Board Thread:Rewatching "Merlin" - Season One/@comment-5102537-20130504114838/@comment-5102537-20130506123824

50.117.80.138 wrote:.

It was understandable that Morgana was angry but I think she acted way out of line when trying to kill Uther when conspiring with a man who attempted to bring Camelot's downfall. Her hatred was at its best here and she probably only waited for a reason to kill Uther.

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Hated when Uther put her in chains in the dungeons but she really didn't know when to stop. Was this the reason for her rage or was it all about Tom and Gwen?

Excellent. That's a good question. I've always wondered if Morgana's rage about Tom being killed was genuine or if actually it was rather hurt pride when Uther threw her in the cell. Maybe a combination of both? Morgana was always against killing magicians/magic-users, so her sense for justice had always been genuine before that. It was just too much to suddenly conspire with someone who wanted to bring on Camelot's downfall, and her wish to see Uther dead actually spoke of a quite personal grudge. And yes, I too think that she just needed a reason to kill Uther, even though she probably really felt very sorry for Gwen and Tom.

On the other hand, she backed off when Uther told her that he regretted Tom's death. And when he told her that he appreciated her straightforwardness towards him. It may have healed her hurt pride as well as her rage over Tom's death.

The reason why I'm not sure if her feelings were really selfless is the fact that killing her "guardian" was quite exaggerated, plus the fact that she manipulated him in regard to Gorlois' when she blamed him for Gorlois' death. To me it was totally obvious that she didn't mean what she said because

a) Uther was surprised and shocked and obviously had heard this accusation for the very first time, and

b) Morgana's facial expression spoke volumes when she left Uther in that scene. She slightly smirked and knew that she had him where she wanted him to be.

If she really has always blamed Uther for Gorlois' death she surely would have mentioned it much earlier. Yet Uther's reaction showed that this was the first time that she came up with this. So it was pure manipulation - and it worked in the end.

"To Kill the King" is one of my all time favourite epsiodes. I too felt very sorry for Gwen and her father, yet Uther naturally had to believe that Tom not only violated the law of Camelot (which he did) but also conspired with a sorcerer who had nothing good in mind. The fact that Tom received a huge material reward (gold) made him even more guilty in Uther's eyes and proved to him that magic always corrupted. Poor people/commoners could hardly withstand the chance to become wealthy, so Uther had no reason to believe that Tom did it all accidentally and would reject such a precious reward. He did it all for gold, after all.

When Tom escaped the cell, mysteriously no less, his guilt seemed to be proven even more so. How could someone like Tom escape the prison if not with the help of a conspirator or even with magical help? Back then, they didn't have the ressources that we have now to investigate. And even today a lot of actually innocent people are being imprisoned or even sentenced to death. Sadly.

I was on Morgana's side until she tried to kill Uther and joined forces with an obviously bad man (Tauren). She was right in challenging Uther about Tom being sentenced to death but she stepped totally out of line when conspiring with Tauren and trying to kill Uther. First she plays nice and whispers sweet words after she had caused him a bad conscience about Gorlois', then she tries to kill him by leading him into a trap. This wasn't quite an appropriate act but simply attempted homicide. It was insidious and malign.

Uther acted according to the law whereas Morgana followed her own subjective emotions and made a devious plan. This is one of the reasons why I often sided with Uther rather than with Morgana, even though Tom's death was wrong and unnecessary and was also based on Uther's fears and hatred of magic. But still,  Tom, even though accidentally, conspired with a killer. Naturally, we as the viewers know more than the fictional characters do.

Anyway, I loved the conversation Morgana and Uther had at Gorlois' grave. We finally learnt even more about Uther's character and witnessed his regret about Tom's death, plus his opinion about Morgana whom he obviously always saw as a strong and honest person he desperately needed. He was open to her opinion in this situation and it's such a pity that they ignored this later as the show progressed. It was also great to see that he kept his promise towards Morgana and never punished her again but gave her even more freedom in expressing her opinion until he died.

Whereas Morgana grew more and more ruthless and cold towards him. In the following seasons  she obviously ignored the conversation they had here, but Uther did not. This was one of the rare occasions of consistency and continuity on the show.

I also loved Gwen setting things straight and teaching Merlin that killing is no solution and wouldn't make them any better than Uther. While Merlin always used to be the one who was wise and who did the right things, this time it was Gwen who had to remind him of this. It was especially awesome since Gwen was the one who had lost her father. She was the victim in this story (and Tom, of course), yet she was the one who showed real sense and moral standards first.

This is even more interesting when considering this in real life. If the victims of crimes were more like Gwen in our times, less people would be sentenced to death in those countries who still practice death penalty - which, in a nutshell, is nothing more than merely revenge.

It was understandable that Kilgharrah adviced Merlin to let Uther die. No wonder he hated Uther and wanted him dead. Merlin actually knew the whole time that killing Uther was the wrong thing to do, which is why he seeked advice from Kilgharrah, Gaius and Gwen, and it was Gwen who eventually opened Merlin's eyes and reminded him of his own morality.

The conversation between Merlin and Gaius was also great and interesting, especially since Gaius said that he thought that Uther was a good king, despite him being on Merlin's side and protecting a sorcerer. He was right when he said that it wasn't Uther's job to be liked but to protect the kingdom. And the fact that he told Merlin that it will all end when Arthur is king proves that the show actually had planned other things than what we saw in the finale...

I also wonder why Gaius told Merlin in "The Wicked Day" that now that Uther is dead, Camelot can be led to peace and prosperity when he actually told Merlin here in "To Kill the King" that Uther brought peace and prosperity to Camelot, which is why he thought of him as a good king. Plotholes again.

Do the showrunners even realise how  clever, brilliant and fascinating the stories of season one were?