User blog comment:Morganaforever/The most tragic character relationships in the show/@comment-5927613-20121231021243/@comment-5674726-20121231165833

''He always loved his son in life yet he's pretty much demonic when he returns. I too wonder if he was a "shade" kind of like Lancelot was when he came back.''

Maybe it was the effect of coming back into the world, ie. only the part of Uther that was angry and not yet at rest came back, while the rest of him, the part that craved peace, remained. Alternatively, perhaps Uther never actually chose to return to the physical world. When Arthur looked back, maybe part of Uther was drawn to follow him, whether he wanted to or not. If that's the case, the trauma of being dragged back from the afterlife affected Ghost Uther's mind.

The Uther Arthur encountered in the spirit world expressed concerns with some of the choices that Arthur made as a ruler, which isn't surprising, given that Uther's views differed from Arthur's in some ways. Uther's misgivings about Arthur knighting commoners and letting them question him were understandable, given the views he held in life. His reservations about Arthur marrying a servant girl instead of making an advantageous marriage were the same that any monarch would have had. We know that Arthur's decision to reject Princess Mithian led to Camelot surrendering disputed territory to Nemeth, so we can hardly blame Uther for thinking that it would have been better for the kingdom he built if Arthur had gone through with the marriage, as planned. Uther also correctly predicted that the peace Arthur claimed to have brought would not last.

He wanted to warn his son, and to save Camelot from beyond the grave.

He also made it clear that he loved Arthur, and always would.

Maybe Arthur accidentally dragged Uther's spirit out of the afterlife and the resulting shock caused him to go over the top in terms of dealing with the perceived threats to Camelot's future.