CultBox article: "Should 'Merlin' be more about Merlin?"

[merlin_net]

CultBox's Ian McArdell explores the reasons for and against S5 being more about Merlin.

Warning! Contains previously announced casting spoilers

Comments

[nialla42]

We should care about the stories of Arthur and Gwen, the Knights and all because Merlin does and because they all have a part to play. If Merlin develops and becomes too powerful, it will limit the ability to tell involving stories as everything will be resolved by a clash of magic.

Merlin isn't just the magic deus ex machina. He's been used as that by the writers, but they shouldn't be limited by it. Also, I'd love to see more about the Knights but that doesn't mean Merlin has to be completely backburnered to do so. I'd like to see them develop true friendship that doesn't make Merlin the butt of their jokes.

I'm not really caring about Arthur and Gwen's story together, as the writers aren't doing a good job of showing instead of telling. Still would like to see them, but sans violins and such telling us it's Twu Luv.

Camelot is what Morgana covets. She isn’t an enemy of Merlin personally, and indeed they have plenty in common, but rather she is pitted against Arthur who has stolen her birthright and continues their father’s violent stance on magic.

Um. Merlin poisoned her. Morgana also knows he's thwarted some of her plots. She's got to view him as a personal enemy, just as I feel that Merlin sees her as an enemy at this point. With him, it's not quite as personal, since he was against her to protect others, but at at this point, it's got to be a mutual self-destruction pact of magic.