Board Thread:Series 5 Discussion/@comment-209.196.232.2-20121230195253/@comment-34386964-20180118170459

But Morgana had a choice - to be kind and good and prove Uther (and anyone else) wrong in a very constructive way, or make Uther feel he was right about magic being evil by acting in the same cruel way. The blame for the path that she alone decided to take, belongs to her. Merlin may not have helped her properly, but she made her own choice to take the path she took.

Morgana was not special. There were many like her - people who suffered tenfold compared to her - living in hiding their entire lives, who were intelligent and wise enough not to let it make them evil too. But when she took the crown, she killed innocent people. She actually thought she was doing good. Uther had the same twisted outlook.

Morgana turned on Arthur when she never really needed to. She took things at face value and decided Arthur was the enemy when she actually knew better - he helped her save Mordred for example. Morgana wanted what she wanted, the crown, and then she would kid herself she was doing it for magic. But she never achieved anything good for it.

Her friends actions should not be truly responsible for her own choices. They played a part, but like Uther she was obsessed with hurting people who she thought wronged her and that was her downfall.

Merlin never forgave Uther - he never saved him because he liked him. He saved him for Arthur to give him time to grow and learn. Merlin's advice was terrible though, he hindered things and saying "magic is evil" was wrong, but other people still had a choice too.

Mordred deep down should have known Kara was in the wrong, she was executed not because of magic but because of her actions. She had the chance from Arthur to live and she would not take it. Perhaps that would never have happened if Arthur let everyone know he was (kind of) okay with magic and people advised him that was okay, but everything started with Uther.

I agree though, that the writers were far too invested in magic being secret that it hurt the show. It was really annoying! I think they could have reached the finale in a better way that made Merlin likeable at least.