“All I know is that no one would sacrifice more for Camelot or for you than Gwen.”
―Merlin to Arthur on Guinevere
Queen Guinevere Pendragon is one of the two tritagonist of the BBC television series, Merlin (alongsideGaius). Gwen is the daughter of a blacksmith, named Thomas and has a brother named Elyan. She is the wife of King Arthur, the best friend of Merlin and the former maidservant/former best friend turned sister-in-law and rival of Morgana Pendragon.
She is also childhood friends with Sir Leon, as her mother used to work in Leon's household as a maid.
Guinevere (better known as Gwen) becomes Merlin's best friends when he first came to Camelot. Unlike previous queens introduced on the show, Guinevere was not of noble birth. Instead she was of commoner background. She became best friends with Morgana Pendragon since childhood but always thought that Arthur was arrogant and selfish. She had one brother named Elyan and became one of the best seamstresses of Camelot and knew how to work in a blacksmith's shop. She learned how to work with weapons and mend armor, a skill she acquired from her father. Gwen also grew up in a household, being childhood friends with Sir Leon.
Personality
Physical Appearance
Abilities
Sword-fighting: Guinevere is skilled with a sword, especially during the tenth episode of the first season.
Natural-born Leader: Being the queen of Camelot, Gwen is very skilled at leading her entire nation. She showed her leadership skills when she convinced Lord Agravaine to keep the gates opened for those people scared of the Dorocha. Later, Guinevere ruled all of Camelot by herself, including when she inserted herself as an authority figure. Arthur declared that he knew no one better than Guinevere to rule Camelot.
Weaponry Forging: Gwen has learned how to work with weapons and mend armor, a skill she acquired from her father.
"Love in the Time of Dragons", " The Sorcerer's Shadow", " Aithusa," and "A Herald of the New Age" are the only episodes that Guinevere has not appeared in.
Unlike the fairytales, Guinevere in the series never once cheated on Arthur with Lancelot and was enchanted by Morgana to commit a relationship with a shade of Lancelot.
This retelling of the legend is more accurate due to the fact that the earliest stories had Guinevere as a faithful wife and the love triangle was only added after the French found the story.
Additionally, unlike the legends, Guinevere never has affairs with Arthur's knights in the series. In some tales, Guinevere married Mordred when her husband went searching for the Holy Grail.
Guinevere is similar to Queen Anne from another BBC television series, The Musketeers. Both are young Queens of the show's respective kingdoms, queens who were the center of romantic interest to Santiago Cabrera's characters, Aramis and Lancelot. Also, at the end of the series, both Anne and Guinevere both rule their kingdoms at the end of the series.
