Untitled

Let's start with Morgana,no Merlin didn't handle her situation the best way he could I agree. And I absolutely sympathize with how awful her it was. However saying that Merlin 𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘥 Morgana his secret because they were in the same position is ridiculous. Since -for one- they really really weren't. Morgana's position as a noble and uther's beloved beloved ward added dreadful complications and didn't really help her mental state,but it also afforded her protection that Merlin -as the bastard peasant servant - couldn't even dream of having. If they had ever gotten caught,it would have been 𝘩𝘪𝘴 head on the -very literal- chopping block. People 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 consider how this would have benefited Morgana and don't consider the risk to Merlin in this equation.

And people are missing another crucial factor, 𝘮𝘢𝘺𝘣𝘦 Merlin telling Morgana about his magic would have prevented her from going Darkside....and maybe it wouldn't have. And all it would have done is give her some terrible ammunition to use against him. Morgana certainly didn't seem to mind using Camelot's anti magic laws for her own benefit to get rid of gwen -who and done 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 to her-.and is very quick to try and get rid of Arthur despite knowing him her whole life.Imagine what she would have done to Merlin?

Which brings to my next point,this idea that it's entirely Merlin's fault what Morgana became because he didn't help and also the poisoning,which is blatantly false because..he 𝘥𝘪𝘥. He led her to the druids(which backfired yes but he 𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘥 ) against both Gaius' and kilgarrah's advice.

Now the poisoning,I agree Merlin made a mistake here I think he should have told Morgana about his suspicions instead of tricking her(although I completely understand why he did it). Saying this one act is what set Morgana on her path is blatantly false,mind you Morgana figures out that Merlin only poisoned her because she was holding the sleeping curse on Camelot,like that doesn't remain a secret and it didn't change anything for her.There were a lot of other factors involved and Merlin did NOT 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘤𝘦 Morgana to become evil. He didn't force her to do all the terrible things she did later. Those were 𝘩𝘦𝘳 choices. And maybe it would have been different if Merlin had admitted he had magic,and this is speaking as someone that 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 Merlin to reveal magic, however it's insane to say that he 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘦𝘥 to, especially with so much at risk(his life,gaius' life, Arthur's life,the entire future of Albion) Considering Merlin only reveals his magic willingly to like 2 people.

Saying that Merlin (or even Gaius although he's FAR more to blame what this man did is wild) is entirely at fault for Morgana removes Morgana's responsibility for her own actions and puts it squarely on Merlin's shoulders,which is entirely unfair.

Moving on to Arthur,this one pisses me off even more. Cannot describe how many fics I've seen where a magic reveal happens and Arthur not only threatens but and/or/ banishes Merlin and the narrative frames it as 𝘑𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘦𝘥 because "Merlin lied to him". Bitch Merlin lied because he would have literally gotten killed if he didn't??. Merlin keeping a secret that would have gotten him banished at best and executed at worst is somehow equated to Arthur 𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐩𝐞𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐨𝐜𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭 𝐌𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐧'𝐬 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 or hell even WORSE. It's diabolical. If the fic has Merlin APOLOGIZE for lying or feeling ashamed for keeping it a secret I'm out, immediately. As if his literal existence wasn't illegal.

"well if Merlin had just told Arthur about his magic than he would removed the ban" maybe so...but why?? Why does Merlin 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 to reveal his magic and everything he's done for Camelot for Arthur to realise that the genocide is incredibly cruel and unjustified and to stop it??

"oh it's because he's never seen the good in magic" that's bullshit. Aside from the fact that magical people don't need to prove that to begin with. Arthur HAS SEEN the good magic can do. Like contrary to popular belief Merlin wasn't sitting on his ass the entire time. He 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘴 that someone healed Gwen's father. He 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘴 that dolma and dragoon helped him asking little in return aside from" hey maybe stop killing my people and think for the minute that it would take you to realise that magic isn't innately evil". He 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘴 that the magic ball of light helped him in the cave. He knows that will the 'sorcerer' died to save him.He has nightmares about the screams of druid children. He knows mordered- a child- was almost executed for no reason aside from being a druid. Why is ALL OF THAT not enough?? Why does he need more proof?? He has all the pieces to realise that magic doesn't actually corrupt and he still doesn't put them together. Why does Merlin have to risk his life and safety and freedom to teach a grown man a moral lesson he's more than capable of learning by himself and CHOOSES not to.

Speaking of,maybe Merlin's magic being revealed would have prompted Arthur to finally do something about the ban...and maybe it wouldn't have.

It's just like with Morgana,you people act like the positive consequences of that decision are absolute and never consider the -potentially disastrous - negative ones.

It's just as likely (if not more so considering his canonical reaction) that Arthur would have banished Merlin. And let's look at the consequences of that shall we?

Banished Merlin can't protect Arthur quite as well, limited by both distance and lack of information(assuming he still wants to which I wouldn't blame him if he didn't)—> Arthur lasts two weeks max -and that's me being generous- before he dies to the latest magical threat,since Merlin isn't here to save his ass—> Albion never happens and magical people never get their freedom (if the prophecy that the show is built on is to be believed).

Reminder that it is not just Merlin's life on the line here. But 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 are relying on him to protect Arthur so he can make Albion happen,but even if it was 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 Merlin's life and safety at stake,he would have still been justified in not telling Arthur.

Why?? Simple, if you were gay and your friend/employer/loved one was very homophobic, would you come out to them? No right?? Because you know they won't accept you and will treat you differently than they have up until that point.

How many times does Arthur openly condemn magic and sorcerers Infront of Merlin? Way too many count. He does it at the 𝘧𝘶𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘔𝘦𝘳𝘭𝘪𝘯'𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥 who DIED to save him. And it doesn't get much better after that.

Arthur's mentality towards magic the entire series is basically "one step forward,three steps back" he goes from being somewhat open to it one episode and back on his whole "magic is pure evil" the next. Like when he promised dragoon that he would remove the ban when he became king if dragoon healed Uther but went back on that when dragoon -seemingly- killed him.

Almost like....magic is simply a tool and wether it's good or bad depends on its user(he's so close to figuring it)

Arthur alternates between accepting,and even using magic,when it benefits him and condemning it when it doesn't (Uther would be so proud and I mean that in the worst way possible)

It's enough to give me whiplash,I cannot imagine what it was like for poor Merlin. His terror was completely justified.

That's not even getting into how he treats Merlin in general and how he literally threatened to banish him for talking about Gwen and agravaine. Imagine what he would have done about as something as bid as Merlin having magic?

And his reaction when it's finally revealed proved that Merlin was right in keeping it a secret,the man literally says he should've killed Merlin the day they met and it takes him days to come around. It's probably a good thing Arthur was actively dying I dread to think what he would have done otherwise.

Merlin never feeling safe enough to tell Arthur about his secret is a failure on 𝘈𝘳𝘵𝘩𝘶𝘳'𝘴 part ,not Merlin's.

Would have been to 𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐖𝐖𝐗 𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐚𝐬 𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐲 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐥𝐞𝐭 𝐠𝐨.

WWX was a literal one man army. His reputation was drawing new disciples to yunmeng Jiang(who would later go to beg him to take them on as disciples at the settlement). It didn't 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 that yunmeng Jiang didn't have as many disciples as they used to, because WWX was more than enough to make up for their losses.

The real reason the jin was trying their damnest to drive a wedge between JC and WWX is because with WWX as part of the Jiang,they were basically untouchable. And for Jin guangshan who Wanted to become the new wen Rouhan,well that was unacceptable.

So they played on JC's insecurities and resentment issues,and JC-like the moron he is- fell for it,hook line and sinker. In fact he did half the work for them,by lying that WWX declared himself an enemy to the cultivation world and not telling anyone that the wen remnants were no army.

JC not helping WWX and very publically cutting ties wasn't "the best thing for the scet" because it 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 make anything better,like at all. It only weakened them,which is what JGS wanted to begin with.

How exactly did WWX leaving the Jiang benefit them at all apart from JGS and minor sect leaders playing JC like a fiddle by stroking his ego and saying "that he did the right thing" because WWX was "disrespecting him" (which never happened)"oh the others were giving him shit because WWX doesn't carry his sword" Fun fact: WWX actually left his sword behind alot before he gave up his golden core. But JFG didn't care so no one else cared.. people take their cue from leaders. If JC had shut that down and yk 𝘥𝘦𝘧𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘥 his "brother" they would have let it go.

Had JC stuck by WWX and taken in the wen remnants, citing the 𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐯𝐞 debt he owed WN and WQ,which would have cost him 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨. And spewed some bullshit assuring everyone he had"WWX in line" that would have been it. "But the Jin were-" the Jin wouldn't have been able to do 𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘵. Especially with clear proof that the wen remnants were innocent.

This argument doesn't work for me because from a purely political stand point, making sure that WWX had absolutely no reason to leave the Jiang was his best bet. WWX is the single most valuable asset the sect has.

It's not like it would have been hard. WWX loved him(against his better judgement),and loved lotus pier. Had JC not made the very empathetic demand that WWX throw the wen remnants (including a grandma and a toddler btw) back into the death camps. Had he not tried to kill WN despite what WN had done for him. Had JC not personally burned every bridge that could have been used for WWX to both protect the wen remnants and stay in YJ,and as long as he didn't do anything heinous,then I doubt he would have left(considering he'd been conditioned to try and see the best in him. And WWX makes excuses for JC's horrid mistreatment of him,but the second JC turns that on someone else, WWX is swiftly putting an end to that)

WWX'S inventions that are still being mass produced in canon 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴 after WWXs death- because the cultivation world is hypocritical as fuck- would be sold entirely through YJ making them even richer than they are probably. And When WWX and LWJ inevitably get together,it gives JC one hell of an alliance with the lan sect(god knows he wouldn't have been able to manage it on his own)