EPISODE 97

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ISEULT : 

Oh!

Tristan, we have visitors!

TRISTAN : 

Well, look who’s here…

I didn’t expect to see you guys!

PERCIVAL : 

Sir Tristan?

TRISTAN : 

Hello, Percival!

Come on, we were just about to head back!

Oh, you all look exhausted.

BORS :

 It was a rough fight.

Merlin was more severely wounded than I was.

ISEULT : 

[ gasps ] Wounded?!

MERLIN :

 [in a monotonous voice] I am currently in agony.

Perhaps if I had some hemp⎯

ISEULT : 

I’m not giving you any, Merlin.

PERCIVAL : 

What are you doing here, sir?

TRISTAN : 

We are Lancelot’s guests, in her own domain.

She’s granting us asylum.

PERCIVAL : 

Lancelot…?

LANCELOT : 

Exactly, Percival.

Welcome to Joyous Guard.

[ back to the lil seaside retreat ]

GAWAIN : 

Hello, Aglovale.

AGLOVALE : 

…

Oh, for goodness’ sake⎯

Do you mind? 

Can’t you wait for me to be done?

GAWAIN :

 I’ve come a long way and I’m filthy, so no can do.

[ she steps into a tub. ]

My mother says your condition seems to be improving.

The fresh seaside air must’ve helped.

AGLOVALE : 

Spare me the small talk.

GAWAIN : 

Would you rather hear about my quests?

Or my conquests?

Both are strangers to you, after all.

AGLOVALE : 

…

GAWAIN : 

Ah, there it is.

That gaze full of hatred.

AGLOVALE : 

…I don’t hate you.

GAWAIN : 

Oh, that’s a new one.

AGLOVALE : 

Perhaps it is.

I’ve learned some things that made it difficult to remain single-minded in my feelings.

It’s hard to hate someone who killed their own father

in order to save mine.

GAWAIN : 

…

I…

…beg your pardon?

AGLOVALE : 

[ sighs ] 

I know what really happened at the battle of Penrith, Gawain.

My father, perhaps foolishly so, wrote about it in his notebooks. What you did touched him, you know.

I had to accept it.

I understand why he would have taken it upon himself to safeguard your honor. The circumstances of battle would’ve allowed him to keep his.

…

What doesn’t make sense, though…

…is why you challenged him to a duel.

GAWAIN : 

…

You never knew Loth, did you? 

AGLOVALE :

 I didn’t have the pleasure, no.

GAWAIN : 

You wouldn’t have been pleased to meet him, either.

I loved my father, but…

One must acknowledge that despite appearances, there were few people he did not dislike.

He disliked the Welsh. He disliked his neighbors.

With a kingdom split in two, he calculated every move, expecting a threat to arise at any given moment.

The way he saw it, Arthur’s advent was one such threat.

That’s what led him to send me to the Round Table.

AGLOVALE :

 Oh, yes, I know the story…

… [ sighs ] since Kay tells it every time your birthday comes around.

GAWAIN : 

( Hehe. )

I suppose having a former spy at the Round Table is something worth remembering.

When I was found out, I feared the worst.

I saw what my father did to spies he sniffed out.

But Arthur…

…was beyond understanding.

My actions were not without consequences, of course, but

he offered me a chance to redeem myself.

He gave me a choice. I cannot say if it was that very moment, or the time I spent around him

that made me realize the difference between a righteous, honest man, a good man, and my own father.

Of course, neither Arthur nor I were aware of the family ties between us at the time.

But I already felt like a member of his family. That is how he considers his allies, those he devotes himself to. 

That king, who rules to bring justice and dignity for all…

…That is who I uphold my oath as a knight for.

…

…Reality is always more complicated than that, though.

Loth decided to lead a rebellion.

As his child and heir, I had to be by his side.

Arthur understood that.

ARTHUR : 

Go to him, Gawain.

He’s your father.

You don’t have to pay the price for the decisions made by those who came before you.

GAWAIN : 

So I obeyed.

You were wounded, during that battle.

I didn’t see you, but I gathered as much,

because Pellinore was enraged.

So when my father brought him to his knees,

I decided to keep the oath I swore to Arthur by protecting Pellinore.

I liked Pellinore, I really did.

So did Arthur. They were close, true friends. Despite some disagreements, they shared the same vision of an united Britain.

…

So…

I was not surprised when I learned

Arthur asked Pellinore to commit a heinous act

for the salvation of Britain.

When he asked him…

…to assassinate Mordred. 

AGLOVALE : 

W-what are you saying?

GAWAIN :

 I would love to tell you it isn’t true.

But it all came from one of Merlin’s prophecies.

In the future, Mordred will put an end to the Round Table and to Arthur’s life…

…therefore destroying any hope for an united Britain.

But I caught them.

They tried to explain themselves, and it’s not that I didn’t understand…

The thought of a new threat to the unity of Britain must have been unbearable.

After all, the rebellions had only just ended.

But perhaps that is what clouded Arthur’s judgment on that day.

He was on edge, listing off everything that could go wrong if we did not act now.

Mordred could ally himself to enemies of the crown.

He could usurp the throne, use Excalibur’s dangerous magic unrestricted…

He could destroy Camelot, the whole kingdom, too, let Britain fall back into endless civil wars.

I believed in Arthur and his vision more than anything.

I believed in the truth of Merlin’s words.

But it’s hard to look at a newborn and lay all the blame for the world’s sins at his feet.

Mordred, my little brother…

…did not deserve to suffer from the cruelty of a world in which he’d only just been born.

So I challenged Pellinore to a duel, putting my own life on the line and promising I’d keep Mordred from becoming a threat.

And… you know the rest.

AGLOVALE : 

…

Why…

…did you never tell me any of this?

GAWAIN : 

To protect Arthur.

To protect Mordred.

To protect… everything I hold dear.

And besides,

would you have believed me, knowing your father’s blood was on my hands?

AGLOVALE :

 …

GAWAIN : 

Listen, I know how you are.

I know you’re inflexible, righteous and true.

But I’ll ask you to respect our decision not to let this situation, or this prophecy, come to light.

It could create more problems than solutions, and even you would not be spared. 

AGLOVALE : 

…

…No.

The prophecy…

…isn’t the problem. 

ROUND TABLE TRIVIA

Joyous Guard is a castle Lancelot conquered, making it her domain and occasional place of residence.

Lancelot : 

Not bad, eh? It’s French.

[ reference to this meme ]