Agravaine de Bois

Lord Agravaine de Bois is the brother of Ygraine, Vivienne and Tristan de Bois and the brother-in-law of Uther Pendragon. He is also the uncle of Arthur Pendragon, Morgana Pendragon and Morgause. Agravaine returned to Camelot after a long absence and at first seems to have Arthur's best interests at heart, but is in fact in league with Morgana and is the new enemy within the walls of Camelot as he wishes for Morgana to become Queen.

Early Life
As he was Ygraine's brother, his reasons for joining Morgana most likely stemmed from her death as Uther went to Nimueh and made her use magic to make her give birth to Arthur, costing her life. Uther also killed his brother, Tristan and had an affair with his sister Vivienne, who later disappeared. Because of this, Agravaine grew to hate Uther and blamed him for destroying his family and joined Morgana many years later to take his revenge. He also partly blamed Arthur for Ygraine's death as his birth caused her death which caused him to plot against him as well as Uther. (The Darkest Hour)

The Darkest Hour
Agravaine arrived in Camelot in light of Uther's capacity to rule utterly broken by Morgana's betrayal. There, he became a valued advisor to Arthur during his time of need when great responsibilities now fell to the young prince to be fulfilled. After a year had passed, Arthur had complete trust in Agravaine and was grateful for his uncle's advice and input.



Despite this trust, Agravaine was secretly in league with his niece, Morgana. After Arthur rode out to the Isle of the Blessed to seal the veil with his own life, Agravaine rode out to a small forest hut where Morgana was revealed to be waiting for him. He reported that Camelot was on its knees and that Arthur intended to repair the veil by sacrificing himself. When Morgana mentioned Emrys, unaware that he was Merlin, Agravaine assured her that their plans would go as intended and that she would be able to re-establish herself back onto Camelot's throne once again as its rightful heir.

Plotting against Guinevere


Agravaine then took charge of the kingdom in Arthur's absence and had the gate to the lower town closed to prevent food from running out and Gaius angrily confronted him about it. Gwen persuaded Agravaine to reopen the gate and he reluctantly agreed. Agravaine met Morgana, telling her about Gwen and Morgana planned to kill her to prevent her vision of Gwen becoming Queen from coming true. Agravaine diverted Gwen's attention while Morgana entered Camelot through a secret tunnel. Morgana knocked Gwen unconscious but Gaius later found her. Meanwhile the Dorocha were defeated when Lancelot sacrificed himself to heal the veil. Morgana was enraged that her plans failed and told Agravaine of her belief that Emrys thwarted them. She told Agravaine to help her find Emrys and kill him. Agravaine then went to Gaius's chambers and asked him if he knew of Emrys but Gaius lied, pretending that he didn't know. (The Darkest Hour)

Uther's Death
In The Wicked Day, Uther is fatally injured by the Gleeman, whose intention was to kill Arthur. Arthur then resorts to magic to heal his father. When Agravaine learns of this, he rushes to inform Morgana, who gives him a necklace that will reverse any healing spell used on its wearer and the magnify it tenfold. After planting the necklace around Uther's neck, Agravaine coldly told an unconscious Uther that he would finally get what he deserved in revenge for the crimes he committed against his family. Naturally, because of the necklace, Uther is killed. Arthur then blames the sorcerer (who is actually Merlin in disguise) for his father's death. He then vows to always despise magic, saying that he "lost both my [his] parents to magic". Meanwhile, Agravaine went to tell Morgana that Uther was dead but she told him that she already knew as she felt him die. Agravaine later watched as Arthur was crowned King of Camelot.

Plotting against Arthur
Following the death of Uther, Caerleon began raiding Camelot. During one of these raids, he was eventually led into a trap and captured. Following his uncle's Agravaine advice, Arthur tried to force him to sign a treaty. He refused, which made Arthur order him killed. His body was returned to his kingdom. This event led to the brief war between Camelot and his land, led by Caerleon's wife Queen Annis.

After Agravaine told Arthur that he cannot be seen with Guinevere and deemed her inappropriate, Arthur sneaked out on the night before he left for the battle to see her and tell her that their relationship must end.

A heartbroken Gwen told Arthur to listen to his heart in order to become the king he really wants to be. Agravaine later gave Arthur's sword to Morgana and she enchanted it to make it heavy for Arthur to carry before making Agravaine give it back to Arthur. However, despite the fact that Arthur's sword was heavy, their plan to kill him failed when Merlin used magic to help Arthur defeat Derian who was his opponent, but he spared him to make peace with Annis.

Capturing Merlin
Agravaine later captured Merlin after he got injured by a soldier. When he brought the unconscious Merlin to Morgana, he attempted to kill him but Morgana stopped him, saying that Merlin could be useful as he could kill Arthur under her control. Morgana then enchanted Merlin to kill Arthur by putting a Fomorroh snake inside his neck. However Gaius and Gwen, who noticed his strange behaviour, thwarted Merlin's attempts to kill Arthur by paralysing the snake and Merlin, disguised as Emrys, then engaged Morgana in a magical duel and defeated her, allowing him to destroy the Fomorroh. Agravaine then found Morgana lying unconscious in the woods from her duel and carried her to safety.

Kidnapping Gaius
Morgana is recovering inside her hut from her duel with the disguised Merlin who she knows as Emrys, into which Agravaine brought her whilst unconscious. After telling Agravaine that Emrys attacked her and that he destroyed the Fomorroh, Agravaine tells her that someone has been telling Emrys everything about them and he suspects Gaius as he was the only one in Camelot who knew of the Fomorroh. Determined to learn who Emrys is, Morgana goes in search of Alator of Catha, a priest and warrior so that Gaius is captured. In the meantime, Agravaine persuades Arthur that Gaius is the traitor in Camelot. Taking Agravaine's advice, Arthur and his uncle question Gaius and his views of magic but when Gaius tells them nothing, they let him go. Morgana finds Alator and asks him to abduct Gaius in exchange for her healing bracelet. Alator accepts and abducts Gaius from his chambers with the help of Agravaine. Agravaine then places evidences of Gaius's supposed betrayal in his room to prove to Arthur about Gaius' motives. In the morning Agravaine tells Arthur that Gaius was last seen running away, many of his possessions are gone. Merlin immediately suspects Agravaine and informs Arthur of his suspicions however Arthur refuses to listen. Merlin later finds evidence in Agravaine's chambers as to where Gaius is, so he and Gwaine ride out to rescue to Gaius.

Agravaine rides out and warns Morgana moments before that Merlin is on to them. Morgana and Agravaine arrive and Morgana tells Agravaine to kill Gaius while she deals with Merlin and Gwaine. Gwaine finds Agravaine about to kill Gaius, however Agravaine lies saying he was saving him and the two hurry back to Camelot with the unconscious Gaius. After Merlin, Gwaine and Agravaine return to Camelot with Gaius, Agravaine tells Arthur that he misjudged Gaius and that they owe both him and Merlin an apology for suspecting him.

Personality
As the new enemy within the walls of Camelot, Agravaine was a very manipulative person and a talented actor bening able to hide his true nature from everyone in Camelot apart from Merlin and Gaius, just like Morgana did before her true nature was revealed a year earlier. Agravaine was a bitter man as he blamed Uther for the deaths of Ygraine and Tristan as well as the disappearance of Vivienne. Agravaine also blamed Arthur for Ygraine's death even though Arthur was the product from her death, believing that Arthur caused her death when he was born. Agravaine's bitterness towards Uther and Arthur caused him to join Morgana many years later to join Morgana to take his revenge and to help her take over Camelot, believing that she would be a better ruler than Arthur and Uther. It is possible that before the deaths of Ygraine and Tristan as well as Vivienne's disappearance, he was a nicer person, almost the same as Morgana was before she realised Uther concealed her half-sister from her and ordered the execution of several of her friends, including Gwen, Mordred, Merlin and Alvarr.

In addition to his bitter, manipulative and treacherous nature, Agravaine was also quick thinking being able to fool Gwaine into thinking that he was checking that Gaius was still breathing when he was about to slit his throat with a knife. He used the mist Gaius' breath had left on the blade to convince Gwaine that he had merely been checking on Gaius condition. However, despite his evil nature, Agravaine did have a softer side as when he found Morgana lying unconscious in the woods after her duel with Merlin, he cried and took her to safety. He also displayed concern for her when she recovered, showing that Morgana was the only person who he cared about apart from himself after losing Ygraine, Tristan and Vivienne.

Agravaine's dark personality made him the opposite to Uther because while both of them were fuelled by grief towards Ygraine's death, Uther chose to blame it at the hands of magic while Agavaine blamed her death at the hands of Uther. Uther also hated magic and wanted to destroy it while Agravaine was willing to ally with people who used magic so that he would get what he wanted.

Morgana
Agravaine was loyal to Morgana and wanted to help her achieve her goal to become Queen of Camelot. He constantly met with her to make plans to destroy the men in the the Pendragon family. When Morgana admitted that Emrys will become her doom, he tried to comfort her and attempted to assist her in finding out who he is, though unsuccessfully. He was shown to care about her, when he found her hut wrecked, and then her unconscious, he cried, and then carried her off to safety. When Morgana recovered Agravaine seemed genuinely concerned about her well-being asking her who had attacked her. It is unknown if Morgana cares about him in return but she has implied that she might get rid of him when he is no longer useful to her. Whether Agravaine realises that Morgana might possibly turn against him is unknown. Morgana sometimes called Agravaine "My Lord" while he sometimes called her "My Lady".

Uther
Agravaine despised Uther Pendragon. Uther killed his brother Tristan, he blamed Uther for Ygraine's death (just like Tristan), and he blamed Uther for having an affair with his sister Vivienne who has disappeared. He eventually indirectly killed Uther by planting an enchanted necklace around his neck to repel healing spells when he was mortally wounded. Just before he left Uther to die from the enchantment he sarcastically called Uther "old friend".

Agravaine and Uther had some similarities and differences as both of their actions were fuelled by Ygraine's death but while Uther blamed it at the hands of magic, Agravaine blamed her death at the hands of Uther.

Arthur
Agravaine initially seemed to be loyal to Arthur but is actually working to have him killed as he wants Morgana to rule Camelot. The reason why he wants Arthur dead is because he partly blames him for the death of Ygraine as his birth caused her death. As part of his plans in bringing Arthur's downfall, he manipulated Arthur most of the time, despite failing to have him killed. Arthur, on the other hand, trusted Agravaine greatly and valued his advise.

Arthur began to suspect Agravaine when he got ambushed in the woods but Agravaine deflected his suspicions to Gaius. Agravaine says that he could not bear to betray Arthur as Arthur is the only thing Agravaine has that belonged to Ygraine. However, this was a lie as he still plotted against Arthur and did not care - or perhaps did not realise - that in doing so he betrayed not only Arthur but Ygraine as well.

It has been confirmed that Agravaine's betrayal will finally be revealed to Arthur in Episode 4.12.

Ygraine
Agravaine most likely had a close relationship with his sister Ygraine as her death was the main reason why he plotted against Uther and Arthur. He states that he promised Ygraine to stay by Arthur's side, but due to his loyalty to Morgana, this is either a lie or a broken promise. It is possible that his resentment towards Arthur may have blinded him to the fact that he was dishonouring Ygraine's memory.

Tristan
Agravaine was Tristan's brother and both of them blamed Uther for Ygraine's death and attempted to have him killed. After Tristan was killed by Uther, Agravaine joined Morgana many years later and with her help, caused Uther's death which Tristan couldn't do, granting his wish and avenging Tristan's death.

Vivienne
Agravaine and Vivienne were siblings and it is possible that he knew of her affair with Uther as well as her eventual disappearance which was one of the main reasons along with Ygraine and Tristan's death why he plotted against Uther.

Gaius
Agravaine doesn't care about Gaius. He helped Morgana use him to discover Emrys' identity. He was willing to murder Gaius to prevent the information Gaius possessed from getting into the wrong hands. However he managed to fool Gwaine into thinking that he was merely helping Gaius and helped Gwaine bring Gaius back to Camelot in order to keep his true nature hidden.

Abilities
It can be assumed that Agravaine is somewhat skilled with a sword as he was shown carrying a sword with him but he has not used it in a fight yet.

Agravaine is also a very talented actor. Like Morgana is season 3, all but Gaius and Merlin are oblivious to his behaviour. Though Arthur did think he was the traitor until he blamed Gaius (plotting against mainly the men of the court). He is an excellent liar and very good at interrogating as seen in The Secret Sharer where he knows Gaius is lying but didn't know he was protecting Merlin's identity.

In Legends


In contrast to the legends, Agravaine is Arthur's uncle, whereas in the legends, he is portrayed as his nephew.

Sir Agravaine was the second son of King Lot of Orkney and Queen Morgause, his wife. In his youth, he came to the Court of King Arthur with his brothers and fought in the Saxon Wars, where he liberated the prisoners on the Hill of Wretches. He was rewarded with a knighthood and welcomed into the Order of the Round Table. He managed to put himself about a bit in search of adventure. However, although a very handsome man and a competent knight with sword and axe, he was said to be a most disagreeable character: being described as envious, unsympathetic, hateful and disposed to evil. This view seems to have been largely due to his central role in the movement to expose the torrid affair between Queen Guinevere and Sir Lancelot. Sometimes, in some texts, it is Agravaine, rather than Mordred, who emerged as the chief conspirator and he was only finally killed when Lancelot rescued the Queen from the stake. However, Agravaine may be misrepresented. When Gawaine was accused of treachery by Guigambresil, it was his brother Agravaine who persuaded him not to respond too hastily and even offered to fight on his brother's behalf. Throughout, his actions seem to have been motivated by family loyalty. His desire to harm Sir Lancelot and his participation in the murder of Sir Lamorak is quite understandable when one considers that their family was responsible for the death of Agravaine's father. He must have had a more pleasing side to his character, for he won over the Lady Florée (or Laurel) - a niece of the King of Scotland - at a Camelot Tournament and married her. Sir Agravaine was killed by Sir Lancelot some time during the latter's conflict with Arthur.