EPISODE 98

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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, how did it 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 happened, 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...maybe its presence created a vicious cycle.

Before it appeared, 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 powered by a very old and powerful kind of magic.

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

the Grail was able to 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 Otherworld,

and all we can see is its 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're gonna ignore me. 

AGLOVALE : 

…

…There’s something I must do today.

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

I have a favor to ask, before this. 

There must be no witnesses.

Can you do that for me?

GAWAIN : 

…

AGLOVALE : 

May I come in?

GAWAIN : 

I assume you have questions regarding our conversation.

Or perhaps this is about the prophecy? 

AGLOVALE :

 I gave our conversation a lot of thought.

[ gawain sits. ]

This whole tale is beyond 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 passed upon you fifteen years ago.

I can hardly keep antagonizing you under these circumstances.

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 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 helped me figure it out right away.

As you've mentioned before, you know me well.

I never could have let this story go untold, 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 so thoughtlessly.

You wanted me to tell everyone about the prophecy…

…because it makes for a legitimate reason to keep Mordred off the path to 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 is it that Pellinore was tasked to do?

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

Or…

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

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