Welcome to my usual metas where we hyperfixate over Arthur Pendragon’s love for Merlin. Today’s episode features this scene right here:

To remind you of the context, it was s03e12 when Camelot was besieged and Arthur just ordered Gaius, Gwaine, and Elyan to go find shelter in the woods. A second later, he looks at Merlin, diverts his eyes, and tells him, “Merlin, you should go with them.”

Which btw translates, in Arthur Pendragon's dictionary, to: Merlin, I want you safe, I want you away from harm’s way, but Merlin, Oh Merlin, don’t leave me. I really don’t want you to leave me. I sustain my strength from you. You’re the bravest man I have ever met. I keep going because I know you’re there. Don’t go and leave me. I am urging you to go, but please don’t believe me.

I really just can’t. Because you guys, Arthur isn’t scared to go fight an entire army of the dead. He’s not scared that he is limping and injured and definitely won’t make it. He’s just scared to do it without Merlin.

And when Merlin looks at him and says, “Nah, I’ve seen the woods already”, Arthur knows Merlin had heard it all, and chose the kindest response possible that doesn’t spot on his worry and fear.

Those fucking two.

These are the tiny moments I love. It’s the way Arthur’s eyes don’t leave Merlin after he looks away. Not only do they not leave him, but you can literally see his eyes flick around Merlin’s face.

It’s a moment just for Arthur. To observe and appreciate his friend up close. He even does a little gulp as he’s taking in his side profile, his cheekbones, his chin. His Merlin.

Arthur loves Merlin. He was destined to.

My contribution to the @bbcmerlin-reversebang this year! I had the pleasure of working alongside the lovely @remaymberme and their story a single thread of fate(tied me to you) <3

Also a shoutout to the ever amazing @feuxx for betaing and helping me through the fest ^_^

Merlin overhears a bunch of nobles talking about how much he really gets away with, so he slowly pushes the boundaries.

Merlin, sitting patiently beside Arthur in a council meeting: My foot is injured, my lord.

Merlin, walking down the hallway, blatantly eating Arthur's food: I am testing the king's food for poison, my lord.

Merlin, wearing Arthur's crown: I am trying to see whether it needs to be resized, my lord.

Merlin, sitting on the throne: I am trying to see if the king would benefit from a cushion, my lord.

Okay but are we surprised Arthur attached himself to Merlin so ridiculously quickly? When he found out he was not just a big disappointment to his father only in 1x09? Whereas Merlin has been telling him his life is worth more than a trophy at a melee since ep2 and disrupting important treaty signing ceremonies because Arthur might be in danger

this scene in the hunter’s heart 4x11 is probably the source of merlins ff trope where nobles tries to win arthur through merlin and it’s so crazy to me that it’s canon

i love how mithian goes straight to merlin and ask him to give her a chance, because merlin, a servant, is arthur’s closest person

she could have chosen one of the knights, she could have chose gaius, could have chose aggravaine, but she chose a servant, a member outside of the royal court

do i need to say how much outsiders can see that merthur is probaby in love??

S1E1: The Dragon's Call

First day of redrawing a screencap from every episode of Merlin... (until I get bored with it)

Merlin isn't afraid that arthur will kill him if he discover his magic, he isn't afraid about people putting him on a pyre. He can snuff the fire if he wished to. He can cut sword (he literally does it as a 80 yo man)

Merlin is stronger than anyone else if he really wanted to, if he wasn't blocked by something else nothing could bare him from conquering the world.

Then what scare Merlin so much? What could make someone who is literally magic make himself appear weak, make him lie so many time that he starts to believe he can be stopped?

Love. Merlin is afraid to be unlovable. To be a monster. He is afraid to never find somewhere to belong to. That's what drive him and what pull him down.

Arthur, flirting as a joke that really isn’t a joke: So when are you going to go out with me?

Merlin, without missing a beat: I don't know. When are you going to ask?

— Later, in a round table meeting —

Gwaine, too sober for this shit: And you just ran away?!

Arthur, bi panicking: I didn't expect him to flirt back!

History will say they were different sides of the same coin

"Your first battle wound." *Wraps Merlin's wound in ripped of fabric of his shirt*

There is something so adorable about that happening so late in the series. Because it's true... Merlin's previous battlewounds have been burns, poison, etc. But never blood. And most of these things Arthur doesn't even know about.

And Arthur's mind instinctually goes: I've been watching you, always. This is your first wound and maybe you're freaking out about it, so don't worry it's cool actually. I don't care that I've had worse wounds. We're not moving until we took care of it! I won't move until I took care of you.

(how lucky am I to finally take care of you?)

Merlin: seriously? The good shirt!!!!

Arthur:(internally: why is he so calm? He should be freaking out! That's a serious wound! Have embarrassed myself? I imagined this moment differently) don't worry, you can mend it.

Arthur's definitely spend sleepless hours at night imagining how to react if Merlin ever got hurt. And now he's confused af because it didn't go as planned.

Meanwhile Merlin:

help, i just got slapped in the face with the existence of WILL. be still my beating heart as i write an essay on this man, will of ealdor

firstly, i adore the silent and implicit trust hidden in the first joke that introduces will’s character. like merlin’s been aware his whole life that if his secret is ever found out, he will be hunted down and persecuted, but here comes will with a jab that they both inherently understand is a joke in the macabre style only true friends can lovingly master. the smile they share almost immediately gives me ned stark and robert baratheon meeting again in the courtyard of winterfell in season one of got. there’s also something so normal in their interaction that speaks of a familiarity borne from their equal status and years of friendship. i know merlin’s friends in camelot tend to skew to the non-royal/non-noble, but when you tally it up, those closest to merlin often hold some title that’s greater than merlin’s role as arthur’s servant. gwaine is a knight implied to be of noble blood; lancelot, percival, and elyan are also knighted and esteemed members of arthur’s court; gwen is the lady morgana’s maid and close companion long before she is ever queen; gaius is a physician and long time member of camelot’s court; morgana before her betrayal is literally uther’s ward. i feel like when placed among them all, merlin has a tendency to fade into the background offscreen. obviously the audience knows how important merlin is to the overall story given how much of the storyline focuses on him, and the characters regularly acknowledge merlin’s importance to them or arthur, but all of them still regard merlin as merlin the servant from camelot and few of them are privy to the plots we as the audience see firsthand. and even when they acknowledge him for his merits, his role as arthur’s close friend and confidante takes precedence. look at leon’s reaction in the later seasons when merlin is bewitched by morgana. merlin literally makes a comment about plotting to kill arthur and leon barely even blinks before quipping back, “driving you mad isn’t he?” or something along those lines. except for a few instances with even fewer characters, they never get a chance to know him as merlin the sorcerer from ealdor.

will does! and more than that, he got to know merlin as he is without arthur. we all hype up their status as magical soulmates but damn if i wasnt living for how jealous of arthur will seemed to be in this episode. call me crazy, but it makes me desperately headcanon a realistic past in ealdor for merlin, full of hardship and strife, but never without it’s moments of happiness. furthermore, will’s lone appearance in season one shines some real light on the unfairness of the fate that has been bestowed on meelin. the moment that will points out why he’s been so obstinate with arthur really strikes a deep chord. sure it could be just jealousy, but more compellingly, i choose to read it as a deep sense of care for merlin. everyone merlin has met within camelot, (or reunited with in the case of his own mother) has continually pushed him closer and closer to arthur. will presents a crucial exception. he knows exactly who merlin was before camelot, and who merlin is completely separate from arthur.

will is staunchly in merlin’s corner, and that position allows him to identify a key characteristic of merlin’s series’ long arc: his complete devotion to arthur. will even points it out himself: merlin could singlehandedly defend their home if he just used the full extent of his power. merlin doesn’t, and actively chooses not to because of his desire to stay close to arthur. it’s such a small moment, but i think it demonstrates how much of merlin’s decisions become motivated by his desire to stay close to arthur and to always put arthur first, even at a detrimental cost to himself. merlin understands and readily accepts arthur as his destiny, but this acceptance does not come about independently, instantly, or of merlin’s own volition. it does so eventually, but initially merlin sticks by arthur’s side because of the encouragement of everyone around him. “arthur needs you, merlin” or “arthur is your destiny, merlin” or “arthur is a good man, merlin. he has the potential to be a great king, he just needs the right people, merlin.” its codependent as hell.

sure, merlin originally does not tell arthur about his magic because they do not know each other and as far as merlin knows revealing his magic would lead to his death, but eventually the reasoning changes and becomes so focused on doing what’s best for arthur. merlin can’t tell arthur because then arthur would have to kill him and then who would look after arthur or ensure his fate? merlin can’t tell arthur because if arthur chooses to defy uther’s law, merlin is then forcing arthur to turn against his father and how could he look after arthur then? merlin can’t tell arthur because another betrayal from magic would ruin everything and truthfully, he wonders how would arthur react? merlin comes to fear what his magic might do to arthur and what it’s reveal might mean for his place in camelot more than the laws of camelot and their verdicts.

by this logic, merlin is a magical solar system orbiting entirely around the celestial body known as arthur pendragon. eventually merlin cared more about his relationship with arthur and what arthur thought about him than his own life. in retrospect, it’s so sad that will died so early on, because it strips merlin of a person solely in his corner. will’s death is the first in the series’ long pattern of loss that merlin endures and that eventually comes to define him because people either find out about his magic and their knowledge is directly tested against his loyalty to arthur, or he cannot allow them to know about his magic because it will unravel his relationship with arthur.

will, freya, balinor, morgana, mordred, arthur.

also the fact that will covered for merlin’s use of magic in his last moments just adds to the tragedy AND the growing pile of moments merlin could have told arthur about his magic but didnt. and also the fact that will literally died to save arthur. like tell me that just doesn’t prove my point. tell me. will never stood a chance. tell me every aspect of merlin’s life does not get consumed by arthur pendragon.

i’m all for merthur being soulmates, but god the original series is rife with the unbalanced mess of merlin being wholeheartedly aware of arthur’s great potential and destiny leading to some intense devotion and faith that yes, arthur earns and pays back in full measure but can never fully reciprocate because he just does not know anything. by the triple goddess, it can get so toxic. i wish will had lived if just for that. and like the jealousy arthur gets whenever merlin has other people. because i 100% live for possessive arthur and protective merlin dynamics.

guardian of the once and future king

question for my fellow merthur compatriots, i recently started reading a merlin canon fix-it where merlin’s modern name was emrys hunithson, and like i love that name, touching, meaningful. but that and another post on this website has me thinking about the lovely alternatives merlin might use as his name in a modern world.

like yeah, he could go by merlin emrys, merlin hunithson, emrys hunithson

but imagine if he took up the last name pendragon.

1500 years pass and merlin’s traveling the world as merlin pendragon, as emrys pendragon or better yet

ambrose pendragon.

merlin signs all his contracts and credit card receipts with the name a. pendragon.

arthur and the rest of the roundtable + gwen + morgana return but can’t find merlin. WHY?

because they’re looking for the wrong name.

I wonder what Merlin would’ve done if he’d ever been in a situation where Uther threatened Arthur with a hand on the throat like he’d done to Morgana. Throughout the show Arthur was shown to be stronger physically than Uther but what if there was a situation where Uther was being his abusive self and actually hurt Arthur... I think Merlin would’ve made Uther spontaneously combust

Listen to King and Lion Heart on a loop and rewatching Merlin bbc for 6th time