User blog comment:Fimber/Why I understand Uther's reasons for banning magic - and why no one is a saint on "Merlin"/@comment-5191335-20120613020311/@comment-5191335-20120613021702

Also, perhaps it is also related to the focus on balance which the show has made clear is so key to the Old Religion. Perhaps, the rules of the Old Religion dictated that those who sought power over others through the use of magic must be punished for upsetting the balance. If that is the case, then those rules determined that Uther's "War on Magic" (I use this term so as to highlight how Uther's mission is like the American/Bush's "War on Terrism," a futile cause against an unseen, unknown enemy force which cannot be pinned down or stopped by punishing/imprisoning/executing any number of individuals) and Arthur's, Merlin's, Morgana's, and Mordred's destinies were designed to return the world to balance, which many be otherwise referred to as harmony.