Board Thread:Rewatching "Merlin" - Season Four/@comment-5102537-20131130132300/@comment-5102537-20131218112607

ReganX wrote: To be honest, it doesn't surprise me that Morgana wouldn't give Arthur the benefit of the doubt, given his attitude towards magic. She may also have assumed that the Sarrum would brag about the fact that he had captured her. Believing that Arthur was party to her capture would make sense if she was captured in Camelot, as she would have been operating on the assumption that the Sarrum was in the kingdom with Arthur's knowledge and approval.

However, I think that there was never any real thought given to that aspect of the storyline, so the characters' reactions are off.

Yes, your last sentence sums the problem up. We never really know what the characters think and feel except for their basic emotions like hate, love, sadness, desire for vengeance. Had they shown Morgana demonstrating their thoughts on this the viewer would understand much better what was going on. I've never understood why it was so difficult to mention some essential things on the show.

For example, we "know" that Morgana was older than Arthur, but only due to what the actors said. It makes sense that she was older, yet they never mentioned it on "Merlin".

Before season five started, it was mentioned that Morgana thinks that Arthur was responsible for being held captive and tortured by the Sarrum, yet there was no mentioning or hint on the show itself. I'm sure that if being asked, the show runners and/or actors could also tell us a lot about what Morgana thought when she learnt of Merlin's magic, but on the show there was no other reaction than simply the continuation of hatred and revenge. No deeper thought, no insight, no questions on Morgana's side.

And Arthur suddenly knowing the circumstances of his birth in season four - there was no hint either.

The essence of telling a story is to tell the story rather than mentioning important bits and part subsequently or in advance.

Morgana could have mentioned that she was sure that Arthur had to do with it. It would have taken a few seconds only and the audience would know what was going on in her mind.