In that regard I honestly think the writers totally screwed up. Now it is all about her wanting the throne and needing to get rid of Arthur for it but she didn't start out that way and there has been no answer as to why she is suddenly the way she is.

I agree. They handled her whole arc in a very simplistic manner. At first she is a good, caring person, albeit with a temper, then she is scared and lonely because of her magic - btw, thanks for drugging her out of her mind and otherwise isolating her like, Gaius, that was a great way to handle the situation. Not. And suddenly, presto, she smirks all over Camelot and basically is a cackle-over-cauldron-witch. Urgh.

And Merlin does manage to get more adorable with every passing second. How does he do that? :)

I have to give great credit to Colin Morgan because sometimes the writing for Merlin in the past was such that normally it turns me off characters but because Colin kept him so likeable and sympathetic, that didn't happen