Board Thread:Questions and Answers/@comment-184.88.25.24-20131112235645/@comment-5674726-20141106192615

GianG wrote: Since he was described as a "young boy" in Series 1-3 and as a "young man" in Series 4-5, I assumed that Merlin is less than 21 in Series 1-3 and at least 21 in Series 4-5.

There are three main possiblities about Merlin ages:


 * Merlin is around 2 and a half year younger than Arthur: so he is 18 in Series 1, 18-19 in Series 2, 20 in Series 3 and 22 in Series 4.


 * Merlin is around 3 years younger: he is 17-18 in Series 1, 18 in Series 2, 19-20 in Series 3 and 21-22 in Series 4.


 * Merlin is around 3 and a half years younger: he is 17 in Series 1, 17-18 in Series 2, 19-20 in Series 3 and 21 in Series 4.

I'd say that Merlin is no more than two years Arthur's junior, give or take a few months, given that their interactions early on. Arthur was quite a prat in those days, and I could see him being rather condescending towards Merlin about his youth if their age gap was any wider than that. Also, Balinor seems to have gone straight from Camelot to Ealdor, so would he have stayed in the house of a single woman for an extended period without marrying her? I'd say that capturing him was high on Uther's list of priorities so he may not have been able to stay in Ealdor long.