This might be a truly unpopular opinion, but I don’t think Arthur’s failure to repeal magic was solely his fault, but rather Merlin’s and Gaius’—to an extent. At least, the latter two shared equal responsibility in whatever future that never came to pass.
Because if there’s one thing the show repeatedly bludgeoned over audience heads, it’s that when allowed the chance to make the right choice, Arthur always does. But in order for him to make that choice, he has to be allowed to make them in the first place—something Merlin, unfortunately, often took away from him. We see this with Morgause, with the Disir, with Dragoon even, and so many more that might’ve happened off screen. Arthur was willing to listen (or coerced into listening) but sometimes they didn’t even allow him that choice.
How could he, as king, make the extremely dangerous decision to repeal the ban on magic after 25 years of zaelous persecution if no one would even grant him the dignity of having an honest-to-god, truthful, conversation?
Because you can’t just unban something like magic all wily-nily the way we do in fanfic! It has to make sense; it has to be logical and be allowed to carry the weight and political ramifications fanfics could simply skip over with enough time skips to the happy ever after. Magic was banned and persecuted for 25 years before Uther’s death at the hands of magic (accidental on Merlin’s part, but was Morgana’s doing). Arthur spent a large chunk of his adult life getting attacked and nearly murdered because of Uther’s sins, and even his ascension to ruling monarch was tainted by a magical attack. Camelot was subjugated by Morgana—who most knew as a nice, sweet girl until she went missing and came back an evil, murdering Witch.
Did y’all honestly think it was ever going to be that easy?!!!???
I think the fact that no one, not even Gwen, ever brought up repealing the ban legally and politically just shows that no one actually knew what that would entail. It was always about safety, about no longer having to fear being hunted down like an animal. It was freedom, in a sense, to be themselves without certain death. But if that were the case, what’s so different about that and Arthur’s short-lived reign?
Five years Arthur ruled as King, and do we ever see or hear about him hunting down or persecuting magical beings? I don’t mean people who committed crimes who so happen to have magic—those are just criminals and Arthur was allowed to deal with those as is his right. I meant actual innocent Druids and Sorcercers who were killed simply for having magic, because to be honest I don’t even remember seeing him arrest anyone without some kind of accusation of a crime. Not even Kara, who was executed for trying to assassinate Arthur and not because she happened to have magic!
And to top it all off, when was the last time Arthur was even allowed to make a knowledgeable, educated decision on something magic-related that wasn’t somewhat tainted or manipulated by Merlin (and Gaius and the damned dragon)? They wouldn’t even have an honest conversation with him about his mother, and frankly, Ygraine’s death was probably the easiest way to ease Arthur into accepting magic once and for all. Because he was willing to listen, you know? More than once, he gave the people he loved the chance to actually be truthful and no one ever took him up on it.
And sure, most were too scared of Uther or Arthur’s own reaction, but really, I think they were all just too scared to make the leap because what would they do if it turned out their preconceived notions of Arthur were all wrong? If in the end he cared more about being lied to for years and years and years, than he ever did them having magic? Maybe then they wouldn’t be able to convince themselves that it was all for the better that he didn’t know; maybe then they can just watch him make decisions blindly without all the information and perhaps choose wrong, and sigh to themselves asking why they were disappointed in the first place. Then the fault would be on Arthur for being his father’s son, and not on them, for making sure he’d never escape that role in the first place.
I just think it’s so interesting that anyone who ever met and got to know Arthur ended up respecting him and loving him, even. How even his enemies and foes could look at him and see someone who’d be a great king, someone they’d respect and follow and die for, all by being himself. It’s almost as if when you allow someone to make their own decisions or to interact with them beyond your own preconceived notions of what they would and could do, they might even surprise you.Even Mordred, after Kara, didn’t think Arthur was beyond saving. Beyond understanding. It was Morgana who wrote him off, even when Arthur himself never once did anything to her. Who would have loved her and protected her from Uther had he known.
But it’s so hard to be a great king, to be prophesied as some kind of messiah for a whole nation, when everyone lies to your face but gets upset when you make the wrong decision because of it. When they lie because they’re too scared you’d make the wrong decision, and end up doing so because of it.
