A/N: Hello there! I am back. It became a little boring to read your stories without writing one for myself. This is a sequel to "Merlin – a character review" and will be about several kinds of pairs: villains, lovers, partners, friends etc. It is not absolutely necessary to know the previous fic, but it will be helpful. Once again I will play my loved or hated game of questions and answers. That means I will ask a lot of annoying, mean and funny questions, which will be the basic for some crazy, critical and strange speculations and discussions. You are welcome to participate in it. There is only one requirement: HAVE FUN and DO NOT TAKE IT DEADLY SERIOUS!

Merlin belongs to the BBC.

Chapter 1: Gaius and Merlin – an almost perfect teacher-pupil relationship

Gaius and Merlin are a strange pair in many different ways. Yes okay, they truly love and care for each other. There is no doubt that they are willing to give their lives for each other. You could almost assume to talk about the perfect pair off teacher and pupil. But there are also some things that are a little strange about them, aren´t they? Here are some questions and speculations that swirl in my head:

1.) Which side is our pair actually on?

Well the most obvious answer would be on Camelot´s side. That might sound too simple and a little bit ridiculous but it is definitely true. But a second and more critical look makes everything more complex and strange. For instance both Merlin and Gaius claim as their main aim peace between magic and non-magic people, magic back in Camelot, blah-blah - the typical Emrys and prophecy stuff. Shouldn´t be that hard, should it? I mean who would be in a better position as someone who is the king´s most trusted friends and advisor. Well a pair of advisors and friends would be better. But no, that is not what I meant. We have a pair of advisors and friends, who is close to several kings and queens: Uther, Arthur, Morgana (for some time) and Gwen. The entire Pendragon-dynasty trust/trusted them. It should be also noticed that Gaius was on Uther´s side all of the time. I guess they have been friends since childhood. It should be a chinch to fulfill the prophecy under such perfect conditions. But what is about the results? Where are the successes to celebrate: the peace treaties, the declarations about lifting the ban against magic?

You don´t know one thing? You have problems to answer this question? Don´t worry, I feel the same. Okay let´s try something easier. Maybe our anticipations were a little overdrawn. What did our perfect pair to achieve peace (I talk about true peace; not this `out of sight, out of mind´-stuff of Arthur) and magic? Which attempts did Merlin and Gaius do?

Still question marks? Come on guys, we are talking about two of the most influential persons and powerful sorcerers (one is the omnipotent Emrys) after all! We must find something positive. That is really really sad. Okay, just for the sake of completeness: "What did they do against the fulfillment of the destiny?" Well, Gaius supported Camelot´s regime all of the time and used his knowledge about all the `evil magic dangers and threads´. Merlin and Gaius wasted several chances to help Arthur to fulfill his alleged destiny as legendary king. Moreover, they did the opposite thing quite often:

- They supported and repeated the lie about Arthur´s birth and the reason for the war. It was never canceled even many years after Uther´s death.

- They stayed silent during several crimes and massacres against magic people and did nothing for peace and magic during several years without any attacks (e.g. between season 4 and 5).

- Merlin statement that magic must be never allowed in Camelot

- Etc. etc.

Okay yes, I guess we can cancel the idea of love, peace and harmony. But that makes the question even more important. What the hell did they have in mind? I dare to say that Merlin did not have a plan at all. It´s quite probable that the ultimate hero thought that a prophecy is something which happens automatically and Arthur would get it at some point (at some unknown point in time). In this case it would be enough to keep Arthur alive. Just one question: How long is this `unknown point in time´ actually? Let me ask this more precisely: How many people have to suffer and die before the perfect king becomes wise, fair and legendary? This might have been a little mean, but some questions are too obvious to avoid them. Granted, even hardcore fans of Merlin would admit that the hero is hardly Einstein. (What was this about the almighty all-knowing Emrys?) But that is the reason why we have a pair of advisors and sorcerers to save the day. Hey, Gaius is your excuse? It is your job to guide and help our young hero. That is what mentors are made for.

Okay guys, this is the third sub-question. We have to find a good answer: "What did Gaius do to help Merlin and Arthur to fulfill their destiny?" Damn! I can only think of counter-examples once again:

- Gaius trained Merlin to stay silent all the time to avoid any attention

- Gaius defended Uther quite often and said he is a good king; he did even justify the Purge in some ways, because of some alleged anarchy and chaos

- Gaius did always refer to Kilgharrah

Stop! Do I understand this correctly? Are we talking about the same last dragon, which witnessed the extinction of his race by Camelot and was imprisoned for decades? The same dragon which is full of hatred and hunger for revenge (for good reasons)? Bye the way it is also the same dragon, which burned down Camelot and tried to kill the Once and Future King.

Does this feel somehow strange and questionable for anyone? I have the bad feeling that we touched a point, which was neglected in the show. Is it to secure the beauty and simplicity of the Good-and-Evil-story?

Okay this was not really satisfying, wasn´t it? I guess we failed with our search for the actual loyalties and intentions of our pair. But you could also say we did answer the question by all these speculations, questions and doubts. However let´s go to another question.

2.) What are the wishes of our pair for each other?

I guess we all agree that Gaius takes the position of Merlin´s father figure and mentor. The question is what does the surrogate father want for his son? I dare to say it is Gaius´s wish that Merlin takes his position as the king´s friend and advisor at some point of time. In other words Merlin shall follow in one´s surrogate father´s/mentor´s footsteps. It is obvious that successor and predecessor should handle things in the same way. The operative word here is "in the same way". That means Merlin should have Gaius´s moral values and pattern of thinking. That brings us to a point where we stumble upon another contradiction. If you recall the show of Merlin (especially the first seasons) you cannot avoid the impression that Gaius´s work in Camelot is motivated by other things than pure fear for his life. I cannot bring myself to agree with some people, who say that Gaius is just a forced/slave laborer in Camelot´s/Uther´s war against magic. There are several coincidences where he is too eager to fight the "evil" and "renegade sorcerers" (citation Gaius).

So what is Gaius´s true attitude to magic and why is he thinking this way? This question may sound mean and sneaky, but it is a very crucial one. Gaius is Merlin´s mentor after all and it is absolutely normal for a pupil to adopt the ideas of his mentor. I have already described my personal opinion about Camelot´s (in Arthur´s reign) / Gaius´s logic about magic people in "Merlin – a character review":

`Good sorcerers are those, who get slaughtered without any resistance (e.g. the druids); evil sorcerers fight for their freedom and survival and must be killed for the sake of Camelot.´ You can also say it in less drastic words: `Magic yes, but don´t use it!´

But why would the `nice doctor Gaius´ thinking this way? Well, I would go so far as to say that Gaius is more similar to Uther than he wants to admit. But hey, this is no problem as long as his pupil is destined to save the world. The underlying logic is quite simple and obvious: ` It does not matter what Gaius (might) have done wrong in the past if he helps Merlin to fulfill the prophecy.´ Hey who would dare to question destinies and prophecies, especially if you are on the winning side at the end. I want to be a hero, too! Oh yes, the world can be so beautiful and perfect with prophecies. There is also the advantage that you have so much more free time if you don´t waste your time with thinking and making own decisions.

Okay, that was enough daydreaming. Let´s go back to the topic. What is Gaius´s thinking / knowledge about magic and what can Merlin learn from him? This is the reason why he came to Camelot after all.

3.) Why did Hunith believe that Merlin should go to Gaius and Camelot to master his magic?

Can you imagine this situation: You have a son, who has magic and grows up in a small village? Okay, that is not very spectacular, but now comes the important part: Your village lies outside of Camelot and that means having magic is not an automatic sentence of death.

What the hell could you bring to send your son to Camelot, the capitol of evil, the lion's den,… I mean that is like sending Merlin directly to the stake. I don´t want to criticize Hunith not at all. But it is still hard to follow her thinking. Why did Hunith believe that Merlin would be in better hands in Camelot? Gaius must have a great talent that everyone believes he would be the essential helper for every kind of problem. He is really good when it comes to self-presentation. But the more important question is about the execution in reality.

4.) What does Gaius do to prepare Merlin for his destiny as Emrys?

Well rule number one is quite obvious and present all of the time: `Don´t get any attention!´ Gaius hammers this mantra into our hero´s brain. That might keep him alive, but does not really help when it comes to fulfilling the prophecy thing. Therefore it is quite fair to ask the fourth question. … SILENCE! … Damn, this is really annoying. It seems we are always going to fail when it comes to answering tricky questions. I mean a spell book is hardly comparable to a true training or education of magic. Sorry Gaius, but I wouldn´t go to Camelot just to read a spell book if I would be in Merlin´s position. To be honest, Camelot is actually the last place in the world to look for a book about magic. But I want to be fair. Let´s give them a second, third, … Whatever, they will have another chance. Merlin will surely learn a lot about magic in general (rites, religion, etc.)? Granted, Merlin has possibilities to pick up somethings, because of several magical issues. But I would not call these magic lessons. I just realize that Gaius often blames the Old Religion and their followers. That is quite strange and surprising, because I did always thought the prophecy said something about `unity of the old and new ways´. Gaius´s teaching for Merlin is rather geared to beat the Old Religion. Just think about the episode, where Merlin meets the Disir. Our hero has been trained by Gaius for 8 years (probably more; the time leaps are unclear) and he knows nothing about the highest judge/voice of the Triple Goddess. But the most noticeable point is Merlin´s attitude towards the Old Religion in general: judgmental and hostile. Nevertheless it was still shocking to see Merlin´s statement about never allowing magic in Camelot (`The Disir´ (S05 E05)). There is only one thing remaining, considering all this: `THE FINAL BATTLE: THE OMNIPOTENT EMRYS VS. THE TRIPLE GODDESS´. Cool! I want to see this fight. PLEASE!

Okay, I have a feeling that the image of our perfect pair has get some scars. Therefore I want to take a more critical look on them.

5.) How much do Merlin and Gaius trust each other?

The obvious answer would be: "Absolutely." But here are some incidences that could rub salt into the (not existing) wound. I don´t want to be mean. Okay, yes I want to have my fun.

- The episode `Love in the Time of Dragons´ (S03 E09), where Gaius´s old flame, Alice, appeared and Merlin did not trust her. Gaius thought that Merlin simply didn't want to see him happy.

- The episode `The Disir´ (S05 E05), where Merlin explains why he has changed from the innocent boy to a (obsessed) Emrys. The statement "He grew up." was quite shocking for Gaius, wasn´t it? Did the pupil surpass the mentor?

The last point might sound mean and nasty, but it indicates a very specific scenario. Just imagine following: The most trusted friend and advisor of the king/queen is more like Gaius (or should I say Uther). Moreover this person has the unlimited power of Emrys. Quite scaring, isn´t it?