King Arthur and His Knights of the Round Table

Arthur receives a threat from the cruel King Ryon and prepares for battle. A woman appears with a sword stuck in a scabbard—stolen from the Lady of the Lake—and seeks a worthy knight to remove it. Balyn, an unassuming knight who had only recently been released from prison for killing one of Arthur’s cousins, pulls the cursed sword out and refuses to return it even when the woman tells him he will kill his best friend and the man he loves most with the sword. The Lady of the Lake arrives to demand her sword and Balyn’s head as her gift from Arthur, but Balyn beheads her. Arthur banishes Balyn from Logres and says he is not a true knight unless he can do some noble deed to redeem himself. Balyn flees in shame but with the intention of killing King Ryon to regain Arthur’s favor. Balyn is followed by the avenging Sir Launceor. Balyn slays Launceor, and Launceor’s lover then dies by suicide in grief. Joined by his brother Balan, Balyn ambushes Ryon with Merlin’s help. Arthur marches to the battle of Castle Tarabil where the brothers wait. They help Arthur fight Ryon’s 12 kings and win after Pellinore returns to kill the final king, Lot of Orkney.

Arthur continues spreading peace across Britain with his knights. Balyn asks for a quest, and Arthur sends him after a secretive, sorrowful knight. Balyn finds the fearful knight riding with a woman and persuades him to return to Arthur. At Arthur’s pavilion, the invisible knight Garlon kills the sorrowful knight. Balyn swears to avenge the knight, takes up his quest, and returns to the woman. Garlon kills another knight on Balyn’s journey to Castle Meliot. The men of Meliot take the woman to heal their mistress—which she cannot do—while Balyn and the Knight of Meliot plan to find Garlon. Balyn stabs Garlon at a feast in Castle Carbonek, provoking King Pelles to seek justice against Balyn.

As King Pelles pursues him through the castle, Balyn stumbles upon the Holy Grail and the spear that wounded Jesus, but—overcome with anger—he uses the spear to strike Pelles. The Dolorous Stroke causes the castle to crumble, killing the guests and laying “waste [to] three counties” (45). Distraught, Balyn walks through the Waste Lands until he arrives at a castle. Custom demands he must fight the Knight of the River before he can rest. Balyn meets the knight—who is actually Balan—and they fight, wounding each other gravely. Balyn swoons when he discovers the knight’s true identity and mourns their tragedy. Before Balyn and Balan die, they entreat the lady of the castle to bury them together. Merlin finds Balyn’s cursed sword, places a new blade in its hilt, and drives the sword into a stone for a future worthy knight to find. Merlin recounts the tale to Arthur, who grieves for the unfortunate knights.

Returning to Camelot after bringing peace to Britain, Arthur falls in love and marries the beautiful Guinevere. Merlin presents the newlyweds with a magical Round Table for Arthur and his best knights. Arthur knights three new men—Gawain, Tor, and Pellinore—but the feast is interrupted by a small white hunting dog called a brachet and a pack of hounds that are chasing a white hart. Sir Abelleus, having been knocked over by the hart as it dodged the brachet’s bites, steals the brachet away, and an unknown knight forces Lady Nimue away. Arthur tasks the new knights with following the hart, Sir Abelleus, and Lady Nimue to prove their worthiness.

Accompanied by his brother Gaheris, Gawain follows the hart. On the way, he convinces two knights to surrender themselves to Arthur’s court, but he slays Sir Allardyne who refuses Gawain passage. At Sir Blamoure’s castle, the hounds kill the hart, and Blamoure kills the hounds in anger. Gawain entreats the lord to fight him instead. Blamoure fights “dirtily” and begs for mercy when he is overthrown. Gawain, enraged, goes to kill Blamoure, but accidentally kills his lady who shields Blamoure’s body. The knights of the castle imprison the shamed Gawain and Gaheris. Four ladies allow Gawain to do penance by carrying the slain lady’s body back to Camelot.

Tor follows Abelleus and the white brachet. A little person forces Tor to fight two knights, and when he easily beats them, the little person begs to be Tor’s servant. The little person leads Tor to the brachet, which he takes as a token of his quest. Abelleus, also wanting the prize, fights Tor, refusing to yield when he is down. A lady asks Tor to behead Abelleus—who earlier mercilessly murdered her brother—which he does.

Pellinore quickly finds Nimue in the forest and speaks with the knights who fight over her. One man kills Pellinore’s horse, and in revenge Pellinore kills him. The other man, Sir Meliot, allows Nimue to leave with Pellinore, as he was also protecting her. Tor finds Pellinore in sorrow over a dead lady—his long-lost daughter Alyne—and her knight, who Pellinore ignored in his eagerness to follow his quest. The three knights return to Camelot and recount their sad tales. Merlin and Arthur establish the Order of Chivalry to prevent the knights from acting without virtue, an oath they renew yearly at Pentecost. Merlin and Nimue leave in preparation for Merlin’s long sleep.

Arthur rides after Merlin, not wanting to lose his powerful advisor, but Merlin stoutly affirms his destiny. Following Lady Nimue through Gwynedd, Merlin speaks with King Pant and Queen Elaine about their son Launcelot, who is destined to join Arthur’s court. Nimue sings enchantments around Merlin, transforming a field into a magic tower that Merlin sleeps under until he is needed in the future.

Meanwhile, Arthur hunts with Sir Urience—Morgana le Fay’s husband—and Sir Accolon in the forest. When the hart they chase drops dead, the knights find a magical barge in the river. Seeking adventure, they embark on the boat where ladies treat them to a decadent feast and rich furnishings for sleep. The men all wake in different places: Urience in Camelot, Arthur in a dungeon, and Accolon next to a deep gorge. Morgana devises a plan to have Accolon mistakenly kill Arthur using a feud between Sir Damas and Sir Outlake as her cover. Morgana’s servants offer each man a reward for winning the battle—Arthur his freedom and Accolon Morgana’s hand in marriage—and they give the men each a sword that looks like Excalibur. The men, unable to identify each other, fight; when Arthur notices the difference in their wounds, he understands that his sword is a false copy. Using her magic, Nimue loosens the real scabbard and Excalibur from Accolon, allowing Arthur to turn the tide of the battle. The men stop fighting after discovering Morgana’s trickery.

Arthur creates peace between Outlake and Damas before journeying to an abbey to heal, but Accolon dies of his wounds. Morgana, back at Camelot, tries to slay Urience in his sleep, but her lady warns Prince Uwaine of the plot. Uwaine stops Morgana and makes her swear to never practice “dark” magic again. While fleeing, Morgana stops at the abbey, stealing Arthur’s magic scabbard once more. Arthur and Outlake chase her, but she has time to throw the scabbard in a lake and disguise herself as a stone. Arthur returns to Camelot. Morgana’s lady arrives with a gift of penance: an embroidered mantle. Arthur has the lady try it on, and the mantle magically incinerates her to ashes.