The return of a freshly grown-up Mordred in ‘Arthur’s Bane’ and his subsequent defection to Camelot’s cause puts Series 5 into a completely new dimension.

In contrast to Morgana’s recent allies, the muscular Helios and Arthur’s devious Uncle Agravaine, the young druid seems determined to follow his own path. From what we saw at the dinner table scene with Morgana, Mordred follows his own rules of conduct and does not seem to share her bloodlust. It is apparent that cartoon villainy will not suffice for this most pivotal of character.

One possibility is that Morgana is playing the long game with Mordred as her inside man, but this angle was exhausted thoroughly with Agravaine and it is unlikely to be used again. Mordred’s saving of Arthur at the climax of last night’s episode looked real enough and surely even Morgana is not enough of a method actress to allow herself to be stabbed. Could she rely on healing from Aithusa the dragon a second time?

Another twist to this situation is that Mordred is fully aware of both Merlin’s powers and his secret identity as Arthur’s manservant, far more than Morgana knows about her nemesis Emrys. While we know that Merlin has seen Arthur’s fate, and Morgana has seen visions of that climatic battle, who knows what Mordred has seen? Could he too be aware of the druid seer Lochru’s predictions for Arthur’s death?

Also, we must remember that he holds a grudge against Merlin, who attempted to prevent his escape from the druid encampment in Series 2’s ‘The Witch’s Quickening’. Mordred left with the chilling line: ‘I shall never forgive this, Emrys, and I shall never forget.’

In Arthurian myth the character of Mordred appears to have taken many forms, sometimes as an illegitimate son of Arthur from an incestuous union with Morgan Le Fay, and sometimes as his nephew. On other occasions his mother is not Morgana, but Morgause and sometimes he is the child of Morgause and King Lot. His siblings include some familiar names too, such as Gwaine and Agravaine.

Mordred is generally presented as a traitorous knight, sometimes plotter and schemer or otherwise just an opportunist. Geoffrey of Monmouth’s Historia Regum Britanniae sees him left in charge of the throne with Arthur absent fighting a war. Mordred assumes the crown himself and takes Guinevere as his wife. In other versions, such as Malory’s Le Morte d’Arthur, Guinevere resists him and flees. Some elements of the tale appear to inform the Guinevere/Lancelot love story which became popular in later versions, and of course we have already seen this in Series 4.

Mordred’s fate, as the usurper and adulterer, is to meet Arthur in a climatic battle and to be the one who delivers a fatal blow to the King. The battle often sees his death too, but in some versions he survives and is hunted down by Lancelot who gives him a gruesome and sometimes cannibalistic fate.

In all these other tales, Mordred is not seen as a magical figure. Our druidic Mordred has a very different motivation, so it seems unlikely he will be coveting power or pestering for Gwen’s affections. In this interpretation of the story he still owes an allegiance to both sides as both Morgana and Arthur were involved in saving him as a child. This is doubtless as far as this series can go towards conveying his divided loyalties and keep the right side of the television watershed.

Going forward, other than a fateful destiny at Camlann, it would appear the options are pretty open and, in fact, early Welsh traditions apparently cast Medraut as Guinevere’s brother and as a heroic figure. Certainly we can expect his actions to be dictated by a desire to change Camelot to a place where those with magic are free to practice it without fear.

Perhaps he might initially seek do it from within the kingdom rather than as an opposing force, so in some ways his goals might not be so far removed from Merlin himself. Whether they can put aside a mutual mistrust and any lingering animosity to work together of course is another matter entirely.

What do you think the future holds for Mordred? Let us know below…

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