Board Thread:Rewatching "Merlin" - Season Five/@comment-5102537-20140322115119/@comment-5102537-20140329123038

I can't remember this episode very well, except for the final scenes when Arthur and Odin accept a truce.

It was similar to the sudden forgiveness of Queen Annis. To me it wasn't the slightest bit believable that Odin, who had been seeking revenge for his son's death for years, regardless the consequences (which could have easily been war with Camelot) suddenly ends the fights and agrees to a truce with Arthur only because he lost the duel.

Same goes for Arthur. Odin (together with some other people...) killed Uther, but then, after a short duel, all is forgotten? This weird quit-pro-quo, this "alright, I killed your son, you killed my father - we're even, let's be allies now and have some cookies" made me crinch.

Another thing was the fact that just one episode before, Arthur had sent back his father to the Spirit World on a very, very sour note, to say the least, but now complaints about Oding having killed his father. So what is it? Does Arthur still miss and love Uther or is he over him after "The Death Song of Uther Pendragon"? He didn't care about Uther's peace of soul, after all. Yet he critizises Odin for killing Uther. For once I would have liked some clarity about Arthur's feelings, but once again, until the very end, Arthur doesn't seem to have any deeper feelings, or better, he didn't seem to be able to decide how he really feels.

His constant forgiveness for pretty much everything and everyone has always been irritating. A little bit of conflict would have been nice. He didn't even show any feelings for or about Morgana. No anger, no hate, no love, no forgiveness, no desire for revenge, only a little bit of disappointment. Who drugged Arthur?

To make the truce believable, Odin needed a much better reason than simply Arthur's offer and the lost duel. And vice versa. Had they shown an inner conflict of Odin before, maybe the will to grab the first sign of peace between him and Arthur, this ending would have been at least a bit acceptable. But the way it was done it came across as some kind of a cartoon-happy ending.

As for Morgana, Areanna123, I think that she was indeed only power-hungry, additionally to seeking revenge for whatever. She not only wanted Arthur dead but to destroy entire Camelot. At least destroy the Camelot as it was in order to create a new one. In order to do that she needed an army/allies, so she wanted to give Odin what he desired and then take advantage of his army's strength. Aside from that, I think that Morgana's complicated plans were a big flaw in the writing. She had numerous chances to kill Uther, Arthur, Gaius, Gwen and so many more people, even when she was still living in Camelot in season three. Yet she always made such complicated plans that she had to fail every time.