Talk:Royal Round Table/@comment-96.242.179.217-20130819055430/@comment-5674726-20130820000055

The Round Table makes sense as something used by the ancient kings - plural.

At a meeting like Uther's with the other rulers of the Five Kingdoms, having a table where they could sit as equals rather than having somebody at the head of the table and somebody at the foot would be a potentially useful diplomatic tool. Did the ancient kings of Camelot use the Round Table for meetings with their nobles/Council/subjects, or was it reserved for occasions when they met with other kings, who were their equals?

In terms of equality and social advancement, I think that there is a tendency to give Arthur far too much credit.

He knighted a small handful of commoners - at a time when he had no authority to do so, which means that, technically, they may not have been knights at all - who were skilled fighters and loyal to him. It was to his advantage to bind them to Camelot and to him in particular. Even if we assume that the rules about who could become a knight were relaxed once Arthur was King, the vast majority of commoners were not going to be in a position to earn a knighthood. There's one avenue for social advancement for those whose combat skills are equal to the task. He called Merlin a friend but his "friend" apparently wasn't good enough to merit a seat at the Round Table. Arthur might have listened to Merlin in private at times but, as far as the Round Table went, Merlin was expected to stand back and keep quiet.

I don't think that he deserves any credit for marrying Guinevere. He pleased himself, nothing more. He didn't marry her as some kind of gesture to show his subjects how much he valued a common woman and the show dropped the ball in terms of showing how the kingdom was better off because Arthur married Guinevere instead of a princess.