In the episode “Lancelot” another layer is peeled away on Merlin’s innocence and we see him trying to come to terms with the value of truth and the pain of consequences. Seeking only to aid his new friend, Lancelot, who saved him from certain death at the hands of a vicious griffin, Merlin chose to forge a document to vouch for Lancelot’s lineage, as only noble-born can serve as knights of Camelot. It is with disillusion that the magic-infused forgery is revealed to be false and Lancelot is imprisoned for merely being of lesser blood.