Board Thread:Rewatching "Merlin" - Season One/@comment-5102537-20130309111322/@comment-5674726-20130407001036

''I agree, even though I liked that Uther apologised to Arthur and told him that he did the right thing. It showed a different side on Uther in the beginning of season one already and made him more interesting and more likable. Giving him the capability of admitting mistakes (even though preventing Arthur to save Merlin wasn't actually a mistake) probably was also a part of his possible redemption that was thrown away again in the later seasons.''

I'd say that Uther understood why Arthur wanted to save Merlin's life, given that it was the second time in no more than a few months that he saved his life, plus he tried to warn him about Valiant using magic to cheat in the tournament and found the afanc that was poisoning the water supply, allowing Arthur to save the city. He considers Gaius a friend, so he could understand why Arthur and his servant would become friends, and he would understand that Arthur would feel indebted to Merlin and wouldn't want to stand by while he died if he thought that he had a chance of preventing it, even if it meant taking risks. To Uther, the risk was too high.

Once Arthur had succeeded, and the dust had settled - I imagine that he would have been worried about what he was going to do about Bayard, given that another war with Mercia would have added to Camelot's woes - Uther was able to focus on the fact that Arthur succeeded, and was proud of him for him.

I think that he summed up his attitude towards the situation very well; it wasn't a case of him viewing Merlin's life as worthless, he viewed his life as worth less than Arthur's. I can't imagine anybody else in his position disputing the second part, and I'd say that there would be some monarchs who would believe the first part.