Board Thread:What If?/@comment-5674726-20130722103118/@comment-5674726-20130722110247

This is something that I could easily see happening.

The show did a good job of establishing the difficulties with Arthur marrying a servant - too good, in fact, given that the problems mysteriously vanished in time for the wedding - and even when Arthur decided to brave the disapproval of the nobility by marrying Guinevere, she was caught with another man the day before they were due to be married. Realistically, that should have been the death knell for any chance of her being accepted as Queen. A commoner is bad enough but a commoner who is seen as incapable of fidelity should have had no possible hope of acceptance. The match with Princess Mithian was one that would strengthen Camelot, both by ending the dispute over Gedref and by uniting Camelot and Nemeth following the death of King Rodor. Arthur got on very well with Princess Mithian and was very aware of the benefits of the match so, had he either not found Guinevere's ring or else recognised that he couldn't take Guinevere back after she was known to be caught with Lancelot, I'd say that he would have married Mithian.

If he and Guinevere were reunited following Morgana's second coup, I could see Arthur keeping his distance. I can't see him either being unfaithful to his wife or leading Guinevere on when he was no longer in a position to marry her. Once they retook Camelot, Guinevere might return to the city but I can't see her returning to royal service. For one thing, I'd say that it would be too awkward for her to return to work at the palace when the courtiers and other servants had expected her to become Queen, and I'd say that both she and Arthur would recognise that it would be unfair to Queen Mithian to have her there when everybody would know that she and Arthur were to be married before he married Mithian. I could see her working as a seamstress in the lower town. If she did end up working in the palace again, it is likely that hers would have been a behind the scenes role like a housekeeper or something, rather than being Queen Mithian's maid.

Guinevere didn't do all that much in Season Five so I'd say that events would be largely unchanged, save that Morgana might not bother to try to take control of Queen Mithian through the Dark Tower as she has no prior relationship with her that she could build on. If so, this would have a slight knock-on effect as Merlin/the Dolma would not be able to try to soften Arthur's view of magic by saving his wife.

One thing that would change is that there is no possible way that Arthur could name Guinevere his heir. Even if the nobility were willing to take the word of two commoners (one, if Merlin didn't return) for it that Arthur named a commoner woman his heir ahead of his wife, they'd be bound to think that he was delirious as a result of his injuries, and not competent to make that decision. If Arthur and Mithian had a child or children, the eldest son would become King of the combined Camelot and Nemeth. If not, I'd say that Mithian is the most likely heir. I doubt that Arthur would try to name one of his knights in her place and he wouldn't be able to get away with choosing Merlin for much the same reasons that he wouldn't be able to name Guinevere.

I could see Merlin having a hard time adjusting to Mithian as Queen. Not only would he be unhappy because Guinevere was his friend, I think that it was important to him that Arthur choose Guinevere to show that he valued a servant more than a princess. If he did, it could give Merlin hope that, when the time came, he too could be more to Arthur than his servant.

I wonder if it might calm Morgana down a fraction if she successfully averted a prophecy she feared. If events played out as in canon in terms of Arthur's death, I could see her dealing him one final blow by telling him that she was the one responsible for Guinevere kissing Lancelot, so he could spend his final moments thinking about what might have been.