User blog comment:Morganaforever/What annoys you most in the main characters?/@comment-66.205.130.239-20140524185436

So interesting reading all of these comments about Gwen, so far after the show went off the air. It seems like most people feel she went back and forth between Lancelot and Arthur, but I don't think that's fair at all.

Usually, in the first episode of the season there was a comment about how much time had passed since the end of the last season. So we can make some reasonable assumptions about the passage of time.

Season 1: Gwen and Lancelot meet. He seems to be falling in love with her already and she is not romantically attached to anyone (her crush on Merlin doesn't count, if it existed at that point).

Season 2: About a year and a half later. Gwen and Arthur have started to have feelings for each other, but neither one of them could possibly imagine that it would go anywhere. Gwen is kidnapped, probably is feeling like there is no way Arthur will come to save her, and Lancelot appears and risks his life to save hers. Obviously, this would make a big impression on anyone so she feels like she's in love and says she will never love another.

Then Lancelot decides he shouldn't come between Arthur and Gwen and LEAVES without an explanation to Gwen or even a goodbye. He had a good reason, but it was really not cool to Gwen when you think about it. Gwen was super nice and generous, so she probably wasn't angry at Lancelot, but it had to have hurt her feelings and pretty much destroy whatever true "love" she felt for Lancelot.

Season 3: This time about two years later, since Lancelot shows up in the last episode of the season. By now Gwen and Arthur are full on in love and open about it for everyone to see. There are some awkward looks between her and Lancelot, but that's it.

Season 4: About a year later, Gwen and Arthur are obviously a couple and Lancelot is a knight of Camelot. Gwen asks Lancelot to bring Arthur home. So Gwen never asked him to sacrifice himself, she specially said "bring him home" which implies Lancelot would be coming back too. Lancelot does say that he will protect him with his life, but, let's be honest, Lancelot probably said stuff like that all the time about all kinds of things, so there's no way Gwen would have thought that meant he would literally do so.

When he does sacrifice himself, Gwen feels guilty thinking it was his promise to her that made him do it. But that's not really fair, because Merlin never would've let Arthur die. So really Lancelot sacrificed himself to save Merlin.

So considering the passage of time and where she was with her relationship with Arthur, I don't see how anyone can think she jerked Lancelot around. For all we know, if Lancelot hadn't ditched her, she would've ended up with him.

And I know I just wasted a lot of time writing that all out for a comment that no one will probably read, but I just felt like I had to because I feel that the way the show portrayed Lancelot and Gwen's relationship was pretty much perfect. It never made any sense to me that Lancelot and Guinevere, both considered to be noble and honorable, would have an affair. So I really liked that the show gave them an important relationship, but the cheating part was entirely the result of magic. I also love how no one ever found out it was magic, because it meant so much more that Arthur was able to forgive Gwen and take her back.

I think there are plenty of reasons to find Gwen annoying, but he treatment of Lancelot isn't one of them, in my opinion.