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The Madness of the King's Loving Ward
Merlin is a television show that airs on the BBC in Europe. It tells the story of a young Merlin and Arthur and their journey to becoming the legend told worldwide. It starts when a young Merlin arrives in Camelot and, through a series of unfortunate incidents and some hasty magic on Merlin's part, saves the life of the Crown Prince, Arthur, and becomes his servant. The show has a colorful cast of characters; the goofy, but earnest Merlin;the cocky, yet noble Arthur;sweet, awkward Gwen, the Lady Morgana's maidservant; sassy, fatherly Gaius, the court physician; headstrong and beautiful Morgana, the king's ward and the tyrannical King Uther. In the show, Uther rules Camelot with an iron fist. The first thing Merlin sees upon arrival is an execution; a man being put to death for practicing sorcery. We learn soon enough that Uther outlawed magic in Camelot after a bad deal with a sorceress caused his wife's death. Uther's hatred of magic blinds him against logic. Unfortunately, his ward, Morgana, is hiding a secret.
Not very far into the series we learn that Morgana is hiding a secret much like Merlin's; she's a witch. Since she was young, Morgana has been suffering from prophetic nightmares. Knowing first hand the extent of Uther's wrath towards magic users, it's a cause of great distress for her. Her own powers causes her great empathy towards the magic users she meets in the beginning of the series. In the eight episode of the show, we meet Mordred, a young Druid boy who is wounded trying to escape from the guards. Morgana, desperate to protect him from execution, hides him in her room and attempts to heal him herself. Uther continues to hunt him down ruthlessly, causing Morgana to panic. If Uther won't spare a child, simply because of how he was born, what mercy could she expect from him. Her fears are rationalized when Uther nearly chokes her when he suspects she had something to do with hiding the Druid boy.
The next big thing to rattle Morgana is the death of her maidservant's father. Tom is sentenced to death after he unwittingly helps a sorcerer with an experiment. Morgan, who has always been close with Gwen, is outraged and confronts Uther. When the King refuses to see reason, she attempts to help Tom escape by slipping him a key. Tom is killed on sight and Uther locks Morgana in the dungeons for the night. The killing of Tom picks at some old wounds of Morgana's; namely the death of her own father, sent into battle by Uther and killed. Morgana plots to have Uther killed with the same sorcerer Tom had been helping, but is unable to go through with it. After this, though, Morgana is never quite the same.
One of the most serious blows to Morgana's humanity and her faith in Uther came in the second season. Morgana has been having more and more trouble controlling her growing powers. One night, she awakes after a terrible dream screaming and accidentally set her drapes on fire. Frightened and out of her element, Morgana heads into the forest to find the Druid camp, believing they will help her understand. The Druids take her in and teach her how to deal with her powers. She's reunited with the boy, Mordred. Morgana is happy and at peace, finally having found a place where she can fit in and feel safe. Her happiness isn't to last long, though. Soon, the Knights of Camelot catch up and, on Uther's orders, lay waste to the Druid camp, killing many of the friends Morgana had made. She returns to Camelot, bitter, sad and beginning the worst of her downward spiral into a very dark place.
Towards the end of Season 2, Morgana meets her half-sister, the witch Morgause. Morgause provides Morgana with a bracelet, which cures Morgana of her awful nightmares and allows her to sleep soundly at night. Where Uther is filled with hatred and rage, Morgause is calm and seems to care deeply about Morgana. She treats her well, like family should, not the on again off again affection Uther shows when he feels like it. Morgause protects Morgana and teaches her to harness her powers. She also encourages Morgana to rebel against Uther, to kill him and take control of Camelot. Morgana spends a year with Morgause, learning how to use her powers in order to exact her revenge on Uther.
All of this piled on, until eventually Morgana broke and embraced the darkness within. She turned her back on her friends and on her kingdom. This was all exacerbated recently by her learning that Uther is, in fact, her real father. She feels that if he is willing to deny their blood bond for the sake of his image to the kingdom, that he would turn his back on her. She and Morgause plan to kill Uther and Arthur and take over Camelot.