Agreed on all your comments and just added that I actually wanted to punch Merlin when he said that Arthur would probably hang him if he knew about the magic.

For me, that is such a betrayal of he so-called bond and understanding of Arthur. It shows no trust or faith in him at all, so all that blah, blah about Arthur having a good heart underneath is pure bullshit.

At this point, when the dream of Albion goes up in smoke, Merlin will have no one to blame but himself. It's his fear, weakness and lack of faith that will bring it about, not Arthur's.