User blog comment:Ḡwẵine Ḹٍٍkƨ Ĺiĸe Ͼềлȑềd/Morgana's Future/@comment-5102537-20120902115536/@comment-5102537-20120905142130

Yes, we have discussed this on your message wall already :-)

I agree with you on Merlin, and actually, this is another reason why I see a problem in selling us stories and characters as the good ones when actually they do very questionable things. Merlin is an ideal for a lot of viewers, he is a role model and maybe you have already witnessed that a lot of fans follow Merlin's standarts of morality and see everything through his and Arthur's eyes instead of challenging some happenings and trying to see what's behind them. What I mean is, when Merlin says that someone is evil because he as a fictional character sees another person that way, most fans share his opinion wether Merlin is right or wrong. The reason is that what Merlin and Arthur and also Morgana do is not raised to question on the show but the opposite is happening - the viewer is supposed to believe that what they do and think is right or at least to be justified. The show does not deal with the strange moralities it is meanwhile providing and especially younger viewers won't doubt the actions of their favourite characters. In season one Merlin was still doubting hisself and challenged his own actions and opinions until he did the right thing. This gave the viewer the opportunity to think about it all and to get an own opinion whereas meanwhile things just happen and nobody is ever talking about it or questioning it on the show. Nobody has ever criticised Morgana for torturing killing her own father and for torturing others, not even Gaius and Merlin have ever criticised that. While Uther's actions were often criticised by the protagonists and antagonists, there is meanwhile no one who ever questions what happnes on the show and even Arthur can kill a defenceless man in cold blood without having anyone objecting it. A conversation between Arthur and Merlin or maybe Merlin and Gaius about why it was wrong would have been a good idea to make clear that his action was wrong. Instead the viewer was led to believe that the only mistake was to provoke a war but certainly not to kill a defenceless man.

This is simply not okay for a family show. Merlin is either a role model or he is an anti-hero whose actions should be challenged, but on the show he is supposed to be the good hero who has every right to do the wrong things because Albion and magic and his destiny are much more important than the well being of others. Same with Arthur, Morgana and Gaius.