Honestly, it bothers me a little whenever someone says that Merlin betrayed "his people" because of Arthur/Camelot.
Merlin grew up in a small village where he wasn't very loved, with only his mother and Will, taught that he had to lie or someone else would hurt him because of something he was born with and had no choice about.
"His people" were Hunith and Will, no one else.
Let's jump to the canon: he was only there to become Gaius's apprentice. His first encounter with another magical being is an execution and a woman who utters a threat, zero extra context. Let's jump to his encounter with Kilgarrah, a dragon who tells him he must protect Arthur, an obligation he didn't sign up for, among all of this, the only one who said kind words to him was Gwen. At the banquet, the magical woman uses her magic to affect everyone, not just the one responsible for her son's death. He saves Arthur and gets another job.
"His people" are now Gaius, Gwen, Arthur and Morgana.
And Uther ends up in a border zone of "his people" only because he is important to Arthur, someone Merlin has grown fond of and doesn't want to see hurt.
The next magical people he meets are always trying to hurt or manipulate Arthur because of Uther's actions. He felt happy when he met that man who made Morgana sick, only for him to later take Gaius's job and try to commit murder.
The only good magical people he know end up dying in his arms, and in the end he only stay with the people of Camelot.
Lancelot, Gwaine, Lyon, Elyan, Percival end up being "his people", who now live in Camelot, a place they swore to protect.
It's like the great-great-grandson of your grandmother's second cousin suddenly appeared and demanded that you put him above all those you love.
Sharing one thing in their lives means nothing, when everyone's lives are filled with a thousand and one things they share with the people they love.
