Arthurian mythology has been a fascination of mine since I was a little kid, which is one of the reasons I think I latched on to this silly movie--it was a chance to play with such a rich tradition. This AU let me deal a bit more seriously with the mythology than I do in Resurrection, where the myth is more often than not used for jokes--or at least what passes for jokes in my head. ;)

Malory's Morte, to my mind, is really more Lancelot's story than Arthur's, at least by the end. It's not really surprising that the thing concludes, not with Arthur's death, but with Lancelot's, despite the title. In that version of the story, Arthur becomes little more than a man sitting on the throne. He's mostly a bland nonentity--he's too just too much the king, too static, to have adventures or to do much of anything exciting. He's already played his part by becoming king, and is trapped in that role. I think that idea somewhat informed this AU—along with my having issues with the movie's version of Arthur, and no doubt some other stuff.

I'm glad you liked the light/shadow imagery. It's been interesting in this fic and in the other to have a bit of fun with it.

More in response to your comment on the other fic, but I’ll say here, thanks so much for your comments! I really enjoyed reading them. :D