I know this may seem like a silly question, but I'm still not sure what the merge was. Could someone please explain this to me?
OP, I think the reference @ryzaadit provided would be appropriate to satisfy your question. please read and you will have a new understanding regarding merge.
Misconception 1: Ethereum gas fees will reduce after The Merge
after the Ethereum network transaction fees increased high some time ago. and even become unstable. the announcement of the ethereum 2.0 update created a lot of opinions. one of the ones I hear most often is related to transaction fees.
we have to realize, that most of the people in the crypto forums must think that way.