Board Thread:What If?/@comment-5674726-20140630220202/@comment-24762954-20140810080307

ReganX wrote:

Nimueh goes from making it very clear that she didn't know that Ygraine would die in payment for Arthur's life and that she had no control over it to being able to choose who lives and who dies. Even if you don't consider it a retcon, it's certainly a villain upgrade.

Taking it upon oneself to meddle with the power of life and death is arrogant. Nimueh paid a very heavy price when she took it upon herself to bring a life into the world that couldn't exist naturally but the writers decided to shield Merlin from the consequences of his own decision to do the same by allowing him to sacrifice Nimueh.

As to the question of whether or not Merlin would take an innocent life, I don't know whether or not he would have agreed but I would have liked to see him have to make the choice, with no convenient villain to be sacrificed so he can keep his hands clean.

Fimber had once pointed that Nimueh could have lied to torment Uther. And if important changes are made they should be noticeable. By the way, do you really think that the very 1 season wasn't thought through well enough?

And Merlin didn't took it upon himself. It was Kilgharrah's advice and his destiny. It could be considered that Merlin acted as the Great Dragon's proxy. To be considered arrogant he had to make the decision himself.

Nimueh was convenient villain indeed. Somebody had to die for Arthur.