Picture the scene: It’s Christmas Eve, millions are tuning in to watch the series finale of beloved family fantasy show Merlin. Then, the dashing King Arthur is violently stabbed to death.
Billed as a coming-of-age retelling of the Arthurian tales, the humble BBC adaptation (2008 to 2012) reimagined sorcerer Merlin (Colin Morgan) as a young man hiding his magic and the heroic King Arthur (Bradley James) as a lost Prince.
In an alternate Camelot where sorcery is banned by the tyrannical King Uther, together their unexpected friendship forges a legend.
Alongside the young cast (also featuring Angel Coulby as Guinevere and Katie McGrath as Morgana), the series starred British acting icons such as Anthony Head, John Hurt and Richard Wilson.
The compelling premise, stacked cast and powerful narrative meant that after half-a-decade it was comfortably averaging over seven million viewers per episode, with the two-part finale even peaking at over eight million.
I was one of those fans. A bright-eyed 13-year-old clinging onto the last vestiges of childhood innocence before entering the cold embrace of adolescence.
After following the adventures of Merlin, BBC’s staple family-friendly Saturday night watch, for years it was all coming to a head in the season five finale – Diamond of the Day: Part Two.
So, you know, the stakes were high to stick the landing.
For those familiar with the original legends, you’ll know that the source material is dark, twisted, and tragic.
There’s murder, incest and torture (and that’s just scraping the surface) so the creators Julian Murphy and Johnny Capps had a mighty task on their hands turning it into PG viewing.
For the most part, they managed to crack the formula. Not only did we get the sweet pay-off of all the usual Arthurian tropes (sword in the stone, knights of the round table…) but it was also a hoot!
Despite the actual texts ending in tragedy with King Arthur dead and the promise of his resurrection at the time of Albion’s greatest need – no one actually thought that’s how the (mostly) happy-go-lucky TV series would end.
How wrong we were.
What happened in the finale of BBC’s Merlin?
Come December 24, 2012, fans hunkered down to see how Merlin would save Arthur from certain doom yet again after he was dealt a mortal blow (stabbed in the gut) by his loyal knight turned greatest foe Mordred (Alexander Vlahos).
And whether they would finally vanquish his friend turned surprise evil sister, Morgana. (Look, if you’ve got this far I’m going to assume you have a loose handle of the series, if not the myths).
After all, this was a children’s show. Surely it would end on a note of hope and optimism; that good conquers all and prejudice can be defeated; that the bright future we had been promised would be realised.
But, no. Instead, it was a cold shock of reality. So, there we were watching Arthur slowly die in Merlin’s arms as his best friend sobbed over his body before performing the funeral rites.
Already grief-stricken, it was compounded by the very last scene which shows an immortal Merlin in modern day still waiting for his King to rise. The implications of which are simply too horrifying to ponder for too long.
How big was the BBC Merlin finale audience?
According to BARB, Diamond of the Day: Part One, which aired on Saturday, December 22 raked in 8.45 million viewers (beaten only by Strictly and EastEnders across UK television).
The Diamond of the Day: Part Two, which aired on Monday, December 24, secured 7.8million viewers.
I’m still unsure what possessed the Merlin creators to traumatise everyone the day before Christmas but, needless to say, most of it was spent literally sobbing.
Now an adult, I have to somewhat respect the absolute mettle to go for it full throttle – no mercy and teach kids up and down the country that life’s tough, people die, so deal with it! Sometimes the dreams you sacrifice your life for simply don’t come true.
Still, even 13 years on, (unlike Arthur) the fandom refuses to die, holding out hope that there might one day be a season six that gives us what we really wanted.
Could Merlin return?
An (alive) King Arthur and his court sorcerer Merlin heralding in the golden age of Albion – is that so much to ask?
Maybe so, since it seems even all these years on the creators remains satisfied with how it all culminated, even if the fans were left devastated.
As Johnny told Radio Times about the show in 2023: ‘I don’t think I would change it at all.’
He added: ‘Spinning Merlin into modern times was our way of [opening it up] if people after us wanted to do something with it, but for Julian and I and the writers and the actors, we all thought that five series was really good and we were going out on a high note.’
I’m afraid it truly is the end of the road.
Instead, there’s been everything from fan-made season six scripts, over 55,000 fanfictions on Archive of Our Own and thousands upon thousands of TikTok edits from people who have not yet healed.
So, as we mark 13 years let’s raise a cup to one of the most devastating finales to ever grace the BBC.
And, hey, if this has inspired you to rewatch the show, or even discover it for the first time – take our advice and maybe skip the ending.
Merlin is available to stream on BBC iPlayer now.
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