#you know how much it hurt to apply this theory to Leon's treatment of merlin when I hc them as having a brotherly relationship?answer: a lo

[botanicallyinclinednerd]

In my quest to examine the canon s4 dynamic between Leon and Gwaine (they interact so very little) I found that the scene in which they interact the most is from Lamia. Specifically the scene where they try to kill each other. Now, if you operate under the assumption that Lamia's influence causes the Knights to say and do things they never even would have thought under their own will (as much of the fandom and fanfic writers seem to do), then this scene isn’t significant to their dynamic. But, (and please bear with me, just hear me out) what if their actions, their words, do come from deep within them? Deeply buried resentment, long ignored beliefs and grudges being brought back to light, brought back to the surface and amplified by 100. It certainly would explain a lot. The behavior had to come from somewhere, it makes sense that the lamia would dredge up long past intrusive thoughts, ingrained prejudices and biases, grudges, buried instincts, and resentment in her victims and make it volatile enough for them to act on that influx of negative feelings while feeling only adoration towards her in order to keep herself safe and her (for lack of a better term) prey vulnerable to her attack. It’s not how they think now, but it was at some point or another.

I think that this is a logical explanation for the knight’s behavior in the episode. The whole reason I was watching through scenes with Gwaine and Leon in season 4 in the first place was because I wanted to see if there was any canon evidence for my headcanon that Gwaine was hostile towards Leon in the beginning due to Leon’s noble status and Gwaine’s hatred for nobility which caused their relationship to be rocky in the beginning. Lamia was the only episode I clearly saw evidence of this, but if my theory about the why of the knight’s actions is correct, then its all the evidence I need. If Gwaine originally hated Leon because of his nobility, then that would be brought to the surface. And indeed it looks like it was as it was Gwaine that antagonized Leon and initiated  the fight between them. From Gwaine (the episode) we know that one of the things Gwaine hates about nobles is their belittlement and mistreatment of servants. Well, shortly before the scene where Leon and Gwaine fight, Leon yells at Merlin and dismisses him by yelling at him “you’re nothing but a servant!” and if you watch Gwaine in the back ground, his face is twitching and he looks pissed at Leon. So not only is Gwaine’s hatred for nobles brought into play, but specifically his dislike for Leon because of his nobility (which he just displayed towards Gwaine’s best friend). This is further backed up by Gwaine saying to Leon right before the fight “Why don’t you watch your damn tounge” which doesn’t really connect as a response to “Why don’t you watch where you’re going” but it does connect to Leon berating Merlin earlier. And then of course they try to kill each other, which is why I think they didn’t always got along, because while Gwaine had reason to be pissed at Leon, Leon didn’t have reason to be as pissed at Gwaine as he was unless there was past conflict and disrespect between them.

Now the part of this I was dreading: explaining the knight’s behavior towards Merlin (and Gwen, but mostly Merlin). I’ll start with Percival. From his actions in the episode, I don’t believe Percival’s aggression towards Merlin has anything to do with the fact it’s specifically Merlin. We know Percival lost his family and while we don’t know if this entailed parents and siblings or wife and children, it would be reasonable to conclude that he was protective of his family. That is what Lamia is manipulating, making Percival feel protective of her the way he would a family member and causing him to treat anyone who causes her fear or discomfort like a foe. If she had acted afraid of one of the other knights, I believe Percival would have treated them the way he treated Merlin in the episode. 

I don’t have a whole lot to say on Elyan because he was unconscious for most of the lamia business, but he was dismissive of Gwen so maybe Lamia used a past sibling grudge or sexism to cause him to be short with her and dismiss her opinions. It might be a reach though.

Now Gwaine: I stand by what I said earlier that he fought Leon in part because of his treatment of Merlin. But we must remember that Gwaine was raised as a noble, so that view may have been a result of him realizing that what he was taught as a child about class treatment was not fair or right. But that still stands that it was a view he once had, allowing the Lamia to make him act on it. I fully believe that the end result we see is why Gwaine hated nobles so much, and why he hid his nobility and would not act on it. Because he didn't actually seem overly aggressive or violent towards Merlin until Merlin told him not to do something and grabbed Gwaine's arm. A sign of friendship, of familiarity. This could come from the servant thing, it could also come from a place of "fuck authority" since Gwaine doesnt like that Merlin told him what to do. I just know my heart breaks at Merlin's flinch and expression.

Finally Leon. He was by far the most aggressive towards Merlin, both verbally and physically. I believe that the lamia was dredging up Leon’s past prejudices and biases, as well as potentially previous thoughts and beliefs. I want to stress that these are past feelings brought forth and amplified by the Lamia. I’ll start with the very painful “you’re nothing more than a servant!” Well. Leon is a noble, a knight, and he was raised in Camelot which is very classist. This could very well have been Leon’s upbringing talking, or just as likely, this could have been part of Leon’s opinion of Merlin back when he first became Arthur’s servant and was very snarky and bold (like he is in this scene that sparks this remark): that he should not be so bold to talk to those above him like that because of his status as a servant. Much of his behavior towards Merlin and Gwen can be attributed to this, as Leon got mad that he was being contradicted and questioned by servants which was not the status quo in Uther’s Camelot. I’m not going to go in depth on it because I hate it, but Leon attacking Merlin is coming from the same place of Servants should stay in their place and if they don’t they deserve to be punished. I think his anger and short fuse also speak to how his patience and level head is a result of effort and is not his default.

#back on my lamia bullshit #character analysis #episode analysis #merlin #bbc merlin #theory #you know how much it hurt to apply this theory to Leon's treatment of merlin when I hc them as having a brotherly relationship?answer: a lo #for an episode that causes me a lot of emotional diress i sure do talk about it alot #and because i talk about it i have to rewatch clips of it so im accurate #liv talks merlin #sir leon #sir gwaine #sir elyan #sir percival #bbc guinevere #guinevere pendragon #long post #sorry #i started analyzing and couldnt stop #i rewatched all these scenes several times to get the details right and they HURT ME #i new to stop thinking about this episode only then will i find peace #the knights of the round table #lamia #im not even sure if all of this makes sense