Merlin “The Once And Future Queen”

OK, so, let’s take a moment to look at a future relationship and why it might happen.

See, Arthur discovered a little something:  he only wins the annual jousting tournament because he’s the crown prince and people let him win.  As such, he decides there’s only one thing to do:  pretend to leave Camelot, come back in disguise, and just see how well he can do when people don’t know he’s him.  Merlin is in on it, a farmer is recruited to pose as a mystery knight when he takes his helm off, and Arthur can be the guy with his helmet on.  All he needs is a place in town to stay in while “Arthur” is officially off hunting a magical beast he made up to fool his father.

So, he stays in Gwen’s place.  And he acts like Arthur.  And the two…get closer.

Why?

Well, Arthur is used to being treated like a prince, and he somehow takes over Gwen’s house until she finally snaps and tells him off. Twice.  And Arthur…takes it well.  Someone finally treated him the way he really wanted to be treated.  And the two seem to be legitimately falling for each other, but it all ends with Arthur acknowledging he can’t act on anything as long as Uther is alive, and everyone knows Uther is a putz.

Heck, in the spirit of pushing back, Arthur gets a bit in Gaius’ face over the whole “cleaning out the leech tank” thing.

So, yeah, Arthur and Gwen in a relationship that makes sense.

Oh, and a rival king sent an assassin to kill Arthur to make up for Arthur’s killing that king’s own son in an accident, and Merlin saves Arthur (again), and Arthur actually counsels forgiveness in a move that shows wisdom in a young man.  But man, that whole Gwen thing is going somewhere.