I’m rewatching Merlin again and I just love how Lancelot seems sensible but is actually bat shit insane.
He’s got his morals, obviously, but he’s also just as chaotic as Gwaine and Merlin in his own way.
Like, a day after meeting Merlin he committed identity fraud.
Then he found out Merlin had magic and immediately decided keeping it secret would be more fun than turning him over, which would’ve gotten him the knighthood that he’d been dreaming of his entire life. Really love that he’s not a class traitor there.
Then he rode off into the sunset, cape billowing like a dramatic ass theatre kid turned DnD player with a leaf blower (talking from experience on that one)
Then he joined a fight club
Was fully prepared to sacrifice himself for Gwen with a hero’s death
Then left for some personal growth, which was fair enough but I’m kinda disappointed we didn’t get to see more of his character development. That’s what headcanons and fics are for though.
But then in Camelot, after getting his knighthood, he constantly encouraged Merlin to use his magic - with his “I’m sure a man of your talents can think of something” like they weren’t in a busy hallway where anyone could’ve seen - and casually fell in love with seeing magic used freely. The look in his eyes whenever he sees Merlin using magic is just soft, I don’t know how else to explain it. (Take that in whatever context you want it, I’m a sucker for Mercelot but romantic or platonic doesn’t matter to me.)
And THEN! Merlin survived the Dorocha and he tried to prank the king, someone secretly but not so secretly in love with Merlin, with his “Bad news, he survived.” Thing.
There’s definitely more, but I just love how chaotic Lance is and how much he got away with because his reputation as the noblest knight gave him a lot of freedom to do dumb stuff and then bat his eyes all pretty to get out of trouble.