Morgana in Season Three Episode Five
Mar. 22nd, 2020 01:24 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
impala_chickI'm currently rewatching Merlin Season 3 and I was inspired by the ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
marchmetamatterschallenge to write more meta. The episode before this one is when Gwaine is introduced (so episodes 4 and 5 are both memorable for me), but the more I watch the series the more I sympathize with Morgana.
This episode marks a dramatic turning point for Morgana because of what she learns while she's on her death bed. I find it odd that she can hear Uther talking to her, but not Merlin and Gaius? I'm just going to go ahead and assume Merlin cast some kind of quiet spell to explain that one.
Anyway, it was Morgana's intent since season two to destroy Uther's Camelot and take the throne. And her beef with Uther had always been personal, considering he raised her to hate magic and to hate who she turned out to be. But after she learns that Uther is her father, it intensifies her hatred of him personally. Her earlier plans with Morgause involved Uther dying by other means/other people, but now Morgana is actually ready to carry out the assassination herself - against Morgause's advice. Uther's worry over her safety cannot erase the years he spent lying to her and ensuring that only Arthur had a claim to the throne. He may have a flash of conscious as he sees her lying on her death bed, but that only shows he'd feel personally guilty if she died (as her sole caregiver). That sentiment is made abundantly clear by the end of the episode.
Morgana sees Uther for what he's always been, and that's narcissistic as well as sexist (and dangerous towards magic users). She gives him one last chance when she asks him to hold her out to the public as his daughter, but he says that it "doesn't matter what the public thinks." In that moment, I'm sure Morgana is thinking of all the chances she's given Uther, and all of the times he could have changed the course of history, but instead ignored the big picture and pushed Camelot into a darker future.
Morgana's interpretation of Uther runs parallel to Merlin's choices during this episode - because Merlin pushed Camelot into a darker future when he focused on short-term consequences. He has always protected Uther because he feels that Uther's death would destroy Arthur. His choices lead to Morgana nearly dying (again) - his guilt and his worry over the potential domino effect that Morgana's death would case lead him to saving her (just as he tried to save Uther). And then it turns out that Merlin is the reason she found out who she really is - and put the throne and Arthur in more peril then they'd been before.
Uther's view of Morgana as someone too emotional and too sympathetic towards others to be able to rule over Camelot is quite ironic, because Uther and Morgana are a lot more alike than Arthur and Uther. Maybe that's the very reason Uther doesn't want Morgana to rule Camelot - she's too much like him, and he thinks Arthur can be their saving grace. I like that narrative better than the one that says Uther just doesn't want a woman on the throne, but that's plausible too.
On another note, I really love that Arthur knew exactly what to get Morgana and then stuck with his idea. A dagger is absolutely the perfect gift (even if the first one he got was plain as hell). This is a good example of how, throughout the series, Arthur is the one who knows Morgana best. His worry over her also points to how much she matters to him. Arthur loves Uther and Morgana with his whole heart - and when it comes to his feelings, these are the only two people he's willing to be honest about. The show might just play this up to make the betrayal hurt more later, but Arthur says he'd be willing to give up the throne to save her. Merlin hears that and makes the decision for Arthur - that Morgana should not ever realize such a destiny. I think Merlin knew all along that Arthur would have given up the throne had he known that Morgana deserved it, and maybe that's the real reason Merlin never wanted Arthur to know that Morgana was his sister.
marchmetamatterschallenge to write more meta. The episode before this one is when Gwaine is introduced (so episodes 4 and 5 are both memorable for me), but the more I watch the series the more I sympathize with Morgana.This episode marks a dramatic turning point for Morgana because of what she learns while she's on her death bed. I find it odd that she can hear Uther talking to her, but not Merlin and Gaius? I'm just going to go ahead and assume Merlin cast some kind of quiet spell to explain that one.
Anyway, it was Morgana's intent since season two to destroy Uther's Camelot and take the throne. And her beef with Uther had always been personal, considering he raised her to hate magic and to hate who she turned out to be. But after she learns that Uther is her father, it intensifies her hatred of him personally. Her earlier plans with Morgause involved Uther dying by other means/other people, but now Morgana is actually ready to carry out the assassination herself - against Morgause's advice. Uther's worry over her safety cannot erase the years he spent lying to her and ensuring that only Arthur had a claim to the throne. He may have a flash of conscious as he sees her lying on her death bed, but that only shows he'd feel personally guilty if she died (as her sole caregiver). That sentiment is made abundantly clear by the end of the episode.
Morgana sees Uther for what he's always been, and that's narcissistic as well as sexist (and dangerous towards magic users). She gives him one last chance when she asks him to hold her out to the public as his daughter, but he says that it "doesn't matter what the public thinks." In that moment, I'm sure Morgana is thinking of all the chances she's given Uther, and all of the times he could have changed the course of history, but instead ignored the big picture and pushed Camelot into a darker future.
Morgana's interpretation of Uther runs parallel to Merlin's choices during this episode - because Merlin pushed Camelot into a darker future when he focused on short-term consequences. He has always protected Uther because he feels that Uther's death would destroy Arthur. His choices lead to Morgana nearly dying (again) - his guilt and his worry over the potential domino effect that Morgana's death would case lead him to saving her (just as he tried to save Uther). And then it turns out that Merlin is the reason she found out who she really is - and put the throne and Arthur in more peril then they'd been before.
Uther's view of Morgana as someone too emotional and too sympathetic towards others to be able to rule over Camelot is quite ironic, because Uther and Morgana are a lot more alike than Arthur and Uther. Maybe that's the very reason Uther doesn't want Morgana to rule Camelot - she's too much like him, and he thinks Arthur can be their saving grace. I like that narrative better than the one that says Uther just doesn't want a woman on the throne, but that's plausible too.
On another note, I really love that Arthur knew exactly what to get Morgana and then stuck with his idea. A dagger is absolutely the perfect gift (even if the first one he got was plain as hell). This is a good example of how, throughout the series, Arthur is the one who knows Morgana best. His worry over her also points to how much she matters to him. Arthur loves Uther and Morgana with his whole heart - and when it comes to his feelings, these are the only two people he's willing to be honest about. The show might just play this up to make the betrayal hurt more later, but Arthur says he'd be willing to give up the throne to save her. Merlin hears that and makes the decision for Arthur - that Morgana should not ever realize such a destiny. I think Merlin knew all along that Arthur would have given up the throne had he known that Morgana deserved it, and maybe that's the real reason Merlin never wanted Arthur to know that Morgana was his sister.
no subject
Date: 2020-03-22 10:10 pm (UTC)It is, though I'm going to assume that it's because he ties into her anxiety.
Uther's view of Morgana as someone too emotional and too sympathetic towards others to be able to rule over Camelot is quite ironic, because Uther and Morgana are a lot more alike than Arthur and Uther. Maybe that's the very reason Uther doesn't want Morgana to rule Camelot - she's too much like him, and he thinks Arthur can be their saving grace. I like that narrative better than the one that says Uther just doesn't want a woman on the throne, but that's plausible too.
I think it definitely plays into the show's view of women. We do see female leaders, but only in the absence of men. So Annis after her husband's death, and Mithian when her father is kidnapped. Instead, women seeking power on their own are repeatedly pictured as villains, such as Nimue, Morgause and Morgana.
And yes, quite ironic given that she would be a very similar successor to Uther as it turns out.
The show might just play this up to make the betrayal hurt more later, but Arthur says he'd be willing to give up the throne to save her. Merlin hears that and makes the decision for Arthur - that Morgana should not ever realize such a destiny. I think Merlin knew all along that Arthur would have given up the throne had he known that Morgana deserved it, and maybe that's the real reason Merlin never wanted Arthur to know that Morgana was his sister.
That's an interesting thought. I don't think Arthur ever really looked forward to taking the throne. I mean, even aside from the fact that it suggested Uther would be dead, or the fact that he could change things he didn't agree with, it never seemed like it was anything but a path he had to follow. Perhaps it was because his early experiences with command made him aware of their difficulties, as in the episode where he's carried the guilt of the druid massacre all those years.
So yes, it's a good example of Merlin forcing that destiny to happen.
no subject
Date: 2020-03-25 03:15 am (UTC)I was definitely reminded of your comparison between Uther and Merlin! And how Merlin uses opportunities to get Arthur to become King - which Uther definitely does too. I'm not sure there's ever a point where Arthur affirmatively wants the thrown until Season 4 when he has the Knights around him.