Leon

Sir Leon is a knight of Camelot who has shown himself to be loyal and trustworthy towards both Uther and Arthur Pendragon. He is portrayed by actor Rupert Young.

Early Life
Not much is known about Leon's early life. However it is known that he grew up with Guinevere as her mother worked as a maid in Sir Leon's household. (The Coming of Arthur) He eventually joined the Knights of Camelot.

Knight of Camelot
When Leon revealed that he let Arthur win the jousting tournament. This annoyed the Prince, who later defeated Leon in the tournament masked as "Sir William". (The Once and Future Queen)

When Uther was bewitched by the troll disguised as Lady Catrina, Leon was doubtful of his king's magically influenced decisions and appeared disapproving when Arthur's title as Crown Prince was stripped away (Beauty and the Beast). He was amongst those who attempted to tell Uther that his wife was a troll, and had to endure several councils with her stench.

When Arthur sent his men to attack The Great Dragon in his Attack on Camelot, Leon and various other knights were attacked by the Dragon in battle. When the beast unleashed its fiery breath on the group, Leon was injured by the flames but survived. (The Last Dragonlord)

He led the border patrols which spotted Cenred's army and reported it to the court. He later fought in the Great Battle for Camelot against both the army of Cenred and the skeleton soldiers raised by Morgana. (The Tears of Uther Pendragon)

When in The Rising Sun, Gaius, while possessed by a Goblin, insulted Leon and spat beer in his face. He quickly apologised when the enraged knight challenges him to a battle and offered to buy him and his friends a drink. However, the Goblin spiked the drink with a magical potion, which causing boils to grow on their faces. Leon and his friends went to Gaius, desperate, and Gaius charged coins for an antidote, satisfying the Goblin's thirst for gold. (Goblin's Gold)

Knight of the Round Table


Leon later led a patrol that accidentally stumbled past Cenred's borders, and Cenred had them made into an example for trespassers. They were all attacked and killed except for Leon, who had enough life left in him for him to be saved by a group of Druids, who took him to their camp and resurrected him using the Cup of Life. He then went back to Camelot and informed Arthur and Uther of this, Uther decided that the Cup must be recovered before Cenred found it. Arthur obtained it temporarily but it was taken by Cenred's men, allowing Morgause to turn his army into immortals. As they marched into Camelot, Leon's border patrol spotted them. The patrol was slaughtered except for Leon, who fled when he discovered their power when he mortally wounded one of them, but he did not die. Leon then informed Uther of the invasion.

After Morgana took over, Leon and the surviving Knights refused to pledge their loyalty to her. With the help of Guinevere, he managed to escape and reunite with Arthur. He watched Arthur knight Gwaine, Elyan, Lancelot and Percival. When they attacked Camelot, to save Uther and the other Knights, Leon fought with the rest of them and survived long enough for the enchantment to be broken. He later went out riding with the new Knights to bring Guinevere back to Camelot. (The Coming of Arthur)

The Darkest Hour
A year later Leon was coming back to Camelot with Elyan and several other Knights when they encountered Morgana on her way to the Isle of the Blessed with Morgause, where she attacked them. After arriving back in Camelot he recounted what had happened to him, and stated that her powers had grown. He lated accompanied the Knights of the Round Table to investigate Drea's story, and they discovered that the Dochora had been released, once they discovered it he went with Arthur and the the other Knights as the made their own journey to the Isle of the Blessed. (The Darkest Hour). On the journey they encountered Wilddeorens, but they escaped successfully. At the Isle of the Blessed; him, Percival and Elyan came fought a Wyvern, but they (except Percival} escaped unharmed. Along with other knights he was devastated about Lancelot's death.

Later Adventures
He later attended Arthur's Birthday feast, and a enjoyed the the festivities. He also attended Arthur's Coronation and cheered loudly for him. (The Wicked Day)

Upon Arthur learning of the existance of a dragon's egg, and the fact that Julius was after it, he took the knights of the round table with him to hunt it and destroy it, while on the trip Leon went with them, he later joined the others in playing a joke on Merlin, he was later poised by Julius and was only saved by Merlins magic. (Aithusa)

Leon later joined the other knights on there ambush on King Caerleon raiding party, upon the declaring of the war by Caerleons queen, he joined Elyan and the other knights to inform Arthur of there readiness to die for him, and later volunteered to take part in the duel for victory. (His Father's Son)

He along with the other knights of the round table, joined Arthur on his negotiations, and was with him when they were attacked by Morgana's mercenaries. He fought his way out, but was seperated from Arthur and Merlin. Back at Camelot, he led several search parties for Merlin, and informed him that they must have a traitor in Camelot again. Later he gave Merlin advice on which crossbow to use, believing Merlin's statement of killing Arthur to be a joke. He later unintentionally tipped Gaius and Gwen off to Merlin's attempt.

He along with the other knights, caught Dragoon the Great and tried to apprehend him, however Merlin's powers proved too great and he, along with the others, was defeated. (A Servant of Two Masters)

During there investigation into Gaius' disappearance, Leon informed Arthur and Agravaine of the fact that a horse was missing from the stables, suggesting Gaius had stolen it to escape. (The Secret Sharer)

Leon was among the Knights who rescued the Lamia from bandits. She soon started to exert her power over them, making them aggressive and more violent. Her first victim among them was Sir Elyan. Instead of going back to Camelot, she forced them to travel to a castle to the East that she knew of. Once there, the Lamia picked them off one by one. First was Gwaine, followed by Percival. When Leon saw Percival fall to the Lamia, he snapped out of her spell and attacked, but she defeated him. Thanks to Merlin's intereference and Arthur's arrival, he was able to recover from the attack. (Lamia)

Personality
Leon is very loyal to the Pendragon family. However because of this loyalty he refused to do his best when jousting against Arthur out of fear that he would injure the prince. He also tried to stop Merlin from interfering with a meeting between Arthur and Uther but Merlin convinced him to let him in by telling Leon that Arthur was trying to kill his father. Leon refused to pledge himself to Morgana thinking that she was not a true Pendragon and had no right to be queen. Even when Morgana had him and his men at the mercy of crossbowmen, saying they would be spared if they pledged to serve her, he and his men proudly refused.

Leon was very courageous even when faced with overwhelming odds or magical opponents and helped defend Camelot from the Great Dragon as well as fighting against Cenred's warriors and some skeleton warriors during the siege of Camelot. However Leon knew the difference between bravery and foolishness and therefore fled from Morgause's immortal army when he realised that they couldn't die, thinking that he should warn Camelot instead of fight to what would have been certain death. He was also a skilled leader and during Arthur and Merlin's search for Balinor he took command of the knights of Camelot. He was also shocked and horrified when Morgana ordered her soldiers to attack innocent people showing that he cares a lot about the citizens of Camelot.

Leon also had a sense of humour and he and the other knights sometimes teased Merlin, though Leon appears to think of Merlin as a friend. Leon also interpreted Merlin's desire to kill Arthur as a joke, not realising that Merlin actually meant what he said.

Abilities
Sir Leon is one of Camelot's most skilful warriors and was Arthur's second in command. He was a highly skilled swordsman surviving many battles where many other knights were slain. Leon was also skilled with a lance and when practising against Arthur he would have defeated him if not for the fact that he was worried about injuring the prince. However it should be noted that Arthur had the sun in his eyes during the practice session.

Leon also displayed remarkable survival skills, being able to recover from the wounds inflicted on him by the Great Dragon, survive a battle with Cenred's men long enough to be revived by druids who made him drink from the Cup of Life and escape from a group of immortal soldiers unscathed. On the first occasion Arthur and Merlin were the only others who survived besides him, and on the last two occasions he was the only person to survive.

Behind the Scenes

 * Originally Leon was only supposed to be a character in The Once and Future Queen, but he received such a good reception that the producers brought him back again and again. He is the only named knight of Camelot to have appeared in more than one episode in Series Two.
 * When Leon was injured by the Great Dragon in The Last Dragonlord, some believed he was killed. However, in spite of the belief that he had died in the battle, he returned in Series 3.

In the Legends
While Leon appears to be a completely original character, it is possible he may also be based on or around King Leondegrance.

King Leondegrance, or King Leon, was the father of Queen Guinevere and his kingdom was Carmelide (or Cameliard. He served Uther Pendragon, King Arthur's biological father and regnal predecessor. Leondegrance was entrusted with the keeping of the Round Table at Uther's death. When Guinevere marries Arthur, Leondegrance gives the young king the table as a wedding present. In later romance Leondegrance is one of the few kings who accept Arthur as his overlord. For this, his land is invaded by the rebel King Rience, but Arthur comes to his rescue and expels the enemy. Arthur meets Guinevere for the first time during this excursion, and they develop a love that eventually results in their fateful marriage.