Umm... I just have a question regarding Merlin's a Arthur's innocence. So please bear with me for a moment...
Firs I would like to say that my simplified definition of innocence is lack of experience while ignorance is lack of knowledge.
The way I see it he is far more ...ah, life experience then Arthur, Morgana or Gwen. He was forced away from his home, forced to live on his own(even though it was only until he saw that he can trust Gaius), has already gone against his mothers better judgment(mentioned in the "Moment of Truth" episode), has experience in lying, deception and plotting in secret; furthermore the balance of life and death has been his whole life strongly in his face(I could be wrong but I'm guessing that in that time(especially in little villages) the rule "kill or be killed" was very strong) especially when every false move means certain death for him. He's also there every time there is an execution(unlike Arthur who I can't remember being at any that were shown). I really can't describe him as innocent...
Now for the ignorance part. A country boy unceremoniously thrown into the world of politics and war.(the mere thought frightens me) He's new here and doesn't know how to deal with a treat the "noble man" way. Before if anything was threatening his mother or friend he probably just got rid of the treat and be done with it. In Camelot it's not as simple. Here he can't just "get rid of the treat", people ask too many questions. At home he would just have said "the cup is poisoned" and that would have been the end of it(the cup refilled or destroyed). I can't fault him for trying an approach that usually would have worked and seeing it explode in his face especially as the people threatened are important to him and the treat is imminent, the treat consequences are "now"(Gwen will die(Gaius is nowhere neat in identifying the treat and the only way to get her out is taking her place), if Arthur drinks from the cup he will die). In the sure of the moment, when the adrenalin is high and the treat near not much deep thinking is done. But he learns.
Just because I'm on a role now I would like to, also, add my two cents(it is two cents, right?) to a point you made about Merlin's hysteric reaction to Gaius in the "Lancelot" episode. I can't fault him for that reaction. He has never been in that kind a situation before. First of his friend, his home is threatened. His life is also threatened. And none of the knights can do a thing about it; and it was Uther and his knights that had taken Camelot out of the chaos.(kind of like the army, the people you expect to protect you, failing in their job) Next of it's quite a different treat then what he's used to. Up until now he's always had the "anti-sorcerer" rule above his head but that's only been a "passive" treat("don't show your magic I won’t get you killed) this is now a more "active" treat(I will attack you now, either attack me back or die). For Merlin having to deal with the Griffin is a double treat. On one side he has the Griffin who will kill him and everyone dear to him if he doesn't use magic to destroy it. On the other hand to destroy it he has to show his magic to someone which would(in theory) be like sighing his death warrant. Not to mention he's not a warrior like Arthur or Lancelot, he should not be expected to fight. Furthermore, as one of the writers had written in a story, Merlin practically has a phobia of someone knowing of his magic(most of the time hi's on edge with even Gaius, even though he can trust him, as seen every time he abruptly steppes doing almost anything the moment Gaius walks thru his door). His mother had probably spent his whole life telling him not to use his powers, not to let anyone know and so forth(I would go as far as to say that his mother is a little afraid of him) and I can see him developing a deep fear out of it. And I find it admirable that he was able to push that fear aside and help save the day. --->
i don't know if the writers go into this yet but at this time there's a huge difference between the way justice is administered between "village justice" and "imperial justice". Basically capital punishment isn't used in villages. The worst penalty is exile, which is actually considered by many to be a fate worse than death. Punishments are negotiated with an aim towards restoring harmony, and most penalities, even for withcraft, are fines, bloodgetlt. Witches are under more threat from murder than from execution.
Under "imperial justice" there is capital punishment. The aim is on maintaining order, even at the expense of harmony within the people. This is what we see Uther doing, and Merlin isn't used to that.
Also just wanted to add that I find it quite admirable how much you know about this themes and everything in general. Did you study it? An if yes, what? History? Literature? Or did you just take the time to research about all this?
*stands* "My name is Crabby, and I'm a bookaholic...."
I did study English Lit and Social Sciences, but it's mostly from years worth of books. There's a spot of SCA reenacting and a spot of witchburning research that have come in really handy.
Umm... I just have a question regarding Merlin's a Arthur's innocence. So please bear with me for a moment...
Firs I would like to say that my simplified definition of innocence is lack of experience while ignorance is lack of knowledge.
The way I see it he is far more ...ah, life experience then Arthur, Morgana or Gwen. He was forced away from his home, forced to live on his own(even though it was only until he saw that he can trust Gaius), has already gone against his mothers better judgment(mentioned in the "Moment of Truth" episode), has experience in lying, deception and plotting in secret; furthermore the balance of life and death has been his whole life strongly in his face(I could be wrong but I'm guessing that in that time(especially in little villages) the rule "kill or be killed" was very strong) especially when every false move means certain death for him. He's also there every time there is an execution(unlike Arthur who I can't remember being at any that were shown). I really can't describe him as innocent...
Now for the ignorance part. A country boy unceremoniously thrown into the world of politics and war.(the mere thought frightens me)
He's new here and doesn't know how to deal with a treat the "noble man" way. Before if anything was threatening his mother or friend he probably just got rid of the treat and be done with it. In Camelot it's not as simple. Here he can't just "get rid of the treat", people ask too many questions. At home he would just have said "the cup is poisoned" and that would have been the end of it(the cup refilled or destroyed). I can't fault him for trying an approach that usually would have worked and seeing it explode in his face especially as the people threatened are important to him and the treat is imminent, the treat consequences are "now"(Gwen will die(Gaius is nowhere neat in identifying the treat and the only way to get her out is taking her place), if Arthur drinks from the cup he will die). In the sure of the moment, when the adrenalin is high and the treat near not much deep thinking is done. But he learns.
Just because I'm on a role now I would like to, also, add my two cents(it is two cents, right?) to a point you made about Merlin's hysteric reaction to Gaius in the "Lancelot" episode. I can't fault him for that reaction. He has never been in that kind a situation before. First of his friend, his home is threatened. His life is also threatened. And none of the knights can do a thing about it; and it was Uther and his knights that had taken Camelot out of the chaos.(kind of like the army, the people you expect to protect you, failing in their job)
Next of it's quite a different treat then what he's used to. Up until now he's always had the "anti-sorcerer" rule above his head but that's only been a "passive" treat("don't show your magic I won’t get you killed) this is now a more "active" treat(I will attack you now, either attack me back or die). For Merlin having to deal with the Griffin is a double treat. On one side he has the Griffin who will kill him and everyone dear to him if he doesn't use magic to destroy it. On the other hand to destroy it he has to show his magic to someone which would(in theory) be like sighing his death warrant. Not to mention he's not a warrior like Arthur or Lancelot, he should not be expected to fight.
Furthermore, as one of the writers had written in a story, Merlin practically has a phobia of someone knowing of his magic(most of the time hi's on edge with even Gaius, even though he can trust him, as seen every time he abruptly steppes doing almost anything the moment Gaius walks thru his door). His mother had probably spent his whole life telling him not to use his powers, not to let anyone know and so forth(I would go as far as to say that his mother is a little afraid of him) and I can see him developing a deep fear out of it. And I find it admirable that he was able to push that fear aside and help save the day.
--->
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Under "imperial justice" there is capital punishment. The aim is on maintaining order, even at the expense of harmony within the people. This is what we see Uther doing, and Merlin isn't used to that.
The writers have published Merlin stories? Where?
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The writers have published Merlin stories? Where?
Ah, my bad, my bad, I meant the fanfiction writers. Sorry.
Although it would be great it the script writers wrote a novel or something.
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Did you study it? An if yes, what? History? Literature?
Or did you just take the time to research about all this?
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I did study English Lit and Social Sciences, but it's mostly from years worth of books. There's a spot of SCA reenacting and a spot of witchburning research that have come in really handy.
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