The Death of King Arthur: The Immortal Legend

Amid unrest involving neighboring kings (particularly King Rience) who still want to overthrow him, Arthur calls for a council meeting at his castle in Camelot. An ambassador of Lady Lile from the enchanted island of Avalon attends, holding a sword that she says only a knight of true valor and worth can unsheathe. After none of Arthur’s company manages to unsheathe the sword, Sir Balin, a humble knight dressed in poor clothes, succeeds. The lady congratulates Balin, but after he refuses to return the sword to her, she warns him that by this sword he will kill his best friend. Balin, enthused by the acquisition of his new weapon and willing to risk the lady’s warning, prepares to ride out of Camelot in search of adventures.

At this point, the Lady of the Lake arrives and calls on Arthur to fulfill his promise; she demands the head of Sir Balin or of the lady from Avalon or both. Balin steps back into the room and, seeing the Lady of the Lake, accuses her of being the woman who killed his mother. He cuts off her head with his sword, causing Arthur to banish him. To win back the king’s favor, Balin plots to kill King Rience. Meanwhile, Arthur mourns the loss of the Lady of the Lake and is approached by Sir Launceot (not to be confused with Sir Lancelot), an Irish knight jealous of Balin for having won the sword from the lady of Avalon. Launceot gets permission from Arthur to ride after Balin and challenge him to mortal combat. Merlin discloses to Arthur that the lady from Avalon was actually treacherous and that the sword she brought with her will do much harm.

Launceot catches up to Balin, and they fight. Balin fatally wounds Launceot and is then approached by a young woman on horseback, who, seeing Launceot’s dead body, stabs and kills herself. Balin feels grief and guilt for having unintentionally caused this girl’s death. At that moment, Balin’s brother, Balan, arrives and agrees to join Balin in his pursuit of King Rience.

Merlin (in disguise as a dwarf) meets the two brothers and prophesies that, because he caused the suicide of the young woman earlier, Balin will deliver what Merlin calls the “dolorous stroke” by cutting down the truest knight in the world. Balin is dismayed. A short while later Merlin reappears in another disguise to help him and his brother defeat King Rience. After Rience’s capture, Arthur is attacked by Rience’s brother, King Nero, and his forces. Balin and Balan join in the fighting, and Arthur’s forces are victorious.

Shortly after the battle, Arthur falls ill. While he is lying in a meadow to recover, he witnesses a mourning knight ride past, followed by Balin. He commands Balin to follow the mourning knight and learn why he is so sad. Balin finds the knight, named Sir Harleus, next to a woman and persuades him to accompany him back to the king, but a hidden archer in the trees kills Harleus along the way. Before dying, Harleus tells Balin this is the work of a man named Garlon and instructs Balin to return to the woman and avenge his death.

Balin finds the woman and together they journey to a castle. There they fall prey to an ambush, and the woman is almost killed. Balin stops the attackers, who explain that inside their walls their mistress is lying ill; only a mixture including the blood of a virgin can cure her, so they automatically attack any young woman entering their premises. With Balin’s permission, the woman willingly gives some of her blood to the men of the castle, but it doesn’t heal their mistress.

At another castle, Balin meets a host whose dying son was injured by an unidentified rider and can only be cured by that rider’s blood. Balin discerns that the rider was Garlon.

At the court of King Pellam, Balin finds Garlon and kills him. To avenge Garlon, King Pellam fights Balin. Their fight takes them into a secluded room where an ornate spear lies over a blanketed corpse. Balin picks up the spear and delivers the “dolorous stroke,” seriously wounding Pellam and causing the whole building to collapse, killing everyone inside (but not Pellam). Three days later, Merlin arrives and pulls Balin out of the rubble, showing him the destruction the dolorous stroke caused. The narrator explains that the blanketed corpse was that of Joseph of Arimathea and that the spear was the same one used to pierce the side of Jesus Christ during the crucifixion.

Balin, an outcast for having delivered the dolorous stroke, wanders into distant places and comes to a cross with a puzzling riddle engraved on it. Several strangers approach Balin, warning him of his fate, but he still accepts the challenge to fight a knight dressed in red who lives in the nearby castle. The two knights fight; it is only when both of them are close to dying that they realize that they are brothers, the red knight being Balan. Merlin buries both of them, and the narrator describes the various curses and enchantments that would rest on that infamous spot until the quest for the Holy Grail.

Arthur tells Merlin his intention of finding a wife and says he loves Guinevere. Merlin warns that Guinevere will cause Arthur great pain years later when a love affair arises between her and Lancelot; however, Arthur has made up his mind. Guinevere’s father is pleased and sends not only his daughter but 100 knights to join Arthur’s court, as well as a round table that belonged to Uther Pendragon, Arthur’s biological father. Arthur and Guinevere marry.

Merlin is in love with a former companion of the Lady of the Lake, a trickster named Nineve. In conversation with the king, Merlin foretells his own death and warns Arthur that his sword, Excalibur, will one day be stolen by the woman Arthur trusts most.

Merlin and Nineve journey together to France and meet King Ban and Queen Elaine. There they also see the royal couple’s young son, Lancelot. Merlin predicts that Lancelot will be famous, and the group briefly marvels over the curious fact that his birth name had been Galahad but was changed to Lancelot.

Nineve, after receiving Merlin’s affection and lessons in magic, grows tired of him and tricks him into crawling down a crevice, which she then seals with a large rock. Merlin is buried alive.

Meanwhile at Carlisle, Arthur is at war with five neighboring kings and laments that his reign has not enjoyed much peace so far. He calls for Pellinor to aid him and even tells Guinevere she must come with him to war because her presence will fill him with bravery. When the five kings launch a surprise attack against Arthur’s forces, Arthur and Guinevere escape to the banks of a river, where Arthur, Sir Kay, Sir Gawain, and Sir Griflet defeat the five pursuing enemy kings. They send Guinevere safely across the river and then return to the scene of the battle, where the belligerent armies surrender upon learning about their kings’ deaths.

Arthur returns to Camelot and consults Pellinor about the seats left empty at the Round Table due to the recent fighting. Pellinor names worthy candidates to replace the men who have died, and Arthur inducts new knights into the fellowship of the Round Table. One of these new knights, Bagdemagus, rides out in search of adventure to prove himself worthy of inclusion in Arthur’s court and finds a miraculous plant that is a sign of the Holy Grail. He also finds the spot where Merlin is buried and tries to save the trapped magician. Merlin tells Bagdemagus that only Nineve, who trapped him there, can remove the rock, so he must remain there until she relents. Bagdemagus returns to Arthur’s court and becomes a knight of the Round Table.

In the middle of a hunting trip in the forest, Arthur and some of his knights come across an abandoned boat with white and purple sails gliding across a lake. Aboard the boat are stores of fine silk. Night falls, and 12 women appear out of nowhere on the boat, beckoning Arthur and his men to feast and sleep. When the men wake up, each is in a different place. Uriens is back in Camelot with his wife, Morgan le Fay (the king’s half-sister). Arthur wakes up inside a prison cell.

The other prisoners in the cell explain to Arthur that they are captives of Sir Damas, who kidnaps knights to fight in his place against his noble younger brother Sir Oughtlake in a feud about land. A woman enters the prison, asking if Arthur will fight for Sir Damas, and Arthur agrees. The woman is one of Morgan le Fay’s servants.

Meanwhile, Sir Accolon (who was also aboard the enchanted boat) has woken up in a perilous position beside a deep well. Trapped and afraid of falling to his death, Accolon prays, and an emissary sent by Morgan le Fay arrives, handing Accolon the sword Excalibur and telling him he must fight a king in single combat in service to Morgan. Accolon agrees.

Arthur and Accolon are set to battle against each other without knowing it. Before the contest begins, a messenger of Morgan gifts Arthur with a counterfeit sword, a lookalike Excalibur, and passes along Morgan’s apology for stealing it. Not until he is in battle does Arthur realize his sword is not the real Excalibur. Just as Arthur is about to die, Nineve uses magic taught to her by Merlin and causes Arthur to regain the real Excalibur. With his sword back in his possession, the king defeats his opponent only to realize it is Accolon. In his outrage, Arthur denounces Morgan and publicly shames Sir Damas. Arthur and Accolon ride to a nearby abbey. Accolon dies of his wounds, but Arthur is healed and sends word to Morgan that he is alive and again in possession of Excalibur.

Morgan’s son, Sir Uwain, stops her during an attempt to kill her husband (Sir Uriens), but she claims she was acting under the influence of supernatural powers. She soon after learns that Arthur is still alive and gets permission from Guinevere to leave the area on a personal errand. Morgan stumbles upon the abbey where Arthur is recovering and learns that he is there and is sleeping. She steals Excalibur again. When Arthur wakes, he rides with Sir Oughtlake in pursuit of Morgan.

Morgan, seeing her pursuers, throws the sword into the lake and hides herself using magic. Once Arthur and Oughtlake leave, Morgan witnesses an execution attempt on a blindfolded knight accused of adultery. The blindfolded knight is named Manessen, and he is a cousin of the late Sir Accolon. Out of love for Accolon (and also because the charges of adultery are false), Morgan rescues Manessen, who in turn kills his executioner. Morgan tells Manessen to pass on threatening messages to Arthur. Morgan flees into the woods with her servants.