Board Thread:Rewatching "Merlin" - Season One/@comment-5102537-20130309111322/@comment-5102537-20130406102950

"I'd have preferred it if, at the end of the episode, Uther told Arthur that he understood why he went to save Merlin but that he has a responsibility to Camelot not to take unnecessary risks with his life, and that he got lucky this time."

I agree, even though I liked that Uther apologised to Arthur and told him that he did the right thing. It showed a different side on Uther in the beginning of season one already and made him more interesting and more likable. Giving him the capability of admitting mistakes (even though preventing Arthur to save Merlin wasn't actually a mistake) probably was also a part of his possible redemption that was thrown away again in the later seasons.

I also think that the fact that Arthur won over Nimueh was one of the reasons why Uther later thought that Arthur was right. He not only showed honour and nobility by saving his servant but he also fought magic and succeeded in this case.

But yes, it would have been more realistic if Uther had told Arthur again that he was just lucky and that risking his life for a servant as the future king was stupid and inappropriate - because it was. Morally the only right thing to do but rationally not clever and wrong.

By the way, Uther tells Arthur for the first but not the last time that he is proud of him. Why the heck did Arthur always think that his father wasn't proud of him?