Ugh BBC Merlin tries to demean Morgana while trying to portray her as this great evil that Merlin has to kill through Killgarrah is just fucking disgusting. Like that laugh, "That witch does not have the power to wield the crystal", but Mordred does, the fuck?
Dude, in Arthurian legend, it is Morgana who is the sorceress, not Mordred. It is Morgana who is apprentice to Merlin, not Mordred. It is Morgana who is said to be his greatest of apprentices and his rival, and at times his enemy. It is Morgana who is his equal but apparently, she can't wield the Crystal of Neahtid, but Mordred could...
Morgana who is the only fucking seer we see in the show and who can see the future that for some reason fucking disappears in S4 of Merlin (I think).
God, I swear mainstream Arthurian shows like BBC Merlin and Starz Camelot is more misogynistic than the fucking legends themselves sometimes.
It's one of the reasons I was very into the Trollhunters cartoon series, especially the Wizards sequel arc... though I'll admit I haven't watch the entire series yet but I think I probably will.
Because at least Morgana there actually DID kick Merlin's ass. At least Morgana is acknowledged by Merlin and is claimed to be by he himself, the greatest wizards of all time, to be his greatest of apprentices.
Like okay make Morgana a villain but fucking don't demean her and say she can't wield powerful items especially items that can see through time and the future when you give her the powers to see the future and not the character, who in traditional legend, is supposed to be the prophet and seer, Merlin himself. And ESPECIALLY, don't say a character who isn't known to be a sorcerer in the legends, but just a knight, is meant to wield the powerful item more than Morgana herself, especially if you're trying to make her the main villain of the series.
Like omg, the villainy of Morgana in BBC Merlin is so fucking laughable that it's painful. I don't mind if she's a villain, if it's done right.
But they turn her into a fucking caricature and a joke. She's literally never on the same league as Merlin but supposedly the main horrible villain that we all have to be scared of.
The only substance is due to the actress herself and the fact that they wrote her as a benevolent heroine with good intentions in the beginning thus setting up a story of a villain who ultimately has good intentions but then resorts to extremes that later makes her a villain. That's a pretty great set up for a character who's supposed to be the villain and it's only due to the set-up of trying to write hero turned villain (but doing it terribly), her honorable motives of wanting to free magic kind, and Katie McGrath's wonderful acting in giving substance to the character, and depth.
Other than that, sorry Buzzfeed or whatever dumb fandom blog out there, I'm sorry Morgana is not the best character Merlin...or maybe she technically is. She certainly got more depth than the majority of the characters in the series.
Well aside from Merlin himself, but whether Merlin in BBC Merlin has depth is something to contemplate on a later date.
Feel free to offer opinions on that if you want. Do you think Merlin has depth in BBC Merlin. Is he well written? I actually kind of think he is, but I admit I'm not that invested in him like Morgana nor am I on his side on how he believes working within the system is the best way to help those with magic, because that kind of thinking sickens me. Maybe someday I'll get through the nausea and think about his motives and why he ultimately forsakes everything because he just happens to love Arthur more than his mission to free his people... even to the point of lying to Arthur and putting his people under the bus as "evil" and "liars" all so he could keep Arthur from killing his father due to the truth of how the ban on magic and the genocide on those who have magic was due to the fact Arthur's dad needed an heir and so decided to utilize magic to get his barren wife to produce a baby without actually thinking about the consequences of what bringing a life as a result of magic would lead too.
Ugh I'm sorry, I almost prefer Arthurian legend version of how Arthur was born and Arthurian legend version of Merlin over BBC Merlin because at least Arthurian legend Merlin had some fucking dignity and also he had a mission he followed through, or attempted to and truly did believe Arthur was the key to peace in Britian, that with Arthur's leadership, the Saxons and those abroad would be prevented from invading England.
The fact that ultimately it failed, is the tragedy, and in some ways BBC Merlin does somewhat mirrors this tragedy to an extend when it comes to Merlin's story because BBC Merlin does fail it's mission to in freeing those with magic.
The thing is...Merlin never tries. He never tells Arthur the truth until the very end and then Arthur dies, and the ban is never lifted to free magic. In fact, Merlin spends a majority of his time killing his own people who are trying to kill Uther for their own liberation and justice!!! All because he's afraid of Arthur hating people with magic! All because of WHAT ARTHUR THINKS! (as if the attempt itself isn't gonna really cement anything in Arthur? Like there's no real conversation on the why the villains do what they do. Hell Naruto does a GREAT job in exploring the why which is why the villains are so great. The hero sympathizes with the villain and yeah talk no jutsu is annoying, but you really get into the meat of the problems of the Ninja world, and it offers world-building in the sense that THIS is what the hero is up against, and he has to think, how to make the world better. This is what Arthur and Merlin should've done. Think about why magic people are killing Uther, and Merlin knows, I'm sure deep down if Arthur thinks about it, he knows too. But neither have this conversation. Arthur spends most of his time abusing Merlin, and Merlin takes is and just teases Arthur back and also comforts him about Gwen and all the ugh...nothing about magic. Nothing. Except lying about it being evil just so Arthur doesn't kill his own father when all he had to do was appease to Arthur's morality and tell him that if yes what Uther did was horrible but killing him isn't the answer and if he did, he would regret.
That's all you had to say Merlin!
The only one, the only one, who tries to talk to Arthur, and to UTHER about why the villians are trying to kill them, why the villians do what they do, is MORGANA! When she was good! She is the only one!
I swear to god, it's so hard to be a Mergana shipper when the centerpoint of the ship is this problem, the method in which to liberate those with magic by undoing the ban on magic. Morgana is the only one actually actively working on that. Yes, she goes to extremes, but what's Merlin doing beyond judging her methods? Huh? What?
He pisses me off so much sometimes that I truly truly wonder if he even deserves her at all.
He really doesn't.
Here enjoy this video that mentions how Merlin is against radicalism:
