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albentelisa · 6 months

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Hi. So you remember the Lady of the Lake, right? Well, what if she had managed to disguise herself as a mortal woman?

That human form she took on is non other Barabra Lake, thus already making Jim half human.

When he gets the amulet in this AU, he knows his mom hates Merlin, so he doesn't tell her at first.

Oh, in this AU Bular is definitely not the only one sent flying. Merlin will get that honor for sure as well. James Lake Sr. too, I guess. And maybe even Strickler (if he ever tries something dumb, LOL).

Jokes aside, I'll say that James Lake Sr is the one responsible for Barbara's disguise. My headcanon is that Nimue can grant wishes, but she chooses to grant those only if someone voices their deepest desires (as she hates hypocrites). So, one day James amid his travel to Britain, somehow wandered into the Nimue's current abode and voiced his wish to meet his perfect woman (he was just fooling around and had no idea that it would be granted). Nimue assumed a mortal woman's form of Barbara appearing right before him. Just to say, their relationship didn't work because there never was any true love between the two of them.

Nimue would prefer to return to her old life after the breakup, but she stays with humans because it's something Jim genuinely desires. And honestly, his wish is the one she is actually happy to grant.

As for Jim in this AU, he knows a bit about his mom, but definitely not everything. Like, he's aware that Barbara is inhuman and even caught a glimpse of her monstrous form once (it's an experience he'd rather forget) and that she dislikes Merlin for some reason (Barbara never told her son about her imprisonment, so Jim is entirely unaware how serious that hatred is).

Jim inherited his mom's abilities but cannot use those as he was traumatized after seeing Barbara's inhuman form and is scared to turn into something similar so he subconsciously seals those.

Why Barbara never learns about Jim finding the amulet despite being able to read souls? Well, she refuses to read Jim's soul, respecting his privacy, and because she knows that Jim doesn't lie or hide things from her (well, he DID before the amulet).

However, Barbara read Strickler's soul. She knows he's inhuman, but well, he has no ill intent towards Jim. And Jim's plan to keep things secret from his mom flies out of the window because she also learns about Strickler's desire to get the amulet from her son.

Barbara is pissed (to put it mildly) that Merlin's amulet chose her son. For her, it's like the hateful wizard's trying to control Jim (like he did with her). However, soon she realizes that Jim wants to be a hero himself and vows to support him. She tinkers with the amulet though as she believes that her son should fight for his own ideals, not her former tormentor's glory.

Barbara becomes a team member, but her abilities are limited (because it's either keeping her human form or regaining her full powers). She isn't ready to drop her human disguise though because of Jim (as she is scared he won't be able to see her as his mother anymore).

Strickler changes the sides pretty fast because Barbara sees that his true desire is the liberating changelings and encounters him about it. The same goes for Nomura. Strickler tries to recruit Otto too, but he is too scared to betray Gunmar. Otto is also the one who frees Angor Rot here, hoping to use him as a bodyguard from both Jim's team and Bular (who is pretty much enraged after the two changelings desert).

NotEnrique gets planted into Claire's family (as well as some other changelings are transferred as the Janus Order has a shortage of manpower now).

Jim still encounters a stalking, and to defeat it he unwittingly goes full monster form which terrifies him to his core. He starts questioning whether he has any right to be with his friends. Toby tells him that it doesn't matter.

Much like in the canon, Claire snoops around and learns Jim's secret about the trollhunting. She joins the team before they learn about NotEnrique, so the eventual reveal hits her the most. Claire tries to find the Killahead alone to travel to the Darklands, and she locates it but gets kidnapped by Angor Rot. Otto uses her as a hostage to get the amulet from Jim.

During the Battle of Two Bridges, Claire manages to wrestle the shadow staff from Angor, Otto and Angor escape, and Bular is sucked into the Darklands (getting his wish to reunite with his father).

Now the only thing remaining is to save Enrique, but it meets more opposition at the Trollmarket as there is a risk to unseal both Gunmar and Bular. Even Strickler thinks it's unreasonable.

Meanwhile, Otto tries to get the bridge back. He still hopes to get Gunmar's trust back. He exploits Angor for that and sends assassins from the Order after different members of Jim's team.

Angor makes a deal with Jim and gets free eventually.

However, Jim goes to the Darklands alone in this AU as he feels guilty because many of his teammates have some injuries after the Janus Order's non-stop attacks.

In the Darklands, Jim notices that something is wrong with him. Apparently, the constant sense of danger makes his inhuman half resurface. So far those are partial transformations that he can reverse but those might get worse. At some point, he stumbles upon Bular who is exiled after his failure. They fight initially but make a truce as Bular is lost and has no idea what to do now.

Together they locate the nursery and save Enrique. Jim plans to bring Bular along with him to the surface and give him a second chance, but they only manage to get Enrique as the bridge is destroyed (and it's only partially Usurna's fault as the guards see Bular walking along with Jim and misunderstand everything).

Barbara is enraged, especially after reading Usurna's true intentions in her soul. Alas, most of the Tribunal doesn't believe her accusations (Vendel and Blinky are the only ones aware of her true identity), and both Vendel and Blinky are accused of treachery and conspiring with Gunmar. The rest of the team escapes and then they are divided into two teams to jailbreak Blinky and Vendel and to recover the Bridge.

Barbara manages to force open the passway to the Darklands (as she had altered the amulet before so she has some control over its abilities now) and the team goes to the Darklands searching for Jim. The fight against Gunmar happens there and Jim defeats him with the help of his team. Bular decides to stay in the Darklands and rebuild the Gumm-Gumm kingdom, but this time make it a better place for other trolls.

However, the victory is soured by the fact that the entire team is considered criminals at the Trollmarket now as Usurna has seized control. She also makes a pact with Otto, who wants to liberate Morgana. Otto steals the amulet from Jim and destroys it to get a map to Merlin's tomb. Initially, Trollhunters have no idea why Otto did it, deciding it was just a revenge plan.

Otto wakes up Merlin by accident but still gets his staff and escapes. Merlin gets out and after some misfortunes finds Douxie and they go to contact Trollhunters. Obviously, Barbara isn't happy. She isn't going to help Merlin but begrudgingly agrees when Douxie and Jim ask her.

Meanwhile, Usurna and Otto free Morgana and get some powers from her. Morgana feels that those two are better for her plans than Gunmar as neither of them would risk opposing her. She also unites forces with Morando.

Jim's team learns about Aja and Krel's secret and all of them realize that their enemies work as the united forces now. The decisive clash happens and the good guys come victorious. The Trollmarket finally is free and Jim's team can go there without any complications.

Merlin isn't happy though as it seems that he anticipates something bad to happen. Not that anyone is interested in listening to his thoughts, especially Barbara who would rather send him flying somewhere.

Some time passes, and Barbara has a visit from Bellroc who proposes a truce to eradicate humanity (as the Arcane Order is sure that Nimue is as pissed about magical creatures' oppression as they are). They are surprised when she refuses.

The Arcane Order still needs Nimue's power so the Green Knight kidnaps Jim, and the Order tries to force his latent abilities out. They also attack the flying castle in the hope of capturing Nari too. Douxie, Claire, Steve, and Toby end in the past. Claire is the one who gets in prison, though as she carelessly uses her magic before Arthur and his knights. Morgana breaks her out together with all the trolls.

While visiting Nimue in the past, the team finally gets why Barbara hates Merlin that much in the present. Nimue also sees that Claire's hidden desire is to liberate Jim from the Arcane Order's control (even though she has no idea who Jim is) and during the parting she gives her a hint that Jim should snap out of it himself.

When the team is back to the present, they are forced to face the Arcane Order, Green Knight, and Jim who lost his human form entirely and pretty much berserk at the moment as he isn't familiar with his new form and all new sensations attached.

Merlin (being Merlin) suggests capturing and sealing Jim somewhere. Luckily for him, Barbara hasn't heard that. Claire is pissed though. She tries to get to Jim and reach his mind, and nearly succeeds but is forced to retreat as the Arcane Order interrupts her.

Meanwhile, Green Knight finds and kills Merlin while seizing his staff (as Jim has learned where the seals are hidden and told the Order about those). Now Bellroc and Skrael only need to capture Nari.

Claire makes an attempt to reach Jim through the Shadow realm. She meets Morgana there (Morgana was sealed there after her defeat and still isn't liberated) and tries to reason with her (Claire wasn't possessed by Morgana in this AU, so she is more open-minded about it). They both try to find Jim's soul and see that he is scared, confused, and lost. This time Claire manages to reach him and ensure that no one is scared of his monstrous form. It helps Jim to regain control and turn human once again.

#tales of arcadia #toa #toa au #what if scenario #barbara is nimue here #jim lake jr #barbara lake #text post #ask box #anon ask

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talesofarcadiaforever · 9 months

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what’s the context of merlin using his alias lol

(From a post about my favorite scenes)

I’m so, so glad you asked. I’ve been dying to talk about this but I didn’t have enough inspiration to make a post 😭

HEAVY EMERALD EMBERS SPOILERS AHEAD!!!

Hopefully people will see this as my story eventually progresses, but DR!Merlin is a completely different person than canon!Merlin, in appearance and personality!

According the ToA wiki, Canon!Merlin’s personality is wise, competent, curious, loyal (sometimes), confident, tough, respectful (at times), eccentric, arrogant, impulsive, mysterious, stubborn, to say the least.

DR!Merlin is a lot of these things, but he’s not eccentric, arrogant, or impulsive.

He’s highly empathetic,

One major thing is that he's an anarchist. He's seen too many evil, or at least bad rulers, to

He waits. He bides his time, pulling the strings behind the scenes, before destroying them from the inside.

He’ll be able to take control. But Merlin has his own agenda when he accepts the offer. has a translation spell, and his own agenda. Camelot would allow him to be closer to the Wild Wood.

He’s their leader, not their ruler.

He doesn’t rebel for the sake of it.

Canon!Merlin never did anything to go against Arthur, and defended his decision to stay in Camelot with him to Morgana.

Of course, canon!Merlin did have his reasons!

But DR!Merlin makes a different decision.

He actually already knew that this would probably happen. He’s had a vision concerning it multiple times:

He’s seen this outcome happen multiple times, so he knows it’s going to come true.

He seals Nimue in the cave after he receives Excalibur to keep her safe, and he starts warning the magical communities across England of what will come.

go on and on and on about it.

Magic is evil.

Magic needs to be wiped out.

Somehow, despite his magic, he’s good.

He’s the only good one there is.

They always acted like having magic was a curse, the worst thing that could ever happen to someone.

His friends- every human who knows him- will be hurt if they find out, of course. But he cannot let this happen, a few hurt feelings are far less important than literal thousands of lives.

When the actual massacre starts, he doesn’t even need to think about it. He loves Arthur, but. and constantly he secretly protects the magical world while making the Amulet.

He goes even further into his study than he usually does, and dons an old set of armor. Then he shapeshifts. He hasn’t had to use this disguise in a long time.

Well, dire times come for desperate measures.

and takes on a new alias: Myrddin Wylt.

He also uses his illusion magic to make the color of his magic blue. He also primarily fights with his magic to further differentiate himself.

Because there, he doesn’t get the weird looks. He doesn’t get the fearful gasps from visitors to Camelot, and he doesn’t get the comments.

You’re the only good one.

So to sum it up:

Canon!Merlin: I would never do anything to go against my king!

DR!Merlin: TREASON

Thanks for the ask!

#mine #talesofarcadiaforever answers #draal-the-deadly #tales of arcadia #wizards #toa fanfiction #Daylight’s Redemption #Emerald Embers #DR worldbuilding #Merlin Ambrosius #DR!Merlin

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dreamcrow · 2 years

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Character Headcanon Ask Meme: Merlin

(from here; thank you for the ask, and again, for a character i would...not have considered on my own 😂)

1: sexuality headcanon

considering my understanding of merlin is roughly equivalent to "annoying monk from 2000 bce" i'm gonna go with "gay and homophobic" for $500. happy pride 😎

2: otp

x himself. x self-righteousness. maybe a weeee smidge of x arthur (at least toa canon's version of arthur), bc i'm a sucker for royalty/advisor, even if they're horrible, horrible people.

3: brotp

hmmm. also canon arthur, tbh? i could also see delicious heartbroken disillusioned nimue :)c

4: notp

nnnno offense but literally anything about him and douxie. u can forgive ur shitty dad!! it doesn't mean he gets into wizard heaven lol

5: first headcanon that pops into my head

he didn't invent the position of trollhunter. he just "sponsored" it, made the amulet, one more piece on the chessboard.

6: favorite line from this character

ohhh no, i absolutely love david bradley's acting of him 😂 unfortunately i am contractually obliged to say all of the horrible pseudolatin spells. i know too many dead languages!! i am entitled to be a little insufferable about bad latin.

7: one way in which i relate to this character

[GRIPPING KEYBOARD WITH A NORMAL AMOUNT OF FORCE]

the real answer is "that i'm right" but i don't want to SEE IT LMAO,

8: thing that gives me second hand embarrassment about this character

hmmm. u kno. this is a tough one, but after giving it a lot of thought, i think i gotta say: the child soldiers ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

9: cinnamon roll or problematic fave?

lemme in barb's kitchen for a minute with him and the broom. we'll find out. :)

#trollhunters #toa wizards #tales of arcadia #toa merlin #q&a #ask games #absolutely one of the most compelling characters in toa. also an absolute jackhole

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piracytheorist · 4 years

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for anonymous

#Douxie #Douxie Casperan #toa Nimue #Tales of Arcadia #Wizards: Tales of Arcadia #toawizards #douxieedit #toaedit #wizardsedit #ToA #mine #toa*#toa spoilers #wizards spoilers #toaw 1x04

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wanda-peitro-lorna-maximoff · 3 years

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Douxie: so... what was Master Merlin like when he was young?

Nimue: his hair was better I'll tell you that.

#nimue #speaker of truth #toa nimue #lady of the lake #tales of arcadia #toa #trollhunters #toawizards #wizards #magical #merlin #douxie #hisirdoux casperan

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sammyheroes · 4 years

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Merlin: Hisirdoux, a man can fear many things. There are fates worse than death.

Merlin: (glances at Nimue)

Nimue: (growls are him)

Merlin: Just Don’t let her come near me.

Douxie: Isn’t she your ex?

Merlin: I said there are fates worse than death.

#tales of arcadia #trollhunters #toa wizards #douxie #hisirdoux casperan #toa merlin #toa lady of the lake #toa nimue

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roninreverie · 4 years

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Okay, so I have a crack theory.

Upon rewatch #3 of Trollhunters last week, I noticed this tapestry portrait looked kind of like Zoe.

There’s also a version of this picture on Eli’s conspiracy board, and the same girl is just above the “wizards” box. Coincidence???

She has a small, thin figure, roundish face, pale skin, big eyes, brown-red hair, etc… Just imagine the woman in the tapestry with pink hair and a punk outfit or Hex Tech polo, and the face still looks kind of like Zoe’s, right?

Tenyai once mentioned that she thought Zoe’s hair was originally brown, and I grabbed a similar color to this from Zoe’s eyebrows when I was working with colors a while back. Granted the hex tech lighting was a bit brighter than say the scene she was in during 3Below, where her brows look darker, but I’m going to roll with this shade of brown for theory purposes.

Now back to the portrait, where there are a pair of small golden eyes coming out of the basket. One would say a basket big enough for a cat? And what immortal dragon-cat has gold colored eyes? Archie.

Now this next part was throwing me, but it also looks like the portrait woman has a green tail. That brought on one of two thoughts… either this is some sort of changeling… or it is related to the Lady of the Lake (because crocodile logic?).

She has green tentacles and was last seen yeeting Bular Team-Rocket-style into the sky from the forest line. The forest line as seen in the tapestry maybe? 🤔

Now these two things aren’t necessarily related to Zoe, but there was a discussion about her record store being named “Zimue” a pun off of “Nimue” the name for the Lady of the Lake.

I think the store is actually called “Zimoc Records” but I can’t figure out what that means, and I can’t get a good enough angle to see if that last letter is a “c” or an “e”. However, the yellow, green, red-outline color pattern and little “one-eyed” design can’t help but remind me of Nimue’s design in wizards, so maybe there is some sort of connection there after all?

Which also brings me to mysterious purple hood wizard who if you look hard enough, almost looks like they have a teeth pattern on the sides of their mask. Teeth, that almost look like the monster-mouth design of the Lady of the Lake perhaps?

They also appear to have the thin, small body shape of Zoe, plus what is perhaps the little hedge witch wand all the hex tech employees use?

I’ve seen rumors about who the mystery purple hood wizard could be, but nothing has been confirmed about them yet. I like to think it could be Zoe because that would be neat and I want to see more of her, but who knows?

If Douxie and Krel can make more mini hearts of Avalon, maybe the time-travel isn’t all done yet?

Now… I am reaching pretty hard for some of these, but I still needed to get it all off my chest. Do you think that could be an old portrait of Zoe or maybe the lady of the lake? Could there be a relation between her and Nimue? And could Zoe be the mysterious purple hood wizard? I am not sure, but these are the sleep-deprived questions 3 weeks of wizards on the brain has brought me!

Thanks for reading all of that! 😅

#toa zoe #crack theory #toa nimue #zimoc records #mystery purple hood wizard #trollhunters s1 e5 #3below s1 e2 #toa wizards #bigger image was in creepslayerz... thank you eli pepperjack #mysterious purple hooded wizard #roninrambles

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but-master · 3 years

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Cold: A Take on TOA’s Nimue // Drabble // Word Count: 807 // Combines elements of TOA and Malory __________________

Nimue can feel her body flickering; her human form is fading with the energy she’s been expending. It isn’t that she hates her true form, but it’s that she has nowhere to go in the cave when she is so large. She must simply sit still and do nothing but burrow into the water, feel the cold surround her, and pretend that she can’t tell when her nerves begin to go numb because of it.

It is so cold…

It is the kind of wretched cold that makes her believe that there was never warmth in the world at all. Fire, candles, hot food… it had all been false, make-believe. It couldn’t have existed; not with this much ice and dark and shadow around her, when she sinks to the hard rock at the bottom of her pool.

It is when she feels that rocky floor against her skin that her mind is finally allowed to wonder why she’d been trapped so. It is when she feels like she can’t remember how a woolen blanket felt, when it was wrapped around her shoulders, as she sat beside a hearth in a warm castle, next to a master whose smile had been just as warm, that her mind is finally allowed to beg for answers.

Had she done something wrong in demanding she learn to control what often felt more like a tidal wave inside of her chest than a gift for enchantments, from the one man who could remind her that no matter what she did, she was better than what his king thought of her and her kind?

How had that king then won out against her, his apprentice? He’d been just a boy, too, once. A young, scared boy. She remembered how he’d approached her, how she’d been in her true form, and had only revealed to him the part of her that resembled himself. He’d proven himself worthy, then. She hadn’t had to tell him his desires— he’d known them already, and had been honest, and true. She’d thought he’d finally lead Camelot into an era of peace and tolerance.

If she could go back to herself then, she’d grip her own past and scream at her to kill the child before he could wage war against all of magic itself, before he could wage war on Avalon, and steal its heart.

Before he could turn her master against her.

But she can’t. And there is little use dreaming of it. Dreams only break the heart; they are not pragmatic. They will not ever be the escape she seeks. The escape she needs.

A puff of air is visible in front of her lips, as her human form solidifies, though the strain on her muscles is distracting and nearly overwhelming. Her hair falls in strings in front of her eyes, but she does not bother to brush them away.

Instead, she stares upward at the glowing green runes of her prison door, which cast her face in a sickly light. The skin under her eyes is purple and dark, but her eyes themselves are alive and filled with the glint of snarling rage. She uses the ugly green color that she has looked at, been surrounded by, for far too long, to force herself to the brimming point with potential energy.

Her arms reach up, as she gathers magic from the air around her, draws from both an external and internal source, her power surging into her palms, as she swoops her arms down to her sides, feet sliding into a readied stance. Silver runic disks perch themselves on her fingertips, and she glares at Merlin’s magic.

Pivoting on her heels slightly, she winds up her arms, reeling them back, and time slows. The waters behind her grow unsettled and active, and the pebbles on the rocky shore begin to float upward, taken by the energy flying from her. She breathes in, and out. Her eyes strike her mark, and her muscles tense with anticipation.

And then there is a silver streak, as Nimue slams both of her hands onto one of the green runes, sending sparks careening through the cavern.

Her hair whips back as a gale force quakes around her, shaking the entire cave itself with the battling magics. She screams in effort, and the wind carries this primordial cry through the echoes and nooks of the cavern around her. Deep, intense magic slides through her body with ferocity, and she is forced to hold her position as it ripples through her, a violent sea storm. Her vision goes white, as the battle between silver and green turns merciless.

She is shot backward, when silver loses.

Hours later, when she finally wakes, she is large as can be, and cramped, once again, lying at the bottom of her accursedly freezing pool.

#not me making nimue content no one asked for #tho i do hope this helps nail down some of her characterization for this blog #as well as the whole #i want her to be able to change her form for ease of writing as well as interactions but also bc it can lead to some interesting things idea #out on business #prove your worth: nimue speaks #toa nimue #fandom tagging bc... idk why not #toa wizards drabble #toa wizards fanfic #not sure i feel all that confident in this but uh #here we are posting it anyway!#hhhhh i'm scared to post this i can't decide if i like it or not #but if i keep staring at it i won't post it ever so i guess uh #here goes nothing

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montaryoo · 2 years

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Why do you seek me?

Ok so here's the blank version of my previous post. Feel free to add your wish to the Lady of the Lake!

Credit me if you use/repost anywhere. Thank you.

#toa nimue #lady of the lake #tales of arcadia #toa rise of the titans #toa wizards #toa #toa trollhunters #trollhunters #toa memes #revive the toa fandom

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yellowmagicalgirl · 3 years

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Hello! For the character thing, Zoe?

The Pretender - Foo Fighters (this is more-or-less a potential descriptor of her and Douxie’s relationship post-reveal in Once and Maybe Future)

Lacrymosa - Evanescence

Deep Sea Girl - Yuuyu-P ft. Hatsune Miku (this is for my old, disproved Lady-of-the-Lake!Zoe theory)

(Also I could’ve sworn that there were some songs about being aroace and/or trans I associated w/her but I can’t remember them so you’re just getting those three)

SEND ME A SHIP OR CHARACTER AND I’LL TELL YOU WHAT SONG(S) I ASSOCIATE WITH THEM!

#toa zoe #toawizards #tales of arcadia #toa nimue #once and maybe future #Foo Fighters #evanescence #yuuyu p #VOCALOID #answered ask #meeck #trans!zoe #aro!zoe #ace!zoe

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pandora-the-halfling · 4 years

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#this is half serious #half joke #trollhunters #3 below #3below #tales of arcadia #toawizards #toa wizards #pink haired girl #toa nimue #shitpost

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sunnymusingsao3 · 2 years

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Tales of Arcadia’s Lancelot Is a Fascinating Case Study for a Background Character With Incredible Potential: An Arthurian/ToA Cross-Examination Character Essay

Kenneth Hodges, in his essay, “Wounded Masculinity: Injury and Gender in Sir Thomas Malory's "Le Morte Darthur,” deconstructs the traditional notion that invulnerability—the inability to be hurt or bleed—is a masculine trait which makes a knight a knight. He explains that throughout Le Morte D’Arthur:

Wounds do not mark failures in the effort to be knightly. Although each wound might be said to result from a failure to ward a blow properly, the inevitability of this happening some times even to the best knights means knights had to deal with the fact that they would be hurt. Medieval sources testify to the thorough understanding that being injured was an essential part of knighthood, even for the best knights (Hodges 15).

It is a fate inevitable for anyone who gains knight status in Malory’s novel: they will eventually be hurt. But it is that act of being hurt—and in fact, the very risk of being hurt in the first place—that proves a knight to be honorable. Hodges explains that “Injury is thus essential to create meaning out of conflict. If there is no injury, then the fight does not matter: neither side is forced to remember the conflict and neither side gives up anything for asserting its beliefs” (Hodges 16). He points to Arthur’s fight against Accolon in Le Morte to prove this. Excalibur’s scabbard prevents the wearer from shedding blood, and in this fight, Accolon is the one who is wearing it, rather than Arthur—leaving Arthur vulnerable. When Arthur is wounded, however, Malory makes it a point to remind the reader that the only reason Accolon is winning is because he cannot get hurt. Arthur’s decision to continue fighting, even through his wounds, is presented as the more honorable choice, and it is narratively rewarded with victory; Arthur ultimately comes out the victor of the fight, not despite of, but because of his wounds and ability to be wounded.

In Dreamworks’s Netflix series, Wizards: Tales of Arcadia, we are presented with a Lancelot who is largely used to aid in comedic relief, due to his resemblance to one of the supporting characters. However, his visual design is distinct for one other reason, and it is that reason that I argue that he is more than just a joke character. Because aside from using elements from Steve Palchuk’s model in order to animate his head, Lancelot also has a prosthetic arm, and it is this prosthetic’s existence, and what it means within the Arthurian canon, that creates the possibility for real depth within this character.

The story handles Lancelot’s arm in a very nonchalant way. It is designed in the style of his armor, and though intricate, it does not stand out starkly against the rest of his design. It is simply a part of him, as much as his hair or his beard are. However, while this trait may not be addressed diegetically, in the extradiegetic world, this character trait is deeply significant for us as viewers to take note of.

Tales of Arcadia’s Lancelot follows many of the typical modern tropes for the mythical character—he is brave, winsome, and confident. These traits all stem from the pop culture view of the archetypical knight—a knight who is a result of romanticization and “action-hero-ification” of knighthood. The way that pop culture presents them, knights could even very nearly be called a predecessor for modern superheroes. We can see this concept in various medias which feature Arthurian elements—especially in live action King Arthur films, many of which take an action genre approach to the story, as they highlight violence and battle for the entertainment and excitement of their audiences. This is not to say that this romanticization of knights as charismatic action heroes is necessarily poor writing; tropes serve a purpose—most commonly, they help establish certain ideas about characters and worldbuilding in a viewer’s mind, without the writers having to spend long amounts of time on exposition.

One such demonstration of this action hero/romanticized knight lies in the 1981 Excalibur’s Lancelot. Lancelot in this film first appears in shiny, silver armor and declares his perfect record in battle, explaining that he has yet to be defeated, and so swears no loyalty to any king yet. Arthur, who is confronting him, believes Lancelot to be bragging, and thus calls him out as arrogant for such a boast—to which Lancelot responds, “Not a boast, sir, but a curse” (Excalibur 47:28-42). This brief dialogue before they go on to fight uses key assumptions that we as an audience have about the traits that make a knight honorable. Before Lancelot goes on to specify that he is not boasting, Arthur is right, to modern viewers. We see knights as paragons of morality, and this is in part due to Malory’s own inclusion of Christian themes in Le Morte, which were previously not prominent in the Arthurian canon, but did tend to use the same moral code that was deeply prevalent in forming Western culture as we know it today.

In truth, whether or not a knight was a braggart had no relevance to a knight’s duties, according the Pentecostal Oath—which is ironically something that Malory himself uses in his novel as well—which all knights swear in order to earn their title. The Oath says nothing about bragging, and the only thing that might come close to touching on that subject is that knights are expected to be kind-hearted—though this notion applies more to a forbiddance placed upon unnecessary cruelty in battle, rather than to the purity of one’s heart.

That said, the Pentecostal Oath is also an unfamiliar and largely excluded part of the myths as we know them today—which means that, as far as the average viewer knows, Arthur is making a valid point here. And in fact, according to our own societal rules, bragging is indeed seen as a faux pas, one which reflects negatively on the braggart’s character.

But then Lancelot counters the idea that he has bad character, by explaining that he did not intend to brag—he sees his lack of fealty with a king as a curse, as something that causes him distress. It is natural that he would see the situation this way because a knight is only a knight if they have a king to serve; to Lancelot, his inability to be defeated in battle is dishonorable and is something which he hopes will end one day, which aligns back to Hodges’s point that invulnerability does not a noble knight make. In just a few words, Excalibur has established Lancelot as somehow both a bad and a good knight at once—on the one hand, he is invulnerable, and has no king to serve, but on the other hand, he recognizes this as an issue and seeks to rectify it, which ultimately softens our judgements of him.

Arthur might be an admirable man with a morality that aligns with modern audiences in this moment, but he is also a king—and in fact, he is a king first, and a knight second. Lancelot has no such title; he is a knight and a knight only, and furthermore, he is a knight that eventually gets what every knight wants—a king to serve. His character goal is realized by the end of the film, and though he betrays Arthur by pursuing his wife in an affair, the two of them reconcile by the end, cementing both of them as morally good characters, as they are able to overcome their differences and ultimately keep their relationship to each other, rather than allowing it to fall through—a notion of good that once again resonates with modern audiences. And it is this resonation that helped carry this film’s presentation of what knights should be into the generalized pop culture idea of what a knight is.

Excalibur presents to us the action hero knights who we enjoy watching, who discuss fairly easy-to-understand moral issues, and who pick the path of good, even after being tempted from it. This film shows us exactly the type of modern knight that we call to mind when we think of Arthurian tales today.

And it is this modern knight that we see in Tales of Arcadia’s Lancelot as well. He is a charismatic, handsome knight, who delivers inspirational speeches, gives his all in battle, and inspires confidence in others; he is loyal to his king, and—as Hodges would point out—is not invulnerable. The evidence of his honor in battle is visible on his person; we don’t know the circumstances of the fight which took his arm, but we do see the effects that the fight had on him. He wears a prosthetic arm, and his sword is broken*, though he still wields it.

*Note: It is still speculation that his sword was broken in the same fight that took his arm, and it will likely remain so.

This prosthetic and this broken sword prove the existence of at least one fight, if not two fights, that put Lancelot in grave danger, which thus makes the fact that he is still alive a noble act in and of itself, since he persevered through the risk, and the possible injury of such a vicious battle.

Lancelot has more than proven that he will follow through in a fight with high stakes—we see on screen the proof that he has put himself in the way of harm and has still come out with his head held high— and that he has survived the recovery process, to boot, which is no easy feat, either. In fact, the act of allowing someone to treat your wound is another thing that Hodges cites as honorable because, “Injuries educate young knights, and the opportunity for healing creates lasting social bonds. Thus injuries are often a key part of becoming a mature knight and a member of a community” (Hodges 19). He goes on, then, to explain how various bonds are formed between specific knights who are injured and knights who take care of the injured in Le Morte. And while we can’t be sure that this also happened in Wizards, there is another Wizards character—Sir Galahad—who might have been one such acting nurse for Lancelot. We cannot be certain, as it was never showed on screen, but Galahad and Lancelot’s relationship is shown on screen, and it is made to be one that is close and fond.

The evidence of a thriving relationship between these two knights is present in the way that Lancelot throws his arm around Galahad very casually in episode two, and in how Galahad reacts to Lancelot’s death in episode seven. While the screen time is limited for these two, it is apparent from the get-go that these two knights have grown close to each other in their tenure under Arthur. I posit that one such way that they could have created this relationship is by using Hodges’s point about caring for the wounded. When Lancelot took such a major injury before the events of the show, it does not seem out of the realm of possible that the rest of Arthur’s knights rallied around him as he recovered.

Of course, all of this can be speculated at all because of the proof that we have that Lancelot can even get hurt in the first place. Not only has he been hurt, but he has been hurt in a significant way, in a way that would have changed his life and the way that he interacted with the diegetic world around him.

This is all to say: simplistic as Lancelot’s character is, due to his lack of on-screen appearances, there is still a great deal happening with his character that I personally find to be interesting. I think that Lancelot’s character speaks primarily to the character design team’s brilliance as they worked on this show. For the constraints that all the showrunners had on this mini-series, there are a remarkable number of smaller details which help push the show to still be an entertaining and interesting piece of media, especially when compared to the Arthurian canon. Wizards: Tales of Arcadia is very loosely an Arthurian show; it has many recognizable figures from the original legends, but it puts its own twist on them, and while these twists might include many easily recognizable tropes, there’s something fascinating to be said about the decisions that it’s made that do stand out.

The primary stand-out twist on an Arthurian character is most likely found in the Lady of the Lake’s design—as she resembles not a woman in medieval clothing who seemingly lives underwater, but instead, has the aspects of a very Del Toro-style monster. But while this twist is fascinating as well, I think that there’s still something to be said about the more subtle changes that they have made to the canon; the ones that the characters don’t acknowledge as anything more than a regular part of their lives. What a character finds as normal—especially when it isn’t, to us—speaks volumes about both them as a person, and the world in which they live.

Lancelot has a prosthetic arm. The characters acknowledge it as a simple fact of life. Malory’s knights get hurt. The characters acknowledge it as a simple fact of life. Wizards: Tales of Arcadia’s Lancelot is, in every sense of the concept, a good knight. He has taken the wounds that he has received with perseverance and strength; he uplifts his peers and shows loyalty to his king. This Lancelot is more than just a visual gag for Steve Palchuk to play off of. This Lancelot is our modern action hero with a winsome smile and a mostly good heart, who does have character depth and can be made to be more than comedic relief, and it is by bridging Arthurian canon with Wizards canon, that we can begin to see emerge some intriguing opportunities for growth and storytelling within the large swaths of untold diegetic history that pre-date where Wizards: Tales of Arcadia’s pilot picks up. I think that the entire Tales of Arcadia series has been brought to completion, so I won’t call for spin-offs or new canon details to be added, but I will declare that though the story is over, there is still much that can be done with it, even with its more background, more tropey characters, who, frankly, not only deserve, but indeed hold great deals of potential for, depth and growth.

Sources:

Del Toro, Guillermo and Kraus, Daniel, creators. Wizards: Tales of Arcadia. Dreamworks Animation and Double Dare You Productions, 2020.

Excalibur. Directed by John Boorman, Warner Brothers, 1981.

Hodges, Kenneth. “Wounded Masculinity: Injury and Gender in Sir Thomas Malory’s ‘Le Morte Darthur.’” Studies in Philology, vol. 106, no. 1, University of North Carolina Press, 2009, pp. 14–31, http://www.jstor.org/stable/20464342.

#i apologize if this is incoherent i was just having so many thoughts about toa + arthuriana #i'd love to do one of these for nimue too if people are interested but we'll see!#perhaps also for galahad actually omg #anywho if anyone makes it through this entire thing: thank you so much for reading! I hope you enjoy!#toa #toa wizards #wizards: tales of arcadia #tales of arcadia #guillermo del toro #trollhunters #lancelot #arthuriana #excalibur (1981)#toa lancelot #knighthood #le morte d'arthur

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wizardouxie · 3 years

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nimue and douxie.

I'd like to think that Nimue used to take on a humanlike form to assess Arthur's worthiness with Excalibur, because taking a sword from a stone is by no means a measure of someone's virtue, even by magical standards. Except in the process she purposefully takes a quick detour to chastise the shit out of Merlin for his horrible guardianship skills and raises Douxie in his stead.

And Douxie takes to her quite nicely, because wow, he didn't realize how great it feels to have someone other than Archie actually believe in him. Nimue comes to learn of this one night and she holds him by the shoulders, forcing him to look up at her. With a fierce determination set ablaze in her eyes, she tells him,

"You are worthy to me. And you always will be."

After that night, she starts reserving 'lessons' for the apprentice to learn a few spells. To hell with those chores, the old man can rot in his armor. And when she sees Douxie in action, she can't help but stand by that statement. The boy's a natural! And yet Merlin has him spend more hours milking the Slorr and sweeping floors than practicing even the basics. It's preposterous, really.

When Douxie masters a particularly hard spell, he of course shows it off giddily to Archie and Merlin. Archie throws him a fond look as always, because the familiar he took in is growing up before his eyes. On the other hand, Merlin expresses a "hmph" before walking away. And that's on a lucky day. Nimue scoffs. He'll regret that soon enough, she'll make sure of it.

Nonetheless, Douxie finds his life getting better each day with Nimue around, and though he may not admit it vocally, he really considers her as a sort of, well, a mother. He cheekily prods for more affirmations of his worthiness at times (the words of that night still lingers in his mind) and she pinches his cheek lovingly, more than happy to provide any validation she can. In a way it's her manner of saying "I love you" and he holds it dear to his heart.

So you can understand the grief and confusion he goes through when Nimue disappears the day after Guinevere dies. The bloodied Excalibur Arthur carries and the grave somber look on Merlin's face is enough to render Douxie silent about the topic, because right now what mattered was not the fact that one of the only nurturing figures in his life was snatched away before he could even say goodbye, but the fact that the queen was dead.

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