The Role of Merlin

It also says after the May day Massacre that

“So, many lordys and darownes of thys realme were displeased for hir children were so loste; and many putte the wyght on Merlion more than on Arthure. So, what for drede and for love, they held their pece. (40.1-4)”

This shows Merlin’s willingness to take he blame for Arthur’s actions. Merlin could have easily told the people that he had nothing to do with the massacre of the children. But his love for Arthur appears to run deeply enough that he willingly accepts their disdain. The text says nothing about Merlin accepting this hatred, but since the text also says nothing about Merlin resenting it, it can be assumed he accepted it in order to protect Arthur. By allowing the major portion of the blame to fall on his shoulders, Merlin allows for the eventual success of Arthur as a benevolent leader and allows for the blame and social unrest caused by the May Day Massacre to dissipate upon Merlin’s upcoming leave from the story. Merlin makes himself a scapegoat for atrocity so that blame doesn’t fall on Arthur. By making Arthur appear to be less to blame than he really is, more people are willing to affectionately follow his leadership.

In the face of all of these attempts to rein Arthur in and make him into the great leader he is destined to be, Merlin makes sacrifices on his own part. He allows Arthur to make mistakes that he will have to learn from. He also allows Arthur to commit acts that will eventually return to haunt him. He does this not out of malice, but in order to allow Arthur to learn from these mistakes. Arthur is forced to rethink his military tactics upon Merlin’s scathing criticism, and later leads more successful and fruitful military campaigns. He allows Arthur to murder all the babies in the kingdom so Arthur can learn that destiny is destiny. Fate is unavoidable, and he must deal with it. Merlin could have told Arthur that killing the babies would not eliminate the eventual threat to the kingdom, but Arthur’s impulsivity at the time would probably not have permitted him to believe Merlin. By instructing Arthur in these matters the does what he can to teach Arthur the finer points of leadership and still allows for Arthur to make his own mistakes and eventually learn from them. This combination of mentoring and mistakes is what allows Arthur to become the judicious leader he eventually becomes, and is what makes Merlin good counsel for Arthur.