There are so many reasons I resent Diamond of the Day but honestly, with all the fairness in the world, there could have been no better magic reveal than:
“I use it for you, Arthur. Only for you.”
Like it would take me days really to explain just how much this line means to me, but more than that how it perfectly meant for these two characters. It was the perfect culmination to a lifetime of giving. It was the first time they gave space for their relationship to expand and breathe. They didn’t hide the most significant scene behind placebo words of commitment and destiny; they highlighted Merlin’s central gravitational force and the real reason behind every single act he ever did:
For Arthur — only ever for him.
And Colin’s acting.. dear holy Lord. The tears we see brimming from the life of hiding that finally steps into the light. His little solemn nod to his own words as if he cannot fathom anything but their truth. His clinging to Arthur, as if he was the one dying, not the reverse. It all emphasized Merlin’s love for Arthur and I truly think nothing could’ve competed.
I will say it here like I say it everywhere; we deserved time to see the two of them truly live in the extent of their changed existence. Arthur deserved to know it all, and Merlin more than deserved the acceptance we see in Arthur’s eyes in the end. If such a perfect magic reveal had taken place just earlier in the show, then at least the painful edge of killing Arthur would’ve leaned with the fact that their story reached the crescendo it deserved. That, in my opinion, was the whole point of such a beautiful scene, and what would have maintained it.
