#old religion | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

farieshades · 2 years

Note

You know what time it is.

What would you change about Merlin?

There is alot that could be further expanded on and/or changed within the series BBC Merlin shows. What I think would be most beneficial, would be expanding on the Characters, Changes to the plot and character arcs, along with an addition to what we know as "Old Religion" as it's quite vague and unclear from the little we have from the show.

The Characters

Leon, angel, nothing.

Percival, give me backstory. I want more info.

Elyan, also backstory. Why did he leave? I want all the info. I also want you not dead sir.

Morgause, what was the point in the duel? Was it to try and convince Arthur that his father was a bastard with his mothers spirit? If so, was Ygraine’s spirit actually just an illusion made to look real, likely not. Morgause looked confused at what Ygraine was saying and shocked and no one was paying attention to her but the camera. She wanted to see if he was an honourable man unlike his father? Do-able I suppose. Suspicious activities happening here. Also, self-sacrifice to unleash mortal-killing spirits is very manslaughter of her.

Elaine, for the love,,, please I would have loved to have her included as Elaine of Garlot. Let her be another half-sister of Arthur and later go on to be a marriage alliance with her marriage to King Nentres of Garlot. Let her have a son named Galeschin, who becomes a Knight of the Round Table [and a daughter also named Elaine]. It would just be a nice dynamic of Angry Half-Sister Morgana and Helpful Half-Sister Elaine.

Gwen… She required more screen time, let us see her being Queen and making decisions. On that note however, let us see Arthur as King rather than the focus on his childhood when he wasn’t King. It’s the Story of King Arthur and we only get one season with him as King? Let me have Queen Gwen outwitting Kings in strategy that she learned from Leon and Arthur. Let me have Queen Gwen who is powerful in her own right, set in her decisions, but never loosing the gentleness she has in season 1.

Arthur, as above, should have had time to actually rule. Like, ok, reign cut short cause Camlann. Yeah, alright, thats typical. But all the adventures he has as a King never happen. There’s nothing being added to Camelot that the audience sees. There’s no treaties, no alliances, and there’s no Kings bowing to Arthur as a High King. Disappointing.

Merlin, somehow despite the set up as the most powerful Warlock, is also the weakest version of Merlin that we also see. I’m pretty sure Disney’s Sword in the Stone Merlin has more power than this fellow despite BBC Merlin having more power in his pinky than the Disney Merlin. Merlin is supposed to be the enchanter. The prophet. The shapeshifter. And we get none of that. This boy is dangerous, and untrained, and should have had more emphasis on this. The writers nuked his power.

Lancelot is doing great, we love lancelot. I’d love to have him a bit more intune with Magic because he was supposedly raised by the lady of the lake, but BBC decided he wasn’t and that’s an okay decision. I’d also like, because the show stressed it so much, more interactions with Merlin + Druids.

Gwaine I’d have loved to have been confronted by his noble past somehow. I think it would give more to the character development if we see where he came from. Hell, a flashback scene would work. Little Gwaine running away from home. Or maybe, visitations to Camelot and the like.

Gaius, as much as I hate to say, should have died season 2-3. Before Uther did in my head. Its the change of a regime. The old dying out and the younger generation taking their place. Gaius and Merlin basically share the role that is, in lore, “Merlin”, the old wise mentor for Arthur and the helpful aide that protects him. But, in killing him off, there is a chance for Merlin to blossom as a court Physician. He’d have a seat on the council, and while this would restrict his movements as Manservant, he could easily take on an apprentice (you know a young impressionable boy who needs some Guidance deagle) and follow Arthur on his quests while the apprentice would tend to the folk of Camelot. There, theoretically, should be another (or more) physician within Camelot. One for the nobility, and a handful for peasantry and then a couple of Midwives. From what the show gives us, it feels like Gaius is the sole physician in the bloody kingdom. Which… if healing looks like magic, might be the case horrifically.

Morgana’s story is tragic, but flat. I do love the Evil Morgana route that is taken, but there is a disconnect between Season 1-2 and 3+ in her behaviour. She is strikingly darker, more unhinged as the series progresses. Whether this is bad writing, paranoia, or enchantments, no idea, but it could be written better. Given more time for the change to become apparent for the audience then “Morgana’s back from a year away and now she smirks evily when no one but Merlin can see.”

Mordred has an interesting dynamic in the show, he vanishes out of existence after the Alvarr episode until season 5. I’d have liked to have him as a recurring character even if it's just a mentioned name somewhere.

Uther’s character is weird because he very quickly blames everything on Magic, even when it has a very logical explanation. “Sorcerers broke into my wards room, that’s why the glass shattered outwards into the courtyard.” is very easily explained by literally anyone breaking a glass window outwardly, no magic needed. But again, changes could be done with how quickly things are forgotten. One episode he’s talking about a guardian power watching Arthur, the next he’s trying to kill someone for protecting their loved one with healing magic, you know?

Ygraine - from the little we’ve seen - is an alright character. She could have more life given in flashbacks, something Gaius, Geoffrey, Balinor, or Uther could have done that related to something present.

For Vivienne I’d love to know more about Morgause’s birth and how she smuggled her out to Nimueh (or another high priestess but theres only ever reference to Nimueh, then theoretically Morgause who taught Morgana who was the last). Personally I like the thought that they were siblings, as it can be seen that Morgause is a powerful sorcerer and with two children with such magic, Vivienne is a strong contender for also being magic.

Gorlois is the most boring character and I know nothing about him outside of him living, presumably, in Cornwall. Tell me more about yourself sir. I want all the knowledge.

Balinor I’d love to see more of then “Hey, hello, I’m your son and need help and oops your dead ffs.” He had the potential to be a strong ally and a mentor to Merlin, a possible foil to Gaius and, hells, a mentor to Arthur in teaching him that magic isn’t all evil as Merlin’s obviously not doing that job.

Hunith should have more screen time, but more so, I’d love to see Merlin’s childhood stuff with Hunith just shrugging her shoulders at the impossible magic acts like “yep thats totally normal.”

The Plot of Merlin itself is fine, not much would need to change, however, there were a few times when things just don’t make sense. For example, the cup of life nonsense (alright Holy Grail knock off) didn’t make much sense for the plot. We would have been fine without it. Aithusa’s plotline works only when following the prophecies about the Red and White dragon fight that… didn’t actually happen anyway.

[Which the prophecy in question is related to Vortigern and stated “The pool is the emblem of this world, and the tent that of your kingdom: the two serpents are two dragons; the red serpent is your dragon, but the white serpent is the dragon of the people who occupy several provinces and districts of Britain, even almost from sea to sea: at length, however, our people shall rise and drive away the Saxon race from beyond the sea, whence they originally came; but do you depart from this place, where you are not permitted to erect a citadel; I, to whom fate has allotted this mansion, shall remain here; whilst to you it is incumbent to seek other provinces, where you may build a fortress.” Which really,,, doesn’t fit the show’s battle of Camlann when Aithusa was there as the white dragon]

The Reversal of character arcs that happen is very annoying. Each episode acted like everyone was a blank slate to learn the next lesson but built on it with nothing that they remembered from the previous. If it were changed to the characters actually remembering what they learned before, the series might have had less deaths and less trust issues and betrayals.

Religion in Merlin is really confusing. Theoretically, Uther is a Christian King following the “New Religion” (that is never actually mentioned) while the “Old Religion” is that of what was before. Which, in the UK at the theoretical time, was both Celtic and Roman due to Roman occupation of most of the area barring most of scotland. The show wasn’t about Religion, really, but touching on the subject would have been nice, and maybe telling us as an audience why. ‘Lore’ wise Arthur would have likely been a Christian King (written by christian authors undoubtedly do not help this) but with tolerance to Pagan/Heathen ideas. At the very least, Arthur was nominally Christian – according to the Historia Brittonum he bore an image of the Blessed Virgin Mary on his shoulders in one of his battles, while according to the Annales Cambriae he bore the Cross of Jesus Christ on his shoulders or his shield (translation errors from Welsh to Latin).

#the adventures of merlin #merlin emrys #bbc merlin #old religion #king arthur #knights of the round table #arthur pendragon #analysis

10 notes · View notes