Not to Merlin-post in the year of our Lord 2024, but I love Gwen as a character. She goes through too much honestly. She deserves such a good life and so much love. I want to see a spin off show about Gwen's reign as queen because that would be awesome.
FULFILLING THE GREAT PROPHECY
I was always frustrated because I felt like the "Arthur is going to be this great king and unite Albion" thing never came to pass or only kind of did sparingly BUT maybe it's that thing with prophecies where they come to pass in unexpected ways.
So maybe the great prosperity and uniting of Albion happens because of Gwen's peaceful, fair, and progressive reign, which technically happens because Arthur made the choice to marry when she was a commoner. She wouldn't have been on the throne otherwise. I'm calling it. I believe she would be a freaking great queen. With her empathy and intelligence and bravery? Hell yeah!
It's very likely that she had the guts to finally lift the ban on magic during her reign (and all that entails) which Arthur was never able to do because he had trouble /didn't have the chance to work through the negative feeling about magic that had been instilled in him by his father. Merlin was never able to push him to do so because he became too entrenched in supporting the current power structures because he was blinded by his love for and devotion to Arthur. Maybe they could have gotten there in time (there are hints of that), but instead the revelation is made inadvertently and the end of the show happens before they cross that boundary. That's one of the great tragedies of the show. It painfully demonstrates how power corrupts and people can be forced to try to work within a system that is actively harming them, especially when they love and believe in the people entrenched in that system.
Maybe Morgana had a twisted sixth sense about this too because she's peculiarly focused on Gwen being queen for a lot of reasons (SHE EVEN HAS VISIONS ABOUT IT).
Anyway, I'm sure someone has said this before.
Thoughts?
"Merlin, if I die -"
"If I need a servant in the next life-"
"Don't ask me"
"No man is worth your tears"
"You're certainly not"
"I'm happy to be your servant, until the day I
die."
"Just.... Take it."
It startles me sometimes, how often they'd talked about death. How sure they were that the other would someday die.
And it's poetic that Merlin denied Arthur's mortality so often, while Arthur was always afraid to lose Merlin.
And then Arthur dies,
And Merlin cries
And Merlin's death is nowhere near in reach.
There is no next life.
But by the gods, he wished there was.
lie back. lie back.
where have you been?
prettybadco
CAN WE TALK ABOUT THIS UNDERRATED TRIO??
Next book to be scanned arrived!
Thanks @liviapeleia for tagging me, your wip excerpts made me very curious to know what's next :D!
Rules: you will be given a word. Then you share one sentence/excerpt from your wip(s) that starts with each letter of your word!
Tagging @breadkween, @achillesuwu and @futurepastme if you're interested! Your word should you choose to accept it is FISH!
Livia you gave me 'myth.'
M
“Merlin is a-”Â
But he knew, he had known for a long time.Â
Across from him his servant looked like a startled hare, wide-eyed, gaunt in the dim light. The thing they had not been saying had almost been said. Did Merlin think that just because it was said aloud that suddenly Arthur would change his mind, have him executed?Â
Instead he made a show of sagging in relief and Merlin hesitated and then sagged with him.Â
Y
“You’re lying. You have something you must do, something that might help me. Maybe it'll turn the tide of this battle.”Â
“Arthur-”
“Whatever you're about to say, let it be the truth for once. I need to hear it, finally hear it. How many years has it been? We never spoke about your magic, not once, not really, not like we should have.”Â
“My-?”Â
“It’s said now, I don't care, not anymore. I can't go into this battle without you, not unless I know it’s for a good cause and not unless I know that you’ll be safe.”Â
T
“The spitting, what's that then?”
“To ward off curses! Anyone can do it!”
“The asphodel?”Â
“The dead need appeasing!” Merlin threw his hands in the air and then towards Arthur. “You’ve seen the ghost of your father, you've fought the undead!”Â
Arthur was throwing his hands too now. “The cabbage leaves? Prophetic dreams have to be sorcerery?!”Â
“Yes but not the kind you get from cabbage leaves!”Â
H
He is the custodian of our stories, the golden age we brought about together and he’ll be the custodian of the stories after I’m gone, learn them from him, help him to hold them and share them, I think some days he might find them too heavy to carry.
He’s the most powerful and the most precious thing to ever walk this Earth, it would be a tragedy too immense to imagine or bear thinking about if he lost what made him human. But more than that, I ask you to do this, to pass on this message to those who come after you because I love him and I cannot do all of these things myself.Â
She/Her | 31 | Herbal Tea EnthusiastInterested in: hurt/comfort, fairytale retellings and folkloreCurrently down an Arthurian rabbitholeLeMightyWorrier on Ao3
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