Merlin Rants Pt. Something
okay so I’m always going to be on my “Arthur and Gwen didn’t have chemistry and they weren’t the cutest domestic little married couple 🥺🥺 they were just boring and a guy and a girl” shit but I was just rewatching The Darkest Hour (1&2) and I came upon an astounding realization:
Arthur and Merlin would’ve gotten together if one was a girl (duh I feel like everyone in the fandom knows this)
Gwen pisses me off (not because of her drama with the boys but because of how her character is just so….bland? In season 4 that is)
the main one I want to talk about is number 2
The issue with Gwen is that they got it right early (ie season 1) and got it wrong later, which means we as viewers have the ill-fortune of knowing that Gwen was better before. So, what changed?
for starters, Gwen and Arthur. I’m not even going to pretend that I liked this plot line ever. When they kissed in season 2, it’s so forced and just ugghhhh. Gwen is an objectively better person in seasons 1 and 2, and as far as her character has been built, she has no reason to want to kiss Arthur after he’s been a terrible and ungrateful person™️. Then when Lancelot leaves and she really starts to reciprocate, instead of having Arthur have some solid and strong character growth, the show runners say “fuck that let’s make Gwen bland so that we can put her with anyone” and then proceed to fill her scenes with forced foreshadowing for her future queenhood and Arthur lovey eyes. So
Another part is that she’s made bland to fit with Arthur perfectly. But that’s the issue: it’s too perfect a fit. There’s outside drama, such as their positions as king and servant, but then there’s no real friction between the two of them. A lot of people like to say that this is because they are a healthy relationship. But there’s a difference between healthy and boring. And there’s a difference between unhealthy and romantic. I firmly believe that if Arthur as a character has been allowed to progress naturally (with some setbacks but with an overarching improvement) and if Gwen had been given at least some real flaws, they could’ve been shippable. And still healthy. Instead, we get this “one-size fits all” Gwen that has 0 flaws and is just the most fantastic perfect human being on planet earth. But it makes her an uninteresting character.
this was cathartic and I have more coming on this
