Morgause

## Relevant Pages

“

> he High Priestesses will have trained Morgause from birth. Her magic will be powerful.
>
>
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”

—Gaius to Uther Pendragon on Morgause

**Morgause**, briefly known as King Gormause and known as Sister by Morgana, is a character originally on *Merlin*. She debuted in the series'</nowiki> eighth episode of the second season.

## Biography

### Early life

Morgause was the half-sister of Morgana Pendragon; it is currently unknown if she had any other siblings, however this is more on the unlikely side. Morgause was born into one of the noble houses of Camelot, the house of Gorlois. Her mother was Vivienne, the wife of Gorlois. It is implied that Morgana's mother Vivienne is also Morgause's mother and they both inherited their magical powers from her. For some unknown reason, Gaius was asked to smuggle the infant Morgause out of Camelot and give her to the High Priestesses of the Old Religion. Gaius did so, and swore an oath to never reveal his actions to anyone while Uther was led to believe that Morgause had died, also due to an unknown reason. Morgause studied magic for many years, eventually becoming a very powerful sorceress, acting to take her revenge on King Uther Pendragon.

### First Visit to Camelot

Many years after her birth, Morgause returned to Camelot, now a grown woman. Dressed as a knight, she killed five guards to get into the castle, where she revealed herself to the court and challenged Arthur Pendragon to a duel. Despite the fact that he did not wish to fight Morgause, Arthur agreed. The next day, Morgause defeated Arthur in their duel, but left him alive so that he would accept her next challenge. She also introduced herself to her half-sister, Morgana, though she kept their relationship a secret. She also gave her a bracelet with magical healing powers to relieve her of her nightmares, saying it belonged to her mother, thus implying that it was also Morgana's mother. Gaius found the bracelet and informed Uther that only Morgana's half-sister would be able to wear such a bracelet besides herself, revealing Morgause's true fate and admitting to Uther that he made a oath which he was only breaking now because he feared Morgause's intentions.

As she was leaving Camelot, Morgause told Arthur that she knew something about his mother, giving Arthur incentive to come see her. Despite the fact that his father tried to prevent him from leaving, Arthur went to meet her, accompanied by Merlin. When they reached her, Morgause told Arthur to place his head on a chopping block so she could kill him. He did so, and Morgause told him the whole thing had been a test of his character. As his reward, Morgause used her magic to summon either Ygraine's spirit or the illusion of Ygraine, who told Arthur the secret of his birth; he had been conceived by magic because Uther had wanted an heir and as a result she had died. Enraged at his father for his presumed selfishness and without knowing all the details, Arthur returned to Camelot and attempted to kill Uther. But just as he was about to deal the fatal blow, Merlin burst into the hall and convinced him that Morgause had tricked him. Morgause was upset that her plans had failed while her deceit further cemented Arthur's mistrust of magic (The Sins of the Father).

### Assault on Camelot

Morgause later awoke the Knights of Medhir to kill Uther. She also approached Morgana and won her trust by playing on the fact that if Uther discovered that she had magic, he would have her executed. She then placed a spell upon her, binding her life to a sleeping spell which she placed on Camelot. The spell put everyone in Camelot to sleep, with the exception of Morgana, Arthur and Merlin (who were away when she cast the spell). Merlin, after visiting The Great Dragon, learned of how to stop the Knights, by destroying the source of the enchantment (which was Morgana), and so he reluctantly poisoned Morgana with a type of poison called hemlock.

Morgause, upon hearing her sister's telepathic screams, confronted Merlin and demanded he tell her what he used to poison her sister so she could heal her. Merlin refused to do so unless she killed the Knights. Morgause chose her sister over her chance to kill Uther, and used her magic to kill the knights. Merlin then showed her the hemlock, but Arthur and the Knights of Camelot soon burst into the room. Surrounded, Morgause used her magic to take Morgana and herself away from Camelot and saved her life. The sisters were united to start planning the attack of Camelot (The Fires of Idirsholas).

Return to Camelot

With Morgana's help, Morgause later cast a powerful enchantment on Uther using a mandrake root and his tears. The spell caused Uther to see hallucinations of people whom he had caused to suffer either during the Great Purge or afterwards. These include his wife, Ygraine, begging Uther for something and a small child whom Gaius revealed to be one of the many children Uther had killed simply because they may have inherited magic from their parents. The spell gave the impression to the people of Camelot that their king may be losing his mind and would be unfit to rule. Morgause was later seen working with King Cenred to move against Camelot and watched the siege of Camelot with him. She was enraged when Merlin thwarted her and Morgana's plan, though she did not know that Merlin was the person that prevented the fall of Camelot (The Tears of Uther Pendragon).

Morgause later visited Morgana, who had just discovered that she was Uther's illegitimate daughter. Unlike Morgana, Morgause was delighted by this since it meant she was of the royal line, albeit unrecognized and illegitimate, which meant Morgana could potentially take the throne when Uther died, provided that Arthur did not stand in the way. Morgause had apparently been previously unaware that Uther was Morgana's father (The Crystal Cave).

She helped Morgana with her plan to kill Arthur by getting Cenred to kidnap Gwen's brother Elyan and giving her a magical ring to guide Cenred's warriors to Arthur, she nearly killed Arthur with a fire spell before Merlin exploded the fire before it could harm Arthur (The Castle of Fyrien).

Morgause later met up with Morgana in a crowded market disguised as a poor old woman. She gave Morgana the Phoenix Eye to give to Arthur for his quest to claim The Fisher King's trident so it would kill him (The Eye of the Phoenix).

When Morgana had a dream of Gwen becoming Queen of Camelot alongside Arthur she gave Morgause a message informing her of this. They secretly met at night in the castle where Morgause told her about different types of possible futures and told her to make sure this one would never happen. Morgana later tried but failed (Queen of Hearts).

### The Queen's Sister

Thanks to her spy, Morgana, Morgause discovered when Arthur and Merlin set out to find the Cup of Life. She told Cenred to get the Cup for her. Cenred's men succeeded in collecting the Cup and Morgause made Cenred's army immortal. However she betrayed Cenred and caused one of his own men to attack and apparently kill him. Morgause was later involved in a brief ceremony where Morgana was crowned Queen of Camelot, after her immortal warriors defeated Camelot's army. Morgause manipulated Guinevere and Sir Leon into leading them to Arthur who had escaped Camelot along with Merlin, Elyan, Gwaine, and Gaius. Lancelot and Percival intervened allowing the group to escape. Morgause later attacked Merlin when he attempted to retrieve the Cup of Life. Gaius arrived in time to prevent her from killing the young warlock and attacked her with his own magic catching her off guard. Merlin then defeated Morgause by smashing her against a pillar with his magic, incapacitating her. A devastated Morgana rushed into the room and cradled her sister as Morgause had a year ago before bringing the room crashing down with magical screams of anguish. A later search through the rubble found no trace of Morgana or Morgause leaving their fate unknown (The Coming of Arthur)

However, Morgause and Morgana survive their ordeal, but leaves Morgause scarred on her right side of her face.

One year later, Morgause is taken to the seas of Merhador. On their way to the Isle of the Blessed, they are intercepted by Sir Leon, Elyan and two other knights of Camelot. However, Morgana kills the two knights while knocking Leon and Elyan out. She later checks on Morgause, who says she is alright, but that they must make it to the sea before Samhain Eve takes place. On the Isle of the Blessed, Morgause makes Morgana sacrifice herself to make the veil between two worlds rip apart.