#i dont think him poisoning her in 2x12 made her go to morguese

[retro-wallflower]

I think we all blame Merlin a little too much on things aren't exactly his fault. him being the main character kinda pushes the narrative into blaming him because he feels guilty, despite evidence to the contrary.

like I often hear people saying Morgana wouldn't have gone evil if Merlin had been more honest with her. but even though he kept his magic from her when she probably deserved to know, he still accepted her magic when she told him. she confided in him about her magic, her fears and her feelings on uther and Merlin was there for her. he listened to her and supported her, accepted her magic even though in Camelot most people wouldn't. having an ally like that in a place where there isn't many makes the world of difference.

after Merlin sends her to the druids, we don't really see her confiding in him again. she didn't have to feel quite as lonely as she did because merlin would've been there for her.

in the witchfinder, when Merlin is accused of magic, Morgana doesn't stand up for him. because one, she was likely in shock and two, she doesn't want to implicate herself. there's almost a sense of 'him or me' in the episode because when you're oppressed you're terrified you'll be found out. so both Merlin and Morgana don't make the most of a friendship which could've been so much more to them - they could've helped eachother feel less isolated, listened to eachothers woes, guided eachother from darkness when it beckoned.

Merlin doesn't take any action against Morgana, even though he's being incessantly told to, he shows her kindness. until in the fires of idirsholas. Morgana is on the precipice here, between good and evil - she knows she's the center of this spell but doesn't tell Merlin or Arthur. again, because she doesn't want to put suspicion on herself. merlin doesn't do anything to her until Arthur's life is on the line - he waits and waits until if he didn't stop this spell, Arthur would die.

in the later season we hear Morgana blame uther for what happened to her, then Arthur for following in his footsteps. she's bitter that Merlin poisoned her, but never brings up when she had the chance to confide in him, when he was her only ally. she doesn't blame him for her being alone, only for ruining her and morguese's plans.

but Merlin blames himself for all of this, for not being better to Morgana, for not trusting her with his magic, for making rash decisions and eventually for poisoning her. he bears the burden of how Morgana turned out, because he had knowledge she didn't. knowledge that could've changed things but, like Morgana, he was scared.

that's not to say Merlin telling Morgana of everything he knew about destiny and magic would've stopped her from betraying Camelot. I think Morgana was built to stand up against the oppressors, she always fought against uther when she disagreed with him. and this manifested over years of loneliness and fear that I don't think Merlin could've prevented.

it was a combination of choices from so many different people that led Morgana to join Morguese and those like her. while merlin undoubtedly holds some of the responsibility, it's unfair to say he was the catalyst for her turning to dark ideas when things that didn't even involve him (like in to kill the king) planted the seeds for her defection.

#i think fans myself included blame merlin for a lot things #probs because we see everything from his perspective #how his choices effected people and their consequences #and his subsequent guilt #but it wasnt just merlins choices that led morgana down that path #imo #it was uthers choices arthurs and morgana herself #we dont really see any healthy uprising in the show that i can remember rn #like everyone has different reactions to being systemically opressed and hated #but we only really see the two extreme ends of the spectrum #subservience self devaluation and hiding from merlin and outward anger and violence from morgana #morgana was right to stand up against uther and fight for her right to exist #but especially as time goes by and she goes through trauma after trauma the way she goes about it gets worse and worse #to the point that shes killed innocent people and is willing to hurt anyone that gets in her way #so no merlin is to blame for morganas downfall #i dont think him poisoning her in 2x12 made her go to morguese #i think she wouldve done it anyway at that point #anyway all my opinion just had to ramble 😌 #bbcmorgana #merlin #merlin emrys #morgana #morgana pendragon #lady morgana #merlin and morgana #morgause #arthur pendragon #uther pendragon #merlin meta #morgana meta