Lancelot and Merlin in “Unfinished Business”

I gave up war a long time ago. I can't even remember the wars I fought in, much less the men I killed. And for what? What were any of them for? What did we build with centuries of blood and widows' tears? They have World Wars now. They number them to tell them apart. They fight them without me.

What of your oath? To right wrongs, to punish the wicked?

The longer I lived, the more difficult it became to determine what was a wrong and who was wicked.

Galahad would not have abandoned his knightly oaths. Lancelot, Lancelot, what foolishness this is. I have no doubt that you'll be at my side when I set my new Arthur on the throne of England.

Kings are mere ornaments in this time, Merlin. People prefer to choose their own leaders now.

Peasants? Peasants? What a foolish notion. How can they understand what's best for them?

Merlin, you don't understand. Arthur ruled a tiny kingdom. Today, there are realms that take up half the world. We fought our wars with sword and lance. Now there are weapons that can fire whole cities in an instant, and poison the earth for longer than you have slept. Today, the world has no room for mistakes, Merlin.

I do not make mistakes.

You're wrong. You slept through the end, and the rest of us paid the price. I saw Arthur's eyes when they tied Guinevere to the stake and lit the fire. Later I saw him die at the hands of his own son, and Mordred on the sword of his father. No, no, Merlin. I want no part of these new schemes of yours. Our hour is passed.