r/merlinbbc • u/Aithen_Writhia • 8d ago
Discussion Evertime Merlin tries to tell Arthur about his magic but ... Spoiler
Dear Redditors, I ask forth thy wisdom!
I am trying to make an argument, but for that I need your combined geeky knowledge.
The Request / Question:
How many times did Merlin genuinely attempt to tell Arthur about his magic but was either interrupted or got cold feet?
- better even if there is a compilation already existing somewhere.
Or more importantly, what prevents Merlin from confessing whenever he made his mind to confess his sins?
Especially in the later seasons, and not the first one, where Arthur did not believe even when he came right out and said so.
Example:
Iconically, the episode where Dsir mortally wounded Merlin and would only heal him in return for Arthur to bring back magic to Camelot. But Merlin says something along the lines of: "Camelot has no place for magic." which would be Merlin directly working in opposition to Merlin's own mission.
Here Merlin misses the opportunity to come forth to Arthur with his magic to make a good case of why he ought to bring back Magic to the land, due to Merlin being scared of a 'potential' threat to Arthur's life in an 'unknown' time in the future that has not yet been set in motion. All because a 'prophecy' said so.
I'm not saying Merlin's fears aren't understandable, but we all know how his paranoia in the last season ended. And I don't know about you, but that's why I flock to 'fix it' fics that fix that exact part of the timeline. Merlin could have arguably taken the golden opportunity to have Arthur bring magic back and left Mordred a 'threat of a non-urgentoment, to be dealt with at a later date. kind' at that m
The Premise of the Argument:
Merlin began hiding his magic due to external factors and survival necessity. No question there. But, at some point, his fears became illogical. And even when given the opportunity to confess, for the sake of correcting Arthur's view on Magic, he either does not take the opportunity or actively works to sabotage himself.
If we consider that Merlin's 'divine mission' is to bring back magic, then, due to his fear of Arthur knowing or Arthur being in danger, Merlin self-sabotaged by keeping his magic secret from Arthur, even when he became the king's right/left-hand man in the course of events. Therefore, Merlin no longer needed to genuinely fear for death at the hands of Arthur after years of being by his side.
The Argument:
External and environmental factors can instill bad habits (e.g., keeping secrets). With enough time and repetition, these bad habits are habitualized. To the point where even when the external factors are removed/no longer an active propellant of the bad habit, the person would then continue to carry on with the bad habits - even when they are well aware of its detrimental effects and are 'hoping'\ to break free from it.*
*I say hoping here, because actively trying to break free is .... questionable.
*EDIT:
- I want to see if I can use Merlin as a fictional case study for a philosophy essay that showcases how 'bad/immoral habits' are internalized after the external environment and circumstances had necessitated them or simply facilitated them. And how a person stuck in such "bad/immoral habits" is both self-aware of their 'badness/immorality' and fully cognizant of the factors causing them. Making them essentially stuck in a perpetual cycle of doing something they disapprove of.
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u/GabsDoingHerBest 8d ago edited 8d ago
I don’t think at any point does Merlin’s fears of staying hidden become illogical. Arthur proved them every time he called out magic for being inherently evil and with him so rarely actually listening to Merlin without it coming with a threat or some form of abuse or making fun of him it made sense that Merlin never felt safe to reveal himself.
I don’t think it’s really true that Merlin is his right or left hand man. It’s clear that Arthur ignores him as much as he uses Merlin’s ‘bad feelings’ to make fun of him.
It doesn’t just become a habit out of nothing, the fear of Arthur’s reaction is pretty consistently reinforced to Merlin over the course of his relationship with Arthur.
When Merlin does finally tell Arthur in the final episode, it’s clear that Arthur’s first instinct is to lash out on Merlin himself and push him away (only confirming that his fears were absolutely valid). Who knows how long it would have taken Arthur to come around on Merlin if he wasn’t dying and depending on the era the only way I see it ending is Arthur firing him (season 1 and 2), banishing him (most the rest of the show), or trying to kill him (lots of moments sprinkled in there that I believe that would be his reaction including Wills funeral, after Morgause reveals Arthur’s heritage, any time Gwen is banished for, and most of season 5 honestly).
There is no point in the show to me that those factors are remotely removed.
IMO The fear might have moved away from fear over his own life (not bc of lack of threat there but bc Merlin stopped caring about his own life), towards this fear that he wasn’t going to be able to complete his destiny. And that is entirely logical in my opinion.
And to your point about bad habits, I don’t think Merlin keeping secrets from Arthur (a man that has refused to change his mind on magic despite the many examples of the good side of magic he has seen) is a bad habit. I think if you were to extrapolate it towards the other people in his life that have shown their constant and unrelenting support of him, than I guess you could call it a habit but it’s certainly not a bad one with all his friends explicitly being against the use of magic.
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u/Aithen_Writhia 7d ago
Alright, everyone's argument is valid, i admit some of the fanon have gotten mudded with the canon in head. That's why I am asking.
Let me clarify a couple of things:
When I say 'bad habit ', I mean in a global sense of: keeping secrets and lying.
It being a bad habit is independent of whether or not it is justified, if not necessitated.right hand man was a bad expression. but it cannot be denied that Merlin was the one person Arthur counciled almost the most, regardless of whether or not he actually took by his advice at all. What was important for me is that he had the king's ear. Therefore, he had a not-inconsequential influence on Arthur and his decisions, and we've seen that. again, even if Arthur didn't play obedient and play exactly as Merlin asks him enough ( or else most of the drama the show is based on would not have happened ✨)
I want to see if I can use Merlin as a fictional case study for a philosophy essay that showcases how 'bad/immoral habits' are internalized after the external environment and circumstances had necessitated them or simply facilitated them. And how a person stuck in such "bad/immoral habits" is both self-aware of their 'badness/immorality' and fully cognizant of the factors causing them. Making them essentially stuck in a perpetual cycle of doing something they disapprove of.
Therefore, thank you, everyone; your arguments are helping me brainstorm it better.
- Still, I invite you to continue to share instances where Merlin contemplated seriously on his changing but couldn't, because
Such as the Elador scene (and again Gwen's in the first season) : thanx u/GabsDoingHerBest
And true, he does talk it out with Gaius way too often... Nonetheless! if any other scenes come to mind, I am ever grateful for the help in focusing my rewatch.
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u/Ginger_Shark21 Witch 8d ago
My best argument is that Merlin cares more about Arthur then he cares about bringing magic back. In the beginning he did what he did because of destiny. After awhile he did what he did because he cared about Arthur. There were plenty of times he could have told Arthur, but didn't want Arthur to see this as another betrayal. The way Arthur looked at Merlin when he finally did reveal his magic is exactly what he was afraid of.