User blog comment:Morganaforever/Morgana held captive in series five/@comment-5139779-20120723043032

This is what I think... I don't think Merlin thought she died. She disappeared and he looked very confused. Merlin is magical and not very stupid. As a character. But you know; the writers have made him look very dumb, for the sake of making the story stupid. By the way... They did say 2 of the 3 years. What if she continued plotting the year after then got kidnapped the last 2 years of the 3? But I doubt it.

As for Morgana skipping, I don't think it matters. She basically had a year of training then. But I think, being magical, the extra determination would have doubled, maybe tripled her effort. Plus in the trailer when she was in the cave with Mordres, the way she flung that guy... Definitely stronger and more vicious. Also, her power is now deriving from Aithusa, and Katie said in an interview Morgana may outnanouebre Merlin, so I think really, the answer is obvious!

Morgana has never been one to toy, unless she's desperate. It's in her personality. Cold, manipulative, calculative. ;) I'm very curious what she'll do with Gwen. But as we know, villains tend to do things the hard way, spreading out their plots until the ultimate finale in which they realise they weren't as well thought out as they had imagined. So I think, Morgana is not focusing on going for a direct hands-on massacre, rather more ultimate methods. :) I think Mordred is going to grow and learn his place... But I am 100% certain Morgana will use him, as a friend, not just some tool like Agrapain.