EPISODE 123

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MARK : 

Hm. The furnishing’s somewhat overdone.

And you look terrible. Have you not been sleeping? 

ARTHUR : 

( Ugh. )

It’s always a displeasure to see you, Mark.

But you didn’t come all the way from Tintagel just to make snide comments about petty matters,

which you’re not very good at, by the way.

MARK : 

Let’s cut straight to the chase, then.

I have come to discuss our common issue.

ARTHUR : 

Our common issue?

MARK : 

You must have heard what people are saying about us and our wives. It’s the talk of every court. 

ARTHUR : 

If I had to concern myself with every bit of gossip that reached my ears, I wouldn’t have any time left for real problems. Those with time to waste may keep on entertaining themselves with rumors. 

MARK : 

They may use their spare time to plot to hurt us.

Which the rumor about your incestuous bastard may well achieve, 

if it turns out to be true. 

[ arthur freezes in the middle of opening a bottle, then screws it shut again. ]

MARK : 

Should I take your silence to mean it is true? 

ARTHUR : 

I will not

suffer such slander at my Round Table. 

Have I made myself clear? 

MARK : 

…

[ sighs ] 

The matter of our wives is of much greater importance, after all. 

Our queens left us in a very public fashion,

with all the consequences you can imagine. 

I received an ultimatum from the Irish.

If Iseult does not return to me, they will attack.

With the Irish on one side and the Germanic on the other, you see where our problem lies.

I would like to offer an alliance in our shared troubles.

ARTHUR : 

Do not compare my situation to yours.

You are an opportunistic snake who’d destroy everything he built, 

no, everything he stole, if it meant saving himself.

I’ve made nothing but sacrifices to be where I am today.

We are nothing alike. 

MARK : 

…

And yet…

We’ve both been made to look like the biggest cucks in Britain.

[ birds chirp. they’re the only ones being happy here. ] 

MARK : 

Whether you like it or not,

our wives must return to our sides.

If they don’t,

the consequences could be tragic. 

DINADAN : 

C’mon, c’mon!

It’s about to start!

ISEULT : 

Oh, Tristan, don’t…

TRISTAN : 

But my love, it’s important to me!

[ he shows off! ] 

< dialogue is in french >

VILLAGER : 

< Hey, that buddy o’ yours ain’t half bad.

Think he’d be up for a festival in Vannes? >

DINADAN : 

< Oh, no, we were just there. >

BRUNOR : 

< Besides, he’s a knight. He usually only does this during tourneys. > 

[ it’s still french, but with a thicc manchester accent… ] 

VILLAGER : 

< …

Huh? 

Didn’t catch a word of that. You two ain’t from around here, are ya? > 

DINADAN : 

Damn, we’re out of practice.

BRUNOR : 

Yeah, Dad would’ve killed us. 

CROWD : 

Sir Lancelot! 

Come on, Sir Lancelot! 

[ can palamedes never rest. ] 

BEDIVERE : 

And then Uriens socked him right in the eye.

DINADAN : 

But look how much he’s grown!

MORDRED : 

Stop it! 

[ everyone’s having a good time!! for a change!! ] 

PERCIVAL : 

Are you resting after your match, sir Palamedes?

PALAMEDES : 

I was almost there, but she got me in the end. 

PERCIVAL : 

You know, sir⎯

PALAMEDES : 

Oh, spare me the “sirs” with every sentence.

I was your father’s squire, after all. 

PERCIVAL : 

It’s true…

…

…How did you come to know my family, exactly?

PALAMEDES : 

Your father took us in, my family and I, when we had nowhere else to go. 

Arthur and Pellinore agreed to grant my mother some land in Listenoise,

and I became your father’s squire. 

Like as not, my brother would’ve been too, if Pellinore hadn’t…

…

Anyway, he ended up entrusting me with the matter of the Questing Beast.

PERCIVAL : 

Have you ever seen it?

PALAMEDES : 

A handful of times, in passing.

It’s swift on its feet. 

…

I think

it’s aware its kind does not belong here.

So it clings to life as fiercely as I hunt it.

With that quest, I have a goal at the Round Table.

PERCIVAL : 

…I didn’t know you had a brother.

PALAMEDES : 

Oh, yes.

There’s not much to say about him.

In the end, I spent more time with your brothers than I ever did with him, so…

…

…No.

Today is a happy day.

Let’s not talk about it. 

MORDRED : 

… 

…Percival. 

PERCIVAL : 

Mordred. 

PALAMEDES : 

…Oh, uh.

I think Dinadan…

Oh, Dinadan’s looking for me. S-see you later. 

MORDRED : 

Can I sit?

PERCIVAL : 

Go ahead. 

MORDRED : 

…

I…

There’s much I have to tell you. About that day, and…and so many things…

I don’t even know where to start. I shouldn’t have⎯

PERCIVAL : 

Are you growing your hair out? 

MORDRED : 

Ah, um…yes.

PERCIVAL : 

It looks good on you.

MORDRED : 

Thank you, but⎯

PERCIVAL : 

Mordred.

Look at them all.

They’re having fun, they’re laughing.

Meanwhile, I

have thought about nothing else, all these months. 

So today, just for today…

I don’t want to think about what happened. 

I just want to give myself a break. 

Don’t you want one too? 

MORDRED : 

( I wanted to tell him everything. 

To take him into my arms, to kiss him and beg for forgiveness…

But this heart no longer belongs to me, 

and it could not have borne it. 

So we just sat there in silence,

at peace.

Somehow, we knew that those days in Benwick

were the last happy days we’d ever see. )