Emerald Embers ✨worldbuilding✨ stuff:
Merlin’s a cambion.
Merlin has CPTSD.
Merlin is 5,650 years old in 2017.
Merlin has long hair, which is usually styled in a ponytail. It’s like same as the concept art, except it’s at the middle of his head, he’s not balding, and he doesn’t have the pointy hair.
Merlin takes in Douxie when he’s three.
Merlin and Charlie are familiars.
Galahad is a main character, and he and Merlin have more interactions.
Ophelia’s the mayor of Arcadia Oaks.
Barbara’s concerned instead of angry when she sees Jim’s changes after he becomes the Trollhunter.
Some spoilery things under the cut!
How the world thinks Merlin’s dead:
So canonically, there isn’t a clear reason as to why the whole world thinks Merlin’s dead, besides the whole “being asleep for nine hundred years” thing.
But in EE, Galahad and Moppet!Douxie lie, saying that he died two weeks after the Battle of Killahead.
Merlin’s going to fight and banish Morgana, like he did in Trollhunters. He isn’t going to get stabbed, though. I knew I was having him banish Morgana, but I was on the fence about whether I should keep her stabbing him or not. But after thinking about it, it’s a retcon, like Douxie banishing Morgana is. In Trollhunters, Merlin was completely uninjured when he fought her, and he was the one who banished her. I also want them to have a fight where they’re able to fight each other equally. Canonically, both of the times they fought, Merlin was either injured or depleted of most of his magic, which isn’t fair.
So after banishing Morgana, Merlin’s exhausted. He hasn’t slept in days, working to complete the Amulet, grieving Morgana, fighting Janus, then fighting and banishing Morgana. Galahad thinks he’s probably, hopefully going to sleep for two to three days, at the most. But then a week passes, and he hasn’t woken up. Galahad decides to look through his friend’s things, to try and see if there was anything there that could wake him. He finds Merlin’s blueprints for his Tomb, along with directions to it. He gets the idea to put him there as a cautionary measure, for several reasons. He doesn’t want to mess with whatever’s keeping his friend asleep, he has no idea when he’s going to wake up, and he wants to keep him safe from assassination attempts. Two weeks after the Battle of Killahead, Galahad and Moppet say that Morgana injured Merlin in their fight at the battle, and today, he succumbed to his injuries. If anyone tries to challenge them on their story, they answer with the cover they agreed on.
“How come we didn’t know he was injured?”
“He didn’t want to make a big deal out of it. He’s… he was like that.”
How Nari gets taken in: She comes to Camelot after Merlin’s been buried in his tomb, and Moppet!Douxie and Archie have left. Galahad, now the somewhat official leader of Camelot, is ready to attack, recognizing her from Killahead. She pleads with him before he can, saying she came seeking refuge. He takes her in, thinking it’s what Merlin would want. Nine hundred years later, Merlin wakes up and comes to Camelot. After he and Galahad reunite, Galahad introduces him to Nari. Merlin is also ready to attack, but Galahad stops him and explains what happened. He relents, but he tells her to stay away from him. Unlike canon, they don’t become friends for a long time, much less how they act like old friends in Spellbound. Merlin has a hard time trusting her, almost seeming hostile at times, but he has good reason. He’s wary, remembering everything she did during their millennium long battle. She didn’t revel it as much as her siblings, but she still did those things, regardless. Now she’s on their side? It’s especially hard to process because Morgana’s betrayal is still fresh in his mind.
