Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-24691863-20140427042038

Dear Merlin Wiki friends,

Again our discussions on the Forum have inspired me to write a text. Maybe you have some answers to my question!

All the best,

Rhuddem Gwelin

Author of Merlin – After

http://merlin-after.blogspot.se/

The Strange Phenomenon of Merlin

Merlin and the Camelot legend have been with us a long time and they have taken many forms throughout the centuries, so it isn’t surprising that a TV adventure series aimed at young people should be created. It’s really just part of a historical development most recently manifested in the Harry Potter books and films and the following deluge of interest in magic, which in itself has been analyzed by many.

I did not experience Merlin from the start in 2008. I came to it just over a year ago and have since watched the whole series three times. I wasn’t immediately obsessed but it didn’t take long.

Clearly, I’m not alone. Merlin is everywhere and although the fanaticism has no doubt abated since the series ended a year and a half ago there is still a lot of Merlin action out there. There is a very lively More Merlin Facebook gang urging the continuation of the series. Though everyone involved has said, “There will be no more,” devotion to the series is daily manifested on More Merlin Facebook sites on several continents around the world. I add my bits several times a week. There are other Facebook sites devoted to the series. There is a still ongoing debate on the merits, or demerits, of the series on IMDb. And there is Merlin Wiki, which is a treasure of information and background to the series. My heartfelt thanks to the Somebodies who created the Wiki and have put so much time, effort, skill, knowledge and observation to detail into it!

But my puzzlement grows. Why this addiction to Merlin? It is clear that there is a sharp controversy between those who were bitterly disappointed by the development of the story and characters and especially the ending, and those who thought it was brilliant. It’s no secret that I’m one of the second category. I love Merlin – not blindly because I too see its many flaws (though we may not agree on what those flaws actually are) – but unreservedly. I see the ending as perfect and wouldn’t change a thing (well, maybe a little...) But when it came it was so...inevitable and right. OK, I know many (most?) don’t agree but this is not the place to argue about it, there are many other places for that.

My question here is – why do we care so much? It’s just a TV series. It’s just an old legend in a new form. Why are we so passionate about it? What is it that made me get up at three o’clock every morning for a couple of months to write Merlin-After for a few hours before going to work? Why have I joined Merlin Wiki, the Facebook Merlins, IMDb? Why am I writing this text? Why are More Merlin activists and others still campaigning and posting photos of the cast, creating contests, sharing favourite scenes from the five years and so on?

Even more puzzling than the time and devotion spent on something these people (myself included) love is the time, effort and passion spent by people who more or less intensely and actively dislike the series. It is, I confess, startling to me – who had expected in Merlin Wiki a forum for discussion on the various aspects of the series, both its strengths and weaknesses, from a generally positive attitude to the series – to find that much of the on-going discussion, though very interesting, is mostly negative to it.

So here we have it. Two extremes in a debate that’s a bit silly really – either you like something or you don’t and it’s rather pointless to try to convince the other to agree. I’m sad for those who don’t like the series (one of my closest friends is among them, but she simply stopped watching it) while those who don’t like it probably think I’m a pathetic fool for loving this mess. And the debate and the Facebooking and the Wiki-ing and the longing and the disappointment will no doubt continue. But the question remains.

Why are we so obsessed with Merlin?

I have no idea. 