Board Thread:Rewatching "Merlin" - Season One/@comment-5102537-20130413094642/@comment-5674726-20130419000541

One odd little tit-bit in this episode.

To quote Kilgharrah:

"In the wrong hands, this sword could do great evil. It must be wielded by Arthur and him alone."

If the sword is only to be wielded by Arthur then any other hands are automatically the wrong hands, so let's look at what has been done with the sword when wielded by somebody who is not Arthur.

In this episode, Uther uses the sword to kill the Wraith, and save Arthur.

Merlin later uses the sword to kill soldiers in Morgause and Morgana's immortal army, and then to knock over the Cup of Life, destroying that army. He also uses the sword as a prop to con Arthur and others into believing that he is destined to be the greatest King in Albion, or some such. In Season Five, he used the sword to force a creature of magic to divulge information against her will, and to kill Morgana.

I wonder which of these acts is meant to be a great evil, or if Kilgharrah was just being a worry-wart when he insisted that only Arthur could wield the sword. If the sword had not been wielded by people who weren't Arthur, he would never have become King.