Morgana

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Character
Name: Morgana Pendragon
Occupation: Lady, Queen regnant of Camelot (formerly), The Last High Priestess of old religion
Relationships: Uther (biological father), Vivienne (mother), Arthur (half-brother/former beloved), Morgause (half-sister or stepsister), Gorlois (legal father), Guinevere (half-sister-in-law), Igraine de Bois (stepmother), Tristan & Agravaine de Bois (step-uncles)
Fandom: Merlin
Other: Portrayed by Katie McGrath.
"watercolor head and shoulders portrait of Morgana, she is wearing a purple gown and a gold and jeweled headpiece worn in the center part in her hair"
Merlin: Lady Morgana by Kefalion
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Morgana Pendragon is one of the four main characters in the first two seasons of Merlin. She is a popular character in fanworks, including the OT4/5 and Gwen/Morgana femslash pairing. She is based on Morgana le Fay from Arthurian legends.

Morgana begins the series as King Uther's ward and part of the nobility. She stands up to Uther for unfairly persecuting magic users and is affectionate toward her maid, Gwen. Morgana is haunted by nightmares and is kept from understanding that she has magical abilities including seeing the future. She later learns that she is the half-sister (or step-sister) of Morgause and daughter of Uther. She and Morgause form an allegiance and she betrays Camelot. She is partly to blame for Uther's death (S04E03 - "The Wicked Day"), and has twice gain control of Camelot (S03 finale, S04 finale) but has been overpowered by Merlin, Arthur and his knights and forced to flee both times.

Canon

Morgana is witch and seer. She was born to woman named Vivienne, wife of Gorlois, who claimed Morgana as his daughter. Her biological father was in fact, King Uther, Vivienne's lover.

Vivienne's fate is unknown but Uther took Morgana in his care after Gorlois died. Morgana and Uther's son Arthur developed mutual romantic feelings to each other, not knowing they are half-siblings. In season 1 couple often flirts with each other. Arthur openly gazes upon Morgana and she is aware of his feelings and uses her influence on Prince whenever she needs help. Morgana also experiences many prophetic nightmares whenever Arthur was in danger, causing her great distress. Each time she tries to save him, but as she is too afraid to disclose her gift of seeing future to him, he never understands her, and remains unaware of how much she does for him. By season 2 couple appears to move on from each other with Arthur falling for Gwen and Morgana not having nightmares about his death anymore.

Woman named Morgause, born in house of Gorlois, is said to be Morgana's half-sister. It is never established which parent they shared; after Morgana is revealed to be duaghter of Uther, it's unknown wheter Morgause is her actual half-sister. Fact that Morgause was born in Gorlois's house suggests she is daughter of Gorlois, hence Morgana's stepsister, not half-sister.

Fandom

Shipping

Common Pairings:

Also commonly seen in the OT4 pairing of Arthur/Gwen/Merlin/Morgana or OT5 pairing of Athur/Gwen/Lancelot/Merlin/Morgana

Some rarer pairings are

Tropes

Morgana fanvids follow several tropes very strongly, depending on the series in which they were produced.

Series 1

In the Series 1, a major trope were the gen "dreaming" vids, which used the framing device of Morgana's dreams. There were also pairing vids that showed Morgana's precarious relationships within the show and how she was torn between them. Many of these also used the "dreaming" framing device.

Some influential vids including one or both of these elements were:

There were some pairing vids that followed a more traditional romance path as well, especially Arthur/Morgana vids.[1][citation needed]

Series 2

In Series 2, Morgana's increasing powers, her isolation and inability to control her magic, and the appearance of Morgause dramatically shifted vids into a more active, less dream-focused mode. These events also led to fewer purely romantic Morgana vids, though Merlin/Morgana pairings within Arthur/Gwen vids became far more common.[2][citation needed]

Influential Series 2-based vids include:

Examples Fanworks

Fanfiction

Gen

  • Enough by stbacchus. A different choice, a different ending. Words: 1400.
  • For In Thy Veins (the Runaway Mix) by noelia_g. "I'm magic, Morgana," Merlin says to her and she understands now, the way her skin reacts under his gaze, the way his fingers burn her skin even from inches away, where they're grasping the edge of her bed. Words: 1154
  • I’ve Come Too Far To See The End by fictional_clue. Morgana finds out the Merlin is Emrys. She wants some answers. (They are both victims and killers, and Arthur stands, unharmed, amid the carnage.) Words: 2345

Merlin/Morgana

  • A Different Dream by lady_ragnell. To prove a point, Uther marries Morgana to Merlin near the beginning of season one, and changes destiny as a result.
  • I, I Was The Only One To Know by fiercynn. After they leave the throne room, Merlin tells Morgana he's going to stop her. Hate!sex ensues. Words: 2286
  • Privilege by entangled_now. Morgana and Arthur are going to be the death of him. Words: 1788.
  • Thrift by Anonymous. West, she fled, into the claws of the wind; west, beyond Camelot and Caerleon; west, where the sea broke against the land, low and grey and hungry. Words: 7330
  • Timing Is Everything by jungle_ride. It’s been a year since Merlin and Morgana were exposed in Camelot and forced to leave. Morgana is eager to attack once more and claim her throne; Merlin however is waiting for a sign. Words: 2989
  • Tumble Blind by samescenes. She doesn’t dream about Merlin. Words: 1027
  • What Good Does It Do (Love Enough, Hate Enough) by misscam. There are not many tears shed for Uther Pendragon. A murder. A proposal. An attempted murder. Love, hate and all the choices they bring. Words: 3524

Gwen/Morgana

  • The Ivy Crown by Anonymous. Late one night, several prisoners escape from the dungeon, Arthur disappears, and fate takes a left turn. Morgana and Gwen are dragged along into a new world of intrigue, magic, and war. Words: 75255

Arthur/Gwen/Merlin/Morgana

Arthur/Merlin/Morgana:

  • Descent Into Darkness] by Anonymous. Everyone still remembers the time when Morgana smiled and bowed like the good little princess she was.
  • Untitled by Anonymous. Morgana has had dreams about Merlin since before coming to Camelot.

Other Pairings:

Fanart

Meta

Art Gallery

  • Art by tolbow created for the fic The Ivy Crown by briar_pipe, as part of Paperlegends

    Art by tolbow created for the fic The Ivy Crown by briar_pipe, as part of Paperlegends

Archives and Links

References

  1. ^ needs link
  2. ^ needs cite
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