User blog comment:Knightofthecart/Uther, the once and future king, part I/@comment-5102537-20130101112329/@comment-4879894-20130101124039

Of course, writing this post, I was thinking : "Fimber is going to like it". I discovered Merlin one year ago, when series 4 was over, and since this time I was caught by the way Uther handled his kingdom and how it would be challenging for Merlin to propose a political system which could outperform the one established by Uther. In the last dialogue between Merlin and Nimueh (Le Morte d'Arthur), I really thought that, getting rid of a selfish, vengeful and cruel High Priestess, he had in mind to change the fundamental values of the Old Religion. He was very brave in this episode : he stood up in front of the Dragon and Nimueh, making clear that he was not one of them. In this time, the young boy was strong and determined, full of promises. Unfortunately, the writers betrayed this potential to make of Merlin Arthur's pet.

I didn't like either that Uther killed children, during the Great Purge, but I found it quite realistic, since in a war, we can't spare women and children as we want. A war is a chaos where we can control anything. On the other hand, I know that Uther ordered to not take any prisoner, but I found it consistent, as his goal was to get rid once and for all of the magic. Remeber that he was ready to execute Mordred when he was just a boy. It's one of the most awful decision, if not the most,  he had taken and we see, in The Tears of Uther Pendragon, that these crimes didn't left him alone, and, as you said, the haunting showed that he could be redeemed.