Board Thread:What If?/@comment-5674726-20130929195208/@comment-5674726-20130929233724

That moment in The Crystal Cave where Morgana wants Uther to acknowledge her and he doesn't seems like a potential turning point to me but, as MMV on that count, I'd like to take it through the possibilities either way.

My opinion is that, had Uther acknowledged her, it would have opened the door to a reconciliation between her and Uther. She is clearly hurt and angry when he decides against telling her that he is her father and this drives her to begin a campaign to secure the throne of Camelot, something she had shown no interest in before that point. Had Uther told her that he was her father, I think that this, combined with the fact that he had allowed magic to be used to save her life, would have undermined her belief that he hated magic more than he cared for her. I could see her drawing back from her campaign with Morgause and maybe trying to influence Uther to change without wanting him dead.

It'd be a shock to Arthur to learn that he had a half-sister but I'd say that he'd adapt to the revelation quickly.

The problem would be that I can't see Morgause changing her mind about wanting the Pendragon men dead, even if Morgana has had a change of heart. I also doubt that Merlin would believe that Morgana had changed, he'd be convinced that she was waiting for her next opportunity to strike. It could conceivably lead to a situation where he is so busy watching Morgana and waiting for her to do something wrong that he doesn't realise that Morgause is acting independently until it's too late.

In the event that Uther's acknowledgement of her didn't lead to a change of heart for Morgana, I see it leading to a change of strategy. In canon, Arthur was the target as his death was meant to lead Uther to name Morgana his heir. If Uther died without acknowledging Morgana, she would have no way of proving her paternity and claim to be Arthur's heir. However, if Morgana was acknowledged as Uther's daughter, and therefore as second-in-line for the throne after Arthur, I could see Uther being the priority target as his death would mean that Morgana was heir to the throne.

The silver lining is that, if the sisters were able to kill Uther without Morgana's involvement becoming known, they would have to stay their hand for a while rather than taking Arthur out immediately after his father's death, which would look suspicious. This would mean that he would have a limited window to prove that he will be more of a friend to magic than Uther was.