EPISODE 98

>click here to access the webtoon episode<   

VIVIANE :

 If I’d known you’d come back to me in such a sorry state…

MERLIN : 

What would you have done?

VIVIANE : 

Wouldn’t you like to know?

ISEULT, PERCIVAL, GALAHAD : 

…

[ awkward. ]

MERLIN : 

Alright.

What happened, Percival?

When you tried to take the Grail, you couldn’t do it, could you?

What did you see, what did you feel?

PERCIVAL : 

…

I couldn’t say.

Nothing?

It was like…

…the Grail wasn’t there.

Maybe it was a fake?

VIVIANE : 

Now, the hound wouldn’t have led you to it if it were.

MERLIN : 

Do you have an idea what’s happening, Viviane?

VIVIANE : 

You tell me. You’ve lived in the Grail’s presence longer than I have.

MERLIN :

 I’ve only been able to draw some theories regarding its existence, though, as you know.

VIVIANE : 

Like what?

MERLIN : 

…

With the Grail comes abundance.

It offers health, wealth, food and prosperity for the land.

So I wonder whether its presence created a vicious cycle.

Before its appearance, Britain was not as bountiful, but the land was lived on, worked for crops, livable despite everything…

…and the Grail drew from its resources to deliver its blessings, creating a dependency.

So when one takes the Grail away, all that’s left is a wasteland, like Corbenic.

That said, its ancient nature intrigues me.

It can only come from the Otherworld, and I sincerely think

that it was stolen from an ancient god.

ISEULT : 

An ancient god?

Do they not live only in the Otherworld, though?

MERLIN : 

Yes, but any mage can cross the veil between worlds.

What I mean to say is that

the Grail’s will is fed by a very old and powerful magic.

So I wouldn’t be surprised if in order to survive,

the Grail was able to create a bond with a host of its own choosing, of its own volition.

That would explain why it lets no one else near it. Its tangible shell must be wandering the Next World,

and all we can see is a reflection.

PERCIVAL : 

…

…So what must we do?

MERLIN : 

…

Logic would dictate we break the bond before it gets a chance to become permanent.

That way, the Grail will appear again in order to search for a new host.

PERCIVAL : 

And how would we do that?

MERLIN :

 …Either through a complicated ritual, which would need a lot of preparation, though it isn’t impossible…

or through the host’s death.

LAMORAK :

 You’ve been so silent the last couple days.

But let me guess⎯if I ask you why, you won’t answer me. 

AGLOVALE : 

…

…There’s something I have to do today.

I’ll explain everything when I’m done. But I promise you…

I have a favor to ask, before this. 

No one can see you.

Can you do that for me?

GAWAIN : 

…

AGLOVALE : 

May I come in?

GAWAIN : 

You have questions regarding our conversation, I assume?

Or about the prophecy, perhaps? 

AGLOVALE :

 I've been thinking quite a lot about what you told me.

[ gawain sits. ]

This whole tale is so complicated, even though I see why you made the choices you did.

You kept your vows, which is commendable. 

So I would like to revise the judgment I cast upon you fifteen years ago.

Given the circumstances, it’s difficult for me to keep antagonizing you.

GAWAIN : 

… [ sighs ]

Thank you.

I’d love to tell you I do not resent you, but I’ll probably need some time.

AGLOVALE : 

So I assume.

…

This said, I cannot ignore

the fact that your honor has been tainted by this whole affair.

That is why I’ve decided to make the truth known to all.

To tell everyone about the prophecy, what you had to do…and why.

GAWAIN : 

[ she picks at her hands. ]

Aglovale, I’m grateful, but…

This will not be without its consequences.

AGLOVALE : 

Do you feel ready to face them?

GAWAIN : 

…

…If you think there’s a way to preserve Arthur’s honor through all this, then I’ll consider it.

AGLOVALE : 

I don’t doubt you will. 

After all…

…is it not the lesser evil?

GAWAIN :

 …

…Excuse me?

AGLOVALE : 

You see, I withheld something from you, the other day. 

When I read through my father’s notes, I noticed something… odd.

…

Loth died in June.

Mordred…

…was born eleven months later.

GAWAIN :

 …

AGLOVALE : 

It’s the kind of information that’s easy to miss, given how simple it is.

But it was the only thing I had to go off of.

But then you said something that immediately shed some light on this topic.

As you said, you know me well.

I never could have let this story go unmentioned, in the name of honor⎯of justice.

So, why did you let it slip?

After all, my decision to make the truth public would only have escalated the situation.

And the two of us aren’t close enough for you to share something so personal thoughtlessly.

You wanted me to tell everyone about the prophecy…

…because it makes for a legitimate reason to keep Mordred off the path of knighthood,

and for Arthur to have made the drastic decision to have him killed, which would ensure his decision would be supported by the people.

And it had to come from me, an unbiased - and therefore credible - party.

Better that than the real issue at hand.

You may be as calculating as your late father, but you made a mistake.

For you told me…

…Arthur feared Mordred would use Excalibur’s magic. 

[ gawain gasps. ]

But only a Pendragon may use the sword’s magic.

So tell me, Gawain…

What was the true goal of Pellinore’s mission?

To assassinate Mordred because he was at the core of a prophecy that would destroy us all…?

Or…

…because he’s Arthur and Morgan’s incestuous son? 

previous episode | next episode.