Random thoughts on The Labyrinth of Gedreff
I love a show that makes me think.
I love a show that has fans that make me think.
I've been having an exchange of views with a couple of fans which while I was out driving today made me start thinking about how different people react differently to the same things in a show like Merlin.
The thing is, most of the people who I know on line whose comments I enjoy reading appear to fall primarily into the 'Merlin/Arthur' or Murther camp. But even so many of them seem to see things in the show that I don't see.
So, what is it about the Labyrinth of Gedref that's got me thinking?
Well, it's about the idea that Arthur was prepared to sacrifice his life for Merlin as a consequence of his growing feelings (or love, or lust or whatever) for Merlin. Did Arthur drink poison 'for Merlin'?
If you deconstruct that argument, it doesn't paint Arthur in a very good light, does it?
Let's deconstruct.
Firstly to sum up the situation. Arthur has casually slaughtered a rare and magical creature of great purity and magic itself has in consequence cursed the whole of Camelot with a great famine. Arthur does not believe this at first. He is subjected to a number of tests without his comprehension or his acceptance. The first test he passes because of his natural tendencies towards compassion. The second test he fails because of his pride and his temper. Ultimately, he comes to the realisation that he IS at fault for the famine and, having accepted the culpability, sets off to atone.
This is one thing Arthur's actually been pretty good at throughout the run of the show. When he actually accepts that he is to blame for a situation or for harm having been done, he will step up to the plate and take the blame for it, and accept the consequences.
So he is sitting at the table with the poison in front of him. Merlin is sitting opposite him. Arthur knows this is a test and if he fails, the whole of Camelot is doomed. He knows he is responsible for the situation, and he knows that he has to take the blame and - personally - accept the consequences.
So tell me. Assume it's NOT Merlin sitting opposite him. Assume it's the lowliest, wartiest, most fragrant (and not in a good way) stable boy in the whole of Camelot. A person Arthur doesn't even know, probably has never even seen before, except to issue orders to. But he's a citizen of Camelot. He's one of the people suffering for Arthur's mistake. Are you seriously going to tell me that Arthur would have let Warty drink the poison in his place? If he did, he would have failed the test, and Camelot would be destroyed.
So Arthur drinks the 'poison'. He drinks the 'poison' because he has taken personal responsibility for the crisis and knows he must bear the consequences personally. He drinks the poison because he knows it's the right thing to do. It's got NOTHING to do with the person sitting opposite him, ultimately. He drinks it because he's the once and future king and if he didn't have this sense of noblesse oblige, he can't be that person. He drinks it because he's Arthur.
That's the reason Merlin is faithful and loyal to him, and probably also loves him, whatever form you believe that love to be. Because he's Arthur. But his actions here doesn't mean - it can't mean - that it's because Arthur loves Merlin. If this was Arthur's real motivation, it demeans him. It diminishes him. It stops him from being Arthur. It's a romantic notion, but it takes away from what Arthur is and what he is meant to be. It just doesn't wash.