The Candle in the Wind

Chapter 1
Brief Summary
Agravaine becomes an alcoholic; Mordred did not change over the years. There is a description of the birds in the Orkney palace in Camelot. Mordred truly hates Arthur and Agravaine hates Lancelot so Mordred plans a rebellion against Arthur but Agravaine shoots down his idea by saying no one would follow them because it is a rebellion based on personal reasons. Agravaine wants revenge over Lancelot. They plan to split up Arthur and Lancelot by using Lancelot and Guenever’s affair that way Arthur and Lancelot will be weaker. Explanation of how Mordred came to be.

Chapter 2
Brief Summary
All Orkney brothers are gathered around including Mordred. Mordred and Agravaine get into a fight with Gawaine, Gareth, and Gaheris. Mordred and Agravaine threaten to expose Lancelot and Guenever in front of the King so he is forced to have them killed. Gawaine stands in their way and Agravaine draws his sword, all is mayhem until the Page announces the Kings arrival.

Chapter 3
Brief Summary
Description of love in the Middle Ages and descriptions of England before Arthur and during Arthur’s reign. Men literally loved the buildings that they constructed. Description of the people and their stories. The Medieval scientists were referred to as magicians. Names of cocktail drinks, description of the different types of knights and people you might see pass by your window.

Chapter 4
Brief Summary
Lancelot and Guenever are sitting by a window singing, they stop singing and Lancelot asks her to run away with him but she patiently tells him no because Arthur would have to declare war on them and then they would fight and one or both of them would be killed and there was no sense to it. Arthur comes in but leaves and tells a Page to announce him so that Lancelot and Guenever won’t think he was eavesdropping. Arthur then enters and sits with them and tells them the story of Mordred and how he tried to get Mordred killed by having him and a bunch of other babies sent out to sea in a boat but miraculously Mordred survives and comes back. Lancelot says that Arthur did not do anything wrong, Arthur tells them to be careful because if anything bad about them is proven then he will be forced to behead Lancelot and burn Guenever at the stake.

Chapter 5
Brief Summary
Agravaine and Mordred are in the courtroom waiting for Arthur to come in and Gawaine, Gareth and Gaheris are trying to stop them from accusing the Queen and her lover. Gawaine, Gareth and Gaheris ask Arthur for permission to be left out of any accusations and they leave. Mordred and Agravaine make the accusation and Arthur tells them that they have permission to try to prove it when he goes hunting but that he hopes that if they can prove it that Lancelot kills them before they can prove it and if they can not then he will have Mordred and Agravaine killed anyways.

Chapter 6
Brief Summary
Gareth comes to warn Lancelot about Mordred and Agravaine’s plan to catch him and Guenever together and he begs Lancelot not to go to the Queen. Lancelot does not think that they will do it or that Arthur would let them set that trap for him so he goes anyways but forgets his sword in his room.

Chapter 7
Brief Summary
Lancelot is brushing and braiding Guenever’s hair and they are talking about all kinds of stuff, Lancelot tells Guenever what Gareth told him and she wonders if Mordred and Agravaine might have forced Arthur to let them do it, she tries to get Lancelot to leave before they trap them but it is too late. Lancelot opens the door enough for one knight to come in and he kills him. Lancelot then sees that it is Agravaine, and he takes off Agravaine’s armor and sword. He tells Guenever that if they live through this that she must run away with him but she tells him that she will stay and if she needs him that she will call for him, they exchange rings and Lancelot opens the door to fight off the other 13 knights.

Chapter 8
Brief Summary
The Queen is to be burned at the stake but Lancelot got away. Gawaine, Gareth, and Gaheris believe that Lancelot will appear just to rescue her; Mordred is out raged that the King is not trying to prevent that from happening and is accused of being a coward because he was the only survivor of the trap because he ran away. Mordred is crying. Arthur enters and tells Mordred that he wishes that he had never been born; he then asks Gawaine, Gareth and Gaheris to be part of the guard so that Lancelot will not come rescue the Queen although he really wants Lancelot to save her. Gawaine flat out says no. Gareth and Gaheris say that they will but they will not wear armor. Mordred goes to get the executioner and Gareth and Gaheris go down to the guard. Arthur breaks down crying when they leave and Gawaine comforts him telling him that he did what was right and that everything will come out right. People start preparing Guenever for her execution. Arthur and Gawaine watch from the window and then Lancelot shows up and saves Guenever. Arthur and Gawaine celebrate but then Mordred comes and tells them that Lancelot killed Gareth and Gaheris when he was saving Guenever.

Chapter 9
Brief Summary
Description of Lancelot’s castle. Arthur is besieging him, Lancelot is ashamed of accidentally killing Gareth and Gaheris, Lancelot and Guenever send a message to the Pope to ask him to stop the war.

Chapter 10
Brief Summary
Mordred is convincing Gawaine that Lancelot killed Gareth and Gaheris on purpose. The court decides to forgive Guenever, and banish Lancelot and declare war on his French castles.

Chapter 11
Brief Summary
Guenever is in one of Arthur’s northern castles but she would rather be in the London castle where there is so much to do. Guenever reads a letter she received from Arthur to her lady Agnes that is about the fight between Arthur and Gawaine, Lancelot had the chance several times to kill Gawaine and end this war but he did not. Mordred is left as Lord Protector. Agnes and Guenever are both scared of Mordred and think he is listening to their conversation. Agnes opens the door to check and Mordred is standing in the doorway. Agnes leaves the room and Mordred comes in to tell Guenever that he plans to tell everyone that Arthur and Lancelot killed each other and that he is now the new King and will marry her.

Chapter 12
Brief Summary
Gawaine is thinking about quitting this war and forgiving Lancelot when a letter from Guenever arrives for Arthur and it tells about Mordreds plan. She tells Arthur that she ran away to the Tower of London and that Mordred has her under siege with cannon.

Chapter 13
Brief Summary
Lancelot receives a letter from Gawaine that he wrote a few hours before dying of a wound on the head that he received from Lancelot. In the letter he asks for forgiveness and forgives Lancelot, he also asks Lancelot to come to England to save Arthur and Guenever and defeat Mordred.

Chapter 14
Brief Summary
Description of Arthur’s tent, Arthur is worn out because of all of the fights and obstacles he has had to surpass. Arthur thinks about all of the ways he has tried to channel Might for Right and realizes that he should have gotten rid of Might altogether. Arthur begins thinking about the different reasons for war (possessions, fear) Arthur calls for his Page and gives him a letter to deliver to the Bishop but then calls the Page back and asks him how old he is, what his name is, and where he is from. He then tells the Page that he is to not fight in the war tomorrow and that he must leave that same night to go back to his town and spread Arthur’s story about a King that had a good idea about chivalry and a Round Table but it failed, and he was in a war where no one survives except a young Page. The Page, Thomas, tells the King that he is wrong, that the King wins the war, but Arthur tells him that he knows what he is saying and that only that Page lives and that he must tell this story to everyone that will hear. The Pages name was Thomas Malory. After the Page leaves Arthur remembers his lessons with Merlyn and everything is clear all of a sudden. War is fought for nothing. Absolutely nothing. Arthur knows that one day he will return with a new Round Table so he was at peace in his heart when he went out to fight the next morning. It was time for King Arthur of England to die.

~*~ Thoughts ~*~

I think that Arthur prosecutes Lancelot and Guenever because he believes in justice so much that he lets it control him. I think that Arthur knew that Lancelot would succeed in rescuing Guenever so he prosecuted them because he wants everyone to see how serious he is about doing what is fair.

I think that the ultimate cause for the fall of Camelot is Might. Arthur channeled Might throughout his reign and so at the end he discovers he should have just gotten rid of it altogether instead of using it.

I think that Gawaine was really a good guy even though he made a mistake by listening to Mordred. Arthur was an amazing King as well as friend and husband. Lancelot was an honest and faithful man. Guenever was just extremely real to me, and Mordred was just a conniving rat.

I think that it was very sad that Arthur dies but I think that the way that the book makes it sound like he will return one day really gives me hope that overpowers the sadness.
I think that Arthur prosecutes Lancelot and Guenever because he believes in justice so much that he lets it control him. I think that Arthur knew that Lancelot would succeed in rescuing Guenever so he prosecuted them because he wants everyone to see how serious he is about doing what is fair.

I think that the ultimate cause for the fall of Camelot is Might. Arthur channeled Might throughout his reign and so at the end he discovers he should have just gotten rid of it altogether instead of using it.

I think that Gawaine was really a good guy even though he made a mistake by listening to Mordred. Arthur was an amazing King as well as friend and husband. Lancelot was an honest and faithful man. Guenever was just extremely real to me, and Mordred was just a conniving rat.

I think that it was very sad that Arthur dies but I think that the way that the book makes it sound like he will return one day really gives me hope that overpowers the sadness.