Board Thread:Rewatching "Merlin" - Season Five/@comment-5102537-20140329115401/@comment-203.206.100.225-20140331205223

What got me really mad, was that it was obvious the writers  wanted Merlin  for the emotional punch it delivered. But it would have been just as satisfying if Merlin was smarter and turned the question around for Arthur to answer. Just what sort of teacher or adviser are you if you just answer how you feel. After this episode (and indeed at the start of this episode) we had Merlin repeatedly telling magic users that things would get better? How was he going to achieve this when he was so blinkered and short-sighted in his devotion to Arthur that he's willing to throw his own kind to the kerb in the hopes that one day Arthur will just suddenly change his mind?

Again we have the whole construct of this episode hinging on scenes or lines the writers wanted, and then trying to make the rest fit. If the writers were a whole lot smarter they could have done this a whole lot better - and still have had the same outcome with Mordred living, but they seemed intent on making Merlin seem responsible and blind to everything except Arthur, while in following episodes, never having him confront those failings.

I did once listen to an interview with Julian Jones, where he said that the writers in this show work differently and more independently than other shows, and in this season it really shows. This episode was never referred to ever again by the characters.