Talk:The Disir (episode)/@comment-5995315-20130129233031/@comment-5102537-20130131132358

Here is what Kilgharrah told Merlin in "Le Morte d'Arthur":

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''MERLIN I'm not one of you!''

KILGHARRAH

''We are both creatures of the Old Religion. It is the source of your power.''

And here is what Nimueh told Merlin in the same episode:

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NIMUEH Your childish tricks are useless against me, Merlin. I am a priestess of the Old Religion. Forbærne! You, too, are a creature of the Old Religion. You should join me.

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The problem is that people tend to forget about the most essential and important parts and conversations during the show, thus forgetting about the big picture and recalling what the plots actually were about. It also causes great confusion in regard to character development. I've heard many times fans saying that Merlin isnt a member of the Old Religion. Some even said that Morgana wasn't even though she was the last High Priestess of the Triple Goddess and the Old Religion.

If we consider the fact that Merlin and Morgana both were creatures of the Old Religion, standing on opposite sides but none of them really wanted to restore magic in the land later on the show (Morgana only wanted power and didn't care for those of her kind, Merlin didn't care about magic and his kind in season five anymore but was only obessed with Arthur),  we start to wonder what the first three seasons and the actual plot actually had to do with season four and most of all season five. That's why I wrote on pother threads/blogs that the show had changed completely when season four started and made a mockery of the actual plots and previous seasons in the finale.

"Merlin had magic, but  he's also human. A lot of Merlin's problems involve trying to balance his magic with his human side. I think he had human motives for what he told Arthur. I also think by this time he was losing confidence that magic would ever be used much for good."

I agree, that's why I waited for Merlin trying to find a new way of restoring magic. Or at least him mentioning what you said, that he wasn't convinced anymore that magic could be used for good. On the other hand, if he had done that he would have fully supported Uther and would have proven him right all along (and up to a certain point, Uther was indeed right). However, Merlin himself was magic so he couldn't deny what he was, he also couldn't deny that countless lifes were at stake and that so many had suffered and will suffer under the ban of magic. Instead of dealing with this paradox and problem, the show runners simply turned everything into a platonic love story only, made him denying magic in the conversation with Arthur only because he was totally obsessed with his king -  and no question was answered at all.