Board Thread:(Re)Writing "Merlin"/@comment-5674726-20150510102645/@comment-5674726-20150913123722

I'd take it a step further and make the Pendragon family the heart of the story. There was so much potential to mine and I think that it would have made for a more interesting show with more focus on the family rather than a never-ending round of Merlin finding ways to save the day without being noticed.

To start with, I'd scrap the Morgana being known as Uther's ward bit. Either make her Arthur's twin - the actors are almost exactly the same age - or the child of a politically motivated second marriage. The closer she is to the other Pendragons, the more of a struggle it is for her to deal with the revelation that she has magic, something her father hates and that her brother is not averse to stamping out. Should Uther ever learn of her magic, he has to weigh his hatred of magic against his love for his daughter.

I wouldn't have her turn on Camelot as she did in canon, I'd keep her there but perhaps not entirely a member of the inner circle. I'd also have it that she disagreed with Arthur about at least some of his decisions as King. It'd be a way of reversing positions for Arthur. While his father lived, he was the heir who had his own ideas about how to rule and was looking forward to being in a position to make the changes he wanted to make. As a childless King, he has to accept that Morgana is his likely successor and that, just as he made his own choices for Camelot once the crown was on his head, he won't be able to control her choices as Queen from beyond the grave.