what was such an amazing series - and the writers decide they not respect their own story. With that ending, there is no value in rewatching the series - every solitary touching moment, every revelation of what is to come - that never comes (think of every deep conversation Merlin has with Arthur, every deep conversation Gaius has with Merlin and Arthur, the conversation with the Fisher King, so many others - the sacrifices - even deaths - of other characters to protect both Merlin and Arthur) - renders each of those scenes entirely pointless - because they fail. If Gwen as Queen is able to carry on and finish the work, it isn't shown, and Merlin doesn't serve his friend's Queen in her Court - he is condemned to roam around in despair endlessly - the title character we become attached to from the very opening of the first episode - is written to where we know he ultimately going to live his life in misery. It's stupid to have killed Arthur (I know he dies in the original legend - but this series has him as a very young Arthur...with a very young Merlin - sticking to that doesn't fit given how the plot of literally every episode centers on us seeing his eventual success with Merlin by his side) - but even if they were going to do this, they could have shown Merlin have some closure to his grief by pledging he would honor his legacy by serving his Queen to complete the work Arthur started by serving her, and perhaps Gwen was pregnant and gives birth to Arthur's son or something and Merlin could then be shown in flash forward scenes as a mentor / father figure to him as he grew similar to how Gaius was to him. Instead, we see none of that. We see the characters apparently not only losing Arthur, but also Merlin - and Merlin, rather than enjoying life with his friends he still had despite losing his closest friend, condemns himself to a seeming eternity of misery - again, I still think killing off Arthur given the storyline of the entire series is just absurd, but if they were going to do that, there was still a way to make the ending not a complete tragedy rendering the entirety of the series to be a waste by making the title character find new purpose in life after serving Arthur. What in the world was wrong with these writers to just willfully destroy their own story and disrespect the art they created and those who enjoyed it? How can we rewatch this series, knowing as soon as we see our title character Merlin, he's ultimately going to be a completely tragic figure without being depressed knowing it is all for not? Awful to the point of disgusting. These shows are supposed to bring us joy - as an escape from the stress of life to enjoy some good entertainment...not make us more depressed and feel like we wasted our time. I can't imagine how those of you who watched the series in its original run felt when you waited five years to get this kind of ending.