In all the stories we've read so far, the Arthur moment that has bothered me the most was killing the babies on the ship in our Malory text. It didn't make sense to me, and it felt so out of character with the King Arthur I thought I knew before starting this class. This is why I love the scene in this book where he tells Lancelot and Guenever about what he did. I'm really glad T.H. White kept this detail, because I think it's important. Lance and Gwen try to justify Arthur's actions by saying, "Hey, Mordred's alive though! No harm, no foul!" But Arthur says, "You mustn't forget the other babies...I dream about them" (549). Arthur is still haunted by the actions he took in his past, and he faces them head on. He doesn't try to explain them away now that he is an older man, and he doesn't blame Mordred at all for wanting to kill him. Depressing? Yes. But this Arthur feels so much more human. He knows he has flaws, and he spends much of our last chapter trying to better himself and his kingdom. This Arthur isn't perfect, and I think he's better off for it.
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