Board Thread:Series 5 Discussion/@comment-71.195.18.110-20130130220009/@comment-5674726-20130327004302

"The point is that Gaius and Merlin didn't WANT to heal him. Take a look at Merlin's face when he tells Arthur to just accept that Uther dies. It speaks volumes. There is no compassion but only cold pragmatism. He was observing Arthur for a reaction, probably even remembering that he himself lost his father and now won't be the only one anymore who has to accept losing a loved one, not to mention losing him to Uther. It wasn't comforting Arthur but emptying a bucket of cold water over his head. In this moment, Merlin totally switched off his usual compassion and willingness to help. And in this moment, the viewer knew that Merlin has changed."

I'd say that one of Merlin's chief motivations to protect Uther was that he didn't think that Arthur was ready to be King. After the reveal about the circumstances of Arthur's birth, Merlin kept Arthur from killing Uther because he was worried about the effect it would have on Arthur if he killed his father, not because he thought that Uther deserved to be protected. By Season Four, Arthur had been ruling Camelot for over a year, and had made changes that Merlin approved of, ie. knighting commoners, so Merlin deemed him ready to be King and was prepared to let Uther die so Arthur could take the throne.

His motive to heal Uther wasn't to spare Arthur pain but to secure an advantage. When Arthur indicates that he is prepared to use magic to save his father, instead of having Gaius tell him to go off for a walk by himself for a couple of hours and not ask any questions if his father has made a miraculous recovery by the time he returns, Merlin orchestrates a charade with "Dragoon the Great", which ends up giving Agravaine the time to update Morgana and booby-trap Uther.

Had Morgana been a better strategist, she would have snuck into the castle and healed Uther herself, ensuring that he knew what she had done.

She could have caused quite a bit of infighting in Camelot, since Arthur had had a year to get used to doing as he saw fit, even when he knew that Uther would disapprove of some of his actions, had he been able to voice his objections. Not only had he knighted commoners, against his father's express wishes, I can't imagine Uther approving of a situation where a servant girl thinks it's okay for her to interrupt a meeting of the Council and advise the lords. He certainly wouldn't approve of Arthur's desire to marry a servant girl, particularly if it meant jilting a princess after bringing her to Camelot as his intended bride. There would have been quite a bit of friction in Camelot, not only between Uther and Arthur when they clashed on various issues but between different factions in the court who supported one over the other.

On an emotional level, Morgana would have given Uther hope for a reconciliation, which could have worked to her advantage since he would be bound to want to preserve any chance that she might return to him and wouldn't have wanted Camelot's forces hunting her and shattering any hope of reconciliation.