A little rant about ghost Uther and his last conversation with Arthur (and why I think the latter fucked up big time as a King)
I think Utter was right, politically speaking (he is still human trash), about being disappointed in Arthur. He was a genocidal maniac but he was smart enough to remain on top for more than twenty years and Arthur absolutely demolished all he had worked for in less than five.
1) Arthur allowed low borns into the rank of knights and welcomed them into his round table, most of his inner circle is actually almost entirely composed of low borns, aside from Leon. That means that most likely those spots that would have gone to the sons or heirs of nobles are taken, and it also widens the disconnect between him and the majority of the people who basically fund him via taxes.
Those lords have most likely personal armies, or money enough to hire mercenaries. Those heirs also have not sworn any fealty to Arthur as they would once have done as knights. So, if they decide to rebel because they are discontented, they want power, land etc... They aren't beholden by friendship, loyalty nor honour. Moreover, Arthur now can't use their sons/brothers/ family members that before would have been part of the Knights of Camelot, as hostages to cut the rebellion down.
He would also suffer economically because the low borns can't pay neither their horse, armour, or weapons, which the noblemen can do. So he will have to supply that initially, which is not ideal.
2) Arthur marries Gwen. Which yeah, she is great emotionally and as council for him. But after Arthur dies she is put in a very dangerous position. She is low born, she has no connection to most of the lords that she is supposed to rule, she may count the Knights of Camelot as her personal army but they have been greatly diminished after the battle of Camlann, and she has no other Kingdom or powerful family to appeal to and ask for help if things go wrong.
Arthur didn't leave an heir, so either every lord in Camelot complies and lets a lowborn woman rule them, or they make a power grab crowning someone else. Camelot is extremely weak after Camlann so it would be easy to go the second route and take it from her, be it one of Camelot's lords or a bordering Kingdom. Thus the possibility of a siegue/armed conflict that ends in her death is extremely high.
3) Magic. Although Arthur lowers the general hostility to magic, he seems unable to put a safe control of it in place.
As we have seen magic users can be very powerful, so if you want to retain power you have two options, which are both employed by Uther during his rule:
A) You have the most powerful magic users at your disposal, they are loyal to you and actively work on your best interests. Meaning, the other magic users may show opposition but you, having the most powerful of the bunch, can successfully win against them. You also can persecute evil magic users and reverse, in whichever way possible, their curses/spells, because again, you have the best in your team. As well as kill any magical creature that thinks eating your subjects is a good idea, since you have your team to make you magical weapons to defeat them or order them into submission.
B) Eradicate every magic user or creature so no one can oppose or trump your power. Eliminating the possibility of opposition and possibility of any evil magic user permanently. (at least at first, which isn't sustainable long term as long as you don't eradicate every single person who can pass down magic. Uther has survived without Merlin and with every magic user and creature hating his guts for around eighteen years so the method must have worked short/medium term.)
Arthur does neither, so he leaves the door open for chaos (which no, having Merlin work behind his back doesn't count because it doesn't offer the population the safety of knowing the evil curses will be reversed by someone nor a strong deterrent for people not to try their evil stunts. Also Merlin can only be in one place at a time which 99% of the time is besides Arthur which means two magical problems can't be dealt with simultaneously)
To me it seems like Arthur makes these decisions in good faith but doesn't even consider the long term effects of them, nor the stability of the Kingdom in the event of his death. He doesn't seem fully committed to choices that would make a big part of the population or the nobles mad at him but would ensure a legacy, and that makes him weak as a King.
In conclusion, morally Arthur is way better than Uther and he has brought great advancements to their society. Realistically those advancements harm him politically and won't hold after he is gone, because it doesn't benefit those who can fill the power vacuum he leaves. He is the end of the Pendragon dynasty, leaving chaos, uncertainty in his lands and a very weak military force that would struggle to protect his wife and the crown from those who seek to fill that power vacuum.
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