User blog comment:Fimber/Things that went wrong in "The Death Song of Uther Pendragon"/@comment-7285162-20130415005522/@comment-188.32.240.81-20130426031851

ReganX, there is a difference between a witch-burning mob, basically lynching, and giving the sorceror a fair and just trial pursuant to the laws of Camelot. As far as we've seen, Arthur did well to enforce the law, and that included protecting the witch against the mob. Alright, he just gave the old man a warning, but that was likely enough.

Would that other would-be lynching victims had been so fortunate? I don't know. But the same pertains to much more mundane problems like common bandits who terrorized the common folk. At least a magic user would have some means to protect himself.

I believe Arthur did what he could --- that's what the patrols were for.

Now, dear ladies, I need your attention: remember that bandit lord Hengist? Our supposedly oh-so-lawful king, Fimber's beloved Uther didn't want to bother about the problem, although it was quite a real threat to commoners. Oh, and by the way, the same logic pertains to druids: even if he let them be on an ocasion, that was because it wasn't worth its while and there were generally greater problems. Given the chance, he would have carried on with that little genocide of his without a second thought. That is rather different story with Arthur's solemn word to leave them druids in peace, don't you think?

Now, Fimber, specially for you. By the way, of course I read it all (I might skip some plentiful commentaries to some blog post, but not your reply for me, however lengthy). Oh, just so you know, I did a full rewatch of the entire show before the final episodes of Series 5 were released (I guess that's what you're doing now), mind you, and my memory doesn't seem to be that much of a trouble. :D

But back to the subject. It would seem that you almost sentimentalize Uther yourself now :D, focusing on how multi-dimensional and not-so-bad after all he was. Besides, it would seem that you take Uther for a very raitional, logical person who would bahevae perfectly consistent. OK, that might be just my opinion, but he was not! Emrys strike me in the face with lighnting if he was :D, but no, he was not.

And before I proceed to prove these points, just a note: if the episode was indeed meant to sober fans who feel that way, than it was brilliant indeed. I hope you don't take me for an idiot who swallows everything they feed me because of that. :D

So, now let us commence with Uther the good guy. You see, big deal it is, drowning newborn babies (and lots of them) in wells and all. It's all nothning, I guess, besides, it doesn't get much camera's focus, but wait, he nevertherless turned out to care about his progeny (despite being probably the worst parent in all five kingdoms), THAT makes him a very likebale guy, perhaps a woobie!

Oh, maybe he entertained himself with orgies of slaughter (Great Purge --- big words for a little genocide; I really didn't want to draw some particular parallels or use words like 'Final Solution', but I'm afraid I can't help it) and other similar games for some greater good, for the sake of Camelot? That would seem in the beginning of Series 1, but here comes "Excalibur"! It turns out the whole mumbo-jumbo against magic is total rubbish Uther has been feeding everyone, and the real reasons for the bleeding purge... But I will return to this and elaborate on it soon enough.

By the way, do some hypothetical Uther's fans care? I don't think so. They are more concerned with him weeping like a crybaby over his son's body whom he personally sent to death (he tried it many times before, mind you, and finally it worked) on the first place: that makes his charecter soooo deep and sympathetic!

And what about more personal side? Alright, an awful parent, but maybe a good man at least? Yeah, I especially like the way he treated his friends, for example. The was some guy (sarcasm mode on, of course), Gorlouis the name, I believe... Uther f... I mean, slept with his wife (you got it, his best friend's wife) and sent the man to die on a battlefield. Good riddance, Gorlouis, I'll take good care of your daughter... I mean, my daughter, I promise.

But wait, Uther had many friends. Another was lady Nimueh... Remember what he did to her then? When Merlin and us encounter her, she is all bitter, evil and cruel, loitering around and lookong orgasmic when preforming something nasty. Bad lady, alright. However, it is my belief she is mostly Uther's handiwork... Her death was really sad, I think, if anyone wasn't beyond redemption, it was she, maybe they even could have been friends with Merlin in the end. Anybody else feeling that way? Don't think so, those hypothetical fans prefer sitting around and weeping about Mor-Mor-Morgana! ;-(

Oh, never mind, Uther, I'm not done with you and your friends yet. But who is it? Gaius? Good old Gaius. Devoted to you like a dog, always supporting you like only the best friend would. What's your favourite way of treating him, Uther? "Shut up, Gaius, before I chop off your essential body parts and feed them yo you, and I mean it. Do I make myself clear? -- Yes, sire (bows and exits)."

Sometimes even villains have stadards, but Uther seems to be above this, isn't he? Maybe I should exercise my fingers and compare him to someone like Agravaine (are there any Agravaine fans here? No, he seems totally aggravating to everybody), but that would be redundant, so I'll leave Agravaine be. For now.

If you're still reading :D, that was all about some (but not all!) of the most... charming sides of Uther's personality. It is my opinion that the audience (even this here community) tends to forget it, making Uther a hero, a martyr and so on. I've even been reading how people berated Gwen for not loving him enough (!) and the supposedly gross idea of her counting the days (mind you, she didn't really mean Uther's death, she meant her own love and happiness, I'm certain). In case you folks have forgotten, he freaking killed her father and would happily do this to her as well. You know I never thought the world of Gwen, but all my compliments and respect to her for treating Uther as she did.

The episode was farce, you think? Yes, maybe. In comparison to what Uther did in life, that was all a comedy. And the audience who sentimentalises Uther to much certainly deserved a poke, that's how I feel now. Anyway, thanks to you for making me reflect on this some more. )

Oh, and about Uther's supposed rationality. His logic, his reasons fot the Great Purges humbles the most insane troll, I believe. His wife died in an accident Uther played a certain part in, what did he decide? Oh, apparently, it's all Nimueh's fault (just a reminder, she was his friend and probably did everything she could to help him), and not only her, everyone who turns to magic (excluding Uther himslef of course) is the root of all evil, let's kill 'em all!

Do you think it's not crazy?

Just for example, imagine you have a boyfriend and break up with him. You're sad and all, that's understandable. But now imagine that you're also queen, so what do you do? Apparently, you declare the men as a threat to your kingdom and commence to purge the land of every single male pig. According to you new laws, there is a death penalty for being male, harboring a male or having any business with a man. Than you teach your heir (guess how he or she came to be? Could a male be involved in it? :D) that men are enemies and should be dealt with appropriately. Oh, by the way, most bandit's and other criminals are male, the wars are also fought by males, so your kingdom would certainly be much more safe and peaceful without men. ;) (How you reproduct is another question, but that's not the point.)

If your logic and common sense scream and beg for mercy, then let me tell you this is as well-adjusted as Uther's "reasons" against magic in the first place. You see, at first I was a bit suprised by his erratic behaviour in the episode, but upon deeper relection I'm not. :D

By the way, Fimber, remember that blog post of yours about references to classical culture? What you say if I compare Uther Pendragon to Pink from "The Wall" by Roger Waters? The short story is this: when the main character, a rock star named Pink, undergoes a particularly bad mental breakdown (as Uther also did) because of his isolation behing the metaphorical wall, at some climatic point he is deluded and imagines himself as a neo-Nazi dictator (sort of his dark alter ego) who believes that "purging" "the reds and the Jews and the queers and the coons" is the way to go (that is until he realises the horror of his condition and undergoes the last painful struggle for his own sanity, tearing down the "wall"). You see how his broken mind works? His father died in the war, his mother was overprotective, the schoolmaster was oppressive and he broke up with the wife (these are just the major bricks in his wall), so you know what? Some Nazi-style genocide would certainly allevieate his condition! Ironically, in his hallucinations he becomes what he hates most and what had laid the first "brick in the wall". (Of course, the whole piese of art is much better then it sounds from my scrabbled description, and you would do well to get familiar with it yourself in case you are not.) This addled "logic" of a madman pretty much resembles Uther for me: when his life and his mind went wrong because of a personal tragedy, he sort of found an outlet for it in the genocide of those with magic.