Board Thread:(Re)Writing "Merlin"/@comment-5674726-20141115233456/@comment-5102537-20141120140758

I would have made Merlin a more confident character from season three onwards, someone who respects the protocol regarding his status as a servant in Camelot but who also has his own thoughts about the prophecy, the characters and their actions.

Once he saw that the future couldn't be altered and that the visions kept coming true, he had better continued to question the entire Old Religion subject, just like he had started to do when defeating Nimueh in season one. Most of all would I have let him spend a lot of time studying his own destiny and the prophecies. They were the reason for him being Arthur's protector, after all. Not to mention the importance of what exactly he was destined to do, why, with whom, when, how and all that. Merlin relied on blurry visions and only a fragment of information much too lightly, in my opinion.

I would have also made him a more conflicted person. Especially conflicted about his relationship with Arthur instead of making him act like Arthur's favourite pet. One of the best scenes with Merlin to me, was when he told Arthur to leave him alone and didn't participate in the banter for once (I think it was "The Last Dragonlord..." Not sure). Telling Arthur his opinion and showing some backbone every now and then would have made Merlin much more interesting.

He followed Arthur much too willingly, for my taste. Instead, he could have had his own thoughts (as mentioned above) and agenda, keeping the balance between being Arthur's friend, his servant and the one who knows what's going on and acting according to it without giving in all the time and rewarding Arthur for his wrongdoings with kind words that sometimes were flat out lies.

I would have made Merlin questioning his own actions a lot more. His new attitude from "The Wicked Day" on when he suddenly became a fickle, cowardly and colder character would have never happened if I had written his character. More conflict, yes, more callousness, no.

Last but not least I would have given him more background on his life in Ealdor and more scenes with Uther since they belong to some of the best on the show. He could have tried to influence Uther a bit more, to speak to him like an adult instead of playing the fool all the time. I get why he pretended to be an idiot. It made him harmless and kept him beyond Uther's radar. However, when it was necessary to act instead of letting things happen (e.g. Morgana trying to kill everyone) and most of all when Uther was broken already, Merlin should have taken the chance to earn Uthers trust as a grown-up and intelligent man in order to try to influence him or to open his eyes.