#um analysis

[unfortunatelymerlin]

the thing about merlin and arthur is that, while yes there are lots of moments we can point to in the show when arthur is an utter arse to merlin, he is in fact — and especially based on what arthur knows — incredibly accepting and indulgent of merlin, about everything from his more seemingly benign quirks (intense strangeness... see: woodworms) to his more serious transgressions (apparently disappearing for days at a time for, *checks notes*, a drunken bender) and arthur just. lets him. by series 4 especially. merlin gets away with murder (which, to arthur at least, is an idiom)

and the thing about that is! i think merlin sees this as arthur ultimately not caring, further evidence of arthur not seeing him, and of arthur dismissing him as ultimately unimportant, in the grand scheme of things. but it's actually because arthur has just decided to dismiss whatever it is he has to, to have merlin in his life.

[unfortunatelymerlin]

a recurring and central theme we see in bbc merlin is the exploration of being dissuaded or kept from one's nature.

merlin is naturally a kind character, with a backbone enough to abide by his own moral code rather than the law (ie. what he is told to do) when necessary. throughout the show, however, we see him constantly battling against — and being persuaded away from — his natural disposition and instincts in order to fulfil the prophecy, and at almost every turn, it is this that leads to his failures.

morgana, in much the same way, starts the series an exceptionally compassionate person whose nature becomes twisted and cruel due to her own pressures and fear, not least including the smothering of her powers

arthur's temperament is one he is constantly battling against, often to appease his father or the pressures of the crown. in particular, he struggles against his natural sense of fairness with regards to magic; time and time again something happens to seemingly push him from this path, which ofc also helps lead him to his death

frequently, plot lines involve people having some part of their fundamental selves changed via force in some way; lancelot's nobility when he is a shade, gwen and merlin's love for arthur when they are enchanted to harm him, the knight's code to protect with the lamia, others being forced to give up information due to threats or torture etc,

and this, of course, ultimately all echoes the way in which the natural order of things is being disrupted by the destruction of magic. magic citizens in camelot have to turn away from their very nature in order to survive, and in turn, their persecution has twisted some of them in ways they never would have been otherwise

[unfortunatelymerlin]

much is made of the power balance between merthur, but it really is so complex and interesting to me.

arthur, obviously, is the prince and then later the king of a powerful kingdom, and merlin is his manservant, but merlin is said to be the most powerful sorcerer to have ever lived and is therefore theoretically more powerful than anyone we see in the entire show — including arthur — especially by series end. arthur has the ability to upend merlin's entire life, and his emotional and mental hold over merlin is intense, but the power merlin frequently exerts over arthur is also substantial, and the power he could potentially exert even moreso.

in a lot of ways they are actually quite evenly matched, and would — as two of the most powerful characters in the show — find more of a power imbalance with pretty much any other main character pairing they might be in.

but if you do want to go with a juicy power imbalance angle, it isn't quite so straightforward, and is less about the amount of power they both have and more about the types of power they have over the other, and if they'd ever use it, and how, and why, and when. and, crucially, the ways in which they frequently lack agency anyway, despite all their power... sometimes directly because of the other.

[unfortunatelymerlin]

in the earlier seasons, especially in times of repose, merlin more often has his neck uncovered; a literal bearing of his throat, that symbolises his more open and friendly nature, and perhaps some naivety as to the dangers he was facing. by contrast, in later seasons, the audience and other characters rarely see him without his neckerchief, representing the development of merlin's character into someone who has become closed off to those around him. a character ultimately unknowable in his power, and bitterly aware of the perils of his life. in this essay I will—

[unfortunatelymerlin]

I just wanted to respond to this post and this reply to it cos I think it is interesting!

First of all, I want to add the caveat that I do think it's a little unfair to take what is a pithy text post or a random set of replies on a text post and critique it as full-bodied analysis, so I want to make it clear I am NOT doing that. I truly just wanted to use these posts as a jumping off point to reflect common thoughts I've seen all over the fandom.

I also want to note that the original post was made in 2021 and the reply was left in 2023, so generally there may well be context missing from this post that was there once that I am not privy to. All this being said, it just seemed better to make my own post. Lmao.

Anyway. What is interesting about this is that I think the reply is more in agreement with the original than it might first appear. They say that Merlin isn't just 'obsessed with Arthur' but that he 'believes that the prophecies are dependent on Arthur's survival', but I don't think these are two opposing ideas. It can be argued that Merlin is obsessed with Arthur, and that one of the reasons for this is that he believes the prophecy is dependent on Arthur's kingship and survival. And this is because he is told that that it is! Repeatedly! By everyone, pretty much!

But I don't think anyone could effectively argue that Merlin was only interested in keeping Arthur alive. We know he cares about Arthur, a lot, and is concerned not only for his life but for his happiness, and we see several instances of this throughout the show, culminating in his final desperate shout that he can't let Arthur die because he's his friend in the finale. Implying it might just be about duty is as much a reduction of the story being told, I think, than saying it was just because Merlin was in love – if, indeed, anyone is saying either of those things.

And like, yeah, as the commenter says, Merlin does only actively reach beyond that duty and help magic people more directly for other reasons when he is feeling disillusioned with Arthur, which supports the hypothesis of Arthur being his sole focus most of the time.

Merlin being unable to see the Bigger Picture and inadvertantly dooming both Arthur and himself in the process is central to the tragedy of the show, as is the relationship Merlin and Arthur shared throughout it all. Adding a Romantic Love on top of all of that does not have to detract from or stand in opposition to any of that, in my opinion.

What would be really doing a disservice to Merlin's character is acting like his decisions didn't make sense. His decisions were, at every turn, immensely human – a human who was stuck, most of a time, between a rock and a hard place, occasionally with a nest of vipers below him.

[unfortunatelymerlin]

what if you were OBSESSED with this annoying boy and he became your MANSERVANT and then your BEST FRIEND but there was always an INSURMOUNTABLE BARRIER between you which he carefully maintained more than you ever could and you thought it was because of his STATION or his GENDER or the FRIENDSHIP you shared but it turns out it was because HE HAS MAGIC the very thing you were taught to HATE but upon the discovery of this magic every CAREFULLY CONSTRUCTED DEFENSE against all this love you have for him is suddenly DESTROYED and you can no longer ignore it any more than you can ignore the blade inching towards your heart because you also happen to be DYING.

[unfortunatelymerlin]

every time arthur and morgana flirted somewhere in the castle uther got a chill up his spine but he always just assumed he was being haunted by all the people he's killed

[unfortunatelymerlin]

absolutely completely convinced that the writers had to keep removing lancelot from the BBC merlin narrative because they KNEW they had made him way too loveable and it was a genuine problem that distracted people from arthur.