Mind you, if I look at the story I'm not at all sure why the characters are called Arthur, Merlin, Morgana and Mordred.
I pipe up because I was actually asked almost this exact same question and this is my response (http://puckling.livejournal.com/24929.html#cutid1). It was written in the middle of season one so somethings have changed since then (I think they've actually moved closer to traditional Arthuriana this season) and kinda rambly, but I thought that maybe it would help you to understand why I at least, think that Merlin is interesting and a valid part of Arthuriana.
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Mind you, if I look at the story I'm not at all sure why the characters are called Arthur, Merlin, Morgana and Mordred.
I pipe up because I was actually asked almost this exact same question and this is my response (http://puckling.livejournal.com/24929.html#cutid1). It was written in the middle of season one so somethings have changed since then (I think they've actually moved closer to traditional Arthuriana this season) and kinda rambly, but I thought that maybe it would help you to understand why I at least, think that Merlin is interesting and a valid part of Arthuriana.