i cannot stop thinking about pre-canon Uther, Gauis, Ygraine, and Nimueh. bear with me here
here's what we Know:
Uther becomes king and marries Ygraine. Gauis and Nimueh are part of his court for ? years
Gauis smuggles Morgause (Vivienne/Gorlois's child) out of Camelot as a baby, for unknown reasons
Ygraine is infertile, so Uther asks Nimueh for help
Nimueh performs the spell, and warns Uther that it will result in a death, but Uther goes through with it anyway, and Ygraine dies
up until this point, magic is not yet illegal in Camelot, and this is the event that sets off the great purge
Uther persecutes all magic-users
Gaius stops practicing magic and Uther allows him to remain in Camelot
Vivienne has an affair with Uther, resulting in Morgana's birth, but Gorlois thinks she's his child
Uther tricks Balinor into trapping Kilgharrah under Camelot
(this all comes straight from the merlin wiki btw, so it SHOULD all be accurate)
okay. so. here's what's been plaguing my every waking moment:
did Uther have an issue with magic before he becomes king? because why would Nimueh and Gauis be allowed to practice magic IN HIS COURT if he did? or he was just slightly wary of it in the beginning, but wasn't quite as prejudiced, and he grew to hate it over time ???
why on EARTH does Gauis give Morgause over to the high priestesses???? it's most likely not because of her magic, because this happens before arthur's birth/the purge
Uther and Ygraine must trust Nimueh a LOT for her to cast that spell. and if she's been in Uther's court for years, i assume the three of them are friends, or were formerly friends. so, with that in mind: did Nimueh have a reason to kill Ygraine? did she truly not know which life the spell would take? did she apologize to Uther? was she just as heartbroken as him to lose her friend?
why does Uther allow Gauis to live, when he hunts literally EVERY OTHER MAGICIAN in the kingdom
AND why does Gauis agree???? Uther is committing literal genocide, and for SOME REASON Gaius accepts that, even though it's obvious he doesn't agree with Uther, and i need to know WHY.
why are Vivienne/Gorlois in Camelot so much? Morgause was in Camelot after her birth, and then Vivienne is there again when Morgana is conceived (obviously). the canonical reason for that is that Gorlois is out fighting, but don't they have their own castle and kingdom? why couldn't she have just stayed in her own kingdom? Vivienne/Gorlois/Uther/Ygraine must have been BEST friends, which would explain why Morgana then becomes Uther's ward, of all people
Balinor and Uther ALSO must have been friends before the purge started, because otherwise i feel there's no way Balinor could have been tricked into summoning Kilgharrah during the literal great purge
someone please engage with me about this because i'm losing my mind thinking of all the possibilities
The only note I have on your timeline is that (as far as I know) the show never confirms WHEN Uther fathers Morgana. I've always assumed it happened before Arthur was born, mostly because it gives some legitimacy to Morgana's 'rightful heir' claim (as the firstborn—of course, she's a bastard AND a girl, which would delegitimize her). This is also influenced by the original Arthurian legends, where Morgana is older. However, considering BBC Merlin diverges significantly from the legends, this might not have much weight. So, ultimately inconclusive.
As to your questions, although most of this is speculation potentially influenced by personal bias:















