Oh oh, and about Will, I was just wondering, why did Merlin not try to do anything to help Will but then went batshit when his mother was sick? His bond with her could ahve been stronger, but it was just so disproportional a reaction... anyway, so I was thinking, what if he later went deeply hurt with a kind of guilt, that "should have, could have, maybe, what if", and swore never to let any one else he loved die that way? So in that case - how would your scenario affect that? Would Merlin fight with less desesperation and anger if he had never lost someone close before? How would he react if, say, in his fight with Nimueh she told him that in another path, Will would have died, and that perhaps Merlin would ahve been 'stronger' for it, and could have beaten her then.

/musing aloud, osrry if it makes no sense.