I’m sorry about this - I don’t usually rant.  I usually just re-blog Merlin and other fun stuff whilst promoting my fanfiction, but, honestly, some of these posts are really starting to bug me.  Especially how so many ‘fans’ seem to want to slate the writers of ‘Merlin’ and say that they are ‘wrong’ in their choices!

Sorry?

They’re the writers … under the direction of the show’s producers.  They can’t be wrong.  Just as JK Rowling can’t be wrong for pairing Hermione with Ron instead of Harry.  This is their story and only they know where it’s going. 

Of course you can say you don’t like the show, you can say you don’t agree with the direction they’ve taken the characters in - that’s your opinon and it’s your right to grumble but, you can’t say the authors are wrong.  It’s their story which means they are RIGHT and you … have a different opinon.

Okay so, as a fanfiction writer this is a bit personal too.  Last year I wrote a future Merlin fanfic and was quite upset when I was told that Merlin’s attitude to his daughter was ‘wrong’.  Of course, I understand how silly that is now, even though it really upset me at the time.  Merlin doesn’t have a daughter in canon - so how can we know how he’ll react in the future - especially considering this fic’s particular twist and the fact that I know how the story is going to play out and the reader doesn’t?  Despite all of that, how a 30 year old Merlin reacts to this situation is just opinion, not fact (and how many of my readers knows what it’s like to be a 30 year old parent?)

The producers of ‘Merlin’ have always had a five year plan and, honestly, from seeing the first episode and the earliest interviews, I ‘got it’.  I saw how they made every character the exact opposite of legend and that the whole point of the show was to see how they got back to the legend.  It was never their intention to deliver something ‘brand new,’ just something old with a modern twist. 

So, I knew they planned to make Morgana evil and her ‘good’ personality in series 1 just felt wrong to me as a result.  I laughed when I saw Arthur flirting with  Morgana because I saw her as his sister.  I laughed when Gwen said ‘who would want to marry Arthur?’ because I knew she would be his wife.  I laughed when Gwen flirted with Merlin and Merlin got teased about liking Morgana because … I got the joke.  Guinevere would marry Arthur and become Queen, she would fall for Lancelot and Merlin and Morgana would be adversaries.  What was going to be interesting over the years was how they all got there - How did this strange quartet become their legend alter-egos. 

I already knew how it ended (Although I do think the producers made the mistake of assuming that all their viewers knew it too).  I knew what Merlin/Arthur/Guinevere/Morgana and Mordred were going to be in the future and the producers told us in their 2008 interviews that they were going to make those characters what legend expected them to be … with a slight twist! 

Kilgarrah is the voice of the producers - warning Merlin what WAS going to be, because THEY knew Morgana was going to be a baddie (and a wonderful baddie at that).  She’s a much richer charater now than she ever was in series 1.  Sorry, that’s my opinion, but it is an opinon that is shared shared by the producers, writers and actors.

I hate to play the ‘age’ card here, but I do think it might be an issue.  When I was a teenager (in the dim and distant past) I hated it when the shows I liked didn’t instantly give me the happy conclusion I yearned for (Robin Of Sherwood, Moonlighting - yes, I am THAT old!) and now I find that amusing - understanding, as a writer, that the whole point of storytelling is to give your heros flaws, putting them in difficult situations, seeing them either stuggle and succeed or stuggle and make the wrong decision and then follow them through thick and thin, relate to them simply because they’re not perfect and they do make mistakes and love them all the more for it.

I’ve even started to see comments on Merlin himself and whether he really is a hero, just because he’s made a few dubious decisions and has used violence to justify this actions.  I’m sorry folks but this is basically the definition of a hero, especially a fantasy/sci-fi hero.  They are flawed - that is why we can relate to them.  They’re not perfect, they’re not super-human they’re just … a very good, well meaning person trying to solve a problem and making mistakes along the way.  See Merlin, Sherlock, The Doctor, Paul (The Fades) Captain Kirk … honestly, every single well characterised, well rounded fantasy hero EVER!

Then there are those anti-heros, Snape, Anakin Skywalker, Morgana - to name but a few.  Those that are pursuing the right path in the wrong way.  It’s not black and white, it’s not good and evil.  They believe they are right.  Honestly, really WATCH and LISTEN to The Doctor and Merlin when they talk about their motivation … there’s a dark side in all of us and we can use it or abuse it.  When our heros recognise their dark side, understand it and then choose the right path despite of that … then we know what they are and side with them rather than the baddies. 

Merlin and Morgana are very, very similar.  The both want magic returned to Camelot.  The difference? Merlin believes that supporting Arthur will cause the least pain and blood shed.  Morgana believes that Uther’s death will achieve the same end.

Is Morgana wrong?  Is Merlin overly influenced by Gaius and Kilgharrah?  Is Uther totally evil?  Each has perfectly logical, canon based reasons for acting the way they do.  Forget what YOU believe - what your modern life tells you is right.  Put yourself in the character’s shoes - see what they see - feel what they feel. 

Then, if you still hate where the show’s going - write a fanfic.  There will be others that share your opinion and you can enjoy taking your favourite characters to a place that the writers never intended to travel to.