The Once And Future King - Tumblr Posts
Merlin IS Magic. Surely this makes him more than a little different?
I have this Headcannon that because of all his various powers, Merlin is physically quite different to what is usually expected in medical science and Gaius is completely fascinated by absolutely hates it.
I’m talking things like one day he comes stumbling into their chambers with an arrow clean through the left side of his chest, wheezing but somehow Not Dead. It’s because like his dragon kin, Merlin’s heart is on the right side of his body. Gaius swears off everything Merlin related there and then. (He lasts about 30 minutes).
Or how under the concealment charm tied to his neckerchief, Merlin’s eyes are naturaly a blazing gold all the time, fuelled by the magic in his veins. Surprisingly, they also allow him to see quite well in the dark. ‘Like a cat’ Gaius remarks when he finds out about it.
His teeth are a little too pointy? Or at least his canines are. It’s Merlin’s most obvious ‘Medical Mystery’ trait but fortunately nothing that can’t be explained away easily enough. It does however add another point to the creature side of ‘Human vs Magical Being’ tally Gaius has been keeping in his head. For scientific purposes. Of course.
Merlin’s speed and agility are much greater than it has any right to be, even if you take into account the amount of physical labour he does for Arthur; The boy practically flys over the ground. Unfortunately the knights don’t realise this until they bet all their money he couldn’t beat Gwaine in a race.
He can talk to animals too! Mind-speak is easiest but his other method has Gaius tearing out the little hair he has left because his ward Should Not Be Able To Do That. To talk to animals, Merlin simply replicates THEIR language: be that neighing, breying or barking. Laws of Vocal Chords be damned, Merlin can do it.
To top it all off, the Knights aren’t wrong when they banter with Merlin about how little he weighs. Gaius is just glad it shields the boy from anyone thinking too hard about the definitely unnatural fact HE could even lift Merlin with one hand if he so pleased. They’re not sure if it’s an Emrys thing, a hollow-boned dragon thing or if there’s some pixie blood mixed in there but Merlin is secretly quite pleased when his creeping footsteps make much less sound than anyone else’s.
Gaius dreads the day he has to treat Merlin for an illness which isn’t immediately obvious because Dear Albion it could be ANYTHING.
BONUS: for anyone with magic, Merlin can be spotted from a mile away because he literally LEAKS it. Again, Gaius says this is Not Normal and no magic should be coming out of him if he’s not actively wanting it too but the druids spot his unique trait a mile away and it puts other magic users at ease when they’re around him. It’s like a giant warm blanket.
The BBC Merlin Sountrack had NO RIGHT to go that hard.
Listen to this! 2:10 - 2:41 of ‘Merlin buries lancelot’ has me in literal CHILLS. The grief and loss and magic and love that crescendo conveys is just so extraordinary I have to go and be alone for a while.
yes, that's actually make sense, long live the king
“‘The best thing for being sad,’ replied Merlin, beginning to puff and blow, ‘is to learn something. That’s the only thing that never fails. You may grow old and trembling in your anatomies, you may lie awake at night listening to the disorder of your veins, you may miss your only love, you may see the world about you devastated by evil lunatics, or know your honour trampled in the sewers of baser minds. There is only one thing for it then — to learn. Learn why the world wags and what wags it. That is the only thing which the mind can never exhaust, never alienate, never be tortured by, never fear or distrust, and never dream of regretting. Learning is the only thing for you. Look what a lot of things there are to learn.’”
— The Once and Future King by T.H. White
Okay but let's look at it from Arthur's point of view.
He's an arrogant prat and then this twink comes into his life and makes him rethink every decision and his way of thinking. He starts to loosen up and make real relationships with people.
Then he is betrayed by his father. His sister. His uncle. And let's face it. His girlfriend. Because this is Arthur's view and he doesn't know what is going on behind these betrayals.
He doesn't know his sister was his sister or had magic. He didn't know when she turned on him. And he loved her and cared for her. And she's standing there giving that evil smirk and blaming him for everything and the poor sod doesn't even know how this came about.
Then he sees his uncle whom he trusted despite everything with a sword in his hand and he doesn't even know where he went wrong or what he did to get in this situation.
Then there was also his girlfriend who he loved with all his heart. And she went ahead and kissed Arthur's knight who he had chosen. The knight who represented the biggest change that had come in Arthur because he was the first knight Arthur chose.
And despite all this, he forgives and loves and still trusts people who come in his life.
And then there's a new knight who represented the growth and prosperity of Camelot. And let's face it, Arthur was not wrong in killing Kara. He gave her a trial and heard her side. But this knight then betrayed Arthur and stabbed him and went to the sister whose betrayal Arthur still had not come to terms with.
And then the twink. The best friend. The one constant in Arthur's life lied to him. About a core part of him. And the first reaction Arthur has is that 'he would know'. That despite everything, Merlin was someone Arthur knew. And yet, all it took was a little time and some stilted conversation to overcome one of the biggest fears of his life. Magic was something that had disrupted his entire life and yet, all it took was this one peasant having it because that's the kind of person Arthur is.
Arthur trusts and loves and gives it his everything. But he also forgives and grieves and blames himself more than he blames others. Even if he had no fault in it. He is resilient and stupidly brave.
'I want you to always be you' will stay with me forever because despite not knowing about the magic, Arthur did know Merlin. Arthur knew what Merlin needed. And he has come a long way from an Arrogant Prat to becoming the Once and Future King.
Okay but let's look at it from Arthur's point of view.
He's an arrogant prat and then this twink comes into his life and makes him rethink every decision and his way of thinking. He starts to loosen up and make real relationships with people.
Then he is betrayed by his father. His sister. His uncle. And let's face it. His girlfriend. Because this is Arthur's view and he doesn't know what is going on behind these betrayals.
He doesn't know his sister was his sister or had magic. He didn't know when she turned on him. And he loved her and cared for her. And she's standing there giving that evil smirk and blaming him for everything and the poor sod doesn't even know how this came about.
Then he sees his uncle whom he trusted despite everything with a sword in his hand and he doesn't even know where he went wrong or what he did to get in this situation.
Then there was also his girlfriend who he loved with all his heart. And she went ahead and kissed Arthur's knight who he had chosen. The knight who represented the biggest change that had come in Arthur because he was the first knight Arthur chose.
And despite all this, he forgives and loves and still trusts people who come in his life.
And then there's a new knight who represented the growth and prosperity of Camelot. And let's face it, Arthur was not wrong in killing Kara. He gave her a trial and heard her side. But this knight then betrayed Arthur and stabbed him and went to the sister whose betrayal Arthur still had not come to terms with.
And then the twink. The best friend. The one constant in Arthur's life lied to him. About a core part of him. And the first reaction Arthur has is that 'he would know'. That despite everything, Merlin was someone Arthur knew. And yet, all it took was a little time and some stilted conversation to overcome one of the biggest fears of his life. Magic was something that had disrupted his entire life and yet, all it took was this one peasant having it because that's the kind of person Arthur is.
Arthur trusts and loves and gives it his everything. But he also forgives and grieves and blames himself more than he blames others. Even if he had no fault in it. He is resilient and stupidly brave.
'I want you to always be you' will stay with me forever because despite not knowing about the magic, Arthur did know Merlin. Arthur knew what Merlin needed. And he has come a long way from an Arrogant Prat to becoming the Once and Future King.
Arthur, in one of the earliest episodes: I want to live in a Camelot where the punishment fits the crime.
This is in reference to Gwen apparently using magic to heal her father from the plague.
This is a not-yet twenty year old Arthur fighting for what he thinks is right. Almost in the next episode, Arthur fights for inclusion of Lancelot in the Knights' ranks. The last discussion that Arthur and Uther have on this is something along the lines of 'Lancelot deserves to be a knight because of the honour and courage he has shown. Screw the first code' and Uther being 'I see you feel very strongly about this' before Lancelot barges in to say he is leaving on his own. And I don't know if it's me, but Uther looked close to giving in to Arthur and you can see the respect in his eyes grow when Lancelot says he is leaving.
There are so many instances in the first season itself (going into danger for a servant, trying to be fair even with the constraints Uther set him, defying Uther in ways that he can, caring for every citizen of Camelot) which show Arthur is going to be fair and just King. It's all there. And it does happen to some extent.
The First Code is scrapped. Punishment is fair. No magic user is unjustly punished during Arthur's reign. The Queen is a commoner. Some of the best knights are commoners. And, I like to think, if Arthur had known everything going on in his kingdom and even without it, the major 'repealing of the magic ban' might have happened eventually. And, all this is after Arthur personally has almost never had any good contact with magic where he knows it's being used for good.
That is why Arthur is a great King even if it's not highlighted so much in the show. Because when you compare Season 1 and Season 4 (ie Uther and Arthur), you see the difference in the way Camelot works. You see not any and every sorcerer attacking Camelot except Morgana and she has a personal vendetta. There is no Edwin or Mary Collins or even Nimueh, who are all hell-bent on revenge or trying to justify their acts as bringing magic back to Camelot. There is only Morgana who has got a personal stake in this and the agenda of bringing magic is long gone and only the throne apparently being rightfully hers is the reason for her continued attacks. You see people not only listening to the King but also discussing with him. You see people following the King out of respect and love instead of fear. That is the Camelot that Arthur wanted among other things.
Arthur, getting Camelot to where it was at the end of Season 5 even when left with the residual hate from Uther's reign is a huge thing. Of course I wish I would have been able to see more and I wish it would have been highlighted more but there are changes. There are great changes and Arthur ultimately did become a great King even with having Uther as a father and it's so underrated sometimes.
Arthur, in one of the earliest episodes: I want to live in a Camelot where the punishment fits the crime.
This is in reference to Gwen apparently using magic to heal her father from the plague.
This is a not-yet twenty year old Arthur fighting for what he thinks is right. Almost in the next episode, Arthur fights for inclusion of Lancelot in the Knights' ranks. The last discussion that Arthur and Uther have on this is something along the lines of 'Lancelot deserves to be a knight because of the honour and courage he has shown. Screw the first code' and Uther being 'I see you feel very strongly about this' before Lancelot barges in to say he is leaving on his own. And I don't know if it's me, but Uther looked close to giving in to Arthur and you can see the respect in his eyes grow when Lancelot says he is leaving.
There are so many instances in the first season itself (going into danger for a servant, trying to be fair even with the constraints Uther set him, defying Uther in ways that he can, caring for every citizen of Camelot) which show Arthur is going to be fair and just King. It's all there. And it does happen to some extent.
The First Code is scrapped. Punishment is fair. No magic user is unjustly punished during Arthur's reign. The Queen is a commoner. Some of the best knights are commoners. And, I like to think, if Arthur had known everything going on in his kingdom and even without it, the major 'repealing of the magic ban' might have happened eventually. And, all this is after Arthur personally has almost never had any good contact with magic where he knows it's being used for good.
That is why Arthur is a great King even if it's not highlighted so much in the show. Because when you compare Season 1 and Season 4 (ie Uther and Arthur), you see the difference in the way Camelot works. You see not any and every sorcerer attacking Camelot except Morgana and she has a personal vendetta. There is no Edwin or Mary Collins or even Nimueh, who are all hell-bent on revenge or trying to justify their acts as bringing magic back to Camelot. There is only Morgana who has got a personal stake in this and the agenda of bringing magic is long gone and only the throne apparently being rightfully hers is the reason for her continued attacks. You see people not only listening to the King but also discussing with him. You see people following the King out of respect and love instead of fear. That is the Camelot that Arthur wanted among other things.
Arthur, getting Camelot to where it was at the end of Season 5 even when left with the residual hate from Uther's reign is a huge thing. Of course I wish I would have been able to see more and I wish it would have been highlighted more but there are changes. There are great changes and Arthur ultimately did become a great King even with having Uther as a father and it's so underrated sometimes.
“One explanation for Guenever, for what it is worth, is that she was what they used to call a ‘real’ person. She was not the kind who can be fitted away safely under some label or other, as 'loyal’ or 'disloyal’ or 'self-sacrificing’ or 'jealous’. Sometimes she was loyal and sometimes she was disloyal. She behaved like herself. And there must have been something in this self, some sincerity of heart, or she would not have held two people like Arthur and Lancelot. Like likes like, they say – and at least they are certain that her men were generous. She must have been generous too. It is difficult to write about a real person.”
— The Once and Future King by T.H. White, writing what may be one of the finest defenses of a female character I’ve ever read in a novel
A solution to any problem
Just Merlin things…. This is my offering to the Merlin Fandom💛 Thank you!
just T H White casually altering my brain chemistry three times in three totally different ways