User blog comment:123Action/A Year/@comment-4814726-20131107051411/@comment-5102537-20131109122341

That would have been interesting to see. However, Arthur would have died without Merlin's help shortly after Uther's death, in "His Father's Son" at the latest. Without Merlin using magic during the Champions' fight, Annis' champ would have killed Arthur due to Morgana's magic.

Aside from that, it's hard to say. Aithusa wouldn't have been hatched if Merlin had left after Arthur's coronation, Arthur would have died - but if this hadn't happened, Arthur probably would have had the chance to prove himself. The way it was done on the show, he was merely a puppet that was manipulated by almost everyone, most of all by Merlin and Gaius. A stronger Arthur with a mind of his own would have been far more interesting.

I see another "What if" coming up... What if Merlin had left after Arthur's coronation ? :-D

It's obvious again that Uther's death actually screwed things up. Caerleon wouldn't have trespassed Camelot if Uther had been alive, so no war with Annis. By the time when Arthur is king, later in season five maybe when Uther either retires or dies (due to whatever reason that hasn't got anything to do with magic), Arthur would have established hisself as a Regent Prince, learnt how to deal with the job and gained more self-consciousness. Maybe a couple of things would could have been avoided or prevented from happening and Merlin could have left Arthur and Camelot later, knowing that Arthur was ready to be a strong and balanced king without all his insecurities and fickle attitudes.