Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-68.229.162.187-20140609172055/@comment-5674726-20140630212356

ErinKenobi2893 wrote: Also, we haven't factored in if Merlin was really dedicated to his destiny yet. Perhaps he had only been going on, up to this time, out of duty, and not really from dedication? (Slap me in the face if it's too far along in the series for this argument to make any sense.)

I think that, at the time he met Freya, Merlin was in a sort of "in-between" phase as far as his "destiny" was concerned.

In the very early days, I think that he was very taken with the idea that he had a special destiny, that his magic was given to him for a reason and that he was going to do great things with it. He wanted to believe in it because it gave him a sense of purpose and hope that, in the future, he wouldn't have to hide his magic, he would be revered for the good he did with it. Later in the series, he was more devoted to Arthur and served him for the sake of their friendship rather than because Arthur was part of his destiny.

Freya entered the picture at a time when Merlin was no longer the wide-eyed idealist who believed wholeheartedly in his "destiny" but not as close or devoted to Arthur as he would become in later years, so he was able to consider the idea of walking away from Camelot when he would not have done so a year or so previously or a few years later.