#gauis

Appreciation time for Hunith being amazing

<<1 part, 3 part(soon)>>

Bonus:

Imagine putting your brain into a robot because you wanted to outrun mortality but now that you're immortal you cant die.

Dude has it terrible. his wife is dead his friends are dead, his son is dead, the other district guardians are dead, everyone else is dead, his district is fucked up, Zaphkiel is probably dead as hell or left, Abram is the reason everything is fucked up and the world is ending.

Then some guy waltz in, he fights him and after a long fight he loses yet he's still alive.

He can't die.

His life is horrible omg.

While watching the TV show, I was surprised to notice the extra-ordinary long life span of Gauis.

Despite being the oldest recurring character in the series, he outlives Uther, Lancelot, Gwaine, Morgana and even ARTHUR!!!!!

Like For Real?

The more I think about it the answer lies in the Season 1 Episode 13 - Le Morte D'Arthur .

A quick Synopisis

In this episode, Arthur is mortally wounded by the questing beast. Merlin goes to Nimueh to bargain his life for Arthur’s. While Arthur recovers it is Merlin’s mother Hunith whose life now hangs in the balance. Merlin decides to exchange his life for Hunith’s but Gauis reaches Nimueh before Merlin and bargains his life instead

When Merlin meets Nimueh, he sees Gauis lying unconscious presumably dead.

Merlin angrily shouts, saying he bargained his life for Arthur’s, not Hunith, Gaius or anyone else. Nimueh says the Old Religion does not care who lives or dies, only the natural balance of life and death is restored i.e Life pays with Life

They engage in a magical battle; Nimueh injures Merlin who tells Nimueh: “You should not have killed my friend!” She is then struck by lightning summoned by Merlin, and dies.

Gaius awakens because Nimueh’s death has compensated for his own.

Nimueh was a priestess of the old Religion. It was she who impregnated Ygraine ( Arthur’s Mother) using magic which lead to her death and the beginning of Uther’s persecution against magic users. However despite being older than Merlin she appears to be the same age as him. This proves that her aging process is very slow and/or she has a very long life span.

Since Nimueh’s death revived Gauis, he ends up inheriting her lifespan and/or slow aging process.

This could explain how Gauis seemed to recover quite well despite being brutally tortured in the Witchfinder episode. A man of his age could not have survived or not recovered as well from such an ordeal.

Because I haven't really talked about it in years, a bit of background, I used to be absolutely obsessed with BBC Merlin. It was baby me's gateway into fantasy. I loved it.

Rewatching it now is fun cause most of the early seasons still hold up.

But the one thing I am furious about is how easily finished and badly handled the Nimueh plotline was.

Nimueh was such an interesting character. Arguably a lawful evil/neutral character who had tried to help her friends/allies to conceive a child. But despite her warnings and her help, not only did Uther turn on her but also used this as a justification to murder hundreds of people.

She is so angry about this she spirals into vengeance. She believes strongly in balance but Uther's actions push her over the edge.

Merlin helps Uther, so she tries to kill him but on realising who he is, she makes a last ditch attempt to reach out.

...

She's so fascinating. She's probably the only person with her specific knowledge left, who was... At least implied to be friends with Uther and Gauis (and I assume Ygraine too).

She mirrors Morgana, just as Merlin mirrors Gauis and Arthur mirrors Uther. And I wish wish wish we went into her more rather than just killing her.

There's a fascinating relationship between Merlin and Nimueh that could have been explored after they got over the initial antagonism.

ALSO!!

We know Morgause was brought up by the high priestesses... Does that mean Nimueh raised her? The idea of Nimueh trying desperately to school this child in the ruins of a temple she once lived in and still serves is tragic.

Can you tell I made up my own childhood lore headcanons based on the scraps we got🤣