Talk:Morgana Pendragon/@comment-92.10.59.49-20150520151121/@comment-5674726-20150813195727

Merlin really didn't want to poison Morgana, but to save one life over a whole city full of innocent people is wrong no matter your relationship with the one person 

That is precisely what Merlin does at the end of the episode.

He has seen a vision of Kilgharrah attacking Camelot and laying waste to it. He swears on his mother's life to free Kilgharrah and, despite his vision and despite the fact that Kilgharrah refuses to promise not to attack, he frees him. His choice results in the deaths of a minimum of 76 citizens of Camelot, and also leads to the death of his father.

To make matters worse, it may not have been necessary to free Kilgharrah to protect Hunith. Even if we assume that his promise was binding and that Hunith would have dropped dead if he broke it, he never said when he would free Kilgharrah. Technically, he would not have been breaking his word if he resolved to free Kilgharrah in 50 years time.

In contrast, the Knights of Medhir were only interested in one target: Uther. They didn't touch any of the unconscious citizens and the use of the sleeping spell would suggest that Morgause was trying to not to get others caught in the crossfire.