Ruadan

"They are Pendragons. They are good for one thing only, death."

- Ruadan to Sefa

Ruadan was a druid sorcerer who joined forces with Morgana in order to enact revenge over King Arthur for reasons unknown.

Searching for the Diamair
Some time during the three years that had passed after her second downfall, Morgana joined forces with the druid Ruadan, who probably informed her of an ancient prophecy regarding Arthur's Bane. To gain full knowledge on the prophecy's mystery, the two sorcerers start looking for the Diamair, the key to all knowledge, that is rumoured to be hidden under the Fortress of Ismere. For three months Ruadan and Morgana, with the help of a pack of magical wolves under the High Priestess' control, capture the men who ventured into the Northern Plains and force them to work in the mines under the castle. They also recruit Saxon bandits who form a small army under their order.

His daughter Sefa is able to become Queen Guinevere's maid and pass information to her father. One night, she approaches him in a ruined building in the woods near Camelot while he is praying the ancient gods of the Old Religion. When he realises someone is coming, he uses magic to blow two torches out and is able to move so quickly that he catches his daughter by surprise, catching her off-guard from behind and putting a dagger on her throat. After realising who his victim is, he tells Sefa not to be afraid, because fear is only in her mind and no one can scare her. The maid informs him that King Arthur and his men are going to Ismere, to attack the fortress and free Morgana's prisoners. The two villains are expecting this, but they haven't thought that Arthur has taken another route, approaching Ismere from West.

Sefa informs her father of the King's secret plan and so, along with Morgana and their Saxon army, he attacks the Camelot Knights as they awake from a short rest. Moving in from only a millimetre behind the front line, Ruadan charges the Knights of Camelot with nothing but a broadsword, massacring many warriors, regardless of the men dying on his side. He manages to injure Sir Leon during the battle and belt Arthur with a mace (Arthur's Bane). As Ruadan comes dangerously close to killing Arthur, Merlin rescues him and bolts away from the Druid warrior.

Ruadan continues to butcher the Knights, and Morgana's men take the charge further into the battle, flanking Arthur's men. The full progress after the battle prior to Arthur's escape is unknown, but it can be assumed that Ruadan escaped practically unscathed

Rescuing Sefa and Death
After hearing that Sefa has been sentenced to death, Ruadan goes to Camelot to rescue her. He infiltrates the castle and breaks Sefa out of the dungeons. Father and daughter are later surrounded by several knights but Ruadan once again displays his impressive combat skills by fighting off several knights at once before finally being fatally injured by Sir Elyan. After he is wounded, he and Sefa flee. Although Sefa begs him to heal himself, Ruadan knows that he is dying and his last request to his daughter is to send a message to Morgana. He then tells Sefa that he loves her and asks her to be strong before leaving his last breath.

Personality
Ruadan was intelligent, malevolent, arrogant, serene, calm, strong, cerebral, determined and powerful. He was obviously a naturally talented and extremely powerful sorcerer, with years of experience, and is easily underestimated. He was confident in his own skills and strode, alone, into battle against Arthur Pendragon and even managed to overpower three of Camelot's best knights, showing that he had dedicated his life to fighting against the Pendragons.

Ruadan believed that fear was only in a person's mind. However he did show signs of paranoia since he pressed a sword to Sefa's throat before realizing that it was her. He clearly hated the Pendragon family, which was ironic since he was allied to Morgana, who was a member of the family, saying that the only thing they were good for was death. Ruadan did not consider Morgana to be a Pendragon, despite the fact that she was Arthur Pendragon's half sister.

Ruadan was vain and appeared to think that he was Arthur's Bane, which may have been his motivation for joining Morgana, in addition to the fact that he considered Arthur to be no better than his father, Uther Pendragon.

Ruadan was also incredibly self-controlled and highly intelligent. He was extraordinarily capable of staying completely calm amid Morgana's fiery temper and constant worry, and was even able to remain completely in control of his abilities in battle, as shown when he didn't even falter after slaying Arthur's Knights and moving on to Sir Leon and Arthur Pendragon. He was highly intelligent, and was capable of assessing the risks of Sefa joining him against Arthur in the upcoming battle.

He was, frankly, easily distracted, as shown when he didn't bother killing Arthur immediately after incapacitating him, and moved right on to Leon and Elyan, when he had the opportunity to finish Arthur off.

However Ruadan did have a softer side and genuinely loved his daughter Sefa. Although he often ordered her about, he showed a great deal of love for her because he infiltrated Camelot all by himself, in order to rescue her. While they were escaping he also fought several knights at once in order to protect her, not realising that he was actually the main target rather than Sefa. As he was dying, Ruadan told Sefa that he loved her and asked her to be strong.

Abilities
Ruadan was an extremely powerful druid sorcerer, proficient in many forms of magic, and had no problems performing simple spells and he was capable of using magic to allow himself to move with incredible speed. This was shown when he first used a spell to blow out some torches and then darted to his daughter's side and pressed a sword to her throat so quickly that he almost seemed to have teleported. After he was wounded rescuing Sefa from Camelot, she begged him to heal himself, suggesting that he was trained to heal wounds with magic. However, Ruadan did not even try to heal himself, realising that there was no point since the injury was fatal.

In addition, Ruadan was an incredibly skilled warrior, and despite his age and frail appearance, he was able to hold his own against and defeat much younger and highly trained opponents with extraordinary ease. This is unusual for a Druid, since they rely more on their massive degree of magic, but Ruadan confided almost solely on physical combat. Interestingly, he did not show any of his amazing speed while he was fighting, presumably because he needed to save energy due to his age. He had clearly received outstanding weapon training, as he was ambidextrous enough to near instantly switch from the use of a sword and a mace and was amazingly skilled with both weapons. Ironically, Ruadan's fighting style was much like Arthur's, swift and precise, as he tended to dart in and out of attacks and then reopen with a barrage of lightning-fast attacks. His skills as a warrior was great enough to have led Morgana's army when interrupting Camelot's attempt to breach Ismere, during which Ruadan easily butchered many knights and he not only defeated and wounded Sir Leon, one of Camelot's finest warriors, with his sword, as well as other two of the best knights of Camelot, but he even held his own well against Arthur Pendragon who was considered by many to be the greatest warrior Camelot had ever seen. While he was overpowered by Arthur eventually in sword combat, Ruadan was able to wield his mace skillfully enough to best and bolt Arthur with it, which Arthur only survived due to his armor and Merlin intervening in time. When he rescued Sefa from Camelot, Ruadan, with only a single sword, was able to fight off dozens of Camelot knights, which included some of Camelot's best warriors, including Sir Elyan, and although Elyan managed to fatally wound him, which would later kill him, it was only with extreme difficulty and not before Ruadan cut down several opponents. Even while severely weakened by his wounding, Ruadan was still formidable enough to force the knights to flee.

Despite his old age and frail appearance, Ruadan displays himself to be in excellent physical condition. He was incredibly fast and agile, capable of rivaling Arthur's own speed and agility enough to block most of his incredibly fast slashes and fiercely outthinking Sir Leon. He was also extremely resilient, as even after he was fatally damaged by Sir Elyan, Ruadan still had the strength to pressure the knights to flee and was still able to endure the injury well enough that he was able to survive long enough to say his last words to his daughter before finally dying. Ruadan was also shown to be capable of a very powerful kick, although it is unclear if his kick was made more powerful through magic or if he was simply very strong physically. Although, it was more likely that the feat was due to his magical ability as opposed to his athleticism and martial mastery.

Trivia

 * The name "Ruadan" originates from Irish mythology. Ruadan is the son of the goddess Brigid of the Tuatha De Danann and the Fomorian Bres, a king of the both peoples. The boys' grandfather on his mother side is the Great Dagda himself. Ruadan dies tragically and his mother is the first person to mourn for the dead in Ireland.

Gallery
Ruadan