A/N: Hello everyone. I have been out for a very long time. But I was always looking for a way to complete my series of three fics. Some of you might know me as an annoying idiot, who comments on their fics. So, here is my final thank you.

Merlin does NOT belong to the BBC

Surprised? Yep, that is me. You are currently reading the third part of this series with 43 chapters in total. And you are still here! So, you could say you are either liking my style (at least a little bit) or you enjoy this crazy writer babbling about a fictional show without any claim of completeness, realism or anything else…

Yeah! Moreover, the title of this chapter is the ultimate provocation. Every writer knows that the lines about the BBC should be at the beginning of a fic and now I claim the complete opposite in this last chapter.

Is it a funny joke? A little bit. But I want to explain this. You know that all my provocations in the previous chapters are related to contradictions, logic issues or other problems of the show. It's the same with this title. Of course, Merlin and everything, that was presented in the show, belongs to the BBC. I won't deny this, especially since I could not pay a lawyer, who would be able to deal with the big big BBC.

Nevertheless, the crucial part of the previous sentences is the following part "…, that was presented in the show, …".

There is one simple reason to write and read fanfictions: Something is wrong with our favorite show, movie or whatever. It might be a tiny detail, a what-if-question, or the entire freaking plot. It's our job to fix this. Let's do it the big way! Yeah, these NEW and IMPROVED characters and story belong to us, the writers and readers. Let's be hones the show Merlin gave and gives us more than enough reasons to write fics.

Several years ago, I was a little annoyed by many fics, where the plot is … err … predictable. These new and improved versions of Merlin are about an Arthur, who does not die at the end of the show. He excepts Merlin's magic and makes him court sorcerer. The great king Arthur lifts the ban against magic, and everyone celebrates. LOVE, PEACE and HARMONY. You know these fics, don't you? BORING!

I hate those fics. Not just because they are extremely predictable. The main problem is that these stories start at a certain point of the show but ignore everything that happened before this point. I want to illustrate this by the following gedankenexperiment:

Imagine a kingdom, regime, etc. that starts a war against a specific part of there own population. It's a big war with genocide and all the other stuff. After many years (or even decades) of war, the tyrant dies. The followers of the tyrant stop the war. Up to now, you should be able to follow me very easily. It happens all time in fictional and real world.

But now comes the crucial part. The followers demand absolute loyalty and submission of those people, who suffered under the war and genocide. Moreover, they blame a few rebels among the hunted people for everything that happened during the war and demand the Nobel Peace Prize for themselves.

What the f*****!

Do you see the similarities between my tiny gedankenexperiment and the previously described fanfictions?

I tend to believe that there are two main problems in the show, which cause almost all contradiction between the original idea and the rather hasty end. In the first seasons the show demonstrated some interesting points and a group of very talented actors. They wanted to describe the beginning and evolution of the characters that we all know from the legends. Unfortunately, that is also were the first main problem of the plot originates. There had to be a rather simple and fairytale in order to create a child-friendly family show. There is nothing negative about family shows, but the idea of an interesting description of individual characters combined with a simple good-and-evil plot was the key to all later contradictions and logic issues. I know I said this before (several times), but the concept of 'making' Camelot the `hero-part´ and everyone else the `villain´ was stupid right from the first episode.

Druids, who do not resist when being slaughtered and persecuted are good magic users. Everyone else who is fighting for freedom, justice and pure survival is evil and should be killed by the heroes of Camelot. Who is going to survive this shit?

The second main problem comes from the presented understanding of the prophecies. Prophecies are set in stone. This is the understanding of our heroes and as brave TV viewers we are supposed to follow the hero, especially when a show is so fixed on the good-and-evil plot.

The problem with this understanding becomes clear when you think it to the final end. Avoiding a dark prophecy like `Morgana and Mordred united in evil´ is very simple. Kill them as soon as possible! I am terrible in bible-related topics, but I guess there is a story where a king kills all babies in order to avoid a prophecy of him being stopped by one of these babies in the future. On the other side Arthur is supposed to be a hero – in the future. It doesn't matter what he does before. We have seen only a little bit (because the show is written from Camelot's POV).

That is the final consequence of prophecies set in stone. We should be aware of this.

From my POV, there was a chance to 'fix' this. The show should have ended with season 4. Sounds crazy, doesn't it? Well, you are right the term 'fix' is too much. But it could have been better. Do you remember the last scenes in season 4, where when Aithusa saved Morgana? A really cool scene. The true meaning of this becomes obvious when you think about Kilgharrah's words about Aithusa: "The white dragon bodes well for Albion, for you and Arthur, and for the land you will build together." The final scene of Merlin would have been a true statement and so much possibilities at the same time.

Please understand me correctly, there were some good scenes in season 5. But most of the times the characters were reduced to one-dimensional stereotypes in order to have the end from the legend. The producers were running out of time.

Well, I have been grumbling a lot, haven't I? Every reader of my fics will come to the point where he/she thinks: "Oh my god! Come to the point. What's your solution?" You are absolutely right to think that. But the ugly truth is that I have no solution and believe me I've thought about it for a long time. I FAILED.

But one point is clear to me. We have to do it the BIG way. Remember, tiny changes won't truly `fix´ anything. Merlin does no longer belongs to the BBC. It belongs to us now. So, we are free to speculate about totally new things. Indeed, I have some of those strange and crazy ideas that I want to share with you.

At first, we need to think about the actual situation. From my POV we are talking about a civil war without any heroes or villains. There are just a few people fighting for what they think to be right. If we start from this, it is obvious to ask how to `pacify´ the situation. Nowadays, civil wars are `fixed´ be creating some kind of unity government, which consists both former war parties. It also helps if leaders of both sides are directly part of this. Sounds complicated, doesn't it?

Despite of this rather formal description, I tried to `transform´ this idea of a unity government into the world of Camelot and Albion. What do we need to achieve that? Here are my 5 rules for the promised Golden Age.

We would need a situation that is so terrible and desperate that both sides would at least try to think about some truce.

The term leaders would naturally include KING Arthur, but we all know that Camelot would have long gone without Merlin. Let's be honest the true leaders of both sides are Emrys/Merlin and high priestess Morgana. Would Camelot accept a magical Merlin, who has been lying to all of them for so long?

The problem of point 2 becomes even more serious when you think about Morgana. She was always a lone warrior, who is running her head through every wall she could find. How to create a situation, where she accepts her connection with all other magic users, especially those loyal to Emrys. Can you imagine Morgana truly accepting advice and influence from someone, who is not Morgause?

Now things start to become truly complicated. Our former `war parties´ must accept this new `unity government´ of Merlin and Morgana – and our two favorite idiots must accept themselves. `Unity government´ does not necessarily mean that they must rule as king and queen of Albion. It's more symbolic. But they need to be an important part of the decisions for both non-magical and magical world. So, can you imagine a situation where these former archenemies would openly walk through Camelot and sit at the Round Table discussing laws?

In the next step, both sides need to admit their crimes in this war. This could be rather simple for Morgana, because her logic is very simple: Everyone who does not fight Uther supported him. Point. She will not have big issues with the population of Camelot blaming her. These guys were the enemy. Of course, Arthur, Merlin and the rest of the Camelot are not so different when it comes to simple and one-sided logic. The problem for our `heroes´ would be that they have to explain the need of this truce to the people of Camelot and this means tell the people that their perfect king Arthur was not so noble and knightly when killing innocent women and children or using magic for his own personal advantages… Oops!

The last step would be to SHARE. Well, we all know that the magic community has nothing left. Decades of war means that all temples and other places are burned and ruined. Camelot is a world of differences. This kingdom is rich – I mean freaking rich. Btw. one reason for this is that Camelot has been quite busy stealing. The vaults of Camelot are full of magic things. Oops, we did just find another hint why part 4 could be tricky. Nobody wants to see the Knights of the Round Table as shady robber and murderer. Of course, these `honorable´ men and women of the Round Table are also supposed to share their power.

Do you see a few problems with making these five rules work? I do so and that is actually the reason why I failed to find a proper solution.

Nevertheless, I want to tell you a few things about two possibilities that I have thought about. Before doing so, you have to remember what I personally like about fics. I prefer it when characters are pushed out of their comfort zone. That causes high dynamics, emotional struggle, possible fighting, etc. But I believe it will be a better situation in the end when breaking free from the comfortable situations of the beginning. What does this mean for our two favorite idiots, who are supposed to form that `unity government´? Morgana is used to be royal and stubborn. Ordering people around and fighting without thinking of the consequences is typical Morgana-style. Merlin on the other hand liked to be servant. You don't have to care about anything just following orders. Therefore, the prophecy was quite attractive for him. Keep Arthur alive no matter what. Isn't that simple. Arthur can use his head and questioning himself how to create Albion, free magic, peace and these complicated things. Merlin obeys and eliminates everything in his way.

So how can we use these characteristics of Merlin and Morgana in order to push them out of their comfort zone into a position as `unity government´.

Can you imagine a situation where the truce between magic and non-magic world is created by an arranged marriage between Merlin and Morgana as symbol? Now court sorcerer and court seer must assist the Round Table in creating the true Albion. That could be such a great fun and would be quite believable since peace treaties were usually sealed by marriages in the middle ages.

Can you imagine a situation where Merlin would be Emrys the king of magic or even magic itself? This Merlin has to put magic community first priority. He would stand up against Arthur. Can you imagine such a Merlin that defends his people openly against the repression of Arthur's reign? Such a Merlin/Emrys needs to subdue Morgana as well. A high priestess is supposed to serve magic and that would d mean Morgana has to serve Merlin. I was looking for a situation that binds Morgana to Merlin's will as long as he acts as a real king of magic. That could be so cool when both characters would be forced to act against their normal attitude. The servant becomes the king and the queen must serve him. Oh funny!

You can see that both ideas are strongly influenced by my personal wish to push them into a completely different situation. I would enjoy seeing them struggle and fight against a situation that they cannot avoid in order to maintain the truce. So where is the problem? Why did I not write these fics? Because I failed to fulfill the previously mentioned 5 rules for the promised Golden Age.

Main problems seem to be rule number 1 of such a desperate situation and rule number 3 a force strong enough to fix Merlin and Morgana into this `unity government´. Both needs to be fixed from both sides. On the one side Morgana cannot lash out her anger against Arthur and the others and must be `loyal´ to Merlin, on the other side she needs enough space to stand up for magic community. The same is true for Merlin.

One point that might help in this direction was already mentioned in the first scenario. I want Morgana to become seer and no magical fighter. Yep, you heard me correctly I want her to lose almost all magic permanently. Her seer powers could be a very helpful addition to Merlin's magic but were neglected in the later seasons. A shame. It was the only real advantage of Morgana against Merlin and could have caused a far more interesting evolution. Additional to that it would give us some more emotional struggling and I enjoy tormenting my favorite characters a little. But more important is that I think a seer Morgana could `fight´ far better for her kin than just running in useless battles without a real chance to win. I was thinking about some magical items or something else that remove all other magic and forcing her to truly deal with her seer powers. A more vulnerable Morgana might be slightly easier to push into situations mentioned above, but do not underestimate her fighting spirit… Unfortunately, I have no way to push Merlin.

However, I believe in you. You are much smarter than me. You can find a way to `fix´ all our favorite idiots and create a real Golden Age of Albion. Remember Merlin belongs to YOU.

This was my last and final chapter. I want to thank everyone for participating in our crazy speculations. I will continue reading.

GOOD LUCK AND GOOD BYE.

DO IT THE BIG WAY!