Board Thread:Series 5 Discussion/@comment-82.156.4.128-20121224212052/@comment-5621713-20130123032429

When Kilgharrah says he will return we have no idea of what form he will return in. Balinor said a lot to Merlin about always being, ie the immortality of the soul. Will Arthur return the way Balinor did? Or will he literally be revived? Some fans have noted that Arthur was the only one in the show whose body in the boat was not set afire. If he is not burned, his body isn't destroyed. The boat is last seen going toward the island in Avalon, where the strongest magic supposedly resides. If they truly want to do a spin off, or a movie, they have it set up so that they have a lot of options regarding how they can bring Arthur back.

I suppose that with Morgana dead, and with Merlin, Gwen, and his knights, Arthur "died" knowing that there would be peace, and justice in the kingdom he worked so hard to improve. He almost seemed resigned to the fact that he had done the most of what he had planned to do for Camelot, now that Morgana was no longer a threat. Anyway, I hope that the nebulous ending will give rise to spin  offs or films. I, like so many fans, am not ready to say goodbye to Merlin forever.