User blog comment:Morganaforever/Episode Review: The Drawing of the Dark/@comment-5674726-20121215232656

''*Why does Merlin not realise that he is making Mordred evil? This episode really made me disappointed with Merlin. He is supposed to be the greatest sorcerer of all time, so how can he possible be so unwise? It is so clear that his actions in this episode played a large part in Mordred turning evil. I was really disappointed with him especially when he decided to betray Mordred for the second time. What has he ever done to him?''

Merlin's problem is that he's been using Kilgharrah's various prophecies as his guide for too long.

He believes Mordred to be evil, or at least destined for evil, on the strength of that prophecy and it's coloured his treatment of Mordred. I think that it's safe to say that Mordred's mistaken belief that Merlin deliberately betrayed him the first time is the result of Merlin's hostile treatment of him during his time in Camelot. After the way Merlin has treated him, it was natural for Mordred to believe that he betrayed Kara's position out of malice but, to his credit, he was later able to recognise that he was mistaken.

It was only after Merlin was given a new prophecy predicting Arthur's death, swiftly followed by Morgana declaring war, that he considered the idea that maybe the whole Mordred killing Arthur thing might not be set in stone, and that maybe his friendship with Arthur would win out. However, instead of placing his faith in that friendship, he assumed that Kara would turn Mordred against Arthur, instead of considering that maybe Mordred might have been able to change Kara's mind.

At this point, I think I'd rather see the series end with no united Albion and no hope of it, at least not under Arthur's reign, because Merlin and his blind faith in prophecy are getting on my nerves.

''*why did Arthur say he should not have trusted Mordred when obviously Mordred proved to be very loyal to him? It was so clear how much Mordred liked Arthur, even from the way he looked at him. He was like an older brother to him! I would have imagined that he would feel sorry for the way he acter towards Mordred, that he killed the person he loved the most. Yet... I guess this is typical Arthur behaviour!''

I'd say that he didn't want to accept that he might bear any responsibility, or that there was something he could have done differently. If he tells himself that he was wrong to trust Mordred - aka. the guy who saved his life multiple times - then Mordred was always the problem and there was no way that he was ever going to be loyal. It's nothing to do with Arthur and his choices as a ruler.

Same goes for the way he acted towards Kara. I don't think that he recognises that, as long as he is outlawing magic, he has absolutely no claim on the loyalty of anybody with magic. A persecuted people owe nothing to the guy doing the persecuting, no matter how much he likes to think of himself as a just and merciful ruler.

I wanted to have somebody smack Arthur over the head when he was so complacent about Mordred forgiving him, to the point that he didn't question the sincerity of Mordred's apology a few hours after he refused his plea to spare the life of a loved one. I doubt that Arthur took a moment to put himself in Mordred's shoes, and to ask himself if he would be prepared to forgive Morgana if she killed Guinevere.

''*Why is Gwen so mysteriously happy all the time? Ever since the spell has been lifted, we have only seen the cheery and giggly side of the Queen of Camelot. All she ever does now is have fun during the darkest of times and does nothing that really affects the storyline. To be honest, I miss the Guinevere we saw in the premiere.. Whatever happened to her?''

In the premiere, she was acting as Regent for a good chunk of the time, and had her moment as an advisor before Arthur left but it seems to me that, for the most part, her role is that of Arthur's love interest. The writers seem more interested in Merlin being Arthur's advisor, given that he's supposed to be the other side of the coin. Guinevere has had very little to do, except for when she was the damsel in distress/traitor in Camelot. It would have made no difference to this episode if she never appeared.