Todd Jensen writes...

A fresh effort to do the eight Arthurian survivors correctly.

1. King Arthur
2. Merlin
3. The Lady of the Lake
4. Sir Percival
5. Blanchfleur
6. Morgan le Fay
7. Nimue
8. The Green Knight (the one whom Gawain had that encounter with)

Todd Jensen writes...

Just read your response to my "Arthurian writers" queries, and thanks. I've read all the ones on the list myself, and have copies of their books (except for Berger's "Arthur Rex", and I've read that one via a library copy).

I liked Green myself, and remember particularly the fact that he did a good job of restoring Gawain to some of his earlier heroic role before the later medieval writers such as Malory tarnished him - in particular, how Green gave Gawain a partial success on the Grail Quest. (He does keep on the bit at the end where Gawain wants to avenge Gareth upon Lancelot, and helps bring about the disaster, but it's an integral part of the story, and in any case, Gawain really comes across as more of a "flawed but decent" person there. I see it as closer to Goliath's desire to avenge Angela and Elisa upon the Hunters in "Hunter's Moon" than to Demona's wanting revenge on humanity or Castaway's wanting revenge on gargoylity - Gawain had the wisdom to not seek revenge for Agravain's death at Lancelot's hands because Agravain brought it upon himself via his own envy of Lancelot, and has a legitimate complaint with Gareth's death - Gareth was the innocent one who was Lancelot's friend and wouldn't betray him, so Gawain was at least avenging the right person there, if you can avenge the right person at all).

I liked your comments on Stewart. Re Mordred in "The Wicked Day" - I will confess that I prefer to see Mordred as a villain myself, rather than as a maligned figure. But I did understand Stewart's decision. One thing that always bothered me about the traditional legend was Arthur putting Mordred in charge of his kingdom in his absence, in spite of the fact that Mordred's an open villain who's been doing all sorts of evil deeds (such as helping to murder Lamorak or expose Lancelot and Guinevere) for years - to me, it feels like Goliath making Thailog his second-in-command, aware all the while of Thailog's track record in "Double Jeopardy", "Sanctuary", and "The Reckoning". Stewart's version made Arthur's behavior less blatantly stupid there. (Of course, in Geoffrey of Monmouth, Mordred's record has been apparently blameless before Arthur puts him in charge of the kingdom, so again, it doesn't come across as such an unbelievable blunder there either).

Greg "Xanatos" Bishansky writes...

1.Arthur
2.Merlin
3.Lady of the Lake
4.Perceval
5.Garlon (the invisible knight from Le'Morte de Arthur)
6.Morgana
7.Blanchfleur
8.Nimue

Todd Jensen writes...

You said that King Arthur had some prior acquaintance with gargoyles during his reign. I imagine that you would have gone into greater detail with this had you done the "Pendragon" spin-off, but a couple of questions on this matter that I'd like to ask you anyway:

1. Was Arthur's contact with gargoyles fairly secret - like Elisa's for example, or was it some sort of public alliance, like that of Macbeth with Demona's clan or Prince Malcolm and Princess Katharine with the Wyvern clan?

2. How did Guinevere and the leading knights of the Round Table (such as Lancelot) feel about gargoyles - and about Arthur's familiarity with them (assuming that they were aware of the latter)?

Eric Lindberg writes...

I think I have solved the riddle of the Arthurian survivors:
1. King Arthur (Obviously)
2. Merlin (Imprisoned in the Crystal Cave)
3. Nimue (Trapped with Merlin)
4. The Lady of the Lake (A faerie)
5. Perceval (Heir of the Fisher King and thus preserved by the Grail)
6. Blanchefleur (Same extended to Perceval's wife)
7. Morgan le Fay (Preserved by her magic)
8. Queen Mab (Usurped by her son Oberon but imprisoned somewhere on Avalon)

The last is the uncertainty. You have already stated that she exists in the Gargoyles Universe but I have been wracking my brain to remember if she was an Arthurian character. I know she was a figure of British mythology and was in a great many poems (The Faerie Queene, Le Belle Dame Sans Merci) but her connection to Arthur is tenuous. So how about it? Have I guessed right?

Greg "Xanatos" Bishansky writes...

1. King Arthur
2. Merlin
3. Lady of the Lake
4. Perceval
5. Palamedes
6. Morgana
7. Blanchfleur
8. Nimue

niner writes...

Hello again Mr.Weisman, I thought I would take one more stab at this Arthurian contest:

1)Arthur
2)The Lady of the Lake
3)Merlin
4)Percival
5)Morgana Le Fey
6)Nimue
7)Galahad
8)Cundry

Thankyou very much.

Kar -kwannon@yahoo.com writes...

Arthurian Survivors:

1. King Arthur
2. Merlin
3. Lady of the lake
4. Morgana le Fey
5. Percival
6. Nimue
7. Galahad
8. Pelles

Vashkoda writes...

Hi again. By the time you see this question, the last Arthurian survivor will probably have been identified and a lot more about Pendragon be known, possibly making this question irrelevant, but just in case: 1) Does Duval share the immortality granted by the Grail with anyone else? 2) Have any of the other survivors made it to the present day through time-traveling? 3) If the answer to #2 is yes, was the Pheonix Gate involved?

Tana writes...

Arthurian Survivors:

1. Arthur Pendragon
2. Lady of the Lake
3. Merlin
4. Nimue
5. Galahad
6. Percival
7. Morgana le Fae
8. Lord Oberon

Reason for #8 Um, can we say Loop hole? You said yourself that Oberon is Merlin's father, therefore he's from the Arthurian period. And we can clearly see he's still alive. :)

And YES, I'm a goober.