- This article is about the deceased knight, Valiant, for the episode he is in, see: Valiant (episode).
- “Knight Valiant of the Western Isles, my Lord."
"I saw you fighting today. You have a very aggressive style."
"Well, as my Lord said, "To lose is to be disgraced.” - — Valiant and Uther[src]
Valiant (often called Knight Valiant) was a knight in the realm of Albion. He was a participant in the Tournament of Camelot, where he cheated by using an enchanted shield against his opponents.
Biography[]
When Valiant decided to enter the Tournament of Camelot, he acquired a magical shield from the sorcerer Devlin. The shield was painted with snakes enchanted to come to life on command to strike their opponent. After Devlin gave him the shield, Valiant immediately commanded the snakes to kill him. He then travelled to Camelot and formally registered for the tournament.
Valiant used the shield throughout the tournament, but invoked the snakes only once to defeat Sir Ewan. He later activated the snakes in his private quarters in order to feed them, and was seen by Merlin, who was spying on him to find the cause of Ewan's mysterious illness.
Valiant later dined with Uther, Arthur, and other knights from the tournament. Uther hinted that he would like Valiant to stay and become Knight of Camelot after the finals and Valiant appeared agreeable to the idea. Meanwhile, Merlin returned to Valiant's chambers to further investigate the shield. He decapitated one of the snakes and gave it to Gaius, who used its venom to brew an antidote for Ewan.
Merlin also reported the incident to Arthur, who formally accused Valiant of cheating based on Merlin's word and the promise of Ewan's testimony. However, Valiant learned of Ewan's recovery and sent a snake to finish him off. Gaius and Merlin were forced to inform Arthur that Ewan had died, making him withdraw his allegations.
Merlin reveals Valiant's treachery.
The next day, Valiant dueled Arthur in the tournament finals. After a long fight, Valiant disarmed Arthur and then pinned him to a wall. Before he could defeat him, however, Merlin exposed his treachery by using an animation spell to invoke the snakes on his shield. Valiant ordered the snakes to kill Arthur, but Morgana threw Arthur a sword and he quickly slew the snakes and then Valiant, winning the tournament (Valiant).
Personality[]
Valiant was a very duplicitous man and was good at hiding his true nature. Outwardly, he appeared to be charming, polite, and an honest and noble knight. He was attracted to Morgana and flirted openly with her, much to the annoyance of Arthur. He also persuaded Uther to let Merlin off the hook after Merlin accused him of sorcery in order to seem a better person than he actually was.
On the inside, however, Valiant was a very arrogant individual capable of casual, coldblooded murder. He ordered his snakes to kill the very sorcerer who had made his shield, and later had one of his snakes murder Sir Ewan so he couldn't testify against him.
Valiant was also very cautious. He was aware of the dangers of using magic in Camelot, and was careful to keep his magical snakes hidden. Even when he invoked them against Sir Ewan during the tournament, he was careful to pin Ewan under the shield so they would be hidden from the audience (Valiant).
Abilities[]
Merlin reveals Valiant's treachery.
Valiant was shown to be a highly skilled swordsman. Uther noted that he had a very aggressive fighting style and expressed interest in making him a Knight of Camelot.
Though Valiant acquired his magical shield to ensure he won the tournament, he only invoked the snakes against Sir Ewan and won all his other matches through skill alone. When he faced Arthur in the tournament finals, he managed to gain the upper hand in their duel as well before Merlin invoked the snakes to expose his treachery (Valiant).
Trivia[]
- Imagery of Valiant appears as part of the title sequence from Series 1 to 3.
- Valiant was the first character of the show to have an episode named after him.
- Valiant is said to hail from theWestern Isles, which is a name often used for the Outer Hebrides of Scotland.
Gallery[]
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To view the Valiant gallery, click here.
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See Also[]
| Series 1 Enemies |
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| The Dragon's Call: Mary Collins † Valiant: Valiant † • Devlin † • Serpent Shield The Mark of Nimueh: Nimueh † • Afanc † The Poisoned Chalice: Nimueh † • Balorian Spiders • Cockatrice † Lancelot: Griffin † A Remedy to Cure All Ills: Edwin Muirden † • Elanthia Beetles The Gates of Avalon: Sophia † • Aulfric † • Sidhe Elder † The Beginning of the End: Uther † Excalibur: Nimueh † • Tristan de Bois † The Moment of Truth: Kanen † The Labyrinth of Gedref: Anhora (indirect) • Evan † • Arthur † (indirect) To Kill the King: Tauren † • Morgana † • Uther † Le Morte d'Arthur: Nimueh † • Questing Beast † • Kilgharrah |