Merlin is still trending and i want to say something important:
Merthur is not ‘queer baiting’. Anyone with eyes could see that the powerful, believable, star-crossed love story in the show was between Merlin and Arthur.
Julian Murphy: “We did, very genuinely, think of the episode as a love story between two men. Which is what I think it is, jokes and innuendo aside,” he says. McGrath adds that, “you can’t deny that Merlin and Arthur do love each other, you know? In whatever love way you want to think, there is no denying.”
I’m genuinely grateful to the producers and the director (the same one as for 5.01 and 5.02 - also strongly Merthur) that they wrote and shot and allowed the final Merthur interaction to be acted as a love scene.
Merlin will go on and on and wait for Arthur to rise again - that, we were explicitly told, was their fate. That’s why a part of me loved the ending. I’m very, very grateful they chose finally to honour Merlin and Arthur, and Colin and Bradley, and give us this at the end.
Everything was saved and elevated by the decision to make the ending all about Merlin's relationship with Arthur, the HEART of the show.
Everything from the ‘Just hold me,’ said in Arthurs old imperious Merlin-speak was beautiful. Arthur’s speech, his need to tell Merlin at the end how much he meant to him, his ‘Sorry‘ and his ‘Thank You‘. The emotion conveyed between Colin and Bradley, the way they played the physicality of the scene – it was stunning :)