Well, this is what I was dreading. Aredian now has free range to torture Merlin. Please can we not have him rescued? Hasn't he suffered enough? How about a little Emrys power, just blow up Aredian and walk (hobble/crawl) away? Come on Morgana you are not a 'helpless female'. Do something!
Clever way for Arthur to get word to Camelot. Love the use of Sir William. Well done.
Many thanks.

I loved the telepathic story telling between Merlin and Morgana. Hoping you find a way to save Merlin from Aredian's torture. Maybe Merlin will accidentally on purpose blow Aredian into dust. Maybe Morgana can hide Merlin in her room. Hoping you can find a way to not have Merlin tortured or hurt anymore.

The last few chapters have been among my favorites. It's a great balance of angst and banter!

I loved the Arthur/Merlin interactions in this one. I think you write them wonderfully! Hopefully there's lots more of that to come!

Ahhhhh very good chapter! Really enjoyed Merlin and Morgan’s conversation.

Great chapter! I loved the Mergana conversation and Gwen finally receiving that letter from Arthur.

It really smart of Arthur to write as Sir William of Deira in case anyone else intercepted the letter. I wonder how Gwen & Morgana will reply with the news of what Aredian plans to do with Merlin. Maybe they could send out Ambrosius again?

Keep up the great work!

So I haven't been on this site for a while but came back after rewatching Merlin last month. Your fic was one of the 1st I've came across and its gotten me hooked. I've been binge reading (if that's a thing ) especially when I have trouble sleeping at night. I can't believe that you've kept updating this fic for so many years and look forward to reading till the very end. It's always a good day when I can find a well written fic with an amazing plot.

Thanks for using your free time to satisfy our Merlin craving x

I so love your Gwaine. 3

I cant wait for Merlin and Morgana know about Arthur. Cant wait for four of them to reunited.

Very much enjoyed Morgana’s conversation with Merlin. And Arthur writing as Sir William of Deira was incredibly clever! Nice to see Forridel put to work in a story, too! Great ideas! Looking forward to your next update!

good chapter.

Finally caught up, here's my review for the story so far.

I am very intrigued by the communication network of the magic users, I've been trying to think of how they're operating without managing to tip anyone off right under Uther's nose. I'm kinda just fascinated by magic users in this show in general- I mean, with magic being so ubiquitous, you'd expect to see it woven into the daily lives of the people such that extricating it withing just a couple of decades should be impossible, so the fact that it clearly wasn't indicates there was already some sort of rift between magic-users and non-magic-users, and the fact that we're never shown any hint of the 'old' culture that had magic woven into it outside of the Druids and we know that not all magic users were Druids even before the Purge...

Ahem. Sorry.

I liked Balinor, while he was around. I wonder how everyone's going to react when they find out that Merlin is Emrys and the last dragonlord (unless he ends up having a son).

I like the way Arthur's arc is heading. It's compelling, and it feels more realistic than 'I found out my friend is a warlock, so I promptly forgot a whole lifetime of conditioning by my dad and am now a staunch magic-user rights supporter'. The fake it 'till you make it thing appears to be working out well for him.

Mergana is one of favourite ships, so really cool to see that in here, especially because it started off as Freylin/some sort of love triangle in which two parties aren't aware they've got feelings for one another.

I also love the references you make to the 'original' Arthurian legends.

I loved the sharing memory scene and I hope Morgana gets to hear all the stories.

What a brilliant code!

I love that it's Gwen's voice that counters Uther's. I feel like the obvious move would be to make it Merlin's, but I've always felt that Gwen brought humanity and compassion to Arthur.

Forgive me - you have left delightfully specific reviews on all of my chapters (I feel there's nothing better than having someone recognize the specific things done well!), and I'm not reviewing until chapter...26? Yikes. But it's only because I've been flying through it, and I haven't wanted to stop!

I love the premise. The plot has been so much fun. And I was thrilled to see Freya, although devestated when she died. I admit, I love her and I've never been a Mergana fan, so that broke my heart a little. But you DID warn it was a Mergana fic eventually, so I guess I was forewarned. ;)

My favorite parts - unsurprisingly - are the Arthur and Merlin interactions. I'm a sucker for their bromance. And I had to stop and review because I love the way you write Gwaine. It's just spot on.

Looking forward to reading the rest!