It Will Happen Again - Blog Posts
This idea is so dear to me! Because we see Arthur self-loathing so many times, both in relation to himself and his father's legacy, but it goes further beyond that.
There's a deleted scene from either "The Tears of Uther Pendragon" part one or two where Arthur is discussing Uther's descent into madness with Merlin. Arthur reveal's that Uther's father fell into a similar state later on in life, and Merlin "helpfully" points out that he learned from Gaius that those sorts of things tend to run in families. This leads to Arthur glaring at Merlin in anger at the accidental implication that Arthur himself would fall into a similar state of madness one day.
So, we can make a logical guess that Arthur, on some level, believes Pendragon blood to be cursed with madness and bloodlust. While it doesn't really come up again later in the series, we can assume that Morgana being revealed as Arthur's sister and becoming a tyrant only further solidifies this belief in Arthur.
To Arthur, he killed his own mother with his birth, having been born a murderer and trained form that day on to be the perfect warrior. To Arthur, he is damned by his own loyalty to slaughter as many people as it takes in the name of protecting his kingdom, and he's never known a single day in his life without blood on his hands.
And, on top of all of that, madness and tyranny runs through his blood, as evident from his father and half sister.
Arthur wants so very badly to be a good king, to be kind and protect his people, but he feels like he can never achieve that with all the lives he's taken and the evil that runs through his own blood. He could not carve out the part of himself he sees as rotten more than he could empty his own veins.
That's part of why Arthur is always so awed at Merlin's never-ending loyalty and kindness towards Arthur. Arthur sees himself as good for nothing except violence, and he does not know what to do with Merlin's soft care.
“something is rotten inside of me, i have to find it and cut it out” — house song; searows
With the way he curls his legs back, it almost looks like he's trying to make himself smaller in these situations, which is VERY in character for Merlin.
We can see clearly that Merlin, even back in season one, is very tall, even taller than Arthur, but he makes himself smaller, more unassuming, in order to come off as not dangerous and to avoid suspicion. We already know that Merlin does the same with his magic, but it's interesting to see him physically do it as well.
The main reason behind this is kind of obvious: he needs to look unassuming so that nobody notices that he has magic. But I think there's another reason too.
Merlin shows a lot of self-deprecation throughout the series, even calling himself a monster in the first episode. It gets worse as time goes on, until in the final season Merlin barely even sees himself as a person anymore, just an instrument of fate and a weapon for Arthur. He makes some improvement with his revelation in the crystal cave in the finale, but not much.
So, it makes sense that Merlin makes himself physically smaller because he thinks of himself as a monster, a threat, and he needs everyone else around him to see him as nonthreatening, both for his own survival and to keep the people he loves.
When Merlin stands up straight and uses his magic, showing his full strength, it is only around the characters who know about his magic and accept him with it. He only shows this side of himself, the powerful side of him that isn't afraid to take up space and have a presence, to people he already knows don't see him as a threat.
And it adds a whole new level of heartbreak to Merlin's character.
Obsessed with how Colin Merlin sits with his long ass legs all curled up
it’s giving 11 year old boy who grew really tall over the summer and is still getting used to having big feet and long legs
can u tell i love him
sometimes i feel really stuck on how to characterise characters like Night and other starclan cats who have been dead for so long because i cant really comprehend how exactly that would change you. fading isnt a thing in this universe. youve been dead for centuries. tiny little things in life havent been relevant for that long because youve forgotten what being alive was.
while i dont characterise my starclan as god-like figures the oldest of them certainly aren't just little cats. WHAT ARE THEY??
He's not sorry about
Neil Perry x Fem Reader
He leaves you for a man
what thje hell fnf doodles ?? also shoutoit to the boothill cosplayer on roblox work at a pizza place who fixed the pizza box conveyor belt when it somehow broke you're a real one for that..
I love possessing the knowledge that I destroyed what could be the greatest symbol of western society because I made the wrong choice between being tired and being anxious.
