This episode covered the events in the final section of Le Morte De Arthur, where King Arthur's kingdom crumbles as Lancelot betrays him. "Merlin," however, retold the classic story with different characters and plot details that made the situation much more cinema-like and dramatic. The television series contains a mixture of medieval-world elements with pop culture to recreate the Arthurian Legend in a modern way. It definitely kept the main idea of there being tension between Lancelot and King Arthur because of Gwenevere's relationship with Arthur, but most details were altered. The link to the episode can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZV6OUolrog&t=437s.
The episode starts with Arthur explaining to Agravaine that he wants to marry Gwenevere, which is right off the bat different from the original adaptations of the Arthurian World because they would have been married already by this point. "Merlin" portrays Arthur as a young king rather than an older, wiser and more mature one. This was done to create some character flaws in King Arthur that will be revealed as this episode ends, as King Arthur was mostly known as a well-respected and near-perfect king in previous reiterations of the tale. Agravaine is not keen on this idea and turns to Morgana for help. Morgana plays an important role in this episode, using her evil magical powers to destroy Arthur's kingdom. She is better known as Morgan le Fay in Arthurian literature, and this name change could be justified by the idea that the creators of the show wanted a more dark and devious name for the character. Morgana uses her powers to resurrect Lancelot, who has already died in this version of events by sacrificing himself. However, this Lancelot is not quite the same Lancelot who had previously lived, and this concept was called a "shade." Shades were not a part of the Arthurian World before this series despite there being many mythical and magical elements of the story, and the show wanted to take magical elements to a new level by introducing a more outrageous idea that also somewhat preserves Lancelot's innocence by the end of the episode. Morgana tells this Lancelot that Gwenevere has married the king, which obviously upsets him as he and Gwenevere are courtly lovers, something that remains consistent with the real Arthurian timeline.
A jousting tournament is held to celebrate the eventual marriage of King Arthur and Gwenevere and a mysterious wild card knight enters the tournament, Lancelot. This is similar to Arthurian texts, as Lancelot does compete in a tournament anonymously and tournaments between knights were a common tradition. However, Lancelot does not stay incognito for long and gets invited to a dinner by King Arthur with the Knights of the Roundtable and Gwenevere, which showcases hospitality, another important element of Arthurian Literature. Gwenevere seems to be over Lancelot however, and is more than ready to marry King Arthur, and this causes Morgana to create a magical bracelet that will make Gwenevere fall in love with Lancelot. This is another example of a magical element not originally included in the medieval world being used to add a more modern feel to the Arthurian legend. Also, even the slightest idea that Gwenevere would not want to be in love with Lancelot would be shocking considering how previous Arthurian texts have emphasized their courtly love to the highest degree. Lancelot gives Gwenevere the bracelet, and during the second day of the tournament, she sneaks into Lancelot's tent before coming to her senses and leaving. An interesting detail of this tournament is that Arthur actually competes in it, which was done to add more tension between him and Lancelot before the end of the episode. They duel as they are the only two left in the tournament, and Lancelot spares him despite having him beaten. This trait of Lancelot is consistent with Arthurian literature except the only difference being that Lancelot was fighting Gawain instead of Arthur.
Merlin discovers Lancelot meeting with Agravaine and tries to attack Lancelot with magic before being easily swept aside by Lancelot. This detail is in accordance with Arthurian literature as Lancelot was always known for being the best knight who dispatched his opponents quite easily. Later in the night Lancelot and Gwenevere meet up and start kissing, before being interrupted by a furious King Arthur. Merlin arrives at the scene a little late, as Arthur and Lancelot begin to brawl. Gwenevere begs them to stop, but Arthur regains control and then throws both Lancelot and Gwenevere in jail. It is interesting to note that Arthur was able to best Lancelot here, even if Merlin used his magical powers on his behalf, as Lancelot is traditionally known as an unbeatable knight and the best knight of the roundtable. Also, although King Arthur was upset with Lancelot in Arthurian texts, there is genuine hostility between the two in this episode. Lancelot still had respect for King Arthur in literary versions of the story, but he fights King Arthur in this episode, presumably to add extra drama and conflict for a modern audience. Gwenevere also throws the bracelet off during this scene, freeing her from its magical influence on her that made her love Lancelot again.
King Arthur completely turns his back on Gwenevere, telling her that she will be banished from Camelot. This was a nice aspect of the episode because in Le Morte de Arthur, King Arthur's feelings toward Gwenevere were not this angry and were relatively unknown as Arthur was killed in battle. Arthur is seen screaming at Gwenevere and shaking her during this scene as well. Merlin tries to convince Arthur to not do this, explaining that Agravaine is the reason for the situation, but it is to no avail as Arthur is too heartbroken to change his mind. The ending scene of the episode shows Lancelot dead in his cell because he took his own life in his grief. Lancelot dying due to grief is no original idea here, as Lancelot dies in a similar fashion in Arthurian text, but starves himself instead. Merlin takes Lancelot's body to a lake and revives him one last time to say goodbye, but instead of the "shade" arising, it is the real Lancelot, who thanks Merlin before closing his eyes again and being sent out into the lake on a raft. The image of a dead corpse on a raft, floating out with numerous decorations and lights on it is a very significant work of art from the medieval world. Many different artists portrayed this with "Elaine of Astolat," as this was her fate after being rejected by Lancelot in Le Morte de Arthur. This image was considered very powerful by medieval world enthusiasts, and the detail of the episode ending with this image with Lancelot as the center of it creates a very majestic and sad ending that hits the audience right in their emotions.
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