An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
I think I might cry thinking about this fic. Oh my god! All the possibilities this fic opened up, it makes it hurt even more to be part of the fandom with that ending they gave us.And I'm not talking about the Merthur part, which of course would have been nice to have, but unlikely... But everything else that the characters and the prophecies deserved. In the end I always think that there wasn't much planning as to how the miniplots were going to be intertwined and the final conflict ended up failing on a large scale.I say this mostly because we didn't really see any golden age and magic remained banished, but oh well.
At least thanks to the series we have masterpieces like this fic I will definitely reread it in the future.Just with the first few chapters I was already feeling extremely satisfied. The interactions were the same and yet all that was needed was a wink here and there and everything could be perceived through such hot lenses.I literally spent the entire reading thinking about how hot this Merlin was (and all Merlins, really) but I did fall in love a little bit more (and I thought it was already impossible)
It's good that he was willing to make amends for his mistakes, there were many, the poor man was alone and lost throughout his youth. A youth that did not even belong to him after being subjected to the weight of destiny.Many things would have been better without his intervention in the canon and yet he cannot be blamed because he never had a choice.
Fortunately this Merlin was a little wiser because of his age and experiences.
A Arthur was a marvel. He also grew in a way that canon didn't allow him to, precisely because this time he had more freedom to make his own decisions and face problems on his own.
Morgana deserved this, I'm so glad she got it
Lance and Gwen are a couple that I love, I'm sorry, I'm happy in any universe where they have their happily ever after
And oh, all the lore of the dragonlords was exquisite. Great job building it.
Chapters: 25/25
Fandom: Merlin (TV)
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Relationships: Merlin/Arthur Pendragon (Merlin), Gwen/Lancelot (Merlin), Gwen & Merlin (Merlin), Merlin & Morgana (Merlin), Gwen/Morgana (Merlin), Merlin & Mordred (Merlin)
Characters: Arthur Pendragon (Merlin), Merlin (Merlin), Kilgharrah (Merlin), Morgana (Merlin), Gwen (Merlin), Uther Pendragon (Merlin), Knights of the Round Table (Merlin)
Additional Tags: Time Travel, s5 merlin, s1 arthur, BAMF Merlin (Merlin), Dragonlord Merlin (Merlin), Canon Compliant, mostly just not for the stupid shit, Pining, Idiots in Love, techhnical major character death but like time travel so he get's better, Uther's A+ Parenting, Sassy Merlin (Merlin), Everyone Loves Merlin (Merlin), Slow Burn, Arthur Pendragon is Whipped, Jealous Arthur Pendragon (Merlin), 50k of Slowburn, Jealous Merlin, no beta we die like arthur, Unrequited Gwen/Morgana, light dubcon
Summary:
As Arthur dies in Merlin's arms at Camllan he confessed the love he's held close to his heart all this time. In his shock Merlin doesn't say it back, until it's too late. His grief shakes the earth, claws the sky, and tears reality asunder. For the first time in his life he holds nothing back and in his soul he has one desire. A second chance.
