Like many other Merlin fans, I am still mourning the loss of this wonderful series and still sniffing at the final episode. But the questions continue to niggle at the back of my mind: what happened next? What happened to Kilgarrah and Aithusa? What happened to Camelot – was magic reintroduced or not? So I thought I’d set out to explain my personal view on what happened following Arthurs’ death.
“The Diamond of the Day: Part 2” ended with Gwen assuming the throne of Camelot with the remaining knights at her side and Merlin seemingly wandering off into the wilderness. But I’d like to think that before Merlin disappeared, he returned to Camelot (still overcome with emotion at the death of Arthur) and went to Gwen. He explains to Gwen how he tried to save him, but not mentioning he has magic. As we saw in the episode, it seems that Gwen worked out that Merlin was the great sorcerer who saved the day. I think that Gwen would tell Merlin this and tell him that it’s alright, and thank him sincerely for looking after Arthur right until the end. Gwen would offer a place for Merlin in the castle, perhaps a position of great authority. But Merlin, filled with grief and called to go and wait for the Once and Future King to return, leaves under cover of darkness and wanders through the forest.
Leaving Merlin for a while we come back to Gwen, the knights, and Gaius left in Camelot. I don’t think that Gaius would live much longer as he would now feel he’d played his part by mentoring Merlin from beginning to end, and now that Merlin had gone he would feel like he’d lost his purpose. He would continue to look after Gwen and then die a peaceful death in the place that he loves. The knights would feel an increased sense of loyalty to Gwen, feeling that it would be their last gesture to Arthur to make her safety their greatest priority. But would one of them end up marrying her? My personal opinion is that Gwen would not re-marry, but I think if she were it would have to be Leon. He is the gentlest and most level-headed of the knights. And I think that magic was once again accepted in Camelot, as Gwen’s tribute and thanks to Merlin.
They didn’t suggest that Gwen was pregnant at the end of the series; therefore I don’t think she was. So who assumed the throne after her? That is the one thing I honestly just can’t think of a solution to. Surely the Pendragon line must come to an end until Arthur returns.
One thing that I feel really wasn’t wrapped up well at the end was what happened to the two dragons. It was clear that Kilgarrah was nearing the end of his life, but Aithusa was still young and had lost Morgana. I think that she would have returned to Merlin and been his companion for a long time; after all he was the last Dragon Lord. Merlin would forgive her, it’s in his nature.
And finally we come back to Merlin wandering the country for what seems like eternity. I don’t know what he did all that time whilst waiting for Arthur to return – maybe some of you have some ideas. Maybe he’s still around now, appearing on TV now and again… oh wait that’s just Colin Morgan.
Thank you for reading, I would love to hear any other theories! And just a shameless plug for my fan video…
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