Yeah, this is where I have trouble. Not because he doesn't have good moments, but because it's hard to pinpoint one that I think of as the quintessential Arthur-made-me-feel-something moment. Only that it was probably in season 4.
Hm. I dunno.
I'm going to go with that bit in A Herald of a New Age. I think we all know what bit I'm talking about. Where Arthur pours his heart out to a possessed Elyan. Where Arthur thinks he's about to be executed by a vengeful ghost and ends up being forgiven.
I remember finding this whole moment incredibly surprising when I first watched it, and the reason for that is because this reveals a nature about Arthur that we haven't really seen in the past, at least, not in this much depth.
First of all: again, context is important. For the entire episode, the people around Arthur (and we, as the audience) have been led to believe that the massacre that happened in that spot with all the flags was Uther's doing. It's very much something Uther would do, after all. The revelation that it was not Uther's order but Arthur's puts the entire thing in a new light. He talks about trying to impress his father, trying to prove himself to his men. Which are both understandable, considering Arthur's complicated relationship with, well, most of the world, but doesn't in any way excuse him. The acts committed here are implied to be completely irredeemable.
And what struck me was that Arthur knows that. He mentions these pieces of his perspective, but only weakly, and the desperation with which he says them shows that he knows that it excuses nothing.
It's also an interesting insight into the sort of upbringing Arthur had. I realize that isn't probably the main thing we're supposed to take from this, and I'll get to the important stuff in a moment, but I found it very interesting to think of a younger Arthur trying to impress his father and choosing to raid a Druid camp. This is the Arthur who equates magic with evil, after all. But he does say that he told them not to kill women and children, and that he knows that not everyone complied by that - probably because he was just a stupid kid at the time, and what right does he have to be giving orders, right? There is a certain mercy in his intentions, even believing that by nature they were evil, and a certain helplessness to stop the chaos that ended up ensuing when he found he couldn't control his men. There's just so much rich characterization here.
But leaving that aside for a moment, I find it interesting that this is one of my favourites, in comparison to what my favourite Merlin moment was. My Merlin moment was all about him returning to who he was and has always been. In a way, this is too - in some ways, Arthur is still the young man who asks for mercy even on those who he sees as irredeemable, and that's part of who he was and will always be, but in another way, his moment represents all the ways that Arthur is different from the one who appeared early on. An earlier Arthur certainly wouldn't have sympathized with a Druid, would probably have disguised his fear with hatred. But not only does Arthur sympathize with this Druid, who has already taken over the body of one of his knights and made several attempts on his life - it is Arthur who asks the Druid for forgiveness.
And, even more importantly, in my eyes, Arthur completely puts himself at the mercy of the Druid.
I can't remember whether he enters unarmed or if he throws down his sword, but either way, he doesn't have a weapon when he faced possessed!Elyan. Then he gets on his knees and makes his plea. And let's not get it twisted - this is not an explanation, this is a plea for forgiveness and for his life. Even when Elyan picks up the sword and makes as if to kill him, Arthur doesn't move to defend himself. He takes a few, bracing breaths, clearly panicking, but not willing to undo what he's just done in offering himself in total humility to the wronged party.
There's just a certain justice that Arthur surely must be aware of in peacefully offering his own life in a place where so many were lost in battle on his orders.
It's also, notably, a distinctly not Uther-like thing to do. As we know, Uther yields to no one, even when they're right, even if yielding is perhaps tactically the strongest way to go. This is the main thing that Arthur understands better than Uther ever did.
And in this way, Arthur does strengthen himself - if he's no longer at war with Druid-kind, at least, then that's one less war to fight, isn't it? Regardless of whether or not he agrees with the Druids, and it's fairly clear that he really doesn't, it's been shown (sporadically) that Arthur does respect them as a people. And while offering himself doesn't take back everything he did, it does mean something.
The other reason I like this above all the others is that it's one of the only moments I can think of where Arthur wins his own victory, and it's properly his. Pulling Excalibur out of the stone is often thought of as his turning-point moment, and in terms of that episode, it was, but my problem with that is that it isn't truly Arthur's victory. The fact that Merlin is stage-managing the whole thing makes it extremely satisfactory on Merlin's behalf, and I enjoyed that about it greatly, but it makes Arthur a pawn. No, Arthur may have thought he won that round, but he didn't. Merlin did.
But that isn't the same here. Here Arthur manages to make peace without A) Merlin's advice, save the constant reminders that mercy sometimes equals strength, which Arthur clearly applies here, but wasn't taken for this instance, or B) Merlin's magic, which, while Merlin is present, he seems far too gobsmacked to properly react.
Which makes this moment completely all about Arthur in a way that most of his moments aren't.
Which means that when Arthur earns the forgiveness of the Druid it was on his merit, and his merit alone.
And that's somewhat gratifying, since it does prove that Arthur's kingly instincts are decent without Merlin back-seat driving the entire time. Obviously Arthur needs Merlin, but it's nice to see that he can prove himself to be human and vulnerable and gentle when the time calls for it on his own account. Merlin isn't just molding him - Arthur does in fact have the stuff to be the Once and Future King.
On a different note, I go on and on about Colin Morgan's amazing acting, but Bradley James deserves kudos for this scene as well. Arthur doesn't get as much emotionally charged stuff as Merlin, but when he does, Bradley James does a fantastic job.
Basically, this was the first time that I felt something about this show that was completely about Arthur. And it surprised me how much I loved it.
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