User blog comment:It's Good to be the Queen/The Thrill is Gone/@comment-98.237.96.242-20130106183507/@comment-5102537-20130106201444

With Arthur being dead and Merlin taking care of his funeral without Gwen's permission, sending him to Avalon, a magical place even though Arthur had banned magic and Gwen has no idea if Arthur would have approved of it, plus she didn't know whether it was Merlin's fault that Arthur died or not - he could as well have been a sorcerer who wanted Camelot's downfall after all - it's not safe to say that Gwen really lifted the ban of magic, making Camelot vulnerable to evil sorcerers again who might have wanted revenge for the death of their last High Priestess, after all the events with Morgana, her former best friend who totally corrupted, with Mordred, a trusted knight and Merlin who never told anyone about his secret. I think it would be much more realistic if Gwen hadn't lifted the ban but continued it, only on a more tolerant note.

Moreover, a Golden Age of Camelot without the one who was supposed to lay the foundations, without the loyal knights like Gwaine and Elyan, with a grieving Gwen, a lonely Merlin, a wounded Kilgharrah and a tormented Aithusa, not to mention all the dead soldiers and others who died during the battle, is no golden age. What makes those in Camelot who survived more important than Arthur, Merlin, Gwen, Gaius, Uther, Lancelot, Morgana, Gwaine, Elyan? Arthur was only born to fulfill his destiny. His destiny was, according to the prophecies, to lead Camelot into the golden age. But the golden age was supposed to either include magic being allowed or magic being wiped out. The thing is, he was born to do it because his birth caused the Great Purge, all predetermined by the Old Religion when it chose Igraine to die. How cynical is that?

I don't consider this all being a golden age. It all could have been prevented if the Triple Goddess/Nimueh/the Old Religion hadn't killed Igraine. Thousands of lifes could have been saved without the Great Purge, without the corruption of magic even long before Uther's time, without the former and following battles and wars, without Morgana being crazy, without Camlann. Yet the Old Religion did that all instead of taking care of those who misused magic and of stopping the ongoing war(s).

What exactly had Arthur to do with it all? It wasn't his fault, yet he died much too young and everyone is either grieving or also dead or alone. That's cruel and depressing but no golden age to me.