User blog comment:Morganaforever/Episode Review: The Disir/@comment-5684105-20121104074847

Lets put ourselves in Merlin's shoes, see things through his eyes. In many ways he ignored the dragon's warnings about Morgana in the past. Kilgarrah had advised Merlin that she would be better off not knowing "the true extent of she powers" and when he told him to let her die (S3,ep5) Merlin chose to do otherwise even after she was clearly an enemy of Camelot. Now she is an even more dangerous foe. Merlin thinks he made a mistake by not listening to the dragon's advise so is ready to take it now. Then there are the warnings of the druid seer saying "he must act quickly", the vision, etc. He's freaking out. He needs to calm down. But Merlin's actions are at least understandable from his POV.

Do I think Merlin did the right thing? NO! He didn't! He shouldn't judge Mordred for what he might do in the future and Mordred has proven his loyalty to Arthur at this point; he threw himself in mortal danger to save his life. (I like to say he "did a Merlin") By acting this way Merlin may bring about the very future he is trying to avoid like he did in "The Crystal Cave". He shouldn't council Arthur not to do what he know's is right in order to prevent one possible future. He should lead Arthur to do the right thing regardless of the consequences, like he usually does.

Gaius : What happened to the boy who asked me to save a druid child a few years ago? Merlin: He grew up.

Oh, I noticed that was Morgana's line as well. Scary. I don't think it was an accident either. That itself makes Merlin seem darker, in addition to his dubious moral decisions in this episode.


 * Why did Merlin advise Arthur not to unban magic from Camelot?

Who Knows!!! :-(                                                                                                                                   To Merlin Arthur is the one who will restore magic and he thinks Mordred has to die so Arthur will live. But Arthur is more than that to Merlin; he is his friend. Merlin's thinking with his heart not his head. He would rather live without freedom temporarily than allow what he thinks will lead to his best friend's death. Was he stupid the way he handled it? Yes, but at least he realizes that in the end. Merlin's emotional turmoil in that scene was so apparent.


 * How did Mordred get healed?

Pretty sure it's understood the Disir are responsible.


 * Does Mordred know about Merlin's decision and how will he act in the future?

There was no sign he does.


 * Why was the knight Arthur went to avenge not shown before in the series?

It would have ment more to the audience if it was one of the knights we actually know, but to me that was a small point.


 * Why has Merlin not learnt from his past mistakes?

Maybe some of the difference in the way we view this episode is the different ways we see the decisions Merlin made in regard to Morgana in the past. I suppose the main points in that argument would be his not revealing his magic to her and later poisoning her? (I'm new here so I'm not familiar with your arguments except what I gather from this post and your name.)

Merlin did not cause her to become evil. She made her own decisons. Should he have revealed his magic to Morgana? Would she have made different choices if he had? It could have gone either way, in my opinion. Was their friendship close enough to warrant confiding such a dangerous secret, that he'd kept his whole life, to the ward of the king who would murder him if he found out? Was their friendship really close enough at that point? Probably not. They really didn't seem to become close until after all this magic trouble started. I can't blame Merlin at all in this. Ultimately it was his decision to make. He also had Gaius and the dragon advising him not to tell her. A Question: Would you put your life in the hands of a "new" friend that had plotted to kill the man who raised her as a father? I know it would make me think twice.

As for poisoning her, he didn't have a choice. Even if the dragon wasn't completely truthful and there was another way to break the spell, he would have had no idea how. And he couldn't fight Morgause since he was already being weakened by the spell himself.

Sorry! I just had to defend Merlin here. It irks me when Morgana fans blame him for her mistakes. But don't get mad at me for defaming your namesake! I like her... as far as one can like a villain. :-)

It was great to see Arthur relying on Merlin's advice. Too bad Merlin messed it up.

Some sweet scenes with Gwen too. Loved the short exchange between her and Merlin.

And I love Mordred's character. I wonder what will happen with him.

The episode was disappointing in the sense I wasn't expecting Merlin to mess up so badly, but on the other hand it was great drama. I think it's a really good and pivotal episode. Hopefully Merlin learned his leason and will be able to fix things later on.