ok, so...
I finished Merlin last night, which has given me a few hours to not be so raw about it.
I don’t think there’s anything about Arthur’s death scene that I could say that hasn’t already been said by the fandom so I think I’m just going to talk about my favourite Merthur moments of season 5 including aspects of Merthur’s final moments together that I really liked.
Obviously, the “just hold me, please” killed me.
It could’ve been anything else, it could’ve been “Just stay with me” or “It’s OK” or “Let’s just lay here for a bit” but in Arthur’s last moments he wanted to be held by Merlin and that’s both devastating and beautiful.
Merlin screaming that he can’t lose Arthur with such despair and desperation
was reminiscent of when Arthur thought he was losing Merlin
the way losing the other is so unthinkable and unbearable to the both of them is executed and portrayed so wonderfully.
It took me a minute to realize why this moment really struck me
and I think it’s because it’s essentially a declaration of love where Merlin is telling Arthur that he has this gift, he has this power but he chooses to use it just for him (because, sure, he was destined to serve Arthur as is repeated throughout the series but that doesn’t mean that Merlin had to have been a willing participant in this destiny).
It’s the same thing as Arthur saying “thank you”
because the structure of the sentence and the framing of it, “thank you” could legitimately be replaced with “I love you” and I think the sentiment and the scene would stay the same
But honestly, I think what got to me the most during this entire painful and wonderful episode, is when Merlin and Arthur were joking:
because Merlin’s face is earnest and determined to stay positive and to keep normalcy because it’s canon that when one of them is serious, the other knows that something is gravely wrong
but nothing can be wrong now, everything has to be fine, for it to not be fine is unthinkable so they’re going to joke around.
On to lighter things! I was oddly disappointed but not surprised that we didn’t get as much Merthur in season 5 as I would’ve liked but there are still some very choice moments I love between them.
For starters, this moment:
and what I enjoy about Arthur following Merlin and being protective of Merlin is how different it is from anyone else. With his knights, he’s noble and he wants to help them and go after them because he has a good heart and he wants to stick by the code and you can see that:
With Gwen, he’s determined and he has a sort of tunnel vision, no time for stopping, no time for complaining, they need to get to her as quickly as possible:
But with Merlin, it’s like you can see his heart stop and see his agitation at him leaving and his desperation at wanting him back and instead of tunnel vision it’s like he’s blinded to everything else but Merlin
Related, I quite enjoyed this moment:
Because a) Merlin comes running after Arthur because it’s Merlin and it’s Arthur b) Morgana is literally about to kill Arthur, she has already stabbed him, she has him dead to rights and Arthur has sort of accepted his fate but then Merlin comes running in and he’s alive with worry for him and then proceeds to beg Morgana not to hurt him, which keeps in line with Arthur, like how in this scene he was literally being pinned down and about to be beaten but his focus is on making sure Merlin is OK:
Another moment I quite enjoyed is this one:
Because it reminds me so much of this moment:
Like Merlin is just a part of the fabric of Arthur’s life that he’s always, always got to be there where the only time he seems to be kicked out is if Arthur wants to give Gwen some D
and it’s to the point that the two times he’s not, it’s unthinkable. The first time, he notices right away and goes looking for him, like instead of just getting George or anyone else, he puts energy into searching him out:
and the first thing he says to Merlin in 5x13 is “where have you been?”
And we know it’s not simply about someone waiting on him and serving him because then he would’ve simply hired George.
Also every single moment they casually act like a couple
like what is this, a romcom? (basically, except tragic).
And of course, when Merlin heals Arthur because I find it very rare for shows and for actors to illustrate what the difference between commitment and devotion is but Merlin does it extremely well and both Merlin and Arthur portray devotion wonderfully but Colin’s expression of devotion is fantastic and this scene encapsulates that
OK that’s my very long Season 5 Merthur breakdown!
