#*flips table*

WHAT WHAT WHAT WHAT.

The extreme change in personality and motivations just doesn’t make any sense. Morgana from seasons 1 & 2 would’ve been at least a little conflicted over hurting Arthur. Wouldn’t have been quite so eager for the crown.

Though I do think Morgause underestimated how much Morgana already hated Camelot and possibly her desire for power as well. That and I think part of her desire for becoming Queen of Camelot has at least a speck of ‘me becoming Queen would mean that Uther and the world would finally have to acknowledge that Uther is my father,’ even though Uther being her father is one of the things she hates most about both him and herself (I wonder if there was a time when she was a kid where she wished Uther really was her father and then felt guilty about it because she already had a father who died protecting the kingdom and wishing that he wasn’t her father is a huge betrayal, only for that secret wish to be granted years later after already committing to killing Uther and destroying everything he’s built).

“Sometimes you have to do what you think is right, and damn the consequences.” Like that is still in Morgana. She has fully convinced herself that giving herself power is the right thing to do. She’s convinced herself that everything she’s doing is motivated by love for magic and those who wield it when really her motivations are hatred and greed.

That would be a really awesome and natural character progression, except her shift was so sudden and jarring. She went from being one of the most kind and compassionate characters in the show who was Arthur’s primary positive influence before Merlin showed up (how many times did remembering the Morgana of his childhood prompt King Arthur to be more kind and merciful?) and had such strong convictions and ideals. She had sharp edges and a mean streak (mostly directed at Arthur in an affectionate teasing way) and almost went through with a plan to kill Uther before she was even fully aware that she herself had magic, but she was also such a powerful force for good.

We don’t know what happened in that year she spent with Morgause, which is part of the problem. A year is a long time to be shaped by someone you trust with all your heart after being betrayed by just about the only person you’re out to who knows you have magic. But even with that you would expect some hesitancy, some echoes of who she used to be.

Imagine if her corruption was slow. Slow and inevitable. It’d be so much more painful watching Merlin desperately cling on to hope even as the remains of his friend, the person who had the potential to be his closest ally and understand him better than anyone else does (she still understands him better than anyone else. They both slowly lost sight of who they are and what is and isn’t worth sacrificing in pursuit of their goals) but even with being the most powerful warlock ever, the immortal Emrys, being powerless as his friend drifts a little further away every single day. (It’s also be painful for us as the audience. Merlin would be like a stand in for the audience as we all desperately hope for Morgana to come back but in the end Merlin has just as much power as the audience does).

Morgana’s story arc is already so painful. The moment Merlin realizes that there’s no hope in bringing Morgana back is still painful. Arthur seeing Morgana announce herself as Uther’s illegitimate daughter and crown herself Queen is painful (how many times did Arthur and Morgana wish as kids that they really were brother and sister? how much did it hurt to know that their father cheated them out of that because of his own cowardice and selfishness?). But if we could have actually seen the trajectory. If there was some kind of way we could understand how exactly she went from Morgana before, and Morgana after. If we could still have the same Morgana at the end of season 5 but be able to look back and see how it was all building up to this. Instead we got a smash cut. We had Good Morgana and Bad Morgana with very little in between, if anything.

Are you telling me that the night Sannie posted pics with this cup on Fromm and we were all losing it like it’s a nod to Wooyoung, and then later the Creep MV with the panther came out and we all lost it like HE WAS HINTING AT THAT

ARE YOU TELLING ME HWA WAS FILMING SKIN THAT NIGHT????

THAT WAS GOING ON WAY BACK THEN????