Board Thread:Rewatching "Merlin" - Season Five/@comment-5102537-20140308144416/@comment-30546716-20161120120751

I very much agree. More specifically, the inconsistencies were due to the producers making up their mind that they were going to drive Series 5 in a particular direction, regardless of whether it fitted well with the established continuity. The stories, character arcs etc were made to serve the plot. Although, generally for S1-4, the writing was not stellar of the genre, it was of consistently good standard. The simplistic yet effective story telling was part of what made Merlin a success. While the previous series were not without their continuity errors and plot holes, these could mostly be left to the interpretation of the audience, with the exception of perhaps a few.

Series 5 saw the producers bend continuity in order to tell the story that they wanted to. Although, I wanted a different ending, I was mainly disappointed with Series 5 because it was a story poorly told. With enough consideration and creativity, there were ways by which the producers could have successfully told their narrative, even have woven the final arc smoothly into established continuity, but the series was badly planned. The bulk of the series should have focused on what made Arthur an extraordinary king, the building of the united kingdom of Albion should have come to be, and maybe a tantalising shift in Arthur's attitude towards magic. We further needed a suitable explanation as to why Morgana, with all her power as a high priestess, connections to sorcerers and the ability to see into the future, she did not find out about Emrys’ destiny to restore tolerance of magic to the land. There were multiple occasions in the show’s history where this could have easily come to light such as the two episodes with Alator in, or from Mordred at the end. Merlin and Morgana wanted the same thing. Within the producers narrative of Morgana being responsible for Arthur’s death at Camlan, an explanation as to why she was not willing to let Emry’s prophecy come to pass could have easily been devised. For example, Morgana’s lust for political power outweighed loyalty to her kind. Alternatively she could have been part of a radical faction within the Old Religion that had no tolerance for non-believers, which meant that Arthur’s destiny to establish peace, equality and co-operation between the old and the new wasn’t in alignment with her own vision.

The plot could have moved forward in other ways without compromising the ending that the producers had in mind. Gaius, could have been killed off for example, allowing Merlin to replace him as court physician and formal adviser to the king, introducing a different dynamic to the protagonists. The relationship between Arthur and Merlin could have evolved to become a full on friendship instead of the blatant bullying of Arthur towards Merlin. There were scenes in S5 between the two that could easily have belonged to S1, such was the lack of character development in the final series. The outpouring of affection in the Diamond of the Day from the two was at odds with how the relationship was written in S5. Was Merlin not jealous of how Mordred was being treated by Arthur? Also, there was no reason why Gwaine could not have found out about Merlin’s magic.

The lack of exposition into the setting was another drawback of this series. I think that we needed to be given an explanation to the origins of the Saxons and how Morgana was able to build an army so quickly capable of challenging the whole of the state of Camelot. We further needed a clearer indication as to what Arthur had managed to achieve in those three years of peace between Series 4 and 5. This is why I found it difficult to accept the assumption made by the writers that Arthur was such a better king than his father. To me there was a slight change in ruling style, but both kings had managed similar achievements where it mattered. Uther had managed to maintain peace and prosperity in the land and we know that he negotiated with the other kingdoms towards the end of Series 2. This achievement was even less impressive for Arthur because he inherited a strong state to begin with. Naturally, Arthur continued his father’s persecution of sorcerers: the notion that he did not actively hunt them down was a mere technicality. Sorcerers were still second class citizens, lived in fear of their existence and were still being executed under Arthur’s rule. It is like comparing Brezhnev’s rule of oppression in the Soviet Union to Stalin’s reign of terror. So sifting through all the rhetoric, there was little of substance to Arthur’s Golden age.

It all comes down to lazy writing, but I don’t think that the writers themselves are responsible. The executive producers, I assume, as is the case with others shows, were responsible for planning out and editing the overall direction of the story. This includes certain plot points and character arcs. The writers, have to operate within this plan. The biggest factor that stopped the show from fulfilling its potential was the lack of vision of the producers towards the end. It is not my intention here to heap resentment on Johnny Capps and Julian Murphy. I will always be grateful to them for creating such a wonderful show that I will always remember fondly. It is because we admire their work in part, that we are here to take the time and post our carefully considered responses. Nevertheless, Murphy’s comments towards Katie in the audio commentary of the Diamond of the Day that she should just go with the flow, show a lack of awareness of his audience.