Arthur's Rebellion of Camelot

"My father has languished in prison for too long. Tomorrow, I make my bid to rescue him. Are there any around this table who will join me?"

- Arthur at the Round Table Arthur's Rebellion of Camelot occurred when Prince Arthur created a rebellion to save the fallen Camelot from Morgana.

Prelude
Arthur and Merlin failed in their mission to return the Cup of Life to Camelot and it fell into the hands of Morgause who used it to make Cenred's army immortal before betraying Cenred and having him killed to gain full control of the army. After using the immortal army to capture Camelot, Morgana was crowned Queen when Morgause removed Uther Pendragon's crown, finally revealing her true loyalties to everyone in Camelot, devastating both Uther and Arthur (The Coming of Arthur: Part One). Morgana then spent her reign as Queen having many innocent citizens of Camelot executed both in an attempt to force Sir Leon and the other Knights of Camelot to serve her, and to emotionally torture Uther by mirroring his own actions in executing innocent people just for having magic. Morgana planned to execute Uther once she was satisfied with the amount of suffering he received and told him she hated him beyond understanding, devastating her father even further.

Meanwhile, Arthur and Merlin, along with Gaius, Gwaine, and Elyan hid in the outskirts of Camelot for a week. As Arthur's despondent shock over Morgana's betrayal and Uther's lie about her true paternity meant that they were unable to take action against Morgana and Morgause, Merlin reminded Arthur that he still had a duty to his father and people, allowing Arthur to eventually overcome his depression. Gaius told Merlin that the only way to overthrow Morgana would be to destroy the immortal army by emptying the Cup of Life of the blood within. After seeing Freya again by using water from the Lake of Avalon, which was given to Merlin as a gift from The Fisher King, Merlin secretly went to get the sword Excalibur from the Lake of Avalon with Kilgharrah's help as the sword was the only weapon which could kill the immortal army. As the sword could nevertheless bring great evil in the wrong hands, Kilgharrah told Merlin to keep the sword somewhere where no ordinary man can wield it once its task is finished and Merlin promised that he would.

Meanwhile, Gwen escaped Camelot with Leon to reunite with them but inadvertently led the immortal army to them, with Morgana and Morgause secretly being aware of their escape attempt and attempting to track Arthur down through Gwen. However, they narrowly escaped the immortal army with help from Lancelot and his friend Percival, who had been summoned by Merlin to help them. After retreating to an abandoned castle belonging to the ancient Kings who ruled Camelot, Arthur uncovered the Round Table and knighted Gwaine, Percival, Lancelot, and Elyan. Arthur planned to return to Camelot the following day in order to rescue Uther and the other imprisoned knights, as the citizens would never yield to Morgana's rule if the King was free. Afterwards, Merlin secretly informed Lancelot of his plan to find and empty the Cup of Life to save the Kingdom, and Lancelot chose to join Merlin in order to aid his plan.

The Rebellion
The next day, Arthur was joined by Merlin, Lancelot, Gwaine, Elyan, Percival, and Leon in their attempt to save Uther, the other imprisoned knights and the Kingdom. Before they left, Gaius, having overheard Merlin and Lancelot's conversation, warned Merlin to be careful and avoid detection by Morgause as she would kill him and Lancelot if she caught them attempting to empty the Cup of Life. Gaius and Gwen were told to stay behind and tend to the wounded, but Gaius then mysteriously disappeared, which left Gwen concerned. Once they returned to Camelot, Merlin and Lancelot then split up from the others under a pretext to remove the alarm bell so that they could find the Cup of Life. Arthur along with the knights succeeded in finding Uther and freeing the imprisoned knights, but got caught and cornered by the immortal army. Merlin used Excalibur to kill some of the immortal enemies, which stunned Lancelot who then admired the weapon with great respect. Despite Lancelot getting wounded while helping Merlin fight the immortal army, they succeeded in finding the Cup of Life.

However, Morgause arrived and attacked Merlin with her magic, while Arthur and his knights were struggling to fight against the immortal army in order to protect Uther, who was still emotionally broken by Morgana's betrayal and unable to defend himself. At this moment Gaius, who had been following them, attacked Morgause with his magic before she could kill Merlin. Morgause then attempted to attack Gaius in return but Merlin recovered and used his magic to smash Morgause against a pillar, defeating and nearly killing her. Merlin then used Excalibur to empty the Cup of Life, finally destroying the immortal army and saving Arthur, Uther, the knights and all of Camelot. Morgana then arrived and cradled the unconscious Morgause, horrified and devastated by both her sister's injuries and the army's destruction. When Merlin told her that the battle was over, Morgana glared at him and told him that it had just begun. In her grief and rage, Morgana screamed and brought the room crashing down with her magic while holding Morgause, forcing Merlin, Gaius, and Lancelot to escape, while Morgana and Morgause seemingly perished under the collapsing room.

Aftermath
After the battle, peace was restored to Camelot. Arthur told Merlin that he was unsure if Uther would ever recover from his depression over Morgana's betrayal. Merlin then told Arthur that he would have to take over Camelot as a Regent King, possibly temporarily. A few moments later Gwen returned to Camelot with the knights and kissed Arthur in public for the first time. Merlin later told Gaius that there was no sign of Morgana or Morgause, indicating that they had survived and managed to escape, and Gaius nevertheless praised Merlin's efforts in helping Arthur save Camelot. After that, Merlin fulfilled his promise to Kilgharrah by putting Excalibur into a stone where no ordinary man could wield it (The Coming of Arthur: Part Two).

Rébellion d'Arthur Pendragon