History YMMV / Merlin2008

* EvilIsSexy:
** Uther Pendragon is played by Anthony Head, aka Giles from ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer''.
** The first episode has Eve Myles as an evil witch.
** Lady Catrina...[[AllTrollsAreDifferent when she's in public, at least.]]
** Not to mention [[https://www.deviantart.com/kahlan-amnell-13/art/Nimueh-Merlin-295902145 Nimueh]] and [[http://13.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_kt9b9m6AwQ1qa9rf5o1_500.jpg Morgause]].
** And as of Season 3, [[spoiler:Morgana]].
** And Cenred.
** After being {{Brainwashed}} into twisted versions of their true selves, Lancelot and Guinevere get a sudden increase in sex appeal.
** Averted with Merlin, who is usually pretty sexy, but can only be described as pretentiously goofy in his evil state.
** Well, [[WildCard "evil"]] is stretching it, but Mordred in Season 5 has tons of fangirls.

* MagnificentBastard: "[[Recap/MerlinS01E06ARemedyToCureAllIlls A Remedy To Cure All Ills]]": [[DeadlyDoctor Edwin Muirden]] is a sorcerer posing as a physician, seeking revenge against Uther Pendragon for [[YouKilledMyFather executing his parents]]. Using enchanted beetles that enter a person's ear, Edwin hides one in a bouquet of flowers for Lady Morgana, making her fall ill. With Gaius unable to cure the mysterious ailment, Edwin offers his services to the royal family and successfully 'cures' Morgana, impressing Uther. Discovering Merlin had magic, Edwin [[WeCanRuleTogether entices Merlin with an offer to mentor him]]. Edwin then discredits Gaius' competence as a physician, leading to Gaius being sacked and replaced by Edwin. Then prescribing a paralysis potion in place of Uther's medication, Edwin then reveals his identity and sends a beetle into Uther to eat through his brain.

** In ''The Coming of Arthur'', Uther is dragged before the throne, de-crowned, and forced to bow before Morgause. After a few angry words, Morgana steps out from behind the throne and confronts him. Theatrically done, but it does make you wonder just how long she'd been hiding behind that throne waiting for the right time to make her grand appearance.
** In the episode where Uther falls prey to a mandrake spell, he goes mad and tries to run to the frontline of an ongoing battle for Camelot, but Arthur manages to pull him back. Which should have settled that case... until Uther suddenly takes a completely out-of-nowhere ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim arrow in the knee]].''

%%* CreepyAwesome: Why Mordred is an EnsembleDarkhorse.
* DesignatedHero: Oh, so much Kilgarragh! While he does give Merlin advice, it's nearly always in riddles, and he is a selfish, arrogant JerkAss, who could well be said to be responsible for many of the characters' Face-Heel-Turns.

** Mordred, who, in this version, is played by a child. We're supposed to view Mordred as a CreepyChild because the show plays ominous music over extreme close-ups of his large blue eyes, but all that's played out on screen is a kid who's been hunted, persecuted, and had everyone he's ever loved killed by the people who are generally considered "the good team". He uses his magical powers to kill a group of knights advancing on him with swords drawn, clearly preparing to kill him - this was apparently meant to prove to the audience that he's evil incarnate, even though the good guys make self-defensive kills all the time. When Mordred reappears as a young adult in Season 5, the results are...muddled. At first, he very much fits this trope: He saves Merlin and Arthur's lives more than once and proves his loyalty to them, yet Merlin insists on seeing him as evil to the point of twice leaving him to die (even choosing to encourage Arthur to continue persecuting magic users rather than save Mordred). When Mordred's FaceHeelTurn finally comes, it's because Arthur has the woman he loved executed. Understandable but perhaps unfair, since she had tried to murder Arthur and he was prepared to show her mercy if she had shown any sign of wanting peace. (Although [[NiceJobBreakingItHero Merlin]] didn't help by abruptly deciding the best way to reconcile Arthur and Mordred was to foil Mordred's attempts to take her away from the area peacefully.) In the end, Mordred dies after less than two episodes as a Type II AntiVillain, during which he only really qualifies as a villain because he's on Morgana's side and shows [[EvenEvilHasStandards clear distaste]] at her more ruthless acts.

* OneTrueThreesome: Merlin/Arthur/Gwen is practically canon. With the three of them destined to rule Camelot together, the writers have created HoYay between Merlin/Arthur, established OfficialCouple status between Arthur/Gwen, and provide plenty of friendship between PlatonicLifePartners Merlin and Gwen. A recent dream sequence showed Arthur crowning Guinevere queen whilst Merlin watches with a look of abject adoration on his face. Gwen also originally had a crush on Merlin, who was oblivious, but obviously admired her and recognized to Lancelot that he found her admirable and very beautiful. As of ''A Lesson in Vengeance'', it's revealed that Arthur and Gwen take Merlin with them on their wedding anniversary. Think about that for a minute.

* FandomRivalry: There was a small with the show ''Series/{{Camelot}}'' when it aired. ''Merlin'' fans overall disliked how ''Camelot'' seemed to focus more on sex, violence and bad language instead of plot while being critical of the characters, while ''Camelot'' fans considered ''Merlin'' to be for kids and taking too many liberties with the source material.

** Given that ''Series/{{Smallville}} appears to be the inspiration for the show, many ''Merlin'' fans enjoy ''Smallville'' especially since both shows have similar characters and themes.

* {{Fanon}}: Fans theorise that the Dark Tower [[spoiler: Morgana uses to brainwash Gwen]] in Season 5 is how Morgause corrupted her in the first place. It would also explain Morgana's sudden switch to total villainy.

** Given how long he's been around Arthur, there are more than a few people who suspect Leon has figured out that Merlin has magic, and simply is too polite to say anything.

* {{Fanon}}: Fans theorise that the Dark Tower [[spoiler: Morgana uses to brainwash Gwen]] in Season 5 is how Morgause corrupted her in the first place.

* MagnificentBastard: "[[Recap/MerlinS01E06ARemedyToCureAllIlls A Remedy To Cure All Ills]]": [[DeadlyDoctor Edwin Muirden]] is sorcerer posing as a physician, seeking revenge against Uther Pendragon for [[YouKilledMyFather executing his parents]]. Using enchanted beetles that enter a person's ear, Edwin hides one in a bouquet of flowers for Lady Morgana, making her fall ill. With Gaius unable to cure the mysterious ailment, Edwin offers his services to the royal family and successfully 'cures' Morgana, impressing Uther. Discovering Merlin had magic, Edwin [[WeCanRuleTogether entices Merlin with an offer to mentor him]]. Edwin then discredits Gaius' competence as a physician, leading to Gaius being sacked and replaced by Edwin. Then prescribing a paralysis potion in place of Uther's medication, Edwin then reveals his identity and sends a beetle into Uther to eat through his brain.

** Mordred's [[{{SORAS}} adult self]] in Season 5 was much better received than his CreepyChild persona in the first two seasons.

** "[[Recap/MerlinS02E07TheWitchfinder The Witchfinder]]"): [[ManipulativeBastard Aredian]], the titular [[TheWitchHunter Witchfinder]], is a charlatan out solely to profit off King Uther's hatred of sorcery. Aredian frames innocents as witches and sorcerers, planting evidence and breaking them through physical or psychological torture in order to obtain [[FalseConfession confessions]] before seeing them burnt and moving on. Framing the court physician Gaius, he lies to Gaius that his closest loved ones, [[Characters/MerlinTheCharacter Merlin]] and [[Characters/MerlinMorgana Morgana]], will be safe should he confess, only to gloatingly reveal he makes no bargains with "sorcerers", even forcing others to assist him on the threat of burning them as well.

* CompleteMonster ("[[Recap/MerlinS02E07TheWitchfinder The Witchfinder]]"): [[ManipulativeBastard Aredian]], the titular [[TheWitchHunter Witchfinder]], is a charlatan out solely to profit off King Uther's hatred of sorcery. Aredian frames innocents as witches and sorcerers, planting evidence and breaking them through physical or psychological torture in order to obtain [[FalseConfession confessions]] before seeing them burnt and moving on. Framing the court physician Gaius, he lies to Gaius that his closest loved ones, [[Characters/MerlinTheCharacter Merlin]] and [[Characters/MerlinMorgana Morgana]], will be safe should he confess, only to gloatingly reveal he makes no bargains with "sorcerers", even forcing others to assist him on the threat of burning them as well.

* CompleteMonster ("[[Recap/MerlinS02E07TheWitchfinder The Witchfinder]]"): [[ManipulativeBastard Aredian]], the titular [[TheWitchHunter Witchfinder]], is a charlatan out solely to profit off King Uther's hatred of sorcery. Aredian frames innocents as witches and sorcerers, planting evidence and breaking them through physical or psychological torture in order to obtain [[FalseConfession confessions]] before seeing them burnt and moving on. Framing the court physician Gaius, Uther lies to him that his closest loved ones, [[Characters/MerlinTheCharacter Merlin]] and [[Characters/MerlinMorgana Morgana]], will be safe should be confess, only to gloatingly reveal he makes no bargains with "sorcerers", even forcing others to assist him on threat of burning them as well.

* AbandonShipping: Interest in Arthur/Morgana had already begun to wane after their dramatic decrease in scenes together during Season 2, but the third series revelation that they were secret half-siblings ended it for a lot of viewers -- though there are still some fans out there.

* CreepyAwesome: Why Mordred is an EnsembleDarkhorse.

* OneTrueThreesome:
** Merlin/Arthur/Gwen is practically canon. With the three of them destined to rule Camelot together, the writers have created HoYay between Merlin/Arthur, established OfficialCouple status between Arthur/Gwen, and provide plenty of friendship between PlatonicLifePartners Merlin and Gwen. A recent dream sequence showed Arthur crowning Guinevere queen whilst Merlin watches with a look of abject adoration on his face.
** Gwen also originally had a crush on Merlin, who was oblivious, but obviously admired her and recognized to Lancelot that he found her admirable and very beautiful.
** As of ''A Lesson in Vengeance'', it's revealed that Arthur and Gwen take Merlin with them on their wedding anniversary. Think about that for a minute.

* UglyCute: The Manticore.
** [[spoiler: Aithusa]], post imprisonment.

* [[WhatDoYouMeanItsForKids What Do You Mean, It's a Family Show?]]: ''Merlin'' is primarily marketed as a family show, and it has stayed that way for its entire run. Yet they are constantly toeing the line on how much they can imply. They can't say the word "sex"? They have a scene where Uther says that a lord's wife was lonely, and that lord's daughter is his own. They can't do incest? Well, they'll have this UnresolvedSexualTension relationship between Arthur and Morgana in Season 1, then reveal that they're brother and sister in Season 3 after they've both moved on. Violence? The huge amounts of GoryDiscretionShot and BloodlessCarnage should give you some indication of just how much they manage to get past the radar. The last two seasons originally aired in a later timeslot (after 8 PM) in the UK compared to the earlier times for the first three seasons (although this was at least partly to do with the unmovable live two-hour show airing beforehand).
** That's not to mention the rather bleak themes of genocide and YouCantFightFate that underlie the whole show.

** Arthur, at least in regards to how he treats Merlin. A lot of fans think that either he already knows Merlin is a warlock, or he at suspects that he is and is in denial. On the other hand, there's the question of whether he really deserves to be king, as he needed help to draw the sword from the stone, has been easily manipulated throughout his entire kingship, and doesn't seem to realize that a crisis is the ''worst'' time to go into HeroicBSOD.

* [[WhatDoYouMeanItsForKids What Do You Mean, It's a Family Show?]]: ''Merlin'' is primarily marketed as a family show, and it has stayed that way for its entire run. Yet they are constantly toeing the line on how much they can imply. They can't say the word "sex"? They have a scene where Uther says that a lord's wife was lonely, and that lord's daughter is his own. They can't do incest? Well, they'll have this UST relationship between Arthur and Morgana in Season 1, then reveal that they're brother and sister in Season 3 after they've both moved on. Violence? The huge amounts of GoryDiscretionShot and BloodlessCarnage should give you some indication of just how much they manage to get past the radar. The last two seasons originally aired in a later timeslot (after 8 PM) in the UK compared to the earlier times for the first three seasons (although this was at least partly to do with the unmovable live two-hour show airing beforehand).
** That's not to mention the rather bleak themes of genocide and YouCantFightFate that underlie the whole show. ''cheerful'' in comparison.

** There was even a way to avoid the UnfortunateImplications in "The Fires of Idirsholas", regarding resolving the spell. Merlin could have offered Morgana the chance to take the poison willingly to save everyone else, offering her the chance to make a HeroicSacrifice and prove Kilgarrah wrong. This could have resulted in two things: Morgana refuses and Merlin is forced to give her the poison, thus making her FaceHeelTurn a bit more credible. Or else she does so willingly, but Morgause intervenes and spirits her away to corrupt her, and Merlin then has to try and find out if she can be rescued. Either would have provided something more interesting that the infamous pantomime villain Morgana became in Season 3.

* SpiritualSuccessor: Of Smallville.

* ShipTease: Season 1 involves one long ShipTease between Arthur/Morgana and Merlin/Gwen before the former end up being LikeBrotherAndSister and the latter become PlatonicLifePartners.

** Merlin's rant in ''The Once and Future Queen'' becomes this. It's pretty funny at the time, but then the second half of the series kicks in and he's permanently cemented himself as a TheWoobie, and the fact that he could have an extensive rant about his normal life before all that happened just makes it all worse.

** [[HoYay Arthur/Merlin]] and ''how''. Many fans watch the show just to see them together. On every youtube video that the two appear together in, almost all the comments are about the homoerotic subtext in their relationship, about how good they look as a couple or how they are secretly boyfriends/married. Not to mention that there's another fanbase almost as large as the Arthur/Merlin one, just for [[ActorShipping Colin Morgan/Bradley James]].
** [[FirstLove Lancelot/Gwen.]]

* UnfortunateImplications:
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zLYvJKX7gR0 Noted here]] about the process of Morgana's FaceHeelTurn robbed a female character of all agency in her own story, and that she only became the villain because she was first screwed over by an alleged friend who betrayed her trust to save his own skin, and then brainwashed by a half-sister with her own agenda - and it's presented as her own fault even though she had no say in her turn to villainy.
** Dave Bradley published [[https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8189/8437095783_005a239bb5_o.jpg an article]] on the poor treatment of the show's female characters; citing how most of them became a DamselInDistress, DisposableWoman or BitchInSheepsClothing.
--> "I loved ''Merlin'' and I treasure its five-year run including the lads' tearful finale, but I can't help feeling it suffered from a boys' club atmosphere where women were often treated as invaders."

* BileFascination: Rather than being put off by the sheer amount of plot contrivances, {{Idiot Plot}}s or characterization mistakes, some of the fans embrace this as part of the show's charm.

** Morgana is a biggie. Many fans (including Creator/KatieMcGrath herself) don't consider her evil, but rather anything from a WellIntentionedExtremist to just plain AxCrazy. However, given what the writers and directors have her do, it would seem they want the audience to consider her a full-blown villain. Whether or not her significant FreudianExcuse (living in constant terror of Uther, watching his [[BurnTheWitch genocide of those who practise magic]] and [[FalseFriend Merlin's betrayal]]) is an adequate justification for her actions (which include the needless deaths of innocent civilians, her [[EvilIsPetty horrendous treatment of Gwen]] and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking excessive smirking]]) is a matter of debate.

** Morgana is a biggie. Many fans (including Creator/KatieMcGrath herself) don't consider her evil, but rather anything from a WellIntentionedExtremist to just plain AxCrazy. However, given what the writers and directors have her do, it would seem they want the audience to consider her a full-blown villain. Whether or not her significant FreudianExcuse (living in constant terror of Uther, watching his [[BurnTheWitch genocide of those who practise magic]] and [[PoisonousFriend Merlin's betrayal]]) is an adequate justification for her actions (which include the needless deaths of innocent civilians, her [[EvilIsPetty horrendous treatment of Gwen]] and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking excessive smirking]]) is a matter of debate.