Her heart's been runover and trampled on throughout Season 2, and likely in the gap year between S2 and S3, something happened, if her distance from Arthur in S3 is anything to go by.
I'm wondering if the distance between them might have been due to Morgana being missing? In the first two series, we saw that Gwen and Morgana adored each other and were much like Merlin and Arthur: two sides of the same coin. Whatever Gwen's feelings for Arthur were in the second series, Morgana was still very much the center of Gwen's world. Granted, we didn't see much evidence of this after Morgana disappeared. There was that scene with Gwen and Gaius in The Last Dragonlord where they take a few seconds to fret over Morgana, but I think their minds were more focused on the immediate threat, in that this huge, huge dragon comes to Camelot every night to try to burn it to the ground. But in the year that passed between the second and third series, I imagine that once things were stable enough in Camelot, Uther was kicking Arthur and the knights out to go off in search of Morgana -- but there wasn't a hint or whisper of her, she'd completely vanished, thanks to Morgause. Time continued to pass, and nothing, which makes me wonder if Gwen might have had some anger issues over Arthur failing to find Morgana. It isn't rational, but then, love and anger rarely are. In Gwen's mind, she thinks that Arthur was able to find her when she was kidnapped by Hengist, so why can't he find Morgana? Again, not completely rational, but emotions aren't. So she keeps her heart locked up tight and keeps away from Arthur as much as she can. She won't be rude -- she's been taught too thoroughly to be respectful of the royal family -- but she won't seek him out unless she has to.
Then miracle of miracles, Morgana is finally found and returned. Throughout the third series, we often see Gwen giving Morgana the occasional look, which makes me think that Gwen recognizes that Morgana is not who she used to be. At first, I can see Gwen writing it off as the effects of being locked up and held captive for nearly a year, but in time it continues, and thus Gwen begins to gravitate to Arthur again. The Gwen/Morgana coin is slowly being severed over the course of the series.
Why shouldn't she kill Arthur and Uther and save hundreds of innocent people that can and will be killed in their purges of magic?
That's a good point, one I hadn't considered. Morgana's hatred of Uther is personal, bound up in that she feels that she should be able to practice magic freely and not be constantly living in fear of the pyres, as well as the fact that she is his own child but he won't recognize her as such.
(Side note: I am a little torn about her being in a snit over Uther not recognizing her. On the one hand, I understand that Morgana would like some public recognition over the fact that Uther does love her and that he recognizes his family's connection to her, but in many ways, it would be a demotion for her. Right now, to the world she is the daughter of Gorlois, his only heir really, since Morgause was thought dead by everyone but Gaius who got her out of Camelot. Being the daughter and heir to a nobleman is nothing to sneeze at (especially if he has lands and such). If Morgana's true parentage is revealed, then she's no longer the daughter of Gorlois, but Uther's bastard child, a symbol of Uther's weakness to some. Yes, it highlights the royal blood in her veins, but it also shows that she was born out of wedlock and is a firm reminder to everyone that she was born before Arthur, when Ygraine was still alive. She would ultimately lose some people's respect for being a bastard. But I digress.)
Morgana's desire to get rid of Arthur, in contrast to Uther, doesn't seem personal. She finds out that she's Uther's child, and in her mind that gives her a claim on the throne. Arthur still has the better claim, which makes him her rival. She wants him out of the way because of that rivalry. It doesn't seem personal, merely a means to an end. (And she gets pissed off every time a plan to off Arthur is foiled, usually by Merlin. Now those two... they need to have it out, a no holds barred magical battle. It would be aweome. ;) )
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I'm wondering if the distance between them might have been due to Morgana being missing? In the first two series, we saw that Gwen and Morgana adored each other and were much like Merlin and Arthur: two sides of the same coin. Whatever Gwen's feelings for Arthur were in the second series, Morgana was still very much the center of Gwen's world. Granted, we didn't see much evidence of this after Morgana disappeared. There was that scene with Gwen and Gaius in The Last Dragonlord where they take a few seconds to fret over Morgana, but I think their minds were more focused on the immediate threat, in that this huge, huge dragon comes to Camelot every night to try to burn it to the ground. But in the year that passed between the second and third series, I imagine that once things were stable enough in Camelot, Uther was kicking Arthur and the knights out to go off in search of Morgana -- but there wasn't a hint or whisper of her, she'd completely vanished, thanks to Morgause. Time continued to pass, and nothing, which makes me wonder if Gwen might have had some anger issues over Arthur failing to find Morgana. It isn't rational, but then, love and anger rarely are. In Gwen's mind, she thinks that Arthur was able to find her when she was kidnapped by Hengist, so why can't he find Morgana? Again, not completely rational, but emotions aren't. So she keeps her heart locked up tight and keeps away from Arthur as much as she can. She won't be rude -- she's been taught too thoroughly to be respectful of the royal family -- but she won't seek him out unless she has to.
Then miracle of miracles, Morgana is finally found and returned. Throughout the third series, we often see Gwen giving Morgana the occasional look, which makes me think that Gwen recognizes that Morgana is not who she used to be. At first, I can see Gwen writing it off as the effects of being locked up and held captive for nearly a year, but in time it continues, and thus Gwen begins to gravitate to Arthur again. The Gwen/Morgana coin is slowly being severed over the course of the series.
Why shouldn't she kill Arthur and Uther and save hundreds of innocent people that can and will be killed in their purges of magic?
That's a good point, one I hadn't considered. Morgana's hatred of Uther is personal, bound up in that she feels that she should be able to practice magic freely and not be constantly living in fear of the pyres, as well as the fact that she is his own child but he won't recognize her as such.
(Side note: I am a little torn about her being in a snit over Uther not recognizing her. On the one hand, I understand that Morgana would like some public recognition over the fact that Uther does love her and that he recognizes his family's connection to her, but in many ways, it would be a demotion for her. Right now, to the world she is the daughter of Gorlois, his only heir really, since Morgause was thought dead by everyone but Gaius who got her out of Camelot. Being the daughter and heir to a nobleman is nothing to sneeze at (especially if he has lands and such). If Morgana's true parentage is revealed, then she's no longer the daughter of Gorlois, but Uther's bastard child, a symbol of Uther's weakness to some. Yes, it highlights the royal blood in her veins, but it also shows that she was born out of wedlock and is a firm reminder to everyone that she was born before Arthur, when Ygraine was still alive. She would ultimately lose some people's respect for being a bastard. But I digress.)
Morgana's desire to get rid of Arthur, in contrast to Uther, doesn't seem personal. She finds out that she's Uther's child, and in her mind that gives her a claim on the throne. Arthur still has the better claim, which makes him her rival. She wants him out of the way because of that rivalry. It doesn't seem personal, merely a means to an end. (And she gets pissed off every time a plan to off Arthur is foiled, usually by Merlin. Now those two... they need to have it out, a no holds barred magical battle. It would be aweome. ;) )