One Hypable staff member shares their thoughts on the Merlin finale, examining the emotional conclusion of the Merlin and Arthur relationship and why BBC got it exactly right.

I feel like Merlin should have been prefaced with, “This is not a love story. This is a story about love,” 500 Days of Summer-style.

I never shipped Merthur. I fell for the Arthur/Gwen pairing the first time Arthur said “Guine-vere” in that way that he did, and I was happy to see them finally overcome the obstacles and get married. But romance was never really what Merlin was about, and I was always more keen on the medieval world, the complicated family ties, the camaraderie of the knights, and the downfall of Morgana. Merlin and Arthur’s friendship was great, but I never saw it as more than just another aspect of the show.

But then the finale happened, and I realised that I had been wrong. Because what the show’s send-off ended up being was not the epic, fast-paced battle I had anticipated, but rather a quietly personal, intimate string of scenes between the two main characters, with everyone else mainly sidelined or dispatched of without much fanfare (with the exception of Guinevere, who got a beautiful sendoff as she took the throne of Camelot) – and that was exactly how this story had to end.
Merlin was never about Arthur and Gwen, or Morgana, or the knights. It wasn’t even about Arthur. All of that was important to the story, yes, and to the legend it was based on, but as enjoyable as those elements were, they were not the core of the show. BBC’s Merlin was, above all else, a story about Merlin’s feelings for Arthur: the friendship, the loyalty, the devotion – and yes, the love.

I am not going to psychoanalyse a fictional character and speculate about what Merlin may or may not have been feeling for Arthur at any given time – and anyway, I bet there are probably a lot of fans better suited to that particular task than I am. Let’s just all agree that he was feeling for Arthur in whatever capacity, and that this, ultimately, was what shaped his path and the direction of the show.

Merlin came to Camelot, met Arthur, and despised him. Merlin met the Great Dragon and thought, damn, I have to protect the idiot who hates me. And Merlin came to slowly realise that Arthur not only didn’t hate him, but needed him in his life. He needed his magic, yes, but Arthur never knew about that. From Arthur’s point of view, he just needed Merlin. Their destiny may have been written in stone, but their tentative friendship and grudging affection for each other had to come from themselves – and we watched them build that up for five frustrating seasons.
Alexander Vlahos described the finale as a “platonic love story” between Merlin and Arthur. And that is exactly what it was. The entire show was like a classic “will-they-won’t-they,” except rather than building towards some predictable final scene with loud, swelling music and a formulaic kiss in the rain, Merlin was building towards a far more complex conclusion; one which involved both men accepting the other for nothing less or more than what they were, and acknowledging that there was no one they would rather be with, at the end of all things.

And the final episode saw the culmination of that love story, and it was everything it needed to be and more. If this truly had been a romance, it would have been like the end of Casablanca, The Notebook and Pride and Prejudice all rolled into one – but it wasn’t a romance, it was something far more permanent and all-encompassing than that.

When all else had been stripped away, we were left with Merlin and Arthur. With Arthur dying in Merlin’s arms, looking into Merlin’s eyes, telling him to, “Just hold me.” And instead of goodbye, it was “thank you.” While there was a lot left unsaid between them, and a lot of things Arthur never got to do, he died peacefully in the arms of someone who loved him.

It was Merlin who would be left alone, just as he had always been, and therein lay the true tragedy. But the dragon brought him that small, tiny speck of hope which proved once and for all that Arthur was the only thing which ever truly mattered to Merlin: “This is not the end. Arthur will rise again.”

And so, thousands of years later, Merlin is still at Avalon. He is still waiting for Arthur. “I was born to serve you,” he had told him once, and so it would always be. “Stay with me,” he had begged, but Arthur hadn’t been able to. Instead, Merlin had stayed with Arthur.

This isn’t about shipping. It isn’t about romance and whether or not you see it. And if anyone is rolling their eyes thinking, “god, get over the Merthur already,” you’ve been watching the wrong show. There’s nothing to read into here, there’s no “head canon” or other fandom conjecture. There was only the raw, honest story which the Merlin writers were brave enough to tell exactly as it should be told, and which the actors handled with commendable grace and integrity.

The legend of King Arthur is one of the greatest stories ever told. And Merlin took that story and told it in an even better way. Because it was not just a story of Merlin and Arthur’s friendship, nor of knighthood and chivalry and magic and that romanticised, longed-for golden age of Britain.

This was a story of Merlin and Arthur’s relationship coming full circle. It was a story of their joint destiny, of the fact that even death could not separate them, and of the fact that they would always find each other. And there can be no greater story than that, nor one more worth telling.

Forget Romeo and Juliet. Forget Jack and Rose. Forget Frodo and Sam. Forget Buffy and Angel. Nothing, nothing will ever be as tragically, beautifully heartbreaking as Merlin and Arthur.

“You’re not going to say goodbye,” Merlin told him. “No, no,” Arthur replied. And neither of them ever did.

【翻译：

 一位Hypable的成员分享了他们关于梅林传奇最后一集的感想。他们审视了BBC关于亚瑟与梅林的感情关系，认为BBC得到了其中真谛。
我想如梅林这般的剧，在序言上应该加上一句话——“这并不是爱情故事，这是一个诠释爱的故事。”
我从来没迷恋过 AM，当亚瑟第一次叫“格尼薇儿”时我就喜欢上了AG，而且我也很高兴看到他俩在突破重重障碍后走到了一起。但王子公主般的浪漫爱情故事从来不是梅林传奇的主线。而于我而言则更喜欢中世纪的气息、复杂的家族关系、骑士们间的友情，以及莫甘娜的堕落。梅林与亚瑟间的关系是很重要的，但是我从没意识到那是此剧的关键。
但是看完了结局后，我意识到我之前错的多么离谱。因为此剧的结尾并不是我预料中的“如史诗般宏伟壮大” 、“快节奏的战场厮杀”，取而代之的是更加安静私密的，关于两位主角的场景。而其他角色只是略有提及（除了格尼薇儿，何等荣耀，她被加冕为 Camelot的王），这就是历时五年的梅林传奇的最终章。
梅林传奇从来无关AG，或者莫甘娜，以及那些骑士们，甚至无关亚瑟。 虽然这些因素都是该剧的组成基础，但是与其他令人愉悦的元素一样，他们都不是该剧的关键。BBC的梅林传奇，是一个梅林对亚瑟的情感故事：友情、忠实、充满奉献精神。以及，爱。
我并不打算在此对故事中的角色进行心理学分析，或是猜想梅林对亚瑟有没有感觉。我想在这方面梅林的粉丝们比我更胜任。所以就让我们姑且认为梅林无论是处在什么地位，都是对亚瑟有感觉的。正因如此，也铺就了他的道路，成为了全剧的前进方向。
梅林来到 Camelot，遇见了亚瑟，轻视他。遇到了巨龙，之后想，卧槽，我要保护那个讨厌我的白痴。但梅林在随后的日子里渐渐明白了亚瑟并不讨厌他反而需要他。从旁观者角度，我们知道亚瑟需要的是梅林的魔法，尽管他毫不知情。但是从亚瑟的角度来看，他只需要梅林。
他们的命运或许早已注定，但是二人的关系则是在试探中渐渐紧密——这也是我们五年来所一幕幕见证的。
Alexander Vlahos （莫德里克的扮演者）曾说终局是关于亚瑟和梅林的“帕拉图之恋”，事实上的确如此。该剧就是一个典型的“他们会或者不会”模式，而不像其他剧的结局模式：采用宏大夸张的音乐，并在雨中形式化的接吻。梅林传奇的结局相对而言要复杂的多。这一结局里梅林和亚瑟毫无保留的接受了对方，同时，也承认在一切的尽头，除了彼此，没有任何一人是他们想与之相伴的。
同时这个结尾也将这个爱的故事推向了高潮，也将该表现的全都一览无余的展示了。若这真是一部浪漫英剧，那就该如同《卡萨布兰卡》、《恋恋笔记本》和《傲慢与偏见》那样收尾，但是梅林传奇并非浪漫，它所诠释的东西比这些都更有包容性，也更永恒。
当一切喧闹皆退场，展现在观众眼前的只剩下亚瑟和梅林。亚瑟倒在梅林怀里，即将丧失生的气息。他看着梅林的眼睛，对他说“抱紧我”。并以“谢谢你”取代了“再见”。这一刻两人之间有太多未说出口的话，亚瑟也有太多该做却永远也不能完成的事。他平静的死在了一个爱着他的人怀里。
梅林又被孤零零的留在了世间，同以往一样。而这才是最大的悲剧。但是巨龙给予了他微笑和微弱的希望，并且再次印证了，亚瑟是梅林在世界上最重要的人。“这不是终结，亚瑟会再次崛起”。
因为这个预言，千年之后梅林还留在Avalon，依旧在等待亚瑟。“我生来就是辅助你的”，他就这样对他说过一次，但是从来没有违背过这个承诺。“留在我身边”，他恳求道，但是亚瑟没有做到，相反的，他一直留在了亚瑟身边。（亚瑟埋葬的地方）
不管你怎么想，这无关迷恋或者浪漫，如果谁一边揉着眼睛一边想“天啊，AM就这样结束了”，那你理解错了。这里并没有更多的细节去分析，这里没有脑补或者其他影迷的自行推测。这里有的只是一个漏洞颇多却诚恳的故事。梅林传奇的作者鼓起勇气去告诉大家梅林与亚瑟的故事原本应该是什么样的，而演员们用令人满意的方式将这一故事呈现出来。
亚瑟王的传奇是被历来传诵的最伟大的故事。而这部剧则接手了这个故事并将它以更好的方式演绎。 因为这个故事并不只关于亚瑟和梅林的友谊、骑士们的骑士精神、魔法或者或者那段使人们所着迷的英国黄金年代。
这也是梅林和亚瑟关系的一次完美阐述，是关于二人共同的命运的故事，甚至即使连死亡也不能将他们分离，而且他们终将会找到彼此。不会再有一个比这还好的故事了，它会被代代传诵，永世铭记。
忘记罗密欧与朱丽叶。忘记杰克与露丝（泰坦尼克）。忘记弗罗多与山姆（指环王）。忘记Buffy与Angel（吸血鬼猎人巴菲）吧。再也，并且是永远也不会有这样一部悲剧，如此动情的如亚瑟和梅林一样让观者心碎落泪。
“你并不打算说再见。”梅林对亚瑟说。
“嗯，不说。”亚瑟回答。
于是他们之间永无诀别。