[Merlin sits down on the edge of a table, folding his fingers together.]

If I go home I won't come back.

[And part of him finds that reprehensible, because if he can't maintain a few years' commitment to Reaver, how can he truly think himself capable of giving the lifetime he's promised to Camelot, to Albion - to Arthur?

But it's a question of receptiveness, as well. Camelot doesn't just need change, it wants it. The people are ready to accept a new perspective, and Reaver just...isn't.]