Board Thread:Series 5 Discussion/@comment-5995315-20130207171053

In an interview today Julian Murphy spoke to American audiences about the sensational reception Merlin has received worldwide. He has the highest praise for the cast. He made a couple of other interesting points.

Some excerpts:

ABOUT GWEN -- HC: Also in the finale, we discover that the monarch who will lead Camelot in a golden era of peace is Gwen, not Arthur. Was that a decision that came as the result of Arthur’s death? Or was it something deliberate you’ve been planning for a long time?

JM: It was, actually. We’ve had that in our minds for about three series. We felt that with Gwen, to take Gwen from a servant girl to a powerful and strong queen, a person who can bind the kingdom together, was the journey we wanted to do, and I think Angel delivered that brilliantly. And some of the most moving scenes in that last episode are with Gwen as she realizes who Merlin was, and that the king, the love of her life, is going to die, and that she must then take the kingdom forward. And she plays it in no more than three or four scenes, and that whole story is told. It’s a real credit to her.

ABOUT MERLIN AND ARTHUR --

HC: [...] Do you have a favorite pairing?

JM: Merlin and Arthur. To me, that’s the heart of the program. It’s a story of friendship, it’s both very funny but very touching and very real. [...] Those simple journeys are always the best, and the heart of the program is not dragons and swords and myths and legends, it’s that story, that friendship. (My bolding)

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He takes care to tell us what the story is and is not about. Apparently, they had also had it in mind for three seasons that Gwen would take over. Clearly, the finale is meant to tell us that Camelot is safe in Gwen's hands and ready to move forward. So Arthur succeeded in his goal after all, by proxy.

The comments from the American readers are overwhelmingly positive.

Full interview here:

http://herocomplex.latimes.com/tv/merlin-co-creator-julian-murphy-on-series-emotional-conclusion/#/1 