Aithusa

For the episode with the same name see: Aithusa (episode).

"The white dragon bodes well for Albion, for you and Arthur, and for the land you will build together."

- Kilgharrah to Merlin

Aithusa is a white dragon summoned from her egg by Merlin, who later saved Morgana's life by healing her wounds.

Birth
Aithusa is brought into existence when the dragonlord, Merlin, rescues her egg from the Tomb of Ashkanar and Julius Borden. A dragon will only hatch when a dragonlord gives it a name. Using his power, Merlin names the hatchling Aithusa.

Kilgharrah, The Great Dragon, notes that the name Merlin chose is very fitting, for in the Dragon Tongue, her name means "Light of the Sun". It is fitting because Aithusa is a rare white dragon, and her birth symbolises a good omen for Merlin's destiny, for Arthur, and the land that they will build together.

"Aithūsa" is Greek (Αἰθουσα) for "she who burns (transitive)", i.e. "she who burns things".

Saving Morgana
Aithusa presumably remains with Kilgharrah while maturing. When Morgana loses the throne of Camelot for the second time and is gravely injured fighting her way out, Aithusa flies to where she lies in the forest. Morgana cured by the dragon's breath, appears both shocked and elated at the sight of the dragon, smiling in disbelief as Aithusa flies away once again right after healing her (The Sword in the Stone).

Assault on Ismere
Aithusa bonds with Morgana within the next three years since they spend two of those years imprisoned and tortured together by Sarrum. By the time she visits Morgana just before Arthur and Merlin arrive to rescue the knights Morgana captured, she has grown quite a bit larger, although still small enough to fit in Morgana's bedroom and in the caves Morgana is searching. Aithusa attacks Merlin, Arthur and Gwaine, who are all shocked that Morgana has found a dragon. Merlin chases after her and when she tries to attack him, he blocks her fire with a magical shield and then uses his Dragonlord ability to stop her from attacking again. Merlin realises that something traumatic happened to Aithusa, and it is revealed that she can't speak. Merlin lets Aithusa go, allowing her to exercise her free will to choose her loyalties. Aithusa displays her loyalty to Morgana by presumably healing her after she is wounded by Mordred and is last seen following Morgana through a blizzard (Arthur's Bane:Part Two).

Imprisonment
It is later revealed that during the time Aithusa was imprisoned, she grew too large for the pit in which she was locked away. With no room to grow, she became twisted and crippled, her cries of pain could be heard from outside the pit and were more pitiful than that of Morgana's (The Hollow Queen).

Attacking Arthur Merlin and Mordred
When the Dochraid warned Morgana about Merlin's attempt to heal Guinevere, who was under her control, she turned to Aithusa for help. The white dragons attacked Merlin, Arthur, and Mordred with the queen in tow at a canyon. Just as before, Merlin uses his Dragonlord powers to send Aithusa away and end her attack (With All My Heart).

The Final Battle
Aithusa uses her breath to forge a sword for Mordred (The Diamond of the Day: Part One). Aithusa attacked the Camelot knights but flew off when Merlin used his Dragonlord powers to control her. It is unknown what Aithusa's fate was after the attack (The Diamond of the Day: Part Two). It is possible that she lived, grew and died of old age as the last Dragon as Kilgharrah was already old.

Attributes
Aithusa is a female dragon, (or dragoness) with white scales, and wings with a white, almost transparent membrane. She has big, light blue eyes, four horns, short neck spikes and tail spikes. Since she is female, her body structure may turn out to be more feminine than Kilgharrah's, but for now it is unpronounced until she grows older.

As a newborn, she was about the size of a small bird. After three years, she appears to be the same size as a Wyvern. How long it would take for her to reach Kilgharrah's size is unknown.

Personality
Aithusa has a very mysterious personality. She saved Morgana's life, although it is unknown exactly why. This might have been out of compassion, or she might have had a darker motive. Either way, Aithusa has been shown to have a genuine bond with Morgana, who treated her like a pet. Aithusa appears to be mute since she has never been seen speaking, although this might be because she simply hasn't learned to speak since she is only three years old.

Aithusa was, like Morgana, traumatised from being imprisoned and tortured for two years. It might have been this trauma that made her unable to speak.

Merlin
As the last Dragonlord, Merlin used his powers to summon Aithusa from her egg and gave her a name. However Aithusa later saved and bonded with Merlin's arch enemy Morgana. Aithusa attacked Merlin, Arthur and Gwaine and Merlin chased after her and used his Dragonlord powers to stop her from striking again. He could tell that something terrible had happened to Aithusa and realised that she couldn't speak. When Merlin told Aithusa to go the first time, she didn't want to. But then he commanded her to leave. Although Arthur had mentioned that Morgana now had a Dragon, Merlin appears to be unaware of Aithusa's loyalty to her since he allowed the white Dragon to leave.

Kilgharrah
Kilgharrah was Aithusa's Dragon guardian. He initially thought that Aithusa was male. Aithusa later saved Morgana's life and appears to have betrayed Kilgharrah. It has been said that Kilgharrah will not be the same Dragon he used to be because of his ward's betrayal.



Morgana
For reasons that have not been revealed, Aithusa saved Morgana at the brink of death. Morgana was grateful and elated when she did this. The two were imprisoned and tortured for two years by Sarrum of Amata, and after escaping, both of them were still haunted by their past experiences. Morgana was protective of Aithusa and reassured her that everything will be alright. Morgana treated Aithusa like a pet and the white Dragon seemed to be the only thing she genuinely cared about. Aithusa was shown to be loyal to Morgana and attacked Merlin, Arthur and Gwaine, although she couldn't resist Merlin's Dragonlord powers. She was later seen following Morgana through a freezing blizzard outside of Ismere, which shows Aithusa's bond with Morgana. It is also unknown how Morgana came to know the dragon by the name Merlin gave to it.

Abilities
Aithusa is a dragon of the same type as Kilgharrah, so she has many or all of his abilities.
 * She has great magical power that is used through her breath. She can use it to heal, gift knowledge or power, and breathe fire.
 * She was able to fly only a few weeks after her hatching, even though her wings weren't fully grown.
 * When she is bigger, she will have immense physical strength. She can use her wings, spiked tail, talons, and teeth to great advantage in a fight. For now though, she is only the size of a man. She also breathes fire.

Legends
In the legends, the red dragon - symbolising Wales, king Arthur and Christianity -  kills the white dragon - symbolising the Saxons, Morgan Le Fay and magic. The red dragon is most likely represented by Kilgharrah and the white dragon by Aithusa.

Appearances

 * Series 4
 * Aithusa
 * The Sword in the Stone: Part Two


 * Series 5
 * Arthur's Bane: Part Two
 * The Hollow Queen
 * With All My Heart
 * The Diamond of the Day: Part One
 * The Diamond of the Day: Part Two

Trivia

 * When the writers learnt about the fans debating whether Aithusa healing Morgana had to do with the white and red dragon legend or not, they had mentioned very loosely: "we hoped it was a nice tease...".
 * Katie McGrath has stated in an interview that Aithusa is female, despite being mentioned as "he" in series four.
 * Aithusa is Morgana's confidant and companion in Series 5, in the same way that Kilgharrah is Merlin's. While they shared the same confinement for two years, it appears their captor used Aithusa to capture Morgana so they were close before this captivity- hence this is not the main reason Aithusa is Morgana's confidant.
 * Aithusa used her breath to forge a sword for Morgana in The Diamond of the Day. In legend, Clarent was the Excalibur's twin sword, used by Mordred to slay Arthur. This legend was referenced in the finale.