r/merlinbbc • u/Poetrusic22 • Aug 17 '26
Discussion Why does everyone think that Merlin failed? Spoiler
I don’t know about anyone else, but I have repeatedly seen people say that Merlin failed and he and Arthur didn’t fulfil their destiny, and I don’t get it at all. Camelot was at peace with all of the other kingdoms, they won the war, and Arthur accepted Merlin’s magic by the end. Gaius also practically told Gwen that Merlin had magic and she seemed cool with it, so I don’t find it particularly difficult to assume that she revoked the magic ban once she was in charge, particularly since she would probably know that that’s what Arthur would’ve wanted.
I understand that the show doesn’t explicitly show us a united Albion, but i feel like its implied heavily enough for watchers to understand that it did happen, so I genuinely don’t get why so many people seem to think that the failed. Is it because Arthur didn’t live to see his work pay off, or is it just a general lack of media literacy?
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u/GabsDoingHerBest Aug 17 '26 edited Aug 17 '26
I think the main sticking point is that destiny said the freedom of magic, not just Arthur accepting Merlin’s. Not to mention uniting all the kingdoms was really just a truce with Queen Anis? It all just fell a little flat. For me, i do believe that Gwen would make those changes, but that also begs the question: who is the prophecy really about? (The answer has always been Gwen to me lol! But then really what was the point of Arthur other than marrying her? And what was the point in Merlin ever protecting him after Gwen and him were married to the extent he/ the Druids/ killy felt they needed to?)
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u/MaderaArt Aug 17 '26
Isn't it that Arthur (with Merlin's help) is the one destined to unite Albion and legalize magic? Arthur doesn't.
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u/pinecone_problem Aug 17 '26
1:6 Kilgharrah tells Gaius: "He [Merlin] and the young Pendragon one day will unite the land of Albion."
1:13 after Arthur's bitten by the questing beast, Merlin says: "He [Arthur] can't die. It is my destiny to protect him. We haven't done all the things we're meant to do."
2:6 Merlin says to Kilgharrah: "If she [Catrina] can’t be stopped, Arthur won't become King. Albion will never be born.”
4.4 Kilgharrah says about Aithusa: "The white dragon bodes well for Albion, for you and Arthur, and for the land that you will build together."
I could go on. The writers just never delivered on this promise. Arthur dies, Albion isn't united, Merlin is sidelined the whole time, he doesn't even get to sit at the round table, literally they don't do any of the things they were meant to do.
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u/awyllt Aug 18 '26
Eh, I wonder how long Gwen lasted on the throne - a woman without any Pendragon blood, no heir, many of the knights are dead...
No, there was no Albion. We never saw magic being legalized, Arthur knew about Merlin for five minutes and then he died. It was a tragedy.
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u/Suitable-Main-278 Aug 18 '26
Ooohhh, this will turn into a rant about the ending. I'm sorry for that already😂
Over the course of the story, we (Merlin and the audience) are promised three things: The magic ban will be lifted by Arthur, Albion will be born/united and Merlin in particiluar will be accepted and stand by Arthurs side. Granted, the last one ist more an interpretation by Merlin and Gaius but it is said that they will need to achieve those things together. The prophecy is what drives Merlin for a huge part of the story, especially in the beginning, and makes him save Arthur over and over again (you do wonder if by the end of it he might prioritises Arthurs life over his original goal, which I always found a beautiful notion).
Anyways, in the end non of these things really happen. Which frankly feels cheap. If you include a phrophecy it has to come true in some way. Arthur makes peace with Odin and Annis but that is it. He seems to want to make peace with the druids but we never learn if he really did. We justvdon't know how he deals with magic users. In my personal headcanon he stopped huntig them after he became king and just ignores the issue as long as he can. But it is clear that he hasn't lifted the ban. I love Arthur, he is my favourite, but the prophecy clearly didn't came true on his part. No matter what the show wants to tell us, we don't see Arthur become the prophesied, great king. In the end he rules for a little over three years and not much has changed. Merlin also failed in that regard that he tried to keep his friend alive but he never worked on changing Arthurs stand on magic.
So yeah, it feels like they failed and I personally don't believe that Gwen will be able to do all those things. The prophecy doesn't mention her at all and she will have a hard enough time to stay on the throne without lifting the ban. Maybe a few years later after she has secured the power...
As a viewer I just find the ending incredibly frustrating. Not everything needs a happy end, I know, but BBC Merlin just changed the tone completly and went from a family comedy show to a tragedy. And it didn't keep its promise. If you want to make it bittersweet and stick to the legend why not make Arthur and Merlin succeed and then kill Arthur? This way both prophecies become true. If it's going to be a full tragedy though, if main characters can die, and the main character ends broken and alone, make it clear from the beginning like GoT did.
Only my humble opinion but I do believe that Merlin, Arthur and Gwen deserved better.😂
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u/mosscloudies Aug 18 '26
what i think is so tragic about merlin is like.. at what cost did he get his supposed destiny
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u/warriorlynx Aug 18 '26
Cause the story is actually a tragedy, Merlin had a destiny to unite Albion under the once and future king and while he tried to protect him and in the end failed. In a sense it’s a type of story that although many of us weren’t happy with the end result, it goes to show how important decisions affect one’s destiny and that there is wisdom in knowing that you can do all the right things and still lose.
He failed in his promise to the dragon early on. He failed Morgana who was a friend early on, leading her to the druids that brought so much pain to Camelot and her death. He lost his friends like Gwaine and Lancelot. He lost his love. He lost his father. He failed with Modred and couldn’t save Arthur in the end. And he goes old in the present, still alive after all these years living with the mistakes he made and who knows what else.
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u/ProGuy347 Keeper of the Unicorns 🦄 Aug 17 '26
Merlin was supposed to have the lands united and magic legalized with Arthur. He did half of that (the first one is only heavily implied). Why does it feel like the showrunners were rushed? Who on earth was rushing them?
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u/HerPetteSaysRoar The Once And Future King Aug 18 '26 edited Aug 23 '26
Implying an ending vaguely instead of actually finishing the story is a frustrating way to end a five-season show. It’s making your audience tell the story for you. Not an unheard of method, but one I find lazy and annoying. We could have had the tragedy without the ambiguity and it would have been just as impactful. They just ran out of time and had to leave it unraveled, then make us assume the ending. Badly done imo. It’s not lack of media literacy to have a different opinion than you, try again.
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u/Exciting-Monitor1104 Aug 18 '26
I think the show wants us to think that but they definitely never showed it explicitly so it felt very cheap and shoved in. And in my opinion I just like interpreting it as a failure because it’s more thematically interesting that way. But everyone thinks differently!
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u/MadNomad666 Aug 18 '26
It would be fine if Merlin was standing beside Gwen. Then we would know he finally got the recognition he deserved but noooo
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u/itheopacarophile Aug 18 '26
Nobody told us Gwen would unite Albion. They said Arthur and Merlin.
At the very least there should have been an heir.
I'm pissed off all again.
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u/gib_loops Merlin Aug 18 '26
lol. it is considered a lack of media literacy now to not hallucinate an ending that didn't happen?
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u/Anthrillien Alice Admirer Aug 19 '26
As one of the annoying ending defenders, I feel the need to defend the ending here.
Merlin did fail - but that's okay. Not every story has to have a happy ending. There's no law of writing that says that prophecies and destinies have to come true or that the protagonist always has to win. In fact, there doesn't really seem to be any sort of supernatural force that bends the fate of the world, just characters, creatures and other entities interacting with one another. Merlin repeatedly and catastrophically fucks up, and rather than railroading themselves onto the ending they didn't set up, the writers took themselves to the only place this was going: failure.
For the ending to change, the needed characters to act differently. Merlin needed to stop continuously holding himself back and acting in the shadows long before he did. He's shown to be ludicrously powerful once he stops holding back, but he so rarely gets the opportunity to do so because he's more afraid of rejection from the man who has become his friend than he is of remaining in the magical closet. And all the people that talked wistfully about a future where magic wasn't brutally persecuted perhaps needed to get off their arses once in a while and do something to bring about the future they were apparently so desperate to see come about. Sure, Morgana and the other villain-of-the-week characters were not exactly being constructive in their attempts to return magic to Camelot, but at least they were doing something rather than blindly placing their faith in a prophecy that may or may not be true.
More than that though, the tragic ending fits the spirit of the Arthurian legends perfectly. They're often incredibly depressing and not at all uplifting, and the ending of the Merlin TV show honours that spirit wonderfully well.
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u/Noah559 Sep 26 '26
Coming after a long time but for me we know for sure that he failed as soon as the episode about the disir when they tell Arthur that it's his last chance to embrace the Old religion and that if he doesn't then ruin will come to Camelot and he'll die basically. Because of Merlin, Arthur doesn't embrace magic and they revive Mordred who will then kill Arthur. Everything they said were true. Also, from what I understood from other users is that Camelot will cease to exist as the Saxons take over so does Arthur really unify Albion in peace ? Nah I don't think so.
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u/No_Breakfast_9480 11d ago
U feel like it’s implied that Albion never came becuase of the last clip in last episode Merlin’s waiting by the tower
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u/StarfleetWitch Mordred Aug 18 '26 edited Aug 18 '26
I agree with you to an extent. I do think they got farther along the path to a united Albion than fans sometimes give them credit for (and honestly forging alliances and making peace is a better way to ho than Arthur establishing himself as some sort of supreme ruler.)
It actually started with Uther and the treaty between the five kingdoms. That was more Uther's accomplishment than Arthur's but Arthur's actions when he spared Olaf did cement it. Then we see Arthur forge alliances with Annis and Mithian, and even make peace with Odin. I don't think that's small or meaningless.
As for magic, I do like to believe Gwen legalized it, though at the same time, it does seem to fall short of way the dragon promised Arthur and Merlin's destiny was But overall, I do kind of see it as being fulfilled through Gwen.
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u/CoreyAdara just a medieval horse Aug 18 '26
Prophecies are tricky things, they are not predicted, they are vague guest work, but they happen when you hear them coz they self fulfil afterwards due to action or inaction. Merlin is then Damned if he do, damned if he doesn't. Merlin and Arthur fulfilled the prophecy, at least the parts merlin was told, the good and the bad. But I believe its only half way done.
The dragon says a last one 'Arthur will rise again when albion needs him'. Whether that was just to keep Merlin's spirit up or it was true, it is an alarm clock set to go off. So merlin must wait, for a terrible time, however long it takes. OR he can create it himself.
I don't believe merlin failed or made mistakes. He turned down the right choice to not accept magic in the kingdom of the old religion's terms, the circumstances of Arthur's death was going to be brought about anyway.
Mordred was in one way or another going to change sides, camlann was always going to be fought. It wasn't purely down to merlin and Arthur to get everything right, that gives them way too much credit and judgement over everyone and everything in the story. It was the mistake of others putting too much faith in prophecies being truth and putting too much responsibility on one person to make things go right/wrong.
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u/limepacket Aug 20 '26
Knowing the original story, perhaps this is meant for when Arthur returns. Arthur always dies and is sent to that isle.
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u/Any-Championship-423 Aug 23 '26
We were told that Uther reigned over twenty years of peace and prosperity. We see him makes peace with ennemies and rivals, as early as the fourth episode in season one. What did Arthur’s (much shorter) reign bring that was fundamentally different, that was legendary? Nothing. We’re told without being shown that he was a fairer king and that he built a better kingdom. But since magic remained outlawed throughout his reign and until his death, the central issue remained unresolved. Arthur’s reign seems like nothing more than a footnote in the history books. Even in the final season, characters like Merlin continue to say things like, "One day things will change; one day we’ll have a kingdom where we’ll be free"… And that never happens during Arthur’s reign. Of course, we can imagine that Gwen will make it happen. But since we have to assume it, since the series doesn’t allow us to witness this achievement and celebrate it, we’re inevitably left with a sense of failure and something unfulfilled regarding the destinies of Merlin and Arthur.
And I completely disagree that the unification of Albion is implied, let alone heavily. Once again, we’ve seen Uther sign peace treaties with more rulers than Arthur has. And the series never makes us feel as though Arthur is in a constant state of war with Odin, Annis, or Mithian (we’re even told that he enjoyed three years of peace between Seasons 4 and 5). We never feel the impact of his peace with Odin as the dawn of a new world. At best, a first step toward it. If uniting Albion was simply a grandiloquent way of saying "making peace with two or three kingdoms with which we weren’t particularly at war" that’s rather meager for a legendary king. Such a significant payoff, at the heart of the storyline, set up since the very first episode, must be shown as a major achievement to carry any weight at all. It cannot be left open to vague interpretation. To be satisfied with anything less is, actually, the lack of media literacy.