Board Thread:What If?/@comment-173.245.80.12-20140903054558/@comment-37001937-20190520203003

''I think that the main problem was timing. For Merlin (and the audience), the reveal wasn't something that he could just throw out there next Tuesday over lunch, it was an important event. And there was always the sense that if Merlin took the wrong cue or picked the wrong moment then everything could fall apart.''

Merlin greatest asset was that he was supposed to be the most powerful warlock, destined to unite Albion, and someone whose destiny had been written since the dawn of time. For Merlin and Arthur to fulfill their joint destinies, both had to be confronted with their greatest fears, and then move forward. Arthur had to learn to stop measuring his ability to rule against Uthers's. He wasn't like Uther, and that was a good thing. He had seen and disagreed with Uther's way of doing things with Gwen, Tom, Morgana, Gaius and Merlin. He had to learn to forgive and realize that a warlock in the kingdom willing to help it was a way of building good will with the Druids and good people with magic. Add to this that the writers needed to have more good people with magic in the show.

Merlin had a lot of fessing up to do: From taking Morgana to the Druids to freeing Kilgharrah to something as trivial as freeing a goblin that made everyone fart. He let his lies and actions snowball into powerlessness, forgetting that he had been chosen and given gifts by the old magic.

They had evidence in "The Secret Shearer" to tell Arthur where Agravaine's true allegiance was. They didn't, and it doesn't make sense to me why.