merlin from Arthur's perspective is actually so wild. like, merlin has the context of their great destiny and is knowingly working to bring it about but Arthur... to Arthur merlin is this random boy who turned up in Camelot one day and made him look like a fool in front of everyone then saved his life and was 'rewarded' by becoming his servant. and like the next week, Arthur already trusts merlin so much and jokes around with him and literally goes on life threatening quests just because merlin had this idea or merlin drank poison for him. like, Arthur doesn't know about the destiny stuff, and he does these things only because he likes this slightly odd guy who is terrible at his job and roasts Arthur 24/7. it just brings home the fact that merlin is Arthur's first real friend, that he must have been super lonely before merlin, and just how much Arthur genuinely likes merlin.
