I will genuinely never let go of that fact that Arthur never found out Balinor was Merlin’s father. fuck the magic, that’s the secret that haunts me the most.
I wish Arthur found out early on, maybe if Merlin snapped after ‘no man is worth your tears.’ And Merlin swears that he did not inherit Balinor’s dragonlord powers (Arthur does not know they are passed father to son) and Arthur believes him.
and then YEARS later Arthur is bleeding out in the finale and Merlin calls Kilgharrah and Arthur is like wait. hold the fuck up. you said you were not a dragonlord
and Merlin’s standing there with the blood of hundreds on his hands, his last remaining sanity hanging by a threat like my brother in christ you cannot actually believe that’s where i drew the line about lying
Okay but the potential angst of Arthur finding out earlier & thinking that because he was unable to keep Balinor alive, in his mind it's his fault Merlin now has some form of magic, that he's slowly going to be corrupted by this evil force, Merlin is oblivious that he knows otherwise he'd just explain no actually I've had magic all along if it was going to corrupt me it would have done it by now clodpol
i remember one fic where some old noble visits the court and says that Merlin is the spitting image of his father at that age (with Balinor having been a childhood friend of Uthur) & thats how Arthur finds out so stealing that,
alternatively you could have Uthur recognizing Merlin himself & have Arthur overhear Uthur threatening Merlin that if he's unable to convince Balinor to stop the dragon he should kill Balinor himself & inherit the power to stop the dragon or he'll never see Gaius or his mother again
about that last alternative- bro IMAGINE Uther accuses Merlin of being Balinor’s son and Melrin is about to confess because he is so tired, and Arthur steps in like ‘do not be ridiculous, father, Merlin cannot be a dragonlord! I would know!’
and at that point Merlin either has to commit to never telling him or be like actually Arthur for once I agree with your father. stop looking at me like that, I am as big a fan of the idea as you are
or, alternatively, Arthur sneaks Merlin out of the dungeons because obviously he is not the dragonlord’s son and when they get to a clearing Arthur is like ‘okay you are going to Ealdor right? how are you getting there? there will be guards everywhere’ and right on cue Kilgharrah shows up and Merlin is like my ride is here🗣️🗣️
that scene closes with a close up of Arthur with the most shocked look a man could have and the distant protests of Kilgharrah insisting he is not a horse
The visual of Merlin calling up Kilgharrah to get the fuck out of dodge will never not be funny 🗣️🗣️ indeed
But i was thinking more of it being an open secret amongst the older members of the court because that boy is the spitting image of Balinor & in the same way Uther was hoping keeping the dragon chained up in the basement would lure Balinor back so would keeping his son around, plus he'd be able to tell if Balinor dies while on the run because Merlin would suddenly have very powerful magic with very little control afterall it's not like he's had training the way Balinor did in preparation
The real political intrigue would be after the dragon is banished because the official line is Balinor refused to help so Arthur went to face the dragon, it's not exactly a lie, just leaving out a few key details
It's a very he knows that they know but do they know how much he knows does he know how much that they know & also the courtiers & noblemen trying to maneuver the situation to their advantage,
Maybe they want the Dragonlords blood for their own & Merlin now has to deal with match making kidnappers trying to set him up with their kids &/woo him themselves, don't worry Arthur is on the way to rescue u manservant in distress 🤣 just as soon as he can get Kilgharrah to tell him which direction to go the dragon can only insist he's not a homing pigeon or a hunting dog so many times before he caves & lets Arthur climb on his back
oh i LOVE that
the noblemen suspecting Merlin is Balinor’s son but not having confirmation until ‘Balinor refused to help and yet the dragon is gone?! but there is no body??’ and them not doing shit about it because they know it’s convenient for the kingdom. 1/3 of the nobles are like we have to take him out!! he is too much of a threat!! and another 1/3 is like?? or?? hear me out?? we make him my son in law
and the remaining 1/3 who genuinely has no idea is, like, Uther (but i also LOVE the idea of uther knowing but never daring to voice it. at first because it’s ridiculous but slowly and surely it becomes him not being sure that Arthur will side with his father over Merlin)