Launcelot got up in the morning and rode around for a while. But then he bumped into the Mystery Knight!

You may remember the Mystery Knight — he found the Grail and took Launcelot’s sword and helmet and horse, but only because his squire (who may or may not have been Jesus) gave him permission.

“You Grail-finding, horse-stealing, son of a…!” Launcelot immediately charged the Mystery Knight. He took the dude by surprise, dehorsed him and knocked him out! Doesn’t seen like the most prudent action, what with the Mystery Knight having found the Grail and been Jesus’s pal, but apparently this was how Launcelot rolled.

Launcelot reclaimed his horse, leaving the Mystery Knight with the horse Nacien gave him. He rode off, which led to more aimless wandering. That night he stumbled across Nacien, and they camped overnight together. At this point Launcelot was no longer surprised when Nacien magically appeared in his path.

“So I had this advision night before last,” Sir Launcelot said in the morning, after Mass and breakfast.

Nacien nodded solemnly. “Let me lay it out for you, because I’m sure you have some questions. Lo, Sir Launcelot, there thou mightest understand the high lineage that thou art come of.”

“Uh huh?”

NACIEN LAYS IT ALL OUT

1) Circa AD 70 or so, Joseph of Arimathea converted King Evelake to Christianity, as has been covered in previous lectures.

2) The seven kings who followed the wearing-stars-and-crown guy (Evelake), in Launcelot’s vision, were Evelake’s son Nappus, Nappus’s son Nacien (named after his grandfather, our Nacien, who is immortal and also a contemporary of Joseph of Arimathea by the way), Nacien’s son Big Helias, Big Helias’s son Lisais, Lisais’s son Jonas, Jonas’s son Launcelot, and Launcelot’s son Ban.

3) To clarify: Jonas went to Wales where he married Manuel‘s daughter. They moved to Benwick, and they had a kid named Launcelot.

4) That Launcelot fathered Ban and Bors, and is our Launcelot’s grandfather. Just to be clear.

5) The two knights, then, are Launcelot and his son Galahad. The knight that God/Nacien berated for vanity and violence, of course, is Launcelot himself.

6) And then the lion…

“There wasn’t a lion,” protested Launcelot.

6) And then the lion, shut up, was Sir Galahad, your son. In case you’ve forgotten.

7) And Galahad has no earthly peer.

8) And you should thank God for all the gifts you’ve been given, and go ahead and tell people about how Galahad is your son. Quit hiding it!

“I haven’t been hiding it! I announced it plainly in Book XIII!”

8) I said shut up. Rethink this denying-Galahad thing, tell people he’s your son. That’s all.

“Okay, okay.” There was a pause. Launcelot bit his lip. “So, should I be praying more?”

“Wouldn’t hurt. But it won’t make you as good as Galahad. Galahad is better than you are.”

Then Nacien and Launcelot broke for lunch. Over lunch, the lock of hair that Launcelot got last chapter started to really chafe him, under his shirt, but Launcelot didn’t complain. Instead, he stayed overnight and then left the next morning after Mass.