Merlin the Wise, the Powerful, the... Pedophile?

The Prose Merlin revealed a lot of things about Merlin that I can honestly say I had never heard before. My knowledge of him up until this point was that Merlin was the ultimate wizard; one of the most powerful magicians that ever lived, to the point where he's usually an important and extremely powerful historical figure in a great deal of franchises that have anything to do with fantasy and magic, (Ex: Harry Potter, Dresden Files, Magic Tree House, etc.) and that he served as a key advisor to King Arthur. What I certainly didn't know was that he was born from demons, was as smart as an adult in his infancy, and that he was a pedophile.

In truth, there's no other word for his love for the Lady of the Lake. It is stated at one point in the prose that she's only 15 years old; and while Merlin's age is never directly stated- save at the beginning of the tale, when he's a mere baby- considering the fact that his unrequited love affair with the Lady occurred relatively close to his death, and the typical depiction of Merlin in his prime is that of a wizened, graying, bearded old man, it can be assumed Merlin was greatly her senior. Add in the fact that it's very strongly implied that Merlin is only attracted to her by physical lust- due to the many mentions of his urge to have sex with her- rather than romantic love, and his 'feelings' for her become even more unsettling. It kind of ruins the entire image of Merlin for me, truthfully; like yeah cool he's a virtually omniscient wizard, but he's a pedophile. Honestly I don't blame Vivianne for sealing him in that tomb; glad he didn't get to have his way with her.

PICTURED: Merlin, pulling up in his magical white van

to take the Lady of the Lake to Arthur's palace.