Board Thread:Rewatching "Merlin" - Season Five/@comment-5102537-20140420094458/@comment-24785400-20140423003505

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perhaps some plotholes could be explained

Perhaps they could be explained, but there's nothing on the screen to even give us a hint. I like to speculate and connect the dots as much as the next person, but here, they're nothing, not even the tiniest payoff on-screen. (and everything important seems to happen off-screen, leaving us to guess) I was thinking that it was either Merlin or Mordred who had set Morgana free, setting her up for a redemption, but nope, we never find out, its not important. Its nothing but lazy writing to continuously ask the audiences to hand-wave issues that they've raised. As pointed out, we still don't see what is so important about Arthur that Merlin keeps saving him. Daegal is only pretending to be a Druid, but its pointed out that its dangerous for him to be in Camelot. Didn't Arthur promise to stop persecuting the Druids? Both characters have hardly progressed since season 1. Arthur's a blind dolt who trusts everybody and Merlin is waiting for the day he can be free. We really don't have any idea of what the characters motivations are at this late stage in the season - and after 5 years too.

''Well, the Sarrum: why in the world was he needed for peace among the Five Kingdoms? Why was the peace at risk?''

Exactly, what was going on there, except they needed to have somebody to kill Arthur for Gwen? really there's no thought at all to the world around Camelot if they keep bringing in characters like this. Its just making it up on the fly. I don't expect Game of Thrones type politics, nor detailed, layered writing, but explanations? Nah, can't be bothered writing those in, too hard!

''Angel Coulby did great pretending to be so evil! ''

well she wasn't pretending, she WAS enchanted! (and yes, she was great at it) But this brings up another problem for me. In episode 3, Ghost-Uther tried to kill her, yet she was never given a scene with Arthur consoling or apologising to her (or any scene what-so-ever) yet here, when she is enchanted to hate Arthur and is trying to kill him, we've got them acting all lovey-dovey, and he is actively wooing her, and she's being all coy (yet Merlin is the only one who's noticed something different about her demeanor) In fact, its the only time we see them in the whole series acting as if they are married! What the message here? That evil girls do it  and good girls don't (Arthur must have been having a great time then!) or that evil women use their wiles and charms to wrap innocent men around their finger? Listen boys, you can't trust girls, they'll do you over everytime. Urgh.

This episode left me wanting Merlin to just walk away from Arthur, so he could become this powerful wizard we keep expecting him to be (and maybe just help Arthur from a distance), instead of letting Morgana try to kill him again, and leave him defenseless, because he's too afraid to reveal himself, even to her. Maybe then Arthur will grow up and do without his comfort zone (which is bullying and degrading Merlin)  The problem is they are writing the characters to fit the plot, and not the plot to fit the characters.