Board Thread:Rewatching "Merlin" - Season One/@comment-5102537-20130223112431/@comment-5147915-20130303111436

Well he might have gotten the gold if he had killed Arthur especially if no one had seen him use the sheild. Uther may of had no choice but to accept the fact that Arthur had been defeated. Arthur had no choice but to fight anyway, if Valiant used the sheild or not, because it was either be seen as a coward or fight till one of you is dead. I know that Valiant wouldn't have used the sheild if he believed he could win without it. But he had heard that Arthur was the strongest warrior so he may have felt that he would have had no choice but to use magic to win.

But we don't know Valiant's background so he could of had a past grievance with Uther or Arthur. We just don't know.