A creative take on the motif of Gwen being burned at the stake, this time she is completely innocent and implicated by vengeful Morgana, who cannot stand watching Gwen and Arthur's budding love and the thought that Gwen would take what Morgana thinks is her "rightful" place. It is still surprising how easy it is for Morgana to manipulate people, particularly Uther, who continues to be blinded by his irrational and fanatical hatred of magic. Merlin's idea of how to save Gwen was very clever but terribly risky, which just serves to emphasise his character, courage and loyalty to his friends, for whose sake he is willing to risk his life. This in turn contrasts him strongly with Morgana's duplicity (though it seems that her feelings for her sister are genuine). Anyway, the whole ageing spell worked great, with Merlin looking every inch the very epitome of an archetypal wizard.
Shout by ladysherlockianBlockedParentSpoilers2020-09-02T16:27:29Z
A creative take on the motif of Gwen being burned at the stake, this time she is completely innocent and implicated by vengeful Morgana, who cannot stand watching Gwen and Arthur's budding love and the thought that Gwen would take what Morgana thinks is her "rightful" place. It is still surprising how easy it is for Morgana to manipulate people, particularly Uther, who continues to be blinded by his irrational and fanatical hatred of magic. Merlin's idea of how to save Gwen was very clever but terribly risky, which just serves to emphasise his character, courage and loyalty to his friends, for whose sake he is willing to risk his life. This in turn contrasts him strongly with Morgana's duplicity (though it seems that her feelings for her sister are genuine). Anyway, the whole ageing spell worked great, with Merlin looking every inch the very epitome of an archetypal wizard.