User blog comment:Rod12/Recurring Story Elements of The Show/@comment-4623180-20120129130415

You need to improve with your paragraphs, and it's spelt "a lot", not "alot". Come on, this is a Wiki, not an English class in year 4, where you're writing an essay for the first time? Sorry, I sound like a bit of a scrooge, but I do agree with what you say. I'd say the only episodes in Series 4 that lacked continuity and were standalone are Aithusa and His Father's Son. Even though the dragon egg was important, the plot seemed to just be thrown in, to get the dragon stuff out of the way. Shouldn't His Father's Son have come after The Wicked Day, at least? The people actually acknowledged Uther was dead and Arthur was king then. Lamia, was just pointless. I mean, it was great seeing Gwen defend Merlin, suspect him of "being different", it was great acting, and the situations they were in were good, but I just didn't like that the knights weren't themselves, and this had nothing to do with the rest of the series. It was like they took a one-week holiday from relevance. I hope we never see another repeat of Lamia, and if we do, at least mix a main antagonist like Morgana or Mordred in it. I hope we see Gwen, Arthur, Merlin, Morgana and/or Mordred in EVERY SINGLE EPISODE. I don't want Gwen to be a 'prop' anymore. I really hope Mordred becomes a main character (but not in Agravaine's way). If not, and if he just appears at the end in armour to kill Arthur, that would be disappointing, but I'd still be happy as we'd see more Morgana over again! Can't get enough of her. I just hope she keeps coming up with original schemes. So, this is how I'd have it in terms of appearance: 1. Arthur, of course, appearing in all 13 episodes. (I wish they had more episodes per series) 2. Gwen appearing in all 13, and getting a good role in each episode, not just someone to put a hand on Arthur's shoulder and say "be safe". I hope they don't make the mistake of doing that!! 3. Tristan (as a knight) appearing in at least 11. Though he is a knight, he doesn't 'blend in' as well as the others do, he still can't get used to all the nobility, even though he's stopped hating it. 4. Elyan appearing in at least 11 or 12. 5. Gwaine "". I hope to see his sister! (He described her as a 'toad') 6. Leon "". I want more backstory behind him, so one episode at least half-devoted to a plot around him would be great. 7. Ok, so if Mordred does become a MAIN character, in league with Morgana (but more equal to her, so she won't treat him like a slave as she did with Agravaine), they could perhaps split it. I love as much Morgana as I can get, but laying her off a little to give some screen time to Mordred would be fine- she's the main enemy for 3 seasons, isn't that good enough (and the end of season 4, so 4..). So, maybe about 10-11 episodes of them together, and as for the rest, only one of them appearing. So only Mordred in one episode, only Morgana in the other. Surely they'll have to have some independence away from each other.. if they got to close, well, they may as well date. 8. As for Alvarr, can't forget him, he should start developing a relationship with Alvarr (if he does appear, if he doesn't, that's cool, more independent Morgana/Mordred schemes). I don't think they should form a trio team against Camelot. Alvarr should be more in the background. He isn't really part of the strong duo they form, but he contributes to the alliance strongly. Maybe if he appears in a two parter, or at least three or four episodes, and dies at the end. This motivates Morgana and Mordred and they become more powerful. I'm fine with more evil allies, but I hope they don't bring too many repeats of Helios-likes allies, who have NEVER been mentioned before, into the picture. More screen time for the main bad guys! If Merlin DOES all end here in Series 5, we don't want a series ruled by irrelevant characters we only see once, with no stories behind them, and who we don't know very well. So, to conclude, I completely agree that it should ALL be focused on the main characters in the stories. In fact, I agree as much to say they shouldn't bring any new baddies in (new monsters in is fine, I always love the FX), and just use older ones we know better, who have evolved. I think it'll be a lot more realistic. I'm sure lots of people will be pissed off if the finale goes like this: Mordred and Morgana have had enough of their schemes failing. They sit around on the rocks, after losing another dark army they raised. Morgana then goes... "There is only one last choice.. one last resort"... PLEASE NOT this again. I'm grateful we saw Helios over 3 episodes, so there was continuity here and it didn't make him seem irrelevant, but they just scraped the surface there!
 * 1 minute later, she "reunites" with an old friend we've NEVER met before, and has another army at her disposal*