SCRIPT, Page Seven Corresponding Gallery
EXT. HIGHLAND glen - DAY (gallery)
A young man on a black stallion thunders up a Scottish hillside through the heather, down the other side and along a steep, narrow glen. At the end of the glen is a waterfall, and the young man, whose name is MORDRED, dismounts from the horse, strips off his clothes and plunges into the pool at the foot of the falls.
Mordred floats in the water, revelling in the coolness after the heat, looking up at the sky. Then a wind ruffles the surface of the water - and Mordred turns his gaze idly in the direction from which it came. To the bank: where a woman is sitting on a rock, looking at him. Mordred, startled, stands up.
VIVIANE
This is a good place to talk.
MORDRED
Who are you?
VIVIANE
Your aunt.
Mordred gazes steadily at her.
VIVIANE
There's nothing wrong with your sight, Mordred. This is a sending. From Avalon.
Mordred strides unabashedly out of the water and picks up a plaid to cover himself. Then he bows.
MORDRED
Of course. Welcome to Lothian, lady.
VIVIANE
You act as if you had been expecting me.
MORDRED
I have the sight, lady. You know that.
(beat)
Which is why you have come, is it not?
VIVIANE
What, to congratulate you?
MORDRED
No: to tell me what you want me to do. You have a plan for me, I think.
VIVIANE
Who told you that? Morgause?
MORDRED
Was it not you who ensured my mother became pregnant? Was it not you who forced her to carry me to term?
Viviane does not reply at first, struck by the force of his personality. Finally:
VIVIANE
Yes, that is true.
MORDRED
And you did not go to all the trouble, I think, out of the kindness of your heart.
VIVIANE
I act out of duty, Mordred, to the cause of the Goddess. In this age, she is besieged, beleaguered. She needs a champion: someone to defend Britain against both Saxons and Christian priests.
She stands up and comes close to him.
VIVIANE
Will you be that champion?
MORDRED
You already have one. His name is Arthur.
VIVIANE
Avalon can no longer rely on Arthur: his Christian wife turns him away from the old ways. And Arthur has no heir.
MORDRED
So?
VIVIANE
You can be that heir. And if he fails in his vows before his time is come - you can cast him into the dust.
MORDRED
Why should anyone acknowledge me as Arthur's heir? Whether I cast him into the dust or no?
VIVIANE
Because you are his son.
For the first time, Mordred's smoothness is shaken.
MORDRED
His ... son?
(realizing)
But my mother is his ... sister. Half sister.
He looks at Viviane for confirmation.
VIVIANE
The blood of two lines rich in magic runs through you, Mordred. You have the power, you know it.
Mordred walks from one side of the little glen to the other, trying to absorb what he has been told.
MORDRED
His son ... Arthur's son. By his own sister.
(he catches Viviane's eye)
Yes, I have the power. I have always known that. I can bend men to my will.
VIVIANE
Then you accept the quest?
(off his uncertain) look)
I am placing the future of this land in your hands, Mordred, son of Morgaine. Will you rise to it, or skulk here in the Scottish wilderness?
Mordred meets her eye.
MORDRED
You made me, Aunt, as surely as if you had fashioned me out of clay. What do you think my answer will be?
INT. tower CHAMBER (Lot's castle) - NIGHT (gallery)
Mordred and Morgause are seated by the fire, looking at one another.
MORGAUSE
I would have told you.
MORDRED
When it suited your purposes.
MORGAUSE
Our purposes, Mordred: for what you achieve is all I care about. But oh, my sister is ruthless: breeding you out of her niece and nephew together! Looking twenty years ahead to the day when she might have a use for you!
MORDRED
Yes, Morgause, very flatteringly put. But she has given me a bloodline and a secret which I can have a use for, myself. Would you not like to see me on the high throne?
MORGAUSE
With me as High Queen Mother?
She looks into his eyes: she is clearly besotted with him. His hands close over her thigh.
MORDRED
Of course. You have been more mother to me than Morgaine ever was. I would always want you beside me.
Morgause nods, satisfied.
MORGAUSE
You must not go straight to Camelot. You must build allies first. Among the knights.
MORDRED
Allies, yes: but not among the knights.
MORGAUSE
Then who?
MORDRED
The Saxons, my dear Morgause. They are the other power in this land, and power is what I need if I am to win the throne.
MORGAUSE
You would ally yourself with the Saxons?
MORDRED
They are men, like other men. And they have swords, and axes: which I will also need.
Morgause looks at him with a combination of horror and admiration.
MORGAUSE
Nothing will stop you, will it, Mordred?
MORDRED
Why should it?
EXT. SACRED GROVE - NIGHT
Drums being beaten, men dressed in animal skins, dancing; women donning animal furs over otherwise naked bodies to join them. Blue aromatic smoke rising from a fire in the middle of a grove of trees. In the trees, a man on horseback watches thoughtfully.
It is Valoch, the Christian son of Uriens, wearing, as always, his prominent cross. He is both attracted to these sensuous scenes - and appalled by them.
When he has seen what he needs to see, he kicks the horse into motion, and pads silently off into the night.
INT. URIENS' CHAMBER (tintagel) - NIGHT
King Uriens, old and infirm, lies in his bed. Morgaine sits on the edge of the bed beside him.
URIENS
Is that the drums I hear, Morgaine? The Beltane drums?
MORGAINE
I hear nothing, My Lord.
URIENS
Father Dennis says I should cut own the sacred grove, suppress the Beltane rites. He says they lead the people into sin.
MORGAINE
Father Dennis has nothing on his mind but sin, my Lord. He certainly has precious little else in it.
URIENS
You always laugh me out of my Christian temptations, Morgaine. But the truth is - every year the followers of the Christ gain ground in this land. The old ways are dying.
MORGAINE
They are still alive here, thanks to you.
URIENS
And you, my love. You have kept this court green ever since you came. You don't regret being married to an old man?
MORGAINE
Not for a moment, my love. My years here in Wales have been the happiest and most peaceful of my life. I thank you for them.
URIENS
You keep me alive, you know.
MORGAINE
(kissing him)
For my own selfish pleasure, lord.
Uriens, contented, closes his eyes. Morgaine watches him with tenderness as he falls asleep - and then she slips out of the room.
INT. tower CHAMBER (Tintagel) - NIGHT
Morgaine comes into her room, letting out a long breath, and lets her robe fall open. Only when she has done so does she see the man sitting in the chair by her window. It is Accolon.
ACCOLON
You are as beautiful as ever, Morgaine.
MORGAINE
Accolon! I thought - your father thought - you were in the north, fighting the -
ACCOLON
Picts? Norsemen? Angles? Saxons? Jutes? Pirates? All or any of the above, for they are all descending on us now.
(holds up bandaged,) bloody arm)
I have returned to ask for your healing power, Morgaine. I am in sore need of it.
She pulls her robe about her and comes forward to examine the wound: as she does so, Accolon seizes her with his good hand and draws her down for a long, lingering kiss.
ACCOLON
I was in sore need of that, too.
MORGAINE
We should not do this, Accolon. Your father lies asleep -
ACCOLON
You were tricked into marrying my father by that bitch Gwenhwyfar, Morgaine. She robbed me of you as my lawful wife. She will not rob me of you.
And he kisses her again. Morgaine responds. The beating of the Beltane drums seems louder than ever.
ACCOLON
You keep up the old rituals against the priests?
MORGAINE
The people need them ...
ACCOLON
So do the rulers. Let us celebrate our own Beltane here.
And he rolls her onto the floor of the chamber.
INT. cathedral - DAY
Arthur and Gwenhwyfar are kneeling side by side in the otherwise empty cathedral, with Archbishop Patricius preaching to them alone. Both look distinctly older than when we last saw them.
PATRICIUS
And the Lord God said unto Abraham, lo thou art in thy ninetieth year, yet I will grant you a son, and from his loins shall spring a people as numerous as the stars in the firmament, and they shall inherit the earth.
Tight on Gwenhwyfar as she prays. Tears are trickling down her cheeks.
EXT. CAMELOT - NIGHT
It is winter. The wind howls round it. Clouds scud across the moon.
INT. GREAT HALL (CAMELOT) - NIGHT (gallery)
Arthur and his court are eating their evening meal at the Round Table. There is ceremony and pomp about it - but also an air of sadness. The ranks of the Companions are depleted.
ARTHUR
It is too quiet in here. Let us have some music.
GWENHWYFAR
The harper is sick, My Lord. Of the fever ...
ARTHUR
That damned fever. It does more damage than the Saxons. Bedwyr, come, tell us a tale of your journey to the north country.
GWENHWYFAR
Sir Bedwyr is doing penance, Arthur. The Pictish village ...?
ARTHUR
Ah, the village. That was a bad business. War does that to people, Gwen, even good men, like Bedwyr.
(sighs)
I seem to have been fighting all my life. Not a great warrior, you know, never was. But great warriors always came to me.
(smiling at the) memory)
Like Lancelot. I miss Lancelot. He never comes to court now.
Gwenhwyfar masters her pain.
GWENHWYFAR
He has Pellinore's hand to look after now, Art. He has that dragon of Pellinore's to fight.
Arthur laughs, but his laughter stops as he catches Gwenhwyfar's eye. His hand closes over hers; he strokes her gently.
As the door at the far end of the hall slams back against the wall, and the winds whirl around the hall until it is shut.
Mordred stands there, in the light of the guttering torches, as if surveying his domain. As he looks at Arthur at the high table, it is as if a line of force was passing between them.
MORDRED
Forgive me, My Lord. I came without announcement.
Mordred hurries up the hall and kneels. Arthur raises him to his feet, looking puzzled into his face.
ARTHUR
But ... who are you?
MORDRED
I am your sister's son, Sire: my mother is the lady Morgaine, and my name is Mordred.
Arthur is stunned. Gwenhwyfar, who does not, of course, know who Mordred's father is, is confused.
GWENHWYFAR
From the court of King Uriens ...
MORDRED
Morgaine bore me long before she went to North Wales, my lady. I was fostered by her sister, the lady Morgause, at the court of King Lot of Orkney.
ARTHUR
And you have never before declared yourself ...
MORDRED
I was not ready, My Lord. And I have only come now because I bear tidings of great import.
ARTHUR
Come, sit down, tell us.
MORDRED
(sitting down)
I have been among the Saxons, Sire.
(off Arthur's look)
I joined them in the guise of a Norseman. They are not over- discriminating. If you kill well, they take you to their bosoms.
Arthur is watching every muscle of his face, asking himself ... who was this boy's father?
ARTHUR
You are a good fighter, eh?
MORDRED
I don't waste any time getting the job done, Sire. But that's not what I came to talk about. I came to warn you.
ARTHUR
Of what?
MORDRED
The raids are over.
ARTHUR
Over? But if that is true, it is good news, not cause for a warning ...
MORDRED
The raids are over because the Saxons are now massed on the Jutish shore. They have allied themselves with Angles, Jutes, Norsemen - all the forces who seek to take this land. They no longer wish to ravage and plunder. They wish to control.
ARTHUR
So the raids are only stopping because ...
MORDRED
They are going to invade.
(pauses for effect)
And unless you reorganize all your forces, the barbarians will roll over this land like the waters that swallowed Atlantis, and Camelot will disappear as Atlantis did before it.
A long pause.
ARTHUR
And what would you have me do, Mordred?
MORDRED
Make me your war-duke, sire: and I will make this land like a steel trap for them.
deleted
INT. CAVE OF WINDS - DAY
Morgaine and Accolon are making love in a bed of ferns. It is gentle, relaxed lovemaking, with the light filtering green through the curtain of leaves over the mouth of the cave. The two lovers roll apart.
ACCOLON
Do you ever miss the court? All the great doings at Camelot?
MORGAINE
Sometimes. But so my life ebbs and flows; sometimes I am the center of events; sometimes I am far away, in the wilds of Scotland or here in Wales. It is as the Goddess wills.
ACCOLON
Tell me about Avalon.
MORGAINE
Again?
ACCOLON
Tell me about the orchard, and the apples that roll down across the smooth turf to the lake.
MORGAINE
Ah, the apples of Avalon. They taste like honey. It is if they have swallowed the sun all summer, and when autumn comes -
VALOCH (O.S.)
They are plucked.
Morgaine and Accolon sit up, appalled, as Valoch appears in the mouth of the cave, his face twisted in a lascivious smile.
VALOCH
My father's wife and my father's young son: doing beastliness together. I knew it all along.
ACCOLON
(lunging at him)
Beastliness? You damn Christian hypocrite -
VALOCH
The sin of Cain? You would lay hands on your own brother?
(drawing a sword)
No, you will not. You fear I will tell our father, don't you?
MORGAINE
That would be an evil act, Valoch. It would wound him to the heart.
VALOCH
Yes, it would, wouldn't it? But not as much as the evil act you and your brother have committed.
(brandishes the sword at Accolon to keep him at bay)
But I am a good Christian: I know humility, I know forgiveness. It may be I will not hurt our father by giving him this news.
He pauses, his eyes flickering between them. Neither of them give him the satisfaction of asking "if ...?" so he has to carry on.
VALOCH
Provided you do penance.
ACCOLON
Penance?
VALOCH
The sacred grove is a fountainhead of lustfulness in this land. It must be cut down.
MORGAINE
Cut down? But it has grown since time immemorial! The people draw their strength from it, it gives them -
VALOCH
It must be cut down, my Lady Morgaine, and the Beltane rites suppressed. You must tell my father to do this, or I will tell him what you have been doing with his son.
ACCOLON
(lunging again)
You evil bastard -
Morgaine grasps his arm, stops him.
VALOCH
Think well of it, both of you. And act before the moon wanes - or it will be too late.
And he disappears.
EXT. CAMELOT - DAY
A greying warhorse bearing a greying knight plods slowly along the road to Camelot. As the horse comes towards us we recognize the aging warrior: it is Lancelot. He looks up at the towers of his former home through eyes that fill - all too easily - with tears.
Suddenly four horsemen ride out of the trees, two from each side of the road. Clad in dark, sinister-looking armor, they don't look like Arthur's knights. Their leader, BAYR, takes Lancelot's bridle.
BAyr
Halt, traveller. What business have you here?
LANCELOT
'Traveller'? I am Lancelot, fellow - and my business is with My Lord the High King.
Two of the black-clad men fall back, recognizing him - but Bayr is not impressed.
BAyr
None may approach Camelot without leave of the War Duke.
LANCELOT
The War Duke? Who the devil is he?
INT. great HALL (CAMELOT) - DAY
Lancelot has been brought before Mordred, who is sitting on a little mini-throne of his own in his darkly- furnished hall within the palace. The older man peers, puzzled at the authoritative young warrior.
LANCELOT
Duke Mordred ... I do not know that name, but you seem familiar ...
MORDRED
Perhaps I remind you of my mother. The Lady Morgaine.
LANCELOT
The Lady Morgaine!
MORDRED
I believe you and she were close once. And indeed, of course, as son to the Lady of the Lake, you and I must be cousins.
Mordred comes down off his dais, smiling at Lancelot - disconcertingly.
MORDRED
Welcome to Camelot, cousin. It is good to have the greatest fighter in the land with us in our hour of need.
As they embrace, Lancelot's face is full of puzzlement at this turn of events. Mordred's eyes, despite his warm words, are as cold as agate.
EXT. WOODLAND - DAY
Valoch and his retainers are out hunting, spears in hand, beaters ahead of them, banging at the undergrowth.
HUNTSMAN
He went this way, sir. Big boar, by the look of the tracks. Might turn on you, sir.
VALOCH
All the better if he does. Give us some sport. No fun sticking them unless they give some sport.
And they push on into the trees.
INT. tower CHAMBER (tintagel) - DAY
Morgaine is spinning, her eyes fixed on the hypnotic spindle. On the fire, a bowl of water filled with herbs bubbles and steams; the steam fills the room, and Morgaine breathes it in deeply. She begins to see flashes of forest, as if she is running through it, just a foot or two off the ground.
EXT. WOODLAND - DAY
The huntsmen sees something ahead.
HUNTSMAN
There she is, sir - we got her!
VALOCH
Damned old sow!
He begins to run.
INT. tower CHAMBER (tintagel) - DAY
Tight on the spindle, revolving so fast it's almost a blur ... on Morgaine's fingers, whirling over the spinning wheel; on her face, as she breathes in the steam and her eyes dilate.
Now she is looking out through the sow's eyes, as the sow charges through the forest towards Valoch.
EXT. WOODLAND - DAY
Valoch is charging at the wild pig.
HUNTSMAN
Look out, sir - she's turning on you!
As Valoch raises his spear, his expression of triumph changes to fear - as the sow hurls herself at him like an express train. Valoch - screams.
INT. tower CHAMBER (tintagel) - NIGHT
Morgaine is lying on the floor, unconscious beside the fallen spinning wheel. The fire has gone out. The container of boiling water has tipped onto the floor, and herb-filled liquid has rushed across the ashes toward Morgaine. Suddenly the door opens and an OLD SERVING WOMAN comes into the room, not seeing her in the gloom at first.
OLD SERVING WOMAN
My Lady - terrible news! She sees Morgaine. My Lady ...
She takes in the spinning wheel and the dish of herbs; opens Morgaine's hand to see a little image of the Goddess clutched in her fingers - and begins to understand.
EXT. castle courtyard (CAMELOT) - DAY
Mordred, Lancelot and Arthur watch as soldiers in Mordred's new uniforms put up straw effigies of enemy soldiers - while others dip their arrows in a bucket of some substance we cannot see.
MORDRED
It is not just the heat, My Lord: it is the fear it generates. The Saxons are simple, brutal and superstitious. We must use that to our advantage.
He gives a signal to Bedwyr - and the soldiers fire their arrow at the effigies - which promptly burst into flame.
On Arthur, somewhat taken aback at the sheer ferocity of the display.
MORDRED
Will your Majesty come with me to the battlements? I would have you see Lancelot's cavalry at their manoeuvers.
deleted
EXT. BATTLEMENTS (CAMELOT) - DAY (gallery)
Arthur is panting slightly as he and Mordred emerge from the stairs onto the battlements. Mordred offers him a sustaining arm.
MORDRED
My spies tell me the invasion will come before the next full moon, My Lord.
ARTHUR
Good. We are ready for them.
MORDRED
Except in one respect.
ARTHUR
And that is?
Beat.
MORDRED
If you were to die in battle, My Lord.
Arthur stops short.
ARTHUR
Well you would fight on. Lancelot would fight on. All my brave companions would fight on.
MORDRED
And which of them would become High King, sire? You have no designated successor.
ARTHUR
I cannot designate a successor while my Queen might yet give me an heir.
Mordred looks steadily at him. Arthur looks away.
ARTHUR
It is her hope she clings to. I cannot rob her of that.
MORDRED
Whatever the cost to your kingdom?
Arthur stares down at the horsemen for a long moment.
ARTHUR
If I chose someone not of my own family, it will split the companions; there will be war between us, and the Saxons will prevail.
MORDRED
Then choose someone of your own family then, sire.
ARTHUR
I told you, I have no -
He stops, and meets Mordred's eyes. Mordred holds him in an unwavering stare.
MORDRED
I am your son, sire.
Arthur hesitates. Mordred grips him by his robe.
MORDRED
I am your son.
ARTHUR
How can I be certain?
MORDRED
(brutally)
Because you slept with Morgaine. You slept with your sister at your King-making on Dragon Island. You slept with her and together you conceived a child - and I am that child, come now to demand that which is my due.
A cry of despair from behind them. Both men turn to see that Gwenhwyfar has followed them onto the battlements and overheard everything Mordred said. She seizes Arthur.
GWENHWYFAR
Say it isn't so, My Lord - say it isn't so!
(to Mordred)
You lie, you evil cur. You lie to force my husband to promote you beyond your merits.
(to Arthur)
Tell him he lies, Arthur. Tell him you never - never -
She cannot bring herself to finish the sentence. She looks up into Arthur's stricken eyes - and knows the truth.
ARTHUR
It was - it was ... the Great Marriage. We did not know ... I was - the Horned One.
GWENHWYFAR
(screaming)
Noooooooo!
And she rushes from the battlements. Arthur stares after her, unable to move. As Mordred watches, impassively.
EXT. castle COURTYARD (CAMELOT)
In the courtyard, Lancelot looks up at the battlements as the SCREAM DIES AWAY.
INT. URIENS' CHAMBER (tintagel) - NIGHT
Uriens is dying. He lies in his bed, gaunt and wasted, with Accolon on one side and Morgaine on the other.
URIENS
So it will be you, Accolon, who will rule North Wales after I am gone, and not your brother.
ACCOLON
Would it were neither of us, Father; would that you could stay and ...
His voice breaks. Morgaine strokes Uriens' hand.
MORGAINE
You have lived a good life, My Lord. You have been a good husband to me, a good father to your sons, and a good King to your people. The Goddess will welcome you to her side.
URIENS
(with a mischievous grin)
Or the Archangel Gabriel, depending whether you or Father Dennis is right.
Morgaine kisses him on the forehead. He closes his eyes, breathing stertorously.
MORGAINE
Only you could make me laugh at a time like this, husband. Only you.
She looks up from him to see Father Dennis at the doorway, indicating she should come out to join him. Puzzled, she does so.
INT. tower chamber (tintagel) - NIGHT
As Morgaine re-enters the room Father Dennis steps out of the shadows.
FATHER DENNIS
You must leave this place tonight.
MORGAINE
What?
FATHER DENNIS
When Uriens dies, Accolon will become King. I cannot prevent that. But I can prevent you from becoming his Queen. You must leave before Uriens' last breath is gone.
MORGAINE
Are you mad, priest? Why should I even consider such a thing?
FATHER DENNIS
Because I know it was you who killed Valloch. And I have proof.
And he gestures towards the doorway, where the old serving woman hovers nervously.
Beat.
MORGAINE
He would never believe you.
FATHER DENNIS
Can you be certain of that? Can you be certain he would not curse you with his dying breath?
MORGAINE
You evil -
FATHER DENNIS
Can you be certain Accolon will not revile you as the murderer of his brother?
Beat. Morgaine cannot be certain of it.
FATHER DENNIS
If you go tonight, I will say that your aunt the Lady of the Lake has fallen sick and called you to her side. But if ever you return - I will speak out. Do you understand me?
MORGAINE
I understand you, priest: and I curse you.
EXT. castle COURTYARD (CAMELOT) - DAY
Very early morning: the courtyard is thick with mist. A figure emerges from the mist; it is Lancelot. His squire is waiting for him with two horses.
A hooded figure appears beside him, and with Lancelot's help gets on the horse.
Lancelot leads the two horses towards the gate and two GUARDS in Mordred's livery.
GUARD
Who goes there?
LANCELOT
The Lord Lancelot. Raise the portcullis.
The guard looks uncertain, but his colleague nudges him to look up towards the battlements.
A torch flares, illuminating the face of Mordred. He dips the torch, signalling the Guard to obey Lancelot.
GUARDS
As you say, Your Honor.
And he winds up the portcullis, we see the second rider. It is Gwenhwyfar.
Tight on Mordred's impassive face as he watches them go.
EXT. COUNTRYSIDE - DAY
Lancelot and Gwenhwyfar riding through bleak countryside, silent, each intent on their own thoughts.
INT. royal CHAMBER (Camelot) - DAY
The chamber is empty, the bed unslept in, all the signs of hasty packing around the room. There is a KNOCKING at the door.
ARTHUR (O.S.)
Gwen, Gwen - it's me. I have to talk to you.
There's a pause, and then the door SLAMS open and Arthur, who looks as if he has not slept, bursts in and takes in the scene. Arthur rushes to the window looking out over the countryside.
ARTHUR
Gwen ...
EXT. tintagel - SUNRISE
A rider gallops towards us away from another castle on that same fateful morning. As she stops on the crest of a rise we recognize her as Morgaine, stopping for one last look at Tintagel, over which a pale sun is rising.
As she turns away from it for the last time, we see tears running down her cheeks.
MORGAINE (V.O.)
And so I left the one place where I had known happiness: thrust out of it by my efforts to serve the Goddess. But if I thought my sacrifice on her behalf had won me back her favor, I was soon to be set right.
EXT. LAKEshore OF AVALON - DAY
Morgaine, travel-worn and weary, brings her horse down to the spot where she and Viviane dismounted so many years ago and Viviane summoned the barge. Morgaine stands on the edge of the water, closes her eyes and concentrates - but no barge appears.
Despairing, she sits down on the stones and lets the water lap at her feet.
MORGAINE
Viviane: where are you? Viviane, I need you ...
She opens her eyes to see, not the barge with its obedient rowers, but a tiny dinghy, bobbing in the water by the reeds.
EXT. LAKE of avalon - DAY (gallery)
Morgaine's dinghy glides through the water into the mists of Avalon. She stands up, takes a deep breath, and raises her hands in the hieratic gesture we have seen before. Nothing happens.
Tight on Morgaine as she realizes the power of the priestess has gone from her.
MORGAINE
So, Great Mother, you too have abandoned me. Well - let the wilds of the world swallow me up.
EXT. RUINED tower - DAY
We pan up from a ruined tower to see Lancelot and Gwenhwyfar coming slowly towards it, heads bent, weary.
Though it is not important, it's the same ruined tower in which Merlin once saw the dark future that now engulfs them.
INT. RUINED tower - NIGHT (gallery)
In a scene reminiscent of both the cave scene of Morgaine and Accolon, and the woodland scene between Lancelot and Gwenhwyfar after the Saxon attack, Gwenhwyfar lies in a pile of fresh-cut ferns while Lancelot tends a fire. He looks over at her and smiles ironically.
LANCELOT
Together at last.
Gwenhwyfar stares at him for the longest time. Then she reaches out and takes his hand.
GWENHWYFAR
I have loved you since the first second I saw you. I have loved you with all my heart and all my soul and all my body. And I denied them all because of Arthur. Arthur the good. Arthur the pure. Arthur the hope of Britain.
(sits up)
Arthur who slept with his own sister!
LANCELOT
He is not a bad man, Gwenhwyfar. It was in ritual, it was not -
GWENHWYFAR
His bastard son stalks Camelot like an evil spirit. He cannot deny him: he will become King hereafter.
LANCELOT
No -
GWENHWYFAR
Yes! He has more power in his blood than all the companions put together. And all the evil of his tribe.
LANCELOT
I am of his tribe, Gwenhwyfar. It was my mother -
GWENHWYFAR
I know, my love. But you have risen above it. You too have embraced the Christ, like me. You have turned your back on the old, dark ways. And I know why you did it.
GWENHWYFAR (CONT'D)
(embraces him)
For me.
Lancelot looks down into her face: her beauty still pierces him like a sword.
LANCELOT
For you, Gwenhwyfar, I would do anything.
And his lips meet hers. All the evils that surround them slide away as they fall slowly into the green bed of ferns, the firelight flickering on them as they fall.
INT. GREAT HALL (CAMELOT) - NIGHT (gallery)
The Great Hall is empty except for Mordred and Arthur.
MORDRED
You have no choice, My Lord. They have defied you.
ARTHUR
I love them both, Mordred. I cannot - hunt them down.
MORDRED
If you do not, Arthur, you will cease to be High King. No one in this land will follow a King who is cuckolded and mocked by his own wife and his chief companion.
ARTHUR
(desperately)
No one need know -
MORDRED
They left Camelot together, My Lord, in broad daylight. The rumor will spread across the land faster than they will.
(coming close)
The very Saxons will taunt you with it when you take the field against them. You must hunt them down.
EXT. COUNTRYSIDE - NIGHT
It is pouring with rain. A hunched, hooded figure comes out of the rain; as she comes closer we recognize her as Morgaine, bedraggled, emaciated and exhausted. Her eyes closed, she is sniffing her way forward.
As we go with her, we realize what she is sniffing: meat cooking over a fire. A group of tough, bearded warriors are sitting round the fire, sheltering from the rain beneath the huge tree that rises above them.
Morgaine looks at them: it is clearly a dangerous situation, but hunger drives her on.
On one of the warriors as he looks up in alarm to see Morgaine standing before him.
MORGAINE
May I warm myself, brother?
The men have clearly been spooked by Morgaine's appearance. Their hands stray to their sword-hilts. Morgaine sizes up the situation.
MORGAINE
It would be an act of kindness to a lost traveller.
Though she speaks gently, it is clear she has not lost all her priestly power to command the mind. The men make room for her round the fire, and she sits.
One of them breaks off a chunk of meat and offers it to her.
MORGAINE
(with great dignity)
I thank you, in the name of the Goddess.
The men watch her, intently, as she eats.
INT. RUINED tower - DAY
A brief idyll of rural perfection; as the sun rises over the ruins birds flit from bush to bush, a deer grazes at some foliage, and scent rises from the clumps of wildflowers growing amidst the old stones.
Gwenhwyfar looks from all this beauty to gaze at Lancelot, still asleep beside her. She cannot resist running her finger over his forehead and down his nose, tracing the shape of his profile. Lancelot wakes: it is a moment or two before he remembers where he is. Then he smiles.
LANCELOT
I have dreamt of this so often.
GWENHWYFAR
And does it match the dream?
LANCELOT
You are the dream, my love. And now we can live together. I know where we can take ship for Gaul, cross the sea, far from ...
GWENHWYFAR
We are near the convent of Igraine, my love.
LANCELOT
Igraine! I had forgotten her. A good woman. I hope she dwells in peace there.
GWENHWYFAR
I think I must go there too, Lance.
LANCELOT
What? You can't mean -
GWENHWYFAR
Arthur will come after us. He must, or his kingship is over. We have defied him, and if we can do it, any man can do it and he is no longer King.
LANCELOT
I won't let him harm you, Gwenhwyfar, I'll -
GWENHWYFAR
Fight off the companions? Kill them one by one as they come for us? No, I would not ask that of you, Lancelot. There is a better way.
LANCELOT
But a nunnery - walled up, shut off from the outside world -
GWENHWYFAR
Preparing myself for the next one. Far from sin. Far from treachery. Far from ...
(touching his cheek)
The lusts of the body. Oh, I know I am angry with Arthur. I know I hate him because he betrayed me; but I betrayed him, in my soul, time after time, whenever I looked at you and wanted you to hold me in your arms.
LANCELOT
It was not betrayal. All those years neither of us ever -
GWENHWYFAR
We betrayed him in our hearts, you and I, Lancelot: and now we must pay.
(taking his hand)
It is time to go.
And she pulls him to his feet.
GWENHWYFAR
But kiss me, once last time, before the darkness closes over me.
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