#cause like. poisoning morgana is one thing

[adhd-merlin]

you know, if arthur had ever come to know that merlin considered letting a literal child die to save his life, however briefly, he would have been horrified. even if mordred did end up killing him. that's just not what arthur was about

#there's no point to this post #that's it. it's just something i've thought about #like do you think he would have been a bit repulsed by it (/merlin)? #or would he have felt some sympathy for merlin being put in that position #cause like. poisoning morgana is one thing #she had already started conspiring against them #but mordred was still an innocent boy #I MEAN #he still was innocent when merlin tried to get him killed in S5 #(REPEATEDLY) #arthur would not have liked that either. for sure #i would have liked to see arthur's reaction to that #merlin and mordred #merlin

[pippin-katz]

You know what I wish we got? At least one episode where Merlin is incapacitated or injured for most of it and Arthur is worried, for a longer period of time.

Cause in The Poisoned Chalice, he sees Merlin hurt/suffering one time, right before he leaves, and then next he sees him, he’s fine. A Servant of Two Masters? Same thing, he’s there when he gets hurt but he’s healthy when he comes back. Another’s Sorrow too, when Morgana almost kills him. Arthur’s like, we can’t wait for him and the next he sees him, he’s fine.

The Darkest Hour is kind of like that, but not exactly what I mean. He’s upset about Merlin for sure, but he’s not there for Arthur to look after.

I want an episode like all those times Merlin had to watch Arthur fighting for his life in his bed. Merlin had to watch over him, cure him, heal him, and whatnot many times. He had to see him suffering for several days at a time before he could fix it.

Every time Arthur sees Merlin suffering, it’s brief and almost never fixed by him. The Poisoned Chalice is really the only time we see Arthur entirely responsible for saving him. He gets him out of the fight in A Servant of Two Masters, but he wasn’t the one who saved him in the end. He was spared by Morgana and saved himself.

I would’ve loved an episode where Merlin was cursed or something and Arthur had to try and find the cure or the way to break the curse without going on a huge quest that would take him away from Merlin, maybe something inside the castle being the answer. I needed more protective/worried Arthur Goddamnit.

#protective arthur is best arthur #merlin #merlin bbc #bbc merlin #merlin thoughts #merlin emrys #arthur pendragon #merthur #medieval husbands #two sides of the same coin #the once and future fandom

[inalandofsadclowns]

What I like a lot about Merlin's writing as a character, is that he was allowed to do horrible things of his own will. Because all of the other protagonists of the show are so... pure, for a lack of a better word. When they mess up, it's mostly unknowingly or because they have been enchanted. See: when Arthur attacked Merlin or almost caused a war - under a spell, both times. Freya killed all those people - but she was cursed. Gwen cheeted on Arthur - but she wore that cursed bracelet. Lancelot was the one she cheeted with - but he was just a shade, a mindless shell of himself.

Even Morgana was enchanted by Morgause without her consent or knowledge, which led to the enchantment of the whole castle and Merlin betraying her. After getting poisoned by Merlin, she had a solid ground for her bitterness and losing all trust in people outside of Morgause. Without Merlin's tricking Morgana, I honestly think she would have willingly offered her life to save everyone else (actually, she would have left and never looked back since dying wasn't necessary, but I think it still fits season 2 Morgana).

Whereas Merlin keeps knowingly choosing between foul and fouler. Now, we must mention, his choices have never been quite brilliant, ever. But then at that infamous moment: pushing Arthur to the "there's no place for magic in Camelot" path. Ladies and gentlemen, that wasn't the old Merlin. He wasn't himself there, and at the same time he was, because no one forced him to say that. But he got there somehow, and I want to see. Just. That. I want to see that boy make mistakes - his own mistakes, not "the evil witch's" manipulation - and I want to see the consequences. And then I want to see him deal with a mistake that's his own and maybe not learn from it. I want him to believe he can save the whole world, as if he was a god, omnipotent, and fail. I want to see the messy story of a good-willed man.

Merlin walks a road where his character gets so muddy and with every sacrefice he finds himself in a hole deeper than the one before, while others to his left and right get absolved, their sacrefices pay off. There's so much pain, confusion and anger, and somehow at the sole of it there's love (and fear).

#his story is so painfully realistic #bbc merlin #merlin meta #merlin #enough you're going in the queue

[leonawriter]

Okay so during P5's climax against Yaldabaoth, Morgana states "I see... if a god plays naughty, then it's a demon lord's duty to punish him."

And in modern interpretations of Norse mythology, Loki is seen as the Satan-archetype - the deceiver, the one who goes against the gods. If nothing else, he does kickstart the end of the world.

But - thing is, what just occurred to me is that in the Norse myths what happens is that Loki kills someone (Baldr), and then he's punished, and part of the setup for Ragnarok is that he's chained and imprisoned, and it's actually other things happening that set off the chain of events that lead to him being freed (I need to brush up on stuff and don't have time to wiki-trawl atm, but I'm pretty sure that's the broad strokes of it, at least).

So, going by what happens in Persona 5's climax, Yaldabaoth is bringing about the end of the world, right? This is the reckoning. This is Ragnarok. You'd expect Loki to be there, right?

Except... no. He's not. Joker's in the part of the story where he's at the top (the devil having fallen from grace and then become strong enough to face god on equal terms), but Akechi, in his own story, is at the part where he's been discovered in his trickery and punished for it, kept isolated (bar one person, in the myth), but still affecting the story (when Sigyn needs to empty the poison-filled bowl, Loki causes earthquakes because of the pain).

I suppose... that seen like this, of course Akechi's story is "messed up" by the method of him coming back; it doesn't fit into the narrative, exactly. But then, the thing that happens at the end of January is that his Personas merge/have a third awakening, into Hereward - and it isn't as if Loki's gone, exactly, as he's still part of what makes Hereward as much as Robin Hood is.

But in awakening to Hereward, Akechi breaks out of the cycle of Ragnarok that "being Loki" almost demands of him, narratively. He can be someone else, he can be himself, he can still have Loki, as that's not going to disappear... but he's no longer stuck as the Trickster who was used by the gods and attempts to bring down the end of all things and brings about his own death in the process (and that's speaking as someone who loves Loki as a trickster god).

#persona 5 #goro akechi

[karistiltskin]

what if i said "but I would die for you in secret" but imagine merlin and arthur.

peace lyric analysis as merthur:

"Our coming-of-age has come and gone

Suddenly the summer, it's clear

I never had the courage of my convictions

As long as danger is near

And it's just around the corner, darling

'Cause it lives in me

No, I could never give you peace"

OUR COMING-OF-AGE?? okay, listen. as we know, arthur's coming-of-age moment is linked to his coronation. He literally has an episode called "The Coming of Arthur" parts one and two (S03 E12-E13). it's arthur becoming king and merlin starting to finally feel like he's getting somewhere with their destiny because of arthur's crowning. this is our setting. we're now in the after.

"I never had the courage of my convictions as long as danger is near" SHUT UPPPP SHUT UPPPP like actually oh my god. as long as danger is near is so so sick and speaks so loud. merlin absolutely does have the courage of his convictions and just to clarify, collins dictionary [colin morgan ;) ] states it as the confidence to do what you believe is right, even though other people may not agree or approve. BUT when arthur is in danger he does not do the "right" thing. he listens to the giant lizard instead or gaius (still love him) and does anything, anything, to make sure arthur doesn't get harmed no matter what.

rip morgana and getting poisoned.

rip mordred's entire existence.

although arthur attracts danger, merlin attracts just as much. and merlin is magic. (ugh, I'm getting sad and the only reason i won't cry is cause i'm in the middle of a lecture. a nighttime lecture). merlin can never give arthur peace because he is everything arthur was conditioned to hate. arthur can never give merlin peace because he's a king with expectations from Camelot and neighboring kingdoms. aka they can never be peacefully together without the threat of danger from them both and towards their relationship.

"But I'm a fire, and I'll keep your brittle heart warm

If your cascade ocean wave blues comes

All these people think love's for show

But I would die for you in secret

The devil's in the details, but you got a friend in me

Would it be enough if I could never give you peace?"

merlin lights arthur fires. that's it. that's the tweet.

merlin is also arthur's closest friend and confidant. he definitely gets arthur to see other perspectives on a situation and makes sure he remains compassionate and fair. for example, that look arthur gave merlin in S05 E11 during kara's trial?? my god. or the episode where arthur killed that one king's son under the influence of his uncle, the sleaze.

THEY WOULD DIE FOR EACH OTHER IN SECRET. NO ARGUMENTS. they've proved episode after episode again that they would no questions asked. people who don't know them just go "he's just a servant" or "you would choose him over your kind?" (ouch) not knowing the depth of their relationship. but yes. yes they would. and they would not have a single regret. they would deny the hell out of it but the proof is in their actions.

but you got a friend in me yes ma'am they do.

and it would be enough. it would. do they need a reminder that they were both born in mind of each other? that it was written since the beginning of time? that both of them have their own personal demons that instead of running away they'd take care of each other instead? that they're the most important person for each other and nothing can split them apart because they've grown to trust each other so much that their souls have intertwined? two sides of the same coin? other half of my soul, as the poets say???

"Your integrity makes me seem small

You paint dreamscapes on the wall

I talk shit with my friends

It's like I'm wasting your honor"

from arthur's pov he knows merlin is better than him. the way he interacts with people, his morals and values, his humbleness, just everything really. he pretends to be mad and upset about it but there's such deep admiration in it that he's actually self-aware.

dreamscape (google) definition: a landscape or scene with the strangeness or mystery characteristic of dreams

arthur finds merlin so strange!! so strange and mysterious.

the walls: i read this one fanfic on ao3 called "The Tragedy of Godhood" by Lilmia_Casand (read it!! it's so good. short, but beautiful) and the summary states:

"Merlin had gotten better at controlling his magic over the years, but it still spilled over, as if he were the source instead of someone calling upon it. It seeped into the castle walls, into the stone floors..."

This was the first thing I thought of (this quote stuck with me, it got bookmarked) and i couldn't have said it better. here's a play by play: arthur lives in a castle. the castle has walls. a lot of walls. he sees these walls everyday. the walls are familiar. the walls stay. the walls are forever. he can't imagine the castle without his walls.

walls = life/the future

magic is part of merlin's mystery because he's essentially hiding HIMSELF.

(does this make sense? no, prob not but bear with me)

there's an air about merlin where when you think about him, you realize you actually don't know much about him. he's a mystery. you know his jokes, you know where he's gonna be at whatever time of day (not the tavern, contrary to what arthur thinks), you know his favourite food. you don't know about his parents, you don't know why he saved arthur at his first feast, you don't know why he stays around.

arthur reflects on this and realizes it one day when merlin starts to become unavoidable in his mind. then he thinks, 'i really know nothing about this boy.' over time, merlin stays by his side, always, and arthur is so dependent on him that he starts worrying if he'll ever leave and if not him, camelot (he has abandonment issues 100%).

also see: S01 E10

hence, "you paint dreamscapes on the wall" is arthur saying, "you're the biggest mystery i've ever met and you make me wonder what every day will be like with you. will you be here tomorrow? and the day after that? until I'm married and have children who will favour you over me? will you be here to see them? to see me? i can't see it through the haze. i can't see you through the haze."

moving on—fuck that was so much longer than it needed to be—arthur and merlin talk shit about each other ALL THE TIME it's hilarious. and they know the one "bad" thing they talk about doesn't define their entire character because they hold each other in such high regard but... well...

(they definitely have regrets after)

"And you know that I'd swing with you for the fences

Sit with you in the trenches

Give you my wild, give you a child

Give you the silence that only comes when two people understand each other

Family that I chose, now that I see your brother as my brother

Is it enough?"

they both go all out for each other but with a focus on merlin, he goes ALL. OUT. it's war with him. nothing is half-assed. he fights, and fights, and never takes it less than seriously. but he also is there at arthurs lowest moments. when they're losing and when arthur is feeling too much or has too much on his shoulders. he's there. through it all.

merlin will give arthur anything he asks. he's already given him the purpose of his life and has hidden his magic until arthur's dying day because he thought that's what arthur needed and thought he would never accept him as he is so he gave it up.

but he's also given arthur the best thing he has. a friend. understanding. communication without words. souls recognizing souls, so much that the silence may be quiet but words are being exchanged through that same silence.

also, speechless eye conversations that range near the line of sexual tens—

then in the last line, merlin is saying: your people are my people. your burdens are my burdens.

"But there's robbers to the east, clowns to the west

I'd give you my sunshine, give you my best

But the rain is always gonna come if you're standing with me"

this goes both ways!! the only difference is that arthur's is visible and merlin's is hidden. explanation: arthur no doubt has enemies, it's not a secret. being a king and a target from the magic community, that man is almost getting killed everyday. it is not a peaceful life. he knows that. but nonetheless, he has shown merlin his best before—merlin is literally the reason he reaches the best person he can be, like the growth omg—so he knows he can give it but he knows there's a lot of baggage (external and internal) that comes with being with him.

as for merlin, his enemies are a secret. and they're dangerous. arthur faces some of those same enemies but from the product of what they've created, not them personally. no, merlin goes head-to-head with the people who curse/try to kill arthur. and he gives arthur a version of his best (he still has to keep many many secrets) but even if it's limited it's still genuine. although his secrets, his late nights, and his pure exhaustion are a part of him as well. and you can't have sunshine without rain.

okay ,WOW, i'm wrung out. it feels incomplete so i might add additional things later on but for now, enjoy.

once again, thank you if you read this, thank you bbc merlin, and thank you taylor swift.

(notice how i didn't use the word love once)

#merlin #bbc merlin #bbc merthur #peace #taylor swift #taylors version #folklore #merthur #merlin x arthur #merlin emrys #merlin fandom #merlin and arthur #morgana #lady morgana #queen guinevere #king arthur #knights of the round table #camelot #lancelot #percival #sir leon #sir elyan #gwaine #arthur pendragon #colin morgan #bradley james #katie mcgrath #angel coulby #merlin wizard #warlock

[cottonheartsxmateo]

One thing about me as I literally don’t watch new shows…like I’m not even joking

I can make a list of the stuff I literally just have on repeat

Mr. Iglesias(that shows literally on repeat everyday)

Fast and furious(but specifically 2 fast 2 furious. My dad and I quote that movie)

Day Shift (Dave Franco plays a very nice pathetic man)

21 jump street (i would watch every other day)

Victorious (i have an irrational hatred for the theme song)

Lab Rats (might get hate for this but i literally watched it 4 times to see if i hatred Bree as a character or if i was being sexist but no i just don’t like her)

911 and 911 LoneStar (my dad doesn’t like to watch on tv with me cause once I finish the show i just restart it from the beginning. He always watches it tho and is like “wait what happened)

Harry Potter (but specifically sorcerers stone and goblet of fire…Cedric’sdeath )): )

Grown ups and grown ups 2 (those movies are genuinely an every or their day thing)

Merlin (I’m not gonna lie i do skip the episode Merlin poisons Morgana)

I could keep going but this list is already super long. Misfits if the newest thing I’ve watched and i love it

#lab rats #chase davenport #adam davenport #bree davenport #leo dooley #victorious #tori vega #evan buckley #eddie diaz #911 lone star #911 fox #merlin #morgana #arthur pendragon #harry potter

[idiotwhotalkstoomuch]

Disclaimer: These details are what we have currently made and are subject to being changed in the future. I’ll post a notice if a major change is made.Disclaimer: These details are what we have currently made and are subject to being changed in the future. I’ll post a notice if a major change is made.

Makoto serves as the difficulty spike after Ryuji, Yusuke and Haru so her palace is much more complex than theirs. Due to how long this post got explaining how her palace works along with my own personal thoughts on Makoto, I will be elaborating more on Shadow Makoto's character in the post for her corrupted persona.

Niijima Homes

Heavenly Virtue: Temperance

Palace Ruler: Makoto Nijima

Treasure: Clipboard (Cognitive), Phone with Recording of evidence against Ryuji and Ann as Phantom Thieves(Reality)

Makoto's palace takes place in a city that on the surface looks completely normal. For a clearer image of what the city looks like, it's based on the city that Todoroki and Yaoyorozu fight Aizawa in on BNHA. The reason the palace looks so ordinary is that Shadow Makoto is a dictator who controls every aspect of the shadows and cognitions' lives.

Shadow Makoto is the city's mayor and she governs the city with an iron fist. The shadows and cognitions in the palace follow a strict set of rules under a rigid schedule that vary depending on their location. This ties into the virtue of temperance which is having a humble life through exercising restraint of our desires. Shadow Makoto enforces temperance by making everyone live the same modest life where everyone does and earns the same things. In this way, they can't be tempted by their desires for luxury as no one is living in better conditions than them. A rulebreaker is considered someone who was tempted by their want for more and is dealt with accordingly.

Appearance wise, Shadow Makoto sports a black high waisted latex pencil skirt that goes past her knees with a short side slit, sensible black pumps, A black and white structured buttoned jacket with large leg o' mutton sleeves in a herringbone fabric that ends at her waist, short black fingerless gloves with her nails almond shaped and painted a light beige. Her hair is kept in a bun with her headband and bangs intact. Makeup-wise, she is similar to Shadow Sae but her makeup is more smokey and her lips are nude.

There are inspector shadows littered across the palace who make sure all of the rules are being obeyed. If the Infiltrators are spotted disobeying the rules of an area they're in, they will be forced into battle and the inspector shadows are mini bosses that you are better off avoiding as another shadow will be summoned immediately after one inspector is defeated. These shadows can be exploited in more than one way, the first is by changing the rules but you can only adjust 2 rules at most because exceeding 2 will cause the inspectors to get suspicious and alert Shadow Makoto who resets the rules and increases security by 20%. The other way is by changing the schedules of the inspectors but this has to be carefully managed as if schedules overlap, they will be alerted there was tampering and security level increases by 20%.

Rules won't constantly be active as eventually, the rules will be shut down and specific areas of the palace get hit with poisonous gas to weed out the rule breakers. The game gives you the schedule for the gassing and you will be warned by Morgana 30 seconds in advance if you're in an area that's about to get gassed. If you ignore his warning and get gassed, the poison drains your hp and sp and it can infact kill you so be careful. It only lasts 8 seconds though so you're not doomed but healing may be necessary if you're not full health lol.

After a few areas get hit with poison, the rules will be restored to normal as the rule breakers are assumed gone but it will eventually come back after a certain period of time.

Security level will play a major part of Makoto's palace as for once it will actually impact gameplay (Congratulations Ohya, you're not completely useless). You can't just rush and kill a bunch of shadows per increase depending on the rules of your location and everytime you're caught breaking a rule Shadow Makoto will increase the level more and more until eventually she can give a 100% increase.

If you get to 100% security level, Shadow Makoto will release the toxic gas on the entire palace. The poison is more powerful than the regular variant and can in fact kill you at full hp so yeah don't test Shadow Makoto's tolerance (lookin at you Akechi).

Now the actual goal in Makoto's palace outside of not dying to the punishment for rule breaking is to sneak around to find out the keywords to unlock the entrance to Makoto's secret base under the fountain. The keywords are obtained from various shadows there: inspectors, the shadows who obey and the rulebreakers. The Infiltrators will at times have to trigger specific rules and schedules to unlock the keywords but once all are obtained, they can explore underground which has a military theme in contrast to the suburban city on the overworld.

At the end of this secret base is the entrance to Shadow Makoto's office, securing the treasure route.

Her treasure being the phone she used to blackmail the Thieves reflects how controlling Makoto is as her shadow. This blackmail incident, as scummy as it was, was how she got into the Phantom Thieves so her shadow distorts it into her thinking that her ends justify the means she uses. By forcing everyone to live the same modest lives, corruption can't spread and without corruption, honest and hardworking people won't have to suffer.

#persona 5 #persona 5 au #p5 #p5r #the perfect semester au #persona 5 royal #persona 5 royal au #makoto niijima #niijima makoto #the poison damage calculates by percent of health btw #i tried to explain the math at first but im but a social studies student who hates math so i cut it out for my own goddamn sanity #morgana is not automatically doomed by his low health lol

[tiodolma]

As someone who likes Merlin x Morgana i feel like i am obliged to give my own two cents on the question: should Merlin have revealed his magic to her early on?

To me, he didn’t have to tbh.

Why?

A. Morgana already hates Uther. There were too many unpleasant secrets regarding her identity. Her upbringing made her vulnerable.

He had been told by the all his mentors not to trust her despite him wanting to do right by her. And regardless of whether he told Morgana about his magic or not, Morgana had long been resentful and distrustful of Uther herself due to the latter’s injustices. She was bound to betray the king one way or another. She was bound to meet and trust Morgause one way or another. She would still find out her true parentage. She would still have been manipulated by Morgause nonetheless. The fact that not only was Uther keeping major secrets from her, but Gaius, her primary physician, kept her drugged and ignorant, in time the truth will have had to come out and she will have still been rightfully outraged. Also at some point she would have had to know that she and Arthur were half-siblings.

B. She may root for Merlin but she was against the crown.

I do not believe for one second that had Merlin revealed his magic to her, she would have remained on the Pendragon’s side of their world (aka the "good guys”). Although She was little bit like Will, Gilli, Freya, who could convince Merlin to fight for himself and the magicfolk, Morgana also had the makings of characters such as Kara, Edwin, Nimueh and Sigan. These four tried to show Merlin a better/freer world but also went on to harm Gaius/Arthur, which became their death sentence.

As we can see, Morgana was theoretically located in between these two groups. That made trusting/joining her already very precarious for Merlin.

The real tipping point would have been Arthur. Morgana seemed to be influential enough to guide Arthur to follow his heart and go against Uther when it counted. In another world she would have convinced Arthur to take the throne for himself. As long as Arthur stayed alive, then Merlin would be on Morgana’s side. Gaius, who’s technically pro-Uther, can be still be convinced to the magicfolk’s side as long as the Camelot prince was safe.

C. The prophecy

The bigger problem though was that Morgana, from the beginning, has already been pegged as "designated dangerous potential enemy of the state” by both Kilgharrah and Gaius. Regardless of what she did, Merlin will always have that piece of info at the back of his head. No matter what Merlin did to prove them that Morgana isn’t like that, Gaius and Kilgharrah never stopped reminding him of her potential to "do evil” or go opposite of Merlin’s pathos. That kind of thing can mess up someone’s brain, especially powerful young men who had been thoroughly convinced that they will be the "light and savior” of his people some day in the future. His later actions and mindset is proof of the prophecy (and gaius’s philosophy) already having a profound effect on him.

There are really too many factors tbh. Merlin’s loyalty and focus was really pulled into so many directions, so many options. There was never an easy way for Merlin x Morgana to become satisfying.

.....

Merlin’s biggest sin was really using Morgana’s unfailing trust on him against her when he poisoned her. They were friends. Morgana had wholeheartedly trusted, respected and admired him, even more than Arthur did.

Merlin didn’t need magic to earn Morgana’s complete trust and love. He didn’t need magic to lose it either... That was simple use of hemlock. The moment he chose to do that, to not give her a choice in death, to not tell Morgana of his plan, to not completely trust her just once, to betray her for the final time, even when he was counting on Morgause to lift the curse on her... that already set Morgana’s path to her hatred of him in motion.

Merlin’s fear, indecision, distrust, empathy caused him to make horrible yet very realistic decisions. He continuously backed himself into a corner until there was no one left who could root for Merlin himself, not the Emrys of destiny. His lack of clear ambitions or plans made him gullible and vulnerable of Gaius’ and Kilgharrah’s mind games. Out of options, he would have had to defend status quo as long as possible, to become a reactionary hero that relied on brute force and prodigious talents to subdue his "enemies”. He would be the natural adversary of people like Morgana, Morgause (and everyone else).

It’s fascinating. And it hurts.

#thots #i redacted this

[its-all-a-little-bit-magical]

CW: brief mentions of abuse, violence, torture, as they appear in BBC Merlin

So I’m about ten years late on this but I’m really not seeing enough discourse about Morgana from BBC Merlin bc like. She is. Utterly Fascinating. She is a study in how writers at the time were absolutely panicking about how to deal with women activists and shows a really unnerving look at the way that people thought (and continue to think) that left wing activists are constantly on the borderline of falling into violent extremism and it is. Wild. And yet I barely ever seem to see people discussing her in depth?

It’s been mentioned a few times though on the Destiny and Chicken podcast (which if you haven’t listened, go do that immediately, it is a wonderful episode by episode breakdown and discussion and the hosts are brilliant) that Morgana’s obsession with killing Merlin (and kidnapping him, and torturing him, and emotionally wrecking him, etc., etc.) is strange because she doesn’t know about his magic and therefore she shouldn’t know that he is a legitimate threat. I actually completely disagree. I don’t think that it’s actually about his threat level at all. I always read her ‘oh he’s a thorn in my side’ type rhetoric, right from Season 3 and the scene where she says something like that to Morgause, as an excuse, rather than as her legitimate reason. I think that her obsession with hurting Merlin truly stems from his betrayal in the Fires of Idirsholas. I don’t think she ever recovers from it.

Think of it from Morgana’s point of view: she doesn’t know that Merlin was told that she was the vessel for the spell. In fact, she doesn’t even know that she is the vessel. Remember: Morgause enchants her to sleep before she a) consents to participate in the plan, and b) gives her any real detail about the plan. As far as she knows, something terrible is happening and someone is trying to kill Uther. With only that info to go on, she risks her life to help save Uther, despite everything he’s done to her and people like her (see: directly threatening her life, throttling her, locking her up etc.). Remember that she helps Merlin drag Uther out of danger. She has no idea what’s going on and she doesn’t have any expectation of her own safety throughout. When Merlin continues dragging Uther away after Morgana trips and a knight advances on her, she cowers because she’s fully expecting him to strike her.

Given this, when Merlin poisons her, there’s really only one thing that could motivate him, as far as she knows: she has magic. From Morgana’s POV, arguably her closest friend, the person who knows her most private and dangerous secrets and who seemed to accept her, turned on her at the first sign of a magical threat, without trying to speak to her or genuinely considering that she might literally be protected by her magic, but not be causing it. As far as she can see, he simply assumes that it’s her fault because she has magic, and his response is to straight up murder her. That’s intensely personal. She trusted this man with a secret that could kill her and he used that knowledge as justification to poison her.

Also, Merlin’s choice is essentially to kill her on the chance that it saves Arthur. He sees both Arthur and Morgana at risk and he chooses to sacrifice Morgana. There’s a repeating pattern of characters choosing Arthur over Morgana that I’ve always found intensely sad. Gwen falls for him and so Morgana loses her; when she comes back in S3, her best friend has moved on. Merlin chooses Arthur. Gaius chooses literally everyone in damn Camelot except her. Annis chooses Arthur. Uther prioritises Arthur and chooses not to claim Morgana as his family. She’s constantly isolated in favour of Arthur. Merlin might just have been the first and most traumatic loss.

(I will also point out that he used hemlock, a poison that, to this day, has no antidote. Without a ventilator and 21st century medical life-support machines, that girl should be dead. From what she can know, he didn’t want her brought to the point of death but maybe revivable, he wanted her Deceased. I assume Morgause healed her with magic but like, honestly, Merlin could not have expected that to be possible.)

I’ve gone on a bit but basically, I think that Morgana’s specific obsession with Merlin does make sense because it’s not partly political, like with Arthur, it’s primarily personal. I think this also explains why her plans re: Merlin are so centred on personally hurting him, rather than, as you said, simply sending someone in to slit his throat and be done with it. When he’s brought to her in A Servant of Two Masters, she literally stops someone from killing him so that she can hurt him herself. She tortures him physically and then tries to make him do the one thing that would hurt him most: kill Arthur. (This also ties in to Fires of Idirsholas, because in that situation Merlin chose Arthur’s life over hers and now she’s going to make him lose the person he sacrificed her to save.)

When she poisons him in The Hollow Queen, it’s violent and intimate and personal. Firstly, she uses poison, which is a direct callback to what he did to her. She forces it into his mouth and watches him. She barely uses magic at all, except to get him on the ground at first which is fair since she might not be able to do it manually any more since Colin Morgan suddenly grew three inches and got Shoulders. She uses something that will make him suffer for as long as possible. And she pushes his body over that ridge herself, without magic. Even the way in which she tricks him into following her into the woods is a sick recreation of her experience with Merlin and druidboy!Mordred.

Essentially, it comes down to her understanding of Merlin: i.e. she knows that Merlin will drop everything to help this innocent young boy that he’s known for thirty seconds—but not her. He will do anything to help anybody—but not her. It’s really fricking sad to me. She puts herself through watching him help a total stranger, knowing that he deemed her undeserving of his kindness; she forces herself to see, again, that he will help anyone, no matter what, even if they have magic—but, for some reason, not her. It must feel personal to her, which is I think why her attacks on Merlin are so personal in return.

Also, in the Hollow Queen episode, compare Morgana’s plan re: Merlin with her plan re: Sarrum. Sarrum imprisoned her for TWO YEARS in a pit and (it’s implied) physically or sexually abused her, and yet she’s willing to delegate that assassination to Gwen. She looks at her plan for the week, decides to get rid of both Merlin and Sarrum, and goes ‘mm yeah that’s too much, I simply don’t have time for both of those’ and chooses to prioritise killing Merlin herself over assassinating the man who, again, imprisoned and abused her for years. That, to me, really makes it seem like Merlin is still a more personal and important target. Sarrum she wants dead for his actions against her, sure, but she had no love for him beforehand so the trauma isn’t compounded by a previous relationship with the abuser. However, she loved and trusted Merlin before his betrayal and so her vengeance against him simply has to be carried out by her own hand.

#morgana pendragon #merlin season 5 #morgana #merlin #bbc merlin #merlin analysis #abuse

[llamagirl28]

/walks back and forth, okay okay question about the cosmetic body change from more of a medical standpoint (skin). Sorry if this is way to specific and feel free not to answer if it's to in-depth but it has generally interested me. Medical biology is fascinating, even if it's theoretical and fantasy.

Scarring. Between the dragon riding (and fire), weapons training, magical spells (and pranks gone wrong!), actual battle, childhood highjinks, ect, people are goning to have the potential for a lot of scars.

Does the magical method of healing leave a flawless look or does it's still leave marks but just lots better/comfort thing (like today's scar smoothing surgeries)?

Are there any scars that can't be "fixed" to said degree and is this cause by severity of the scar or magical hoodwinked bamboozled stuff and things (or both)?

Does everyone have access to fix said scars? Or would that be determined by the skill of healer? Speaking of are they common out of Avalon that can do said scar fixing? Is this a treatment that you would need to have a great deal of coin (so like would farmers theoretically have a bit more scars/people don't fix small ones)? Does how quickly the scar can be treated have an effect on how well it will look?

....DOES IT HURT?!?!?!

OOOH I'VE BEEN THINKING OF THAT TOO

Just as an aside, to differentiate between types of people who do magic: sorcerers - people born with magic - and magic users - so people who invoke magic from Fae.

Basically, most injuries that are not magically inflicted - in the sense that whatever caused the injury is not of magical nature - can be treated successfully by magic. There can be scarring with severe wounds, but they can be smoothed over completely.

For example - they'll be a small mention in game that Morgana used to slash her palm to then heal it by invoking the power of the Lady of the Lake, and there's no scarring.

It gets complicated with magical injuries so for example when potions/poisons are involved, because sometimes there are things you can't quite heal completely. Magic tends to act in ways not even sorcerers understand.

For bad scarring people, regardless of status/money, could go to their local Temple of the Lady of the Lake that offers healing and get themselves healed either for a very small sum/for free entirely. (They definitely offer free treatment/small fees when they know the people have less money cause the goal is to help them). I imagine people don't necessarily bother for very small scars.

Plus some warriors like keeping their scars. A scar tells a story.

As for whether it hurts - that depends entirely on the severity of what's being treated. It can be a weird sensation or just a bit of tingling.

#the bastard of camelot #Lore

[weakforarwen]

Even though the evil!Gwen storyline was completely pointless, at least she was 100x better at playing the inside villain than Smirkgana and Agravaine. So naturally the writers resolved that storyline just as quickly as they started it. And there is zero focus in the following episodes on Gwen's feelings about being under Morgana's control & all the things she had done for Morgana's cause - it's like that storyline never happened, much like the enchanted bracelet fiasco.

I know, right?! Honestly, the evil Gwen episodes were some of the season's best. With All My Heart might be the best season 5 episode, and while I didn't particularly care for A Lesson in Vengeance, The Hollow Queen was pretty good. Daegal, my poor baby, was amazing, and Colin did an amazing job when he was poisoned and trying to get back to Arthur in time to save him; unlike Agravaine and Morgana, Evil Gwen was an efficient and charismatic villain, and Angel played her really well. Also interesting about that episode was Morgana and Gwen's connection: how she felt and saw what Morgana had been through while imprisoned with Aithusa; she even cried for Morgana. I think the evil Gwen storyline showed Morgana in a more sympathetic light, especially after The Dark Tower which was also a good episode (at least by season 5 standards, though Elyan's death was beyond unnecessary - he was always the first to suffer, like in Lamia or in A Herald of the New Age...).

I disagree that we needed more episodes of evil Gwen though. What the last season had needed was the real Gwen who would take the throne upon Arthur's death; the writers should've shown us Camelot was in good hands - Arthur's Bane wasn't enough. Season 5 was also their first and last chance to show Arthur and Gwen's married life and how they ruled together. We didn't see much of it, and most of it was with evil Gwen, which was truly a slap in the face to us fans. We still saw how Arthur and Gwen were usually like, at least from Arthur's side, but evil Gwen was different from normal Gwen. I doubt Gwen would've let Arthur seduce her while Merlin watched and prepared the bed for them to fuck on. Gwen would've told Arthur to cut it out and be mindful of Merlin, and would've thanked Merlin for his work - not given him orders to prepare a bath for her. But, naturally, Arthur thought nothing of it. Evil Gwen was still treating Merlin better than he did; as long as evil Gwen wasn't too cruel, she could get away with doing what he did every day, which was ignore the fact that Merlin was a human being and not a robot who existed to serve him.

But yes, as is typical of the writers, there was no further talk of what had transpired between evil Gwen and Arthur, and what Gwen had been through in The Dark Tower. Imagine finding out that you had unknowingly slept with another woman? Arthur would've felt violated too - not just Gwen. I know Gwen probably wouldn't have blamed Arthur too much for not noticing she hadn't been herself, but Arthur should've felt bad about it. Neither of them talked about any of it though. We just saw they were okay and Arthur was trying to be extra thoughtful by arranging breakfast in bed and picnics- with Merlin third wheeling and getting more lines that Gwen, of course... It makes me angry to think about it. I despise season 5.

The writers never cared about the trauma they put Gwen through. When Uther nearly killed her twice, in season 1 and in season 3, no one cared to ask how Gwen felt after - especially in Queen of Hearts, a supposedly an Arwen episode. After she was banished, Merlin was probably the only person who asked after Gwen. She went through so much - she was alone and homeless for months, was kidnapped by Helios and nearly became his sex slave, and then was nearly killed by Arthur because Morgana turned her into a deer - but it was all water under the bridge for the writers. Also, she didn't get to grieve Elyan or be angry at Arthur for what he did to her. Ugh. Fuck the writers.

Thanks for the ask!

#bbc merlin #gwen pendragon #arthur pendragon #arwen #bbc arwen #morgana #thanks for the ask

[dark-lina]

Morgana and Morgan more information

Well, I've been getting myself to  do it for some time... because I haven't written it down anywhere so this time come.

New Infos:

Morgana/Morgan and death

Morgana and Morgan can be killed, but not permanently. If their body is badly damaged they may lose consciousness for a while but after a few hours they will regenerate, but if they are badly damaged (heart pierced... or decapitated) their body will turn to mist and they will respawn in their lair after a few days to a few weeks. Only another vampire can kill them completely...that's why vampires usually don't fight each other.

Regeneration: If Morgana or Morgan lose a limb, it will grow back over time... the arm and legs regrow very quickly, especially if a normal weapon was used to cut them off, as well as wounds regenerated pretty quickly.

Weaknesses

Human killers will have a great deal of trouble even in the long run, hurting both vampires. however, it is not impossible, a well-aimed weapon can decapitate them, but it is not easy either. Ordinary steel damages their flesh for a short time. The stairs for them start as they deal with beings beyond human or completely inhuman. Pinhead can quite easily trap Morgan/Morgan and deprive them of the ability to use their powers. Scourge, as a priestess, has a holy weapon, and this can damage their skin for hours. Freddy can hurt them and kill them, but they can also move in the world of dreams and give back to him. Albert also has a pretty good chance against both vampires and Nemesis, although this fight could last many hours and be quite unprofitable. Onryo, just as these two are above human abilities as well as powerful curse magic, so he is on the list of those who could harm them. Both the Nurse and the Knight would have a pretty good chance, but they are not their enemy. Wrath, so like the nurse, but no business (he's friends with Morgana) As for the men with saws :) well, if you cut them in half, only fog remains. They, like his granddaughter, can easily compete with both vampires in strength and power. The Executioner is beyond human beings, but even though he would stand a good chance with both vampires, he's not interested in them, they don't have a soul, he can't read what they really are without one, so he's not interested in them. Morgana and Morgan consider Blight very dangerous, they don't know what his serum can do to them and how it can affect them. Though Morgana has undoed what Blight did to some killers a few times, how she did it is her sweet secret.

Sunlight (the real thing is deadly to them) The Entnity itself (human form) can kill them (but they will respawn) but it's not like they have no way to defend themselves against them. As for the spider legs themselves, they can easily deal with them.

Immunities:

Morgana and Morgan are undead, so what kills ordinary people doesn't impress them. Poisons and diseases that are deadly to humans do nothing to them. (Including viruses carried by Nemesis and Wesker) So is the temperature, no matter how cold or hot it is, they don't care. Though Morgana prefers warmth, especially her mortal friends and partners. Since they're undead, you can't drown them... they both breathe out of habit. However, both Fire... and Ice can cause very serious damage, forcing them to turn into mist and return to their lair to regenerate.

Morgana and Morgan are immune to the effects of ordinary alcohol and drugs ... however, there are substances that even a vampire can stupefy, which only Talbot knows.

Morgan Au:

What is the difference between Morgan's fog and Morgana's? Well the roles are kept the same, survivors are survivors, killers are killers.

 Morgan has the same role as Morgana... but his part of the fog is gender reversal ( or swap).

 Men are women and women are men. Example : Morgana Fog           Morgan Fog Michael Myers --> Michelle Myers Laurie Strode --- > Laurence Strode Amanda Young ---- > Amanda Young e.t.c

Differences between Morgan and Morgana

- Besides the fact that Morgana is female and Morgan is male, there are other differences between them. - Morgana is a bit calmer and more thoughtful, while Morgan is more short-tempered and sometimes instead of thinking, it works. - Morgan dominates in physical strength, but Morgana is superior in magic. (that's why Morgan's crypt is smaller xd) - Morgana prefers tidiness in her surroundings, Morgan doesn't much prefer cleaning. - Morgana doesn't filter (too much), Morgan flirts with everyone. - Morgana is more stable in her feelings and was able to build longer relationships. Morgan likes to jump from flower to flower and one-night stands. -Morgana wears special googles that allow her to navigate in fog more easily, Morgan doesn't have them. - Morgana doesn't run away from responsibility unlike Morgan.

Similarities

- Morgan and Morgana grow blue roses  (a special kind of vampire roses))that can help them recover faster, Morgana always carries at least one with her.

In case the vital functions cease (in a way), the flower wilts, transferring the blood to the host's body which it had previously drunk (as it was put into a glass of blood) and accelerates regeneration by a lot, so Morgana/Morgan are able to get up quite quickly, taking the opponent by surprise.

- They both can take animal forms, bat, cat, but also blood mist or final form which they use to fight.

- Morgana and Morgan have very good hearing and smell, what people do not feel they sense from many meters, and also hear, so it's hard to surprise them ... and they smell blood from several kilometers. Morgana distinguishes many of her friends by smell, as does Morgan.

Older infos:

What does Morgana/Morgan eat?

Morgana mainly feeds on blood, but she can also draw energy from dreams, and also mmm... from carnal pleasures;) Morgana, as she is over 100 years old or even more, can also supplement her diet with human food, but she does not draw energy from it.

What is Morgana's status in Fog?

Morgana is neither a killer nor a survivor, despite the fact that she can enter an already ongoing trial, she follows the rules and does not interfere with either side's , though sometimes she might.

She calls herself a merchant, but looking at how she can act on and shape fog is more than it seems.

She has no soul, so Entity has no control over her.

Morgana?Morgan and the Entity ?

Morgana (like Morgan) is able to defy the Entity, and she was able to use her magic to tear out a large chunk of the fog area for her use to create her graveyard.But she is not as powerful as the Entity, in the event of a face-to-face clash, she may hold her back for a while with her powers, or even fight back, but will rather choose to retreat.

Can she/he defeat the Entity?

Maybe if she turned 2,000 she could try anything.

Is Morgana is an Entity?

No she is not ;D

Will we ever meet Morgana/Morgan as Enitity?  

Maybe>.>

Morgana/Morgan and the survivors:

The survivors are the main customers of Morgana and Morgan, they get various goods for them.

Morgana/Morgan and the killers:

Some use her services, others do not pay for her services in the same way as survivors, through blood or dreams.

Morgana/Morgan and journeys beyond the fog

Thanks to the fog, Morgana can travel through different worlds and their different spacetime, but it requires a lot of energy from her, which makes her drink a lot of blood. In the fog itself, she moves with great ease and always appears wherever she wants to.The fog, however, is not the only place through which she/he moves between worlds.

My headcanon about Fog and my universe ( multiverse):

Fog is a dimension among other dimensions, therefore it has access to all worlds, another such world is the dimension created by me, you can read about it in my post. 

Teleport to City Between Dimensions ( ruins, can be open only by this who are related to Victor, or if you are Morgana/Morgan ;))

#Morgana and Morgan more info #Morgan and Morgana vampires #Vampires of the fog dbd #dbd verse #headcanons #ai generate art

[heldtogetherwithstring]

Merlin Spotify Playlist

I've had a Merlin Spotify Playlist for a while, so I figured I would post some of the songs and their explanations here! There are currently 124 songs, so I won't be doing all of them unless someone requests some more. Hope you enjoy!

I'll Never Forget The Time I Spent With You - The Lathums

A lot comes to mind with this song. Of course, the finale is the most obvious one in terms of the lyrics of this song, but I imagine Merlin feels this a lot. With all the friends he has lost along the way and all the ones he outlived, Merlin likely spends a lot of time lost in the memories he has of those he couldn't save. But there is one line here that reminds me of the theories around The Once and Future King, with Arthur recognising Merlin's eyes and saying a variation of "Do I know you?" every time he meets Merlin or one of his aliases. "I won't forget the time I spent with you. Before we'd even met, I've spent a lifetime with you."

Burn the Witch - Shawn James

This song reminds me a lot of Morgana, for obvious reasons. But it also reflects what some of the magic-users during Uther's reign would have felt as they were tied to the stake. Despite the burning being a horrifically negative thing, there is something profound that must be respected in the way that the artist sings of not giving them the satisfaction of hearing him scream as the fire is lit.

Battlefield - SVRCINA

This song reflects both Merlin and the Knights. Arthur spends a great deal of time in the series fighting in battles and later on planning and leading them. As the Crown Prince and a respected Knight, Arthur has a great deal of pressure on his shoulder, especially with Uther as his father. Like when Arthur half-heartedly expressed the wish to go off and be a farmer leading a simple life, Arthur wants to get rid of the pressure and responsibility sometimes. But since he could never give up Camelot because of his love for the kingdom and its people, he continues on despite the pain. As for Merlin, though he is not a Knight and the majority of the characters would not recognise him as a warrior, spends a lot of time with life and death in his hands, forced to play a godlike role in his responsibility as Emrys.

Iris - The Goo Goo Dolls

This is the second song on my playlist. It's on a lot of my other playlists since my parents listened to it, and the lyrics fit Merlin perfectly. We all love some Merlin angst, and the lyrics of this song can be interpreted many different ways.

And I'd give up forever to touch you 'Cause I know that you feel me somehow You're the closest to heaven that I'll ever be And I don't want to go home right now

This makes me think of Arthur in Avalon, and Merlin's immortality. Arthur is the closest Merlin will ever get to heaven, and I imagine in the present day he longs for the 'horseplay' and causal affection Arthur gave him.

And I don't want the world to see me 'Cause I don't think that they'd understand When everything's made to be broken I just want you to know who I am

The chorus is just so Merlin. He tells Gaius he thinks he is a monster, and he is terrified of his friends finding out he has magic and condemning him for it.

Liar - The Arcadian Wild

I sense there’s trouble ahead. It’s clear by the signs and warnings that should tell where all blame is due. So why are they pointing at my head?

There are a lot of plotlines that involve Merlin being under suspicion for things he didn't do, the most obvious one I can think of being when Gwen in the later seasons accused Merlin of poisoning Arthur. Merlin was arrested and all of his friends, the people he guarded with his life, believed he had tried to kill the one he loved.

‘Cause I’m not in a right state of mind. I just wish I had strength to admit it. My stubbornness will put up a fight, but I don’t deserve to win it. I’m left in the dark pondering my mistakes, but in the light I swear I will deny it all.

Merlin pushes himself to do better all of the time, and especially in the later seasons he tears himself apart mentally, on top of the trauma he has lived through.

#merlin #bbc merlin #arthur pendragon #emrys #camelot #knights of camelot #king arthur #spotify #spotify playlist #music #song analysis

[legends-of-time]

Amelia’s Story (BBC Merlin Story)

Chapter 9: The Poisoned Chalice

Masterlist

Amelia's POV

Today is a very tense day. Well, it has been a tense few weeks as Camelot has been preparing for the arrival of Lord Bayard of Mercia. Camelot has been at war with them on and off and things have been very tense for many years and now Bayard is coming to sign a peace treaty.

In the Throne room Morgana, Gwen, Anne and Amelia are walking behind Arthur and Uther. They all walk very dramatically, with other Courtiers, Knights and servants, towards Bayard and his group, who have just entered and are walking towards them.

They all met in the middle and Uther speaks, "Camelot welcomes you, Lord Bayard of Mercia. The treaty we sign today marks an end to war and a beginning to a new friendship between our people." Uther and Bayard grasp arms.

Amelia glances over all of the new arrivals and notices a maid staring toward where Merlin stands. This causes something to niggle in her brain. She does not look familiar at all but Amelia knows she must be significant. Her notes said that when Bayard arrives, Nimueh poisons Merlin then tries to kill Arthur when he tries to save him but other than that she had not put anything else for this episode. She had clearly put too much faith in her older self and was thinking that nothing really needed to be changed and that she should let it go as it already did.

——

Anne's POV

Merlin passes Gaius and Anne in the Upper Corridor while carrying a heavy bag. "Why do I always get landed with the donkey work?" He huffs dropping the bag.

"You're a servant, Merlin. It's what you do." Gaius says amused at the sight.

"My arms will be a foot longer by the time I get this lot inside," Merlin complains.

"It's character building," Anne says.

"Yes." Gaius agrees. "As the old proverb says, hard work breeds... a harder soul." He is clearly making that up on the spot.

Merlin looks at him knowingly. "There is no way that's a proverb. You just made that up."

"No. I didn't." Gaius says. Anne notices a maid striding determinedly towards them from behind Merlin and Gaius. The maid then falls in front of Merlin. Anne frowns thinking how faked that looked but the other two seem to have not noticed the act.

"Sorry." She mutters demurely.

"It's alright," Merlin says looking quite taken with her. She is very beautiful.

"Excuse me." She says bending to begin gathering her things again.

"Let me give you a hand with that." Merlin crouches down and catches the girl's eye. Anne analyses the scene sensing something is off. They stand up.

"Hi. I'm Merlin." He shakes her hand. Anne can't help but slightly smile at the sight of Merlin being armoured by the girl. He looks quite sweet.

"Cara." She greets. "You're Arthur's servant. That must be such an honour." She continues trying to butter him up.

"Oh, yeah. It is. Well, you know, someone's got to keep the place running." Merlin boasts.

"Thank you, Merlin." She says trying to get him to realise that he is still holding some of her things.

"Hmm?" Merlin says still staring at her clearly very besotted. He then snaps out of it and looks down at the pillow he picked up for her. "Oh, right. Yeah. Er, no problem." He hurriedly says handing it over.

"It was nice meeting you." She says walking away. Merlin continues to watch her leave.

"Shouldn't you be busy running the place?" Gaius asks sarcastically making Merlin realise that Gaius and Anne are still with him. Gaius laughs. Anne joins him trying to cover up the unease she feels.

Merlin gives them a look before picking up what he was carrying before.

——

Amelia's POV

"I feel like I should tell you something," Anne says that night as she is helping Amelia prepare for the feast.

"What is it?" Amelia asks having noticed the slight unease Anne has had on her face but has been waiting for her to say something.

"It is one of the maids that Bayard has brought with him." She reveals. "There is something about her that does not feel right."

"Could it be your magic telling you this?" Amelia asks.

"I suppose if she was using magic, I'm not sure." Anne answers.

"I've noticed a maid staring at Merlin earlier. Are we talking about the same one? The one with that has a blue scarf wrapped around her head?" Amelia questions.

"Maybe. I suggest we keep an eye on her." Anne decides.

"Yes of course," Amelia says thinking about how this woman could possibly be Nimueh. She does not say anything as she will then have to explain how she knows and Anne knows that Amelia has not had a nightmare the last couple of nights so she cannot use that excuse.

——

Later that evening they are all in the hall of ceremonies watching Bayard sign the treaty. Well, Amelia tries to but she can't help but slightly giggle at Merlin in his outfit from her place on Morgana's left. He is standing by Gwen and Anne who are also laughing at him. Amelia then sees Merlin hurriedly take off his feathered hat, Amelia follows his eye-line and sees that he is staring at the mysterious handmaiden. Amelia thinks back to what Anne said about having a funny feeling about her. Is this how Nimueh poisoned Merlin? By slipping into Bayard's entourage?

Uther then finishes signing the treaty and grasping arms with Bayard. Everyone applauds.

"People of Camelot," Bayard begins. Oh great this is the fun bit, the speeches. "...for a great many years we have been mortal enemies, and the blood of our men stains the ground from the walls of Camelot to the gates of Mercia. And though we remember those who have died, we must not allow any more to join them." A serving girl walks in, bringing in a box that reveals goblets inside. Amelia frowns. Drink is quite a good way to poison someone.

"As a symbol of our goodwill, and of our newfound friendship," Bayard continues. "I present these ceremonial goblets to you, Uther, and to your son, Arthur, in the hope that our friendship may last." Amelia is so focused on it that she does not notice the maid approach Merlin and take him out of the room.

"Tonight we toast a new beginning for our peoples. We look towards a future free from the toils of war." Bayard speaks as the two goblets are handed out to Arthur and Uther.

Bayard eventually begins his toast, "And may the differences from our past remain there. To your health, Uther." Everyone stands with drinks in hand.

"Arthur." Amelia can see Arthur nod then start to drink but he is stopped as Bayard continued.

"The Lady Morgana and Amelia." They both nod. Arthur waits this time.

"The people of Camelot." Arthur starts to drink again thinking the toast is finished.

"And to fallen warriors on both sides." Uther then says stopping Arthur again then after Uther has finished everyone starts to drink.

"Stop!" Merlin cries running in. "It's poisoned! Don't drink it!" Merlin runs up to Arthur and takes his goblet. Ah, now she vaguely remembers this. How could she forget this? She's clearly brain dead.

"What?" Uther asks obviously thinking about how a mere servant dared to interrupt.

"Merlin, what are you doing?" Arthur asks him.

"Bayard laced Arthur's goblet with poison." Merlin declares. Gotta admit he has confidence.

"This is an outrage!" Bayard shouts. He and his men draw their swords and so do the Knights of Camelot.

"Order your men to put down their swords." Uther orders as Camelot Guards rush in. "You are outnumbered."

"I will not allow this insult to go unchallenged!" Can't blame him for being angry.

"On what grounds do you base this accusation?" Uther asks Merlin.

"I'll handle this," Arthur says skirting around the table. "Merlin, you idiot. Have we been at the slow gin again?" He grabs Merlin and takes the goblet.

"Unless you want to be strung up, you will tell me why you think why you think it's poisoned now." Uther orders.

"He was seen lacing it." Merlin answers.

"By whom?" Uther asks.

"I can't say." Merlin answers. Amelia, at this moment, looks around for the maid and she sees her peeking round a door in the corner of the room; she is smirking at the scene. Oh god, she is Nimueh. She can't stop this now.

"I won't listen to this anymore." Bayard then says.

"Pass me the goblet," Uther says to Arthur, who hands it to him. "If you're telling the truth..."

"I am." Bayard interrupts.

"Then you have nothing to fear, do you?" Uther continues. Bayard sheathes his sword and reaches for the goblet.

"No. If this does prove to be poisoned, I want the pleasure of killing you myself." Uther says. Bayard snorts. Uther holds the goblet up to Merlin. "He'll drink it."

"But if it is poisoned, he'll die!" Arthur argues.

"Then we'll know he was telling the truth," Uther says not caring. Great detective work Uther.

"And what if he lives?" Bayard questions.

"Then you have my apologies, and you can do with him as you will." Uther answers.

"Uther, please! He's just a boy! He doesn't know what he's saying!" Gaius begs.

"Then you should've schooled him better."

"Merlin, apologise. This is a mistake. I'll drink it." Arthur says reaching for the goblet.

"No, no, no, no, no. It's, it's alright." Merlin says pushing Arthur's hands away and putting the goblet out of his reach.

"Please, Merlin," Amelia begs, trying to walk up to him but a Guard stops her before she makes it fully around the table.

Merlin gives her a small smile before toasting to Bayard and Arthur, then drinks. She sees Nimueh watching with glee. Gwen takes a few steps forward in her anxiety.

"It's fine," Merlin says after taking a sip.

"He's all yours," Uther says. As Guards walk toward him, Merlin begins to choke and falls to the floor unconscious.

"It's poisoned. Guards seize him!" Camelot Guards and Knights rush forward to arrest Bayard and his entourage. Arthur, Anne, Gaius and Gwen crouch over Merlin. Morgana grabs a butter knife and shoves a fork into Amelia's hand. Thank you, Morgana.

"Merlin. Can you hear me? We have to get him back to my Chambers. Bring the goblet. I need to identify the poison." Gaius orders. Arthur picks up Merlin and Gwen grabs the goblet. Amelia quickly rushes after them, fork in hand, before anyone can stop her.

——

Arthur enters Gaius' Chambers carrying Merlin with Gaius, Anne, Gwen and Amelia following.

"Lay him on the bed quickly; he's struggling to breathe. Gwen, fetch me some water and Anne get a towel." Gaius orders.

"Is he going to be alright?" Arthur asks worriedly sitting down by the bed Merlin now lies on as Amelia hovers behind him, the others dart around doing various tasks.

"He's burning up," Gaius says not answering him sitting down on Merlin's other side.

"You can cure him, can't you Gaius?" Gwen asks as Anne hands him a towel.

"I won't know until I can identify the poison," Gaius answers putting the towel on Merlin's forehead. "Pass me the goblet." Gwen hands it to him."Ah. There's something stuck on the inside." He says standing up before walking over to a table nearby. Gwen takes over his task.

"What is it?" Amelia asks following with Arthur behind her. Anne takes the seat Arthur has vacated.

"It looks like a flower petal of some kind," Gaius says taking out of the goblet and holding it up to get a better look.

"His brow's on fire," Gwen calls to them.

"Keep him cool; it'll help control his fever," Gaius instructs her before pulling out a book and flicking through it to find what he is looking for. "Ah. The petal comes from the Mortaeus flower. It says here that someone poisoned by the Mortaeus can only be saved by a potion made from the leaf of the very same flower. It can only be found in the Caves deep beneath the Forest of Balor. The flower grows on the roots of the Mortaeus tree."

"That's not particularly friendly," Arthur says pointing at a beast on the page.

"A Cockatrice," Gaius explains. "It guards the forest. Its venom is potent. A single drop would mean certain death. Few who have crossed the Mountains of Isgaard in search of the Mortaeus flower have made it back alive." Isgaard sounds a bit Viking.

Arthur steps away from the table. Amelia can see he is debating on what to do. "Sounds like fun." He then decides.

"My lord, it's too dangerous." Anne suddenly says.

"If I don't get the antidote, what happens to Merlin?" Arthur asks Gaius. He knows he needs to go.

"The Mortaeus induces a slow and painful death. He may hold out for four, maybe five days, but not for much longer. Eventually, he will die." Gaius answers. Arthur then walks out of the Chambers with Amelia scurrying after him.

——

After telling Arthur that Amelia will go with him no matter what he says, the next person they go to is Uther as Arthur insisted that they need to despite her telling him that Uther will not listen. So there they are, a change of clothes later walking down the Red Ribbon Corridor, trying, and failing, to persuade Uther to give permission for them to go.

"What's the point of having people to taste for you if you're going to get yourself killed anyway?" Uther asks.

"We won't fail, no matter what you think." Arthur insists.

"Arthur, you are my only son and heir and Amelia you are my ward, you are in my care. I can't risk losing the both of you for the sake of some serving boy." Uther says.

"Oh, because his life's worthless?" Amelia asks.

"No, because it's worth less than yours." Uther answers. Wow...

"We can save him. Let me take some men—" Arthur begins.

"No." Uther interrupts.

Arthur continues as if he hadn't, "We'll find the antidote and bring it back—"

"No," Uther says talking over him.

"Why not?!" Arthur finishes shouting.

"Because one day I will be dead and Camelot will need a King. I'm not going to let you jeopardise the future of this Kingdom over some fool's errand." Uther says.

"It's not a fool's errand. Gaius says that if we can get the antidote..." Amelia begins to say.

"Oh, Gaius says? That's exactly what makes it so." Uther says sarcastically. To be honest she is not entirely sure what he means by that.

"Please, Father. He saved my life. I can't stand by and watch him die." Arthur begs.

"Then don't look. This boy won't be the last to die on your behalf. You're going to be King. It's something you'll have to get used to." Uther says. Great parenting Uther.

"I can't accept that," Arthur says.

"Neither can I," Amelia says in agreement.

"You're not going."Uther orders.

"You can't stop me," Arthur says.

"Damn it, Arthur, that's an end to it! You're not leaving this Castle tonight." Uther demands. Amelia opens her mouth and before she can say she is still going, he says, "Neither are you, Amelia." Amelia purses her lips in annoyance.

——

Arthur's POV

In his Chambers, Arthur storms in, tosses his sword onto the table and leans over the fireplace breathing heavily in anger and frustration. Morgana enters.

"Say what you like about the food, but you can't beat our feast for entertainment," Morgana says.

Arthur turns to her. "Morgana, I'm sorry, I should have made sure you were alright."

"Disappointed actually. I was looking forward to clumping a couple around the head with a ladle." She says.

"I'm sure the Guards could have handled Bayard and his men," Arthur tells her.

"Yeah, but why let the boys have all the fun?" Morgana remarks only half joking.

"Morgana, you shouldn't get involved. It's dangerous." Arthur lectures though he knows she won't listen.

Morgana rolls her eyes. "Spare me the lecture, I've already had it from Uther."

"If it's any consolation, you weren't the only one," Arthur mutters in annoyance. "Amelia tell you about him not allowing us to go to save Merlin?"

"Amelia has already told me. I have you know that I do not always listen to Uther's lectures. Sometimes you've got to do what you think is right, and damn the consequences." Morgana says.

"You think I should go?" Arthur states rather than questions.

"It doesn't matter what I think," Morgana responds.

Arthur walks over to Morgana, "If I don't make it back, who will be the next King of Camelot? There's more than just my life at stake." She must realise the risks, maybe his father is right.

"And what kind of King would Camelot want? One that would risk his life to save that of a lowly servant?" Morgana draws Arthur's sword. "Or one who does what his father tells him to?" Morgana presents Arthur with the sword. "Plus Amelia is already getting her horse." She says to add some extra persuasion.

"What?!" Arthur exclaims.

——

Amelia's POV

Amelia is walking out of the Stables with her horse and also her supplies that are already attached to the saddle when she looks up and sees Arthur storming towards her.

"Coming along then?" She asks cheekily.

"I could not leave you to go by yourself." He answers. "Have you forgotten about the Cockatrice?"

"No. Just felt that saving Merlin was more important than cowardice."

Arthur narrows his eyes at her. "Just let me get my horse and we will be on our way."

"Good. We've already wasted enough time."

Before too long, Arthur and Amelia are riding across the Drawbridge.

"Halt!" The Guards exclaim, trying to stop them but they just ride past them out of Camelot.

——

Anne's POV

"He's getting hotter," Anne calls to Gaius who is standing by the window in his Chambers while Anne sits next to Merlin's bed trying to bring the temperature down.

"Him. Liffrea, wuldres wealdend, woroldare forgeaf." Merlin begins to mutter. Anne looks to Gaius, who has just sat next to her, in alarm while Gaius glances over to Gwen.

"What language is that?" Gwen questions from the other side of the bed.

"None. The fever's taken hold. None of those words are his own." Gaius says to cover up Merlin's use of magic. "His pulse is weaker." While holding Merlin's left arm, Gaius finds a large circular rash on Merlin's arm.

Anne sees Gwen take notice. "What is it?" Gwen asks.

Gaius pulls down Merlin's sleeve to fully reveal the rash. "That can't be right. The rash is not supposed to appear until the final stage."

"What does that mean?" Gwen asks. Anne is beginning to frown, an expression she almost always seems to have nowadays.

Gaius stands up, Gwen and Anne following, and walks towards a table to check his book with a magnifying glass. "It says here that "once a rash appears, death will follow within two days."" Anne and Gwen look at him in alarm.

"You said he had four days. Has it been accelerated?" Anne asks thinking of the most obvious way someone can do that.

"Quite. Something's increased the flower's potency." Gaius agrees. "It warns that "the effect of the Mortaeus will be more rapid if an enchantment is used during the flower's preparation."" He reads.

"An enchantment? But Bayard's no sorcerer." Gwen states.

"No, he isn't," Gaius says in deep thought.

"Then who did this?" Gwen questions.

"That girl!" Anne exclaims. Gaius and Gwen look to her in question. "That serving girl from Bayard's group took Merlin outside just before he stormed in."

"She had dark hair. Very beautiful." Gwen murmurs realising who Anne is talking about.

"Find her. Quickly." Gaius instructs. Anne and Gwen dart from the room.

——

No one's POV

Arthur and Amelia ride on their horses through the countryside and through the mountains, soon approach a large forest.

——

Anne's POV

Anne and Gwen enter Gaius' Chambers to see Gaius inspecting Merlin's rash with his magnifying glass while Merlin stirs restlessly. Gaius looks up, "Let me guess, she wasn't there."

"No one has seen her since the banquet. Who is she?" Gwen questions.

"Not who she claims to be." Gaius vaguely answers.

"But you know, don't you?" Anne asks knowingly.

"Cara. Though, that's not her name. Not her real name, anyway." Gaius says.

"Then who is she?" Gwen asks.

"A powerful sorceress." Gaius finally says.

"Well, we should tell Uther. Maybe he could send riders out after her." Gwen says.

Anne shakes her head. "I do not know whether that is wise." She says.

"It does not matter, she'll be long gone. It's impossible to know where, though." He says before realising, "Oh, no."

"What?" Anne asks, wondering what he has just realised.

Gaius stands. "She knows the only place an antidote can be found is the Forest of Balor. Arthur and Amelia could be walking into a trap."

"Arthur. Amelia." Merlin mutters causing the other three people in the room to look at him.

——

Amelia's POV

Once they enter the forest of Balor, both dismount their horses and begin to lead them through the forest.

"Ugh..." Amelia groans. "Never going to get used to horses being my mode of transport."

"Well, the only alternative we had was walking. Can't exactly bring a carriage with us." Arthur says. She doesn't respond as she knows her list of things that would be easier and quicker will not make sense to him.

After walking a while, they come to a clearing where they see the back of a woman sitting on a fallen log crying. Arthur ties his horse to a branch and approaches her as she sits with bruises on her arms. Amelia stands back feeling unsure. Is this Nimueh?

"Hello?" Arthur calls out. "Are you alright?" He asks coming around in front of her. Then a roar happens causing the woman to scream. A Cockatrice comes over the slight hill towards them. Arthur stands up.

"Arthur!" Amelia exclaims in worry, now walking forward so that she is next to the woman.

Now that she is standing next to her, she notices that she does not look like the serving girl at the Castle but now looks more familiar. Amelia is pretty sure this is Nimueh but she cannot be certain as it has been so long since she has seen her face. She knows, due to her notes on the episode, that she would probably be there.

"Stay back," Arthur instructs. The Cockatrice lunges, Arthur rolls under it as it jumps, then throws his sword, killing it. Nimueh grimaces. Arthur looks at her and she gets up and backs away in pretend fear.

"It's alright. I'm not going to hurt you." Arthur says reassuringly. Amelia stops herself from saying anything. "Who did that to you?" Arthur points to her bruises.

"My master. I ran away from him, but then I got lost. Please don't leave me." Now that she knows she is faking, Amelia can see right through her performance. Try a bit more Nimueh.

"I won't. I'm not going to." Arthur says. Though second thought, maybe not as she seems to be fooling Arthur pretty well.

"You can take me away from here?" Nimueh pathetically begs as Arthur begins to walk around her.

"Not yet." Amelia presses. "There's something we have to do first." She gives Arthur a pointed look. Arthur looks at the Cave mouth. What a coincidence that she is right in front of where they need to go.

Nimueh notices, "Why have you come to the Caves?" Arthur walks over to their horses to untie them.

"We are looking for something. It can only be found here." Arthur answers.

"What is it? I know this place; I could help you." Nimueh says trying to sound innocent but is overdoing it. How convenient that she is here to help.

"It's a type of flower that only grows inside the Cave. It's very rare." Arthur tells her. Amelia sort of doesn't want him to tell her but at the same time, he needs to so they can find the flower in the first place.

Arthur walks over to them with the horses and hands Amelia the reigns of hers. "The Mortaeus flower? I know where they are. I'll show you." Nimueh tells them. Arthur looks at Amelia and she reluctantly nods. He then follows Nimueh, who had begun walking away from them. Amelia reluctantly follows. Not long after that, they all enter the Cave with torches in each of their hands.

——

Anne's POV

In Gaius' Chambers, Merlin lies on the bed drenched in sweat. "Arthur, Amelia, it... it's a trap. It's a trap."

"His fever's getting worse, isn't it?" Gwen says from Merlin's left looking at him with concern. Anne nods with a different concern.

"The poison's setting in," Gaius says from the end of the bed.

Merlin begins to chant again, "eft gewunigen wilgesiþas, þonne wig cume."

Anne strokes a wet cloth on his forehead from her seat on Merlin's other side. "Shh." She does not want Gwen to get any more suspicious, especially with the look she has on her face.

"Could you fetch me some more Wolfbane?" Gaius asks Gwen seemingly hoping to distract her.

"Yes, of course." She says snapping out of her suspicious thoughts and leaves the room.

"Merlin, you must fight it," Gaius says to him.

"He will," Anne says stroking Merlin's arm in comfort with her free hand.

——

Amelia's POV

After walking through the Caves, they reach the end of the tunnel to a part of the Cave that opens up to a ledge with a long drop and a narrow ledge on the other side.

"There they are," Nimueh says pointing to the flowers on the wall across the large drop. Amelia does not like how dark it seems down there.

Arthur walks forward and looks down. "Keep back from the edge. Don't worry. We'll be out of here soon. Amelia, you stay with her." She nods. Arthur begins walking across the part of the ledge that juts out across most of the drop.

Amelia then hears Nimueh begin to chant. "Eorthe, lyft, fyr, waeter, hiersumie me." The Cave begins to shake. "Eorthe ac stanas hiersumie me. Ic can stanas tobrytan..." She lunges forward in an attempt to stop her but she just raises her hand and Amelia flies back, but thankfully not down the drop, knocking her out.

Arthur's POV

"What are you doing?!" Arthur cries looking over to Amelia in worry. He can see a cut on her forehead. Thankfully it is her torch that fell down the drop.

"...hiersumie me." Nimueh finishes. Arthur drops his torch as the rock falls out beneath him. He jumps for the opposite ledge and catches it with his hands.

"I expected so much more," Nimueh says.

"Who are you?!" Arthur yells to her trying to keep his grip.

"The last face you'll ever see." Nimueh sates. A giant spider creeps up from the dark depths. "It seems we have a visitor." Arthur edges away from the spider, draws his sword and kills the spider while dangling from the ledge.

"Very good." Nimueh praises. "But he won't be the last. I'll let his friends finish you off, Arthur Pendragon. It's not your destiny to die at my hand. Nor is it the Lady Amelia's. Her past is more complicated than you realise." She leaves with the torch, leaving Arthur dangling from the ledge in the dark with Amelia laying unconscious on the other side of the drop.

"Who are you?!" Arthur yells after her but he gets no answer.

——

Anne's POV

"Arthur. It's too dark. Too dark. Fromum feohgiftum on fæder bearme. Fromum feohgiftum." Merlin chants from his bed.

"Something is glowing," Anne says. Gaius moves to the other side of the bed to see the glowing coming from under the bedsheets.

"Merlin," Gaius says in surprise. He folds the bed sheet and both of them see Merlin holding a glowing ball of light in his hand. "What are you doing?"

"He's helping Arthur." Anne realises. "That's why he has been chanting, he is trying to help him."

"Leave them, Arthur," Merlin says. "Go. Save yourself. Follow the light. Faster. Go faster. Follow the light! Move. Climb."

——

Arthur's POV

Back in the Cave, Arthur is able to find and collect the flower after being guided by the light sent to him. As soon as he collects the flower he climbs the rest of the way out of the Cave through the entrance the light disappears through from the many spiders climbing after him.

——

Amelia's POV

Amelia wakes up not knowing how long she has been out but she realises that the whole Cave has gone completely dark. She slowly gets up staggering slightly as she feels dizzy and her vision blurs. Amelia looks around as if she can see where Arthur is in this darkness when she suddenly hears the sound of scuttling not far from her. She then realises that it sounds like a large insect, probably spiders, and, despite her head hurting, she immediately runs through the Cave to what she hopes is the entrance.

While running she keeps on stumbling into the walls of the Cave before she eventually finds light and staggers out to find the horses where she and Arthur had left them. "Thank god I found you two," Amelia says falling onto her horse's side.

Amelia must have closed her eyes because she is suddenly startled by Arthur yelling her name. "Amelia!" He yells walking up to her. "Thank god you made it out! I was going back in to save you!"

"Amelia?" He asks when she does not look at him. "Your head looks worse!"

"I feel a bit dizzy Arthur." She says before falling and everything going black. The last thing she hears is Arthur yelling.

——

Arthur's POV

Arthur rides back to Camelot with Amelia balanced on his lap with her horse attached to the saddle on the horse he rides. He keeps looking at her in concern. He had treated the wound on her head the best he could till he gets her to Gaius.

Arthur rides up to the Drawbridge gate, however, Guards block his way. "What are you doing? Let me pass." He says.

"I'm sorry, Sire. You're under arrest, by order of the King." Says a Guard called Patrick.

Arthur sighs resigned, "Fine, but at least take the Lady Amelia to the Physician."

"Of course Sire." Says Patrick nodding to one of the other Guards to take her from Arthur.

——

Anne's POV

In Gaius' Chambers, Anne sits next to Amelia who has been placed on another bed in the room. Anne has been treating her while Gaius focuses on Merlin.

At that moment, Gwen walks in. "He hasn't got much longer. Has Arthur got the flower?" Gaius asks.

"I don't know. Uther won't allow anyone to see him." Gwen says. "Is there nothing we can do to help?"

"Only the leaf of the Mortaeus flower can save him," Gaius tells her.

"And we have to find out if Arthur has it. I could sneak into the Dungeon." Gwen says. Anne barely looks at them while they talk, her entire focus is on Amelia. She is concerned as the woman on the other bed in the Chambers has not woken up.

"That would be very dangerous."

"I've got to. Merlin will die if I don't." Gwen says determinedly. Merlin makes a noise showing that he is struggling to breathe.

"Be careful," Gaius says, knowing they have no other option. Gwen then leaves the room.

Suddenly Morgana bursts in. "Amelia!" She cries when she sees the woman she sees as a sister lying on one of the beds. She rushes over to her, cradling her head in concern.

"She will be alright my lady," Anne reassures her.

——

Amelia's POV

Amelia feels very groggy as she wakes up and when she tries opening her eyes, it is too bright and she has to immediately close her eyes with a groan.

"Amelia?" A voice asks. Is that Morgana? Where is she? The last thing she remembers is Arthur finding her in the forest.

She attempts to open her eyes again, finding it easier this time. She looks around and notices that other than Morgana, Anne is also looking at her. "Hi?" She says, feeling awkward under their stares.

"Oh thank god!" Morgana cried lunging at Amelia, giving her a very tight hug.

"I still need to breathe, Morgana." Amelia rasps.

"Oh sorry." She immediately says. She leans back and strokes Amelia's long brown hair out of her face.

"Am I back in Camelot?" Amelia asks. Recognising the room as Gaius' Chambers.

"You are. Arthur brought you back. Gwen is finding out if he has the Mortaeus flower." Anne says.

"Why hasn't he brought it?" Amelia asks confused. Her mind felt a bit foggy.

"Uther arrested him," Morgana says with a roll of her eyes. Amelia tries to remember why they were getting the flower in the first place but it hurts her head.

"Oh right." She says. "Why were we getting it again?" Anne and Morgana look at each other with worry, but before they can answer her, Amelia hears the sound of someone struggling to breathe. She looks over and sees that it is Merlin who had made the noise; he looks close to death. "Oh." She vaguely recalls Merlin poisoning himself now. She is beginning to get a bit worried now. How had she forgotten that?

——

Anne's POV

Later on, Gwen comes rushing in holding the flower. By this point Morgana has Amelia moved to her own Chambers so she can continue to rest there.

"How is he?" Gwen asks.

"Have you got the Mortaeus?" Gaius asks.

"Here." Gwen hands it to him.

"His breathing's much worse. We have to hurry." Anne says. Gwen sits down next to Merlin's sickbed as Gaius begins crushing the flower leaf. He suddenly stops after a few seconds.

"Why have you stopped?" Gwen asks having noticed his actions.

"The poison was created using magic. We may need magic to make an antidote." His eyes flicker to Anne's, who is looking at him with worry.

"But we can't. It's forbidden. Even if we could." Gwen reminds him. Not that he really needed it.

"I'll try and make it work without it. Oh, I need some fresh water." Gaius says to get her to leave the room. He hands her a bowl and she runs off. Gaius lifts the bowl he's holding.

"Sythan..." Gaius stops and looks around, nervous to be practising magic again.

"Maybe I should do it," Anne says walking over to him. Gaius hands it to her and tells her what she needs to say. "Sythan arrest wearth feasceaft funden. Denum æfter dome. Dreamleas gebad he gewinnes longsum." Anne chants. The potion sizzles and foams for a moment. Gwen runs back in and hands him the bowl of water before rushing back to Merlin's side.

"Thank you," Gaius says to her. Gaius pours the potion into a small cup and goes to Merlin. "Hold his nose." Gwen pinches Merlin's nose as Gaius pours the potion into Merlin's mouth. "Swallow, Merlin. Swallow it."

After a moment, Merlin goes still. "He's stopped breathing. What's happening? Gaius?" Gwen asks.

Gaius puts his head to Merlin's chest. "His heart has stopped."

"He's dead?" Anne asks eyes beginning to water.

"He can't be. He can't be. It was his destiny." Gaius says, standing up.

"It's my fault. If I'd have got here sooner. If I'd have been quicker." Gwen gets up and cries in Gaius' arms with Anne joining them.

"No, no. It was me. I should've looked after him better. It's my fault." Gaius says.

Suddenly a voice they thought they would never hear again. "That's disgusting. You should be ashamed of yourself. You're old enough to be their grandfather."

They all break away from each other to see Merlin trying to sit up. "Merlin. You're alive." Gaius cries with happiness.

"No. I'm the ghost come back to haunt you." Merlin remarks. Gwen suddenly grabs Merlin's face and kisses him with relief. Anne's eyebrows shoot up in surprise; Anne knows Gwen has a slight crush on Merlin but she thought that Gwen would never have the confidence to outright kiss him.

"Sorry, I'm just... I thought you were dead." Gwen stammers.

"It's fine. It's more than fine. ...erm ...what happened? The last thing I remember is drinking the wine." Merlin asks confused, looking at the three people next to him.

"Well... I'm not sure where to begin." Anne says with a small smile causing them to chuckle.

——

Amelia's POV

Amelia is laying in her bed due to the fact she has been ordered to stay there to recover her health. She wants to see Merlin but Gaius and Anne reassure her that he is fine and alive. Everyone is already concerned about her because a few bits of her memory from the years she's been here are missing. While it is not a massive worry as they will probably come back but she is even concerned with the fact that when she tries to remember what happens next in the show, she finds she remembers even less than she did before. Even main plot points are slipping her mind now.

Amelia obviously has not told anyone about this but she is very worried as she had hoped to change certain bits for the better. Now she might not be able to due to the fact that the notes she had made are vague at best.

——

A/N: So that happened. 

Please leave comments on how you're enjoying this story and what you think.

#bbc merlin #merlin

[sneakyboymerlin]

The Blame Game

One thing I’ve learned from being involved in fandom is that people will blame anyone except for the person who actually did the thing. Same with the characters, too, so maybe it’s a broader social issue. Let’s look at some examples:

1.) The Ban on Magic

Reaction: Magic users aren’t free under Arthur’s rule? Well, if Merlin—a magic user— had just told Arthur that he has magic, then this wouldn’t happen!

Reality: This idea shifts the blame onto the victim, makes another person wholly responsible for the will of another, and puts responsibility onto a victim for monitoring Arthur’s morality and ability to function as an adult in a position of power over him. It also asks a victim to further endanger himself to preserve his oppressor’s reputation/morality by serving as anecdotal evidence which already exists, and ignores/minimizes the threat Arthur poses. Murder and such crimes were already illegal, which removes the need for a law banning crimes through magic. Persecuting people for having magic is unnecessary and discriminatory, as it is assumed that crimes will be committed because magic is an impure or corruptive force, despite the overwhelming evidence suggesting otherwise. The only difference that banning magic itself made was that people could be executed for performing innocent, daily activities, too. Magic users are not at fault for Arthur’s biases.

Responsibility: Magic users aren’t free under Arthur’s rule? Well, if Arthur—the man who makes them not free—were to reverse this law, then this wouldn’t happen!

2.) Who Imprisoned Who?

Reaction: Merlin healed Gwen’s father, and therefore it’s his fault that Gwen was imprisoned by Uther!

Reality: Uther believed Gwen used magic and persecuted her for it, despite the fact that it was healing magic and that he had no proof she had done it or caused the plague in Camelot. Uther had the means to figure this out, as Arthur put an argument in her defense that the magic she presumably used could not have come from the same person. He chose to lean into his bias and condemn her, as he would rather his people suffer than turn to magic. Had Merlin been in charge, Gwen would have been declared innocent, but Uther was not the same.

Responsibility: Uther persecuted innocent magic use, and therefore it’s Uther’s own fault he imprisoned Gwen!

3.) The Poison Problem

Reaction: Merlin betrayed Morgana! That’s why she’s evil!

Reality: Morgana is her own person who can make her own choices. A personal vendetta does not translate to her killing civilians. She looked at the pros and the cons and decided that the goal was worth the price other people paid. She knew by her return in 3x01 that Merlin only poisoned her to save Camelot from the curse Morgause put on it, but teamed up with Morgause despite this. Wanting revenge on one person isn’t an excuse to take it out on an entire kingdom of people who are also suffering under Uther’s rule—the poor, namely.

Responsibility: Morgana made evil choices! That’s why she’s evil!

4) The Great Dragon

Reaction: Merlin released the dragon, so he’s the one responsible for all the fallout!

Reality: The dragon is a creature of human intelligence who can make his own decisions. He does not mindlessly kill as a part of his nature. He killed to get revenge on Uther for wrongfully imprisoning him over the course of 20 years. He also gave Merlin an ultimatum so that Merlin would be unable to save Camelot without releasing him. Once again, wanting revenge on one person isn’t an excuse to take it out on an entire kingdom of people who are also suffering under Uther’s rule. Once he was out, he had free reign to do as he pleased, regardless of Merlin’s desires for him to act harmlessly.

Responsibility: The dragon chose to use his freedom and autonomy—which people who had it could choose to use responsibly—to cause destruction, so he’s the one responsible for the fallout!

5.) The Most Controversial One

Reaction: Merlin is the cause of Arthur’s death because his actions caused Mordred to seek revenge!

Reality: Regardless of Merlin’s role in Mordred’s grief, Mordred still made his own decisions in how to handle it. He knew that Morgana was corrupt, considering the fact that she had him kidnapping people as slaves in 5x01/02, but he rejoined her anyway. Grieving a wrongly executed love does not mean you must team up with someone like Morgana. Attempting to kill Arthur is understandable to prevent it from happening again and to carry out Kara’s unfinished work, but this is a defense against Arthur’s laws, not Merlin’s complicity. Arthur is the one who executed Kara, even if Merlin helped put her at his mercy (just like the other knights did, yet Mordred didn’t seek out personal vengeance with them). Mordred’s revenge was on Arthur first and foremost because he is the one who killed her.

Responsibility: Mordred is the cause of Arthur’s death because he wanted to avenge Kara and other people who suffered at his hands.

6.) Surprise Positivity

Reaction: Arthur became the king people believed he would become because of Merlin’s magic reveal and Gwen’s moral compass!

Reality: While Merlin and Gwen were the utmost positive influence to Arthur’s thinking, they were only able to influence him so because Arthur was willing to listen to them and because he agreed with their ethics. This is why Merlin and Gwen couldn’t hope to change Uther’s ways, but believed in Arthur: because Arthur approached decisions differently than his father before him. This is why Arthur alone is responsible both for his biases and overcoming them. Nobody but himself could instate that change.

Responsibility: Arthur changed for the better because he chose to open his mind despite his previous biases.

I could list a thousand more examples of this phenomenon in fandom, but the point is that whether an action is justified or not, whether the person has a reason to make a choice, that action belongs to the right or wrong-doer alone.

#bbc merlin #merlin emrys #arthur pendragon #uther pendragon #queen guinevere #morgana pendragon #kilgharrah #sir mordred #kara #mine #tw slavery mention

[tiodolma]

For the lyrics thing, there's this old song alone again naturally. and there's this verse :

But as if to knock me down Reality came around And without so much as a mere touch Cut me into little pieces

Leaving me to doubt Talk about, God in His mercy Oh, if he really does exist Why did he desert me In my hour of need I truly am indeed Alone again, naturally

It seems to me that There are more hearts broken in the world That can't be mended Left unattended What do we do What do we do

Alone again, naturally

and it just reminds me of Morgana

this gives me a lot of mixed feelings

on one hand everyone around morgana tried to not make her feel so alone like the way royals can: balls, parties, court, maids, cultural activities, letting her commit altruistic endeavors and be the voice of justice for the oppressed;

on the other hand, her dreams and visions cut her off from most of these people, her fellow nobility thought of her as weak, sickly, a little mad, embarrassing at times, servants deferred to her and kept their distance;

she was often drugged and kept in the dark, made to believe that her visions were just her imagination. she's like a bird in a gilded cage, like a she-wolf in the closet.

in that sense she was a lot lonelier compared to every other nobility;

and when she found her people, they were slaughtered mercilessly by her own family causing her to resent them even more;

when she continued desperately seek her people out, they manipulated her, used her, fed into her anger, lied to her, poisoned her, driving her further and further away from the life she had known, turning her to the path of a battle hardened destabilizer and usurper;

She then surrounded herself with other radicals, made allies, established goons. she captured pendragon-loyalists and tried to break down their morale to get her to join her. Established a network of connections loyal to her cause.

Answered cruelty with even greater cruelty.

By all means she had more people than any other political leader in their story.

And yet Morgana was still the entity at the top of the pyramid, The last high priestess, she had been told repeatedly, the lone true champion of their cause.

It was still essentially a very lonely world (being the savior of all.) It's an egotistical mindset (and she wasn't the only one with this.)

And then she paid for her sins multiple times. She found herself in the forest alone and half dead. She was captured, imprisoned and tortured in what was basically tomb with a creature that can't even talk. Two years she was left to her nightmares, her visions, her madness, the very things that kept others away from her since she was born.

And at the end of it all, after she committed her final act of revenge, she was slaughtered and left to rot in the elements by the very person she once believed in the most.

Talk about, God in His mercy Oh, if he really does exist Why did he desert me In my hour of need I truly am indeed Alone again, naturally

It's funny... the main characters who didn't want to be alone the most ended up as the most alone.

#bbc morgana #song: alone again (naturally) #artist: gilbert o sullivan #its an extremist vs extremist game #failure of negotiations #slight mergana tbh #theyre both awful