Board Thread:Rewatching "Merlin" - Season Five/@comment-5102537-20140329115401/@comment-24629321-20140331150937

There are so many times in this show that I wish the writers would have done things differently. But in the case of this episode, the outcome was so perfectly heartbreaking that it couldn't have gone any other way, and I will forever remember Merlin's 'There can be no place for magic in Camelot' scene as one of the saddest moments in television history (and for once, it's not solely thanks to the actors' brilliant performance). To me, the episode implies that, because of that moment, Merlin is responsible for Arthur's death. I'm very curious whether it seemed to anyone else to be saying this. (I actually recently started a discussion on here wondering who is ultimately responsible for Arthur's death, because the question bothers me so much.)

It's also interesting that when Gaius asks Merlin what happened to the boy he used to be, Merlin claims, "He grew up," but that doesn't seem to be the case at all. If anything, the Merlin in this episode demonstrates the same shortsightedness and arrogance that frustrated me about him from the very first episodes of season 1. (Remember when he almost got Gwen executed for using magic to heal her father?) He thinks he's helping, but he always demonstrates this complete inability to consider what the outcomes might actually be. Arthur was offered a chance to change his fate. How narrow-minded does Merlin have to be for 'must kill Mordred' to trump 'change Arthur's fate'? Even after he was told by the Diamair that Mordred wasn't actually Arthur's bane anyway! The only way I can forgive Merlin is to pretend that the forces of the Old Religion deliberately manipulated him into advising Arthur not to accept the Disir's offer—that it was part of Arthur's test that he had to decide all on his own to accept magic. But I really don't think the writers intended it that way. The question that remains with me is, did they actually intend to imply that Merlin is responsible for Arthur's death? (They certainly love to torture Merlin at every turn!)

On a lighter note, this episode includes one of my favorite quotes to come out of the series: Merlin's "Judgement is wasted on a man who won't listen."