Merlin and Freya

"You've already saved me. You made me feel loved."

- Freya to Merlin

Freya was Merlin's friend and love interest. They first met when Merlin helped her to escape from a bounty hunter and hid her in the caverns beneath the city. Though Freya's death appeared to bring their relationship to an end, she was later revealed to still be in existence in spirit form as the Lady of the Lake.

Secret Love
Merlin first met Freya when he helped her to escape from the bounty hunter Halig. He used his magic to free her from her chains and the cage that Halig had imprisoned her in, after which he took her to the caverns beneath the city, where he thought she would be safe.

Freya was suspicious of Merlin at first, as she didn't understand why he was helping her, but seemed to warm to him somewhat when he explained that it could've just as easily been him in that cage. When he told her his name she responded with her own without prompting, accepted his second offer of his jacket, and thanked him for what he'd done for her.

Merlin spent the next few days smuggling food and candles to Freya, who remained hidden in the caverns. They grew steadily closer during this time, bonding over similarities such as their statuses as outsiders and outcasts, respective histories of secrecy and persecution, similar rural upbringings, and shared ideas of home. Merlin proved to be the more open of the two, freely sharing his feelings about how difficult it was to hide his magic, how he felt Freya was the only one he could really be himself around, and how he'd never met anyone like her. Though more reserved, Freya reciprocated his feelings, saying that she'd never met anyone like him, either.

Merlin also developed a knack for entertaining Freya with his magic. When she first mentioned her feelings of being cursed, Merlin (who assumed that she was talking about her magic) tried to help her see that magic could be a gift by making candle flames dance in the air for her, which made her smile for the first time. Later, when Merlin brought her a wheel of bread to eat and she requested strawberries to go with it, Merlin wound up conjuring her a rose instead. Though not the strawberries she'd asked for, Freya was clearly delighted by the gift and accepted it tenderly. She asked Merlin why he was so good to her, which prompted him to tell her that he liked her. His confession seemed to sadden Freya, who tried once more to tell him that she wasn't like him.

Before she could explain what she meant, however, the moment was interrupted by the arrival of Halig, who suspected Merlin of harboring Freya and had followed him to the caverns in search of her. Though the pair ultimately managed to escape detection, Freya was deeply distressed by the incident. Merlin reassured her by repeating his earlier promise to look after her, and was surprised that she didn't seem to realize how special she was. Touched, Freya was similarly surprised to realize that he wasn't afraid of her. Merlin told her that being different was nothing to be scared of, and the two shared a kiss (The Lady of the Lake).

Escape From Camelot
Not long after their close call with Halig, Merlin began devising a way to get Freya out of Camelot. Freya was saddened by his plans, as she had enjoyed their time together and was going to miss him, and was surprised when Merlin announced that he was going to go with her. Freya objected at first, as she felt that he had a good life in Camelot and couldn't ask him to spend the rest of his life on the run with her, but soon seemed to come around to the idea. They happily planned their life together, deciding that they would go somewhere that reminded them of both their childhood homes: somewhere with mountains, a few fields, wildflowers, a couple of cows, and a lake.

The decision made, Merlin began gathering the things they'd need. He started with a new dress for Freya, a beautiful purple gown appropriated from Morgana's wardrobe. Freya was awestruck by the dress, but soon fell into a melancholy mood. When Merlin told her that she looked like a princess, she quietly responded that she wasn't one, that she couldn't accept the dress and didn't deserve all the things he was doing for her. Merlin gently disagreed with her, saying that he was doing things for her because he wanted to, and his determination to stay with her seemed to lift her spirits.

Unbeknownst to Merlin, however, Freya had made plans of her own. She'd meant what she said about him having a good life in Camelot, a life that he clearly loved, and she couldn't bear to see him sacrifice it for her personal happiness. So she played along with his plan, reminding him that they'd need supplies, food and water especially, and Merlin left to go get some, assuring her that he wouldn't be long. They parted with a kiss, and Freya watched as he ran off, the smile disappearing from her face. She waited until he was out of sight, and then she said goodbye (The Lady of the Lake).

The Bastet
Oblivious to this development, Merlin hurried home to collect his things. He found Gaius waiting for him, and the physician wasted no time in informing him that the beast that had been attacking Camelot for the past several days had struck again the night before, killing two people. Though their wounds appeared to have been inflicted by an animal, the footprints leading away from the bodies were human. Gaius then reminded Merlin about what Halig had said about Freya being cursed, and shared his suspicions that Freya was under a curse that doomed its victim to turn at the stroke of midnight into a vicious, bloodthirsty monster called a Bastet.

Horrified, Merlin admitted that he'd helped Freya to escape but refused to believe that she was responsible for the killings, insisting that she was just a girl. He begged Gaius to give him time to get her out of the city, but Gaius refused, saying that he couldn't allow more innocent people to die, and left to inform Uther of his findings. Desperate to get Freya away, Merlin grabbed his things and ran back to the caverns, but it was too late. Freya had already left.

Heartbroken, Merlin returned home and curled up on his bed, where Gaius found him later that evening. Though he'd had no choice but to tell Uther what he'd found, Gaius was nevertheless sad for Merlin, as he understood how he must be feeling. Merlin, however, was not comforted, saying that Gaius could never understand because he didn't know what it was like to feel like a monster, to be afraid of who he was. Gaius tried to make him see that Freya was different from him, that she was dangerous, but Merlin disagreed. He said that whatever she was and whatever she'd done she didn't deserve to die, and that he hoped she was safe.

Freya, however, was anything but safe. While attempting to escape the city under cover of darkness, she found herself cornered by a Camelot patrol led by Arthur and Halig. Knowing that her curse would soon be upon her, she begged them to let her go, but it was too late. The clocks began to chime midnight, and she was forced to enter her Bastet form. Unable to control herself, Freya killed Halig and attacked Arthur and his men, the former of whom managed to fight her off, badly injuring her in the process. Howling in pain, she retreated to the main square with the knights close behind.

It was at this point that Merlin arrived, having come running when the warning bells began to sound. Arriving just in time to see the knights surrounding her, he stared at the scene in horror, at one point locking eyes with Freya, who gazed at him sadly as the knights moved in for the kill. Desperate to save her, Merlin used his magic to send a stone gargoyle toppling from the wall. It distracted the knights long enough for Freya to escape, and Merlin quickly ran after her (The Lady of the Lake).

Freya's Death
Merlin followed Freya back to their hiding place in the caverns. Though still in her Bastet form, she made no move to attack him, and responded to his attempts to comfort her with only gentle growls. The effects of the curse soon began to wear off, and Freya retreated deeper into the tunnels. When Merlin caught up to her he found her back in her human form, naked, badly injured, and crying.

As he covered her with his jacket, assuring her that he didn't hate her for what she'd done, Freya tearfully explained how it had happened. She told Merlin that she had once killed a man in self defense. It had been an accident - she hadn't meant to hurt him, but she'd thought he was trying to kill her - but that hadn't mattered to the man's family. His mother was a sorceress, and when she'd learned what Freya had done she'd placed a curse on her, forcing her to kill forevermore.

Knowing that her wound was too serious to heal, Freya asked Merlin to leave her. Instead, he dressed her in Morgana's stolen gown and carried her to the Lake of Avalon, which he knew would remind her of the childhood home she'd spoken of so fondly. Freya was pleased that he'd remembered, and appeared to be at peace with her fate. Though he hadn't been able to heal her, she assured Merlin that he'd already saved her, that he'd made her feel loved, and with her last breath promised him that one day she would repay his kindness. She died moments later in Merlin's arms.

Heartbroken, Merlin placed her body in a boat lined with ferns and pushed it out onto the lake, intending to give her a Viking funeral. It took him two tries to set the boat on fire with his magic; he couldn't bring himself to finish the spell on the first attempt, and had to start again. He watched the boat burn for a moment, and then returned to Camelot (The Lady of the Lake).

The Lady of the Lake
A little over a year later, when Merlin accompanied Arthur on a quest to recover the Fisher King's trident, the Fisher King gave him a glass vial containing water from the Lake of Avalon. He warned him that Albion's time of need was near and that Merlin alone could save her, but that he would need help, and the water would provide that help (The Eye of the Phoenix).

When Morgause and Morgana conquered Camelot with their immortal army, Merlin took the vial with him when he, Arthur, and their allies went into hiding. He experimented with the water using his magic and various spells, but to no avail. Whatever help the water could provide remained a mystery, and he eventually dozed off with the vial still in hand.

Sometime later, Merlin was startled awake by the sound of Gwaine getting up in the night, and in his surprise the vial slipped from his fingers and shattered on the cave floor. Horrified, Merlin watched helplessly as the water began to trickle away. Much to his surprise, however, breaking the glass had freed Albion's last hope rather than destroyed it. The water took on an ethereal glow and formed a small puddle in a crevice of rock. An image then formed in the water, and Merlin watched in shock and delight as it was revealed to be Freya, smiling at him.

As Merlin struggled to comprehend this turn of events, Freya told him that she'd missed him, and gently deflected his questions by saying that they didn't have long. She explained that the Cup of Life had not only made Morgana's army immortal but transformed them into the living dead, and there was only one thing that could slay that which was already dead: the sword Excalibur, which Merlin had hidden at the bottom of the Lake of Avalon. She urged him to come to the lake, where she would give him the sword herself. Overjoyed, Merlin thanked her for her help, to which Freya tenderly replied that it was giving her the chance to see him again. The next day, Merlin asked the dragon Kilgharrah to take him to the Lake of Avalon. He took a small boat out to the middle of the lake, anxiously scanning the waves for any sign of Freya. After a moment the sword Excalibur emerged from the water, held in Freya's hand, and Merlin smiled (The Coming of Arthur).

Roughly four years later, after Arthur died while en route to the Lake of Avalon, Merlin returned Excalibur to Freya's care. Somber and grieved, he cast the sword into the lake and watched as Freya caught it in her hand and drew it back under the water (The Diamond of the Day).

Trivia

 * Freya is Merlin's only love interest throughout the series.
 * Interestingly, the love interest of the character played by Colin Morgan in the 2016 fantasy film The Huntsman: Winter's War was also named Freya.