Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-5102537-20140217120328/@comment-5674726-20140217213026

Good question.

I think that, in a way, Merlin had too much faith in the prophecy, to the point where, rather than taking advantage of the opportunities he was given to soften Arthur's view of magic, he seems to have been operating as though everything would work itself out as long as he kept Arthur alive. Either he thought that, at a certain point, Arthur would be divinely inspired to change his mind about magic or he was very confident that, when he saw fit to tell Arthur of his magic, he would be all the proof that Arthur needed that magic could be a good thing in the right hands.

It's a little like a student being told that they were destined to get top marks in all of their exams. If the prophecy spurs the student to work as hard as they can to achieve the results that they have been told they are capable of, they're likely to do well but what do you think will happen if the student assumes that top marks in their exams are a foregone conclusion and doesn't bother to open a book or attend classes?