Merlin 5.13
Well. There it is. Everything I wanted and everything I didn't want for this series all jammed into one episode.
I am truly happy for those of you who are taking so much joy in this episode. There were moments that I liked. I wish I could say I was satisfied.
But I can't. I just can't.
I have loved Arthur Pendragon since the instant I first saw Bradley James's stupid, stupid face in episode 1.01. My favorite episodes in every season are the ones where Arthur got to grow and shine and choose his path and show what a glorious king he would someday be. How worthy he was to claim the destiny of the greatest sorcerer of all time to be his servant for nothing more than love.
I could have loved this episode, if Arthur had gotten to live at the end. If he had gotten to rule over his golden kingdom like he was meant to. If Merlin had defied destiny one last time to save him. If he'd gotten to thank and forgive Merlin when it wasn't already a moot point. If he'd gotten to actually give Merlin those days off instead of condemning him to centuries of loneliness and waiting.
So no. Fuck you, Johnny Capps. Fuck you, Julian Murphy. Fuck you for making me care so much about Arthur and Merlin's glorious destiny and then leaving it in ruins. Throwing me a few lines of conversation I read in fanfic back in 2009 doesn't fucking cut it, you assholes.