There's a thing in there about how Arthur and the Knights have intrinsic status and Gwen and Merlin have agreed status. 4.6 had Morgana explicitly saying that even though Merlin was just a servant, he had significant status with Arthur.
And it's not that their agreed status isn't significant and doesn't have real power
I also think in this episode, Gaius was attempting to give Merlin intrinsic status-- public status that wasn't connected to how much Arthur (publicly) values him or his secret status as Emrys.
(And huh, way back in season one, wasn't Gaius made a yeoman or freeman? So maybe that's part of it, too.)
(Merlin could also have told Gwen that maybe Lamia just wasn't bothering with him because he wasn't a knight, wasn't a fighter, and I think Gwen might have... well, not necessarily been convinced, but might have viewed that as a potentially valid reason for why Merlin wasn't effected).
no subject
And it's not that their agreed status isn't significant and doesn't have real power
I also think in this episode, Gaius was attempting to give Merlin intrinsic status-- public status that wasn't connected to how much Arthur (publicly) values him or his secret status as Emrys.
(And huh, way back in season one, wasn't Gaius made a yeoman or freeman? So maybe that's part of it, too.)
(Merlin could also have told Gwen that maybe Lamia just wasn't bothering with him because he wasn't a knight, wasn't a fighter, and I think Gwen might have... well, not necessarily been convinced, but might have viewed that as a potentially valid reason for why Merlin wasn't effected).