Lancelot


 * This article is about the deceased knight, Lancelot, for the episode he is introduced in, see: Lancelot

Sir Lancelot was a friend of Merlin and a former Knight of Camelot. He was also Guinevere's first love. Following his death on the Isle of the Blessed, he was raised from the dead by Morgana, albeit as a Shade, making him a shadow of his former self. With his task complete, the shade killed itself but Lancelot's soul was freed by Merlin, allowing him to die in peace.

Arrival in Camelot
Lancelot first met Merlin when he saved him from a Griffin, Merlin suprised at his courage, he took him back to Camelot. When it was revealed only noblemen can join the Knights of Camelot, Merlin used his magic to create a seal of nobility. Merlin asks Gwen to provide clothes and armour so Lancelot looked like he was a nobleman. Lancelot became attracted to Gwen as soon as he met her and insisted on calling her 'My Lady' despite her telling him she wasn't a noble so shouldn't be addressed that way. He asked Merlin what kind of relationship he has with Gwen and seemed pleased when Merlin said they were just friends. He later told Arthur that he thought she was beautiful. Lancelot tried out for the knights and, although at first Arthur is unimpressed, he quickly identified that Lancelot has potential. Lacelot started out having a job cleaning the stables, Arthur aproched him, and using brooms as bow staffs the two men dueled. After the duel, Arthur said that Lancelot had passed his first test. Lancelot moved on to basic training, soon he was excepted into the knights of Camalot.

However when Uther asked Geoffrey of Monmouth to check the seal of nobility, it was revealed to be a forgery and Lancelot was thrown in prison. Arthur, however, let him out and told him to leave Camelot and never return. Lancelot decided to fight the Griffin as he felt he had a duty to do so.

Before leaving to fight the Griffin he visited Gwen's home as he needed armour. She asked him not to leave but he insisted it was his duty, knight or not.

When the Griffin attacked again Arthur and the other knights were nearly all killed. Lancelot tried to kill the Griffin but it was only when Merlin enchanted his lance that the Griffin was killed. Arthur then appealed to Uther to reinstate Lancelot as a knight, thinking it was Lancelot who killed the Griffin.

Lancelot revealed to Merlin that he knew he was a magician and promised to keep his secret, however he also said he could not stay and take credit for killing the Griffin when it was really Merlin. He announce to Uther and Arthur that he intended to leave in order to redeem himself for lying to them. (Lancelot)

Travelling Abroad
Lancelot travelled around after leaving Camelot and eventually started to earn a living by fighting for others entertainment, believing his life had become meaningless. He was working in a fighting ring run by a group of bandits when he saw Gwen had been kidnapped. The bandits had mistaken her for Morgana and were holding her for ransom. Realizing Gwen's life would be in danger if her true identity was discovered, Lancelot worked to free her, giving Lancelot a reason to live again. They shared a kiss and their feelings for each other were rekindled. However, when they tried to escape, they were captured and set to be executed. But they were saved by Arthur and Merlin, who had come to rescue Gwen.

While returning to Camelot, both Arthur and Gwen went out of their way to appear indifferent to each other. Lancelot was not fooled by this and quickly realised that they had strong unspoken feelings for each other, Merlin later confirmed this and although he had realised his own feelings for Gwen, Lancelot decided he wouldn't risk coming between her and Arthur. He left once again, asking Merlin to tell Gwen that while they weren't meant to be, she had changed his life. (Lancelot and Guinevere)

The Fall of Camelot
After Camelot fell to Morgana, Merlin sent word to him for help. Along with his friend Percival he saved them from Morgana's knights, and went with them to an ancient Castle. Within the Castle he was knighted by Arthur. Together with Merlin, they sneaked into the tower, to break the enchantment, while the other's went to save the other knights and Uther. Although he was wounded during the final fight, he survived, and later went with the other new knights to get Guinevere. (The Coming of Arthur: Part Two)

Knight of Camelot
A year later, he is one of the knights that ride out with Arthur to face an unknown enemy which has attacked a village. When the group are attacked by the Dorocha, he saves Merlin when the warlock's magic proves to be useless against the evil spirits. He later travels with Arthur and Merlin to the Isle of the Blessed to restore the veil between the living and the dead, but not before promising Gwen that he will protect Arthur with his life.

Later while looking for wood with Merlin he pleads with his friend to return to Camelot, as his magic cannot help him against the spirits. However Merlin refused, much to Lancelot's dismay. Later Merlin is seriously injured by the Dorocha, providing the Arthur with the dilemma of whether to take him back to Camelot or abandon their quest. (The Darkest Hour: Part One). Arthur anounced that they had to return Merlin to Giaus or he would die, but Lancelot and Leon expressed the need to finish the quest. Lancelot was given permission to take Merlin back to Camelot so that Gaius can aid him. While taking a brief rest by a stream, the Vilia reveal themselves to Lancelot. They explain they are the kind spirits of the brooks and streams, also released by the sundered veil. They wish to help restore the balance and mean them no ill will. They tell Lancelot that both he and Merlin are necessary to heal the veil. When Lancelot expresses concern for Merlin, the Vilia reassure him by explaining that the young warlock has a future that has been written the dawn of time and they will heal him. They also provide Lancelot and a recovering Merlin with shelter and protection from the Dorocha for the remainder of the night.

By morning, Merlin is healed and the both of them head out to reunite with Arthur and the other knights. While taking shelter the two friends discuss why they are going back to help Arthur. Merlin guesses that Lancelot is helping Arthur because of Gwen. Lancelot explains that he respects Arthur and Gwen's happiness with the prince is what matters to him more than anything.

Later while being attacked by the Dorocha, Merlin summons Kilgharrah, who comes to their aid by eliminating the spirits attacking them. Upon learning Lancelot identity, the Dragon appears to treat him with reverence, calling him "the bravest and most noblest of them all", a statement that Lancelot did not believe to be true, but the Dragon is adamant about. While Merlin talks to the Dragon and says goodbye to his old friend, Lancelot learns that Arthur intends to sacrifice himself to heal the veil and that Merlin plans on taking the prince's place. Later he expresses his admiration for Merlin and wonders if he had the courage to sacrifice his life as his friends were planning.

Death


After reuniting with Arthur and the knights, they travelled to the Isle of the Blessed, where only Arthur, Merlin and Lancelot knew a sacrifice had to be made. As they saw the veil, Arthur approached the Cailleach and offered himself to save his people. Merlin, however, prevented this by throwing him aside magically. The Cailleach asked Merlin if he would give up his life to save Arthur's, but then stated that his time among men was not over and it was not yet his time. She turned to the veil, revealing that during their conversation Lancelot had sneaked past them and walked into the veil himself. Lancelot turned to look at his old friend one final time before turning back to the black abyss, smiling, and then disappeared into the veil with his arms spread out wide to meet his fate. His sacrifice healed the tear between the two separate worlds once again, leaving Merlin calling out in grief.

After returning to Camelot, Arthur paid his fallen comrade honour, citing that they all owed him a great debt. Arthur named Lancelot's legacy as more than just his last sacrifice, but also his courage, compassion and unselfish heart. Arthur called Lancelot the bravest and most noble knight he had ever known, a destiny Kilgharrah had foreseen and spoken of earlier.

Arthur built a funeral pyre for his fallen friend, laying out his cloak and sword upon the blaze in lieu of a body. While holding Arthur's hand and staring at the pyre, Guinevere mourned over the loss and distressed by her belief that Lancelot gave his life to keep a promise to he made to her: to protect Arthur with his life (The Darkest Hour).

Return from the Dead
Upon learning that Arthur intended to make Gwen his queen, Morgana travelled to the Dochraid and asked her advice regarding a magical coin Morgause had given her. With it she was able to resurrect Lancelot from the dead, but as a shade without the majority of his memories and merely a shadow of what he had once been.

The shade Lancelot still possessed all his skills, but could not remember anything other than his name, and was enthralled to Morgana. She filled his head with the information she needed him to know so he could pass as his old self, and he returned to Camelot, telling everyone that somehow he had cheated death but could not remember how. He claimed that he had been found by travellers who took him in, and he went with them till he had recovered sufficiently to return.

However, noticing several oddities in Lancelot's behaviour and discovering he could not remember that Merlin possessed magic, Merlin knew almost immediately that something was wrong. Upon study, he came to the conclusion that he was a victim of necromancy, the darkest form of magic.

Using a pentacle, Merlin confirmed that Lancelot was in fact a shade, and he and Gaius therefore kept an eye on him, suspecting him of ill intent towards the King. In the meantime, Morgana enchanted a bracelet for Lancelot to give to Gwen in order to resurrect her old feelings for him. Lancelot, pretending it was a gift of goodwill for her marriage, gave the bracelet and she soon began falling in love with him again. Lancelot participated in the celebratory jousting tournament and continued to win until he was facing Arthur. Lancelot's first blow wounded Arthur, who refused to yield despite being in poor shape, thus putting himself in great danger. On the second run, however, Lancelot yielded in a reflection of the old nobility he once possessed.

Now that the spell was complete, Lancelot had Gwen meet him in the middle of the night. Merlin tried to intervene, but could not prevent Agravaine from leading Arthur straight to them, thus catching Guinevere kissing Lancelot. Filled with fury and hurt, Arthur turned on Lancelot and the duo commenced a vicious sword fight. Though Arthur was at first winning, Lancelot managed to gain the upper hand, leading Merlin to have to intervene to save Arthur's life. Incensed, Arthur went for the kill but Gwen, near hysterical, begged the two to stop. Lancelot and Gwen were both thrown into the dungeons where Gwen cast aside the bracelet.

Arthur had Gwen exiled from Camelot, but before he could pass judgement on Lancelot, a final order from Morgana came ordering Lancelot to kill himself, thus sparing Arthur the need to punish him. Arthur, melancholic on hearing the news, assumed Lancelot had done so out of guilt and because of his strong sense of right and wrong, commenting that he had always been a man of honour "in all ways but one". Arthur therefore gave orders for him to have a proper burial. Merlin then took Lancelot to the lake and and performed a blessing on Lancelot's body. This temporarily resurrected Lancelot for a few seconds where it was shown that his soul was now free from Morgana's control and he was restored to his true self. He looked at Merlin and spoke his final words: "Merlin, thank you". Lancelot finally died in peace and Merlin cast his friend's body across the lake in a floating pyre, igniting it with magic (Lancelot Du Lac).

Legacy
Prior to the events of Lancelot du Lac, Arthur forgave Gwen for the affair. And Arthur still dislikes Lancelot. He was indirectly mentioned in A Herald of the New Age, The Hunter's Heart and The Sword in the Stone: Part Two, when they mentioned his and Gwen's betrayal. And it is rumoured that he will return in Series 5, despite him being dead.

Personality
Lancelot had a very strong sense of right and wrong. He was never comfortable with the idea of lying about his social status in order to qualify for knighthood. He also refused to take the credit for another's work, as he refused to do so when Merlin killed the Griffin and everyone thought he had. Lancelot was polite and respectful towards people higher ranked than himself even if they treated him unfairly.

During his duel with Arthur, Lancelot defeated the prince through trickery rather than skill. However, in a real battle a warrior would need every advantage they could get and earlier in the episode Arthur believed that Lancelot was not ready for a real battle. Therefore, Arthur accepted his defeat and allowed Lancelot to join the Knights of Camelot.

Lancelot was willing to risk his own life to save the people he cares about. He developed feelings for Guinevere as soon as he met her but despite his feelings for her he left so he wouldn't come between her and Arthur. This showed that he was very selfless. Eventually, he sacrificed his life to keep to a promise he had made to Gwen; to protect Arthur with his life.

Kilgharrah greatly respected Lancelot, telling him that he was the bravest and most noble knight in Camelot. Although he was certainly a courageous and noble man, Lancelot apparently had some insecurities about his own courage because at first he was doubtful that what Kilgharrah said was true. This shows that in addition to his courage and selflessness he was also very humble.

Following his resurrection, and forgetting who he was, Lancelot was a shell of the man he had been, completely under Morgana's influence. He took part in a plot to ruin Gwen's chances of becoming queen. Despite this at least some of his personality survived, as he refused to finish Arthur when he was injured, showing that some of his honour stayed with him. However, despite initially sparing Arthur's life, Lancelot almost killed Arthur when fighting with him again after he saw Gwen kissing him. Lancelot remembered his true identity after Merlin brought him back from the dead one last time and thanked his old friend for reminding him who he truly was.

Abilities
Lancelot was a highly skilled swordsman and one of the very few who was able to fight Arthur as an equal and defeated him during their duel. It should be noted however that he defeated Arthur through trickery rather than skill (Lancelot). Like Arthur he was capable of defending himself against numerous opponents at once defeating several of Hengist's bandits before finally being subdued. When he and Merlin went to search for the Cup of Life he fought against numerous immortal knights and drove them into the path of Excalibur, which was being wielded by Merlin, resulting in the knights defeat. Hengist was impressed by Lancelot's combat prowess noting that he was a skilful warrior (Lancelot and Guinevere).

In addition to being a formidable opponent with a sword, Lancelot was skilled with a lance using it to slay a griffin that attacked Camelot. However his lance was made more powerful by Merlin's magic and Lancelot claimed that it was Merlin, not he, that had killed the griffin.

Although, he lost his memories and much of his personality following his resurrection, his skills did survive, and during his duel with Arthur, he would have won, if Merlin hadn't telekinetically knocked the sword out of his hand. He also defeated every other knight in jousting, even Arthur, although he refused to go in for the kill.

Also after his ressurection, Lancelot, because he was now a shade, became resistant to magical attacks as he resisted Merlin's attempt to knock him unconscious with magic.

Trivia

 * Knight Valiant, Lancelot, and Gwaine are the only male characters to have an episode named after them.
 * He is also the only character, place or creature to have three episodes named after him. (Lancelot (episode), Lancelot and Guinevere and Lancelot du Lac).

Appearances
Series 1


 * Lancelot (first appearance)


 * Series 2
 * Lancelot and Guinevere
 * The Last Dragonlord (mentioned only)


 * Series 3
 * The Coming of Arthur: Part Two


 * Series 4
 * The Darkest Hour: Part One
 * The Darkest Hour: Part Two (first death)
 * Lancelot Du Lac (return) (second death)
 * A Herald of the New Age (mentioned indirectly)
 * The Hunter's Heart (mentioned indirectly)
 * The Sword in the Stone: Part Two (mentioned indirectly)