Did anyone, at any point in season 4 and 5, sit down and explain to Arthur that his self sacrificing tendencies are in fact very dangerous for Camelot?
In fact even before that. Has this boy ever had a single lesson in how kingdoms are run? I mean, I don't have a solid idea of how monarchies work, but they seem pretty fragile and I'm seeing some issues.
After Uther's death, Arthur is the King. He runs the kingdom and is also the figurehead for said kingdom. And he does not have a true heir. Not only that, after Uther's death, he has almost no blood relatives, the exceptions being his half-sister (who's ya know, evil) and his uncle (who's also evil but they don't know that, and more than that, is not a Pendragon). That's not a good situation to be in. That is not the point that you start throwing yourself into stupid situations.
He knows, after Morgana first takes the throne, that she is his sister. The only reason she is not first in line for the throne is because Uther did not crown her as such, due to the illegitimacy of her birth (and also being a girl, but that's not really mentioned against her so perhaps Camelot is really progressive?). But should Arthur die? She's got every legal right to the throne, no questions. Even after Gwen's marriage to Arthur, I'm pretty sure a sister of the King, daughter of the previous King, has more claim to the throne than a serving girl who married well (ofc we love Gwen, but objectively that's what she is). The knights of Camelot wouldn't support Morgana, no, but if she truly was the rightful Queen, she'd be far more likely to get outside support. More than that, I imagine many of Camelots nobles would be torn too. Some wouldn't support Gwen's rule at all in her early years, or at least some would rebel against it. Some would be calling for other nobles to be considered. Some might turn to Morgana. A kingdom fractured by itself is far easier to take over.
And that's when Arthur's married. Most of season 4 his heir is Agravaine, who's got less claim than Gwen had as wife, because he's not even a Pendragon, he's on Arthur's mothers side. He's not crowned at all. He's just an advisor.
So like, the kingdom could break down into war immediately upon Arthur's death, if Morgana was still alive. Especially before his marriage to Gwen.
So for all Arthur is willing to die for Camelot, what he really needed to be reminded was that him dying is the worst possible move for the kingdom.
Did no one explain this to Arthur??
Did Leon try and explain and Arthur just brushed him off??
Why was no one concerned at how much he almost died, all of the time???
Uther was kind of right in that Arthur's life was worth more than others. Not in a moral sense, because of course that's not true. But in sheer practicality? Yes it absolutely is. Arthur's life is stopping a literal civil war. Arthur's life is keeping the kingdom from collapsing. You would think that like an entire childhood of being raised by Uther might have got that one singular correct message in???
