This article is about the character of Arthur from Once Upon a Time. For other characters that share the same name, see Arthur.
- “I was once prophasised to repair a broken kingdom. My mistake was thinking that kingdom was Camelot. But now I think I understand the kingdom I have to repair is here. The underworld”
- ―King Arthur[src]
King Arthur is a character who appears in the fifth season of ABC's Once Upon a Time. He is a supporting ally and antagonist, who later reforms after his soul is sent to the underworld, following his death by Hades.
He is based on the character of the same name from the Arthurian legend tales.
Role in the series[]
Before the First Curse[]
As a young Arthur and Guinevere walk in Camelot, he tells her of how he will one day be king. They walk to a tree and he informs her of how Merlin is trapped within the tree and his dream in which Merlin told Arthur a prophecy where he would pull a sword from a stone and become king. Arthur tells her she will be his Queen. After some discouraging words from Kay, Guinevere tells him to follow his heart.
Arthur in Once Upon a Time.
King Arthur arrives with Sir Percival and Lancelot in Camelot, having finally found the Sword in the Stone, which can only be pulled by the greatest King of all the realms, as prophesied by Merlin. Arthur watches Sir Kay stand near Excalibur and warns him not to take it, but Sir Kay defies Arthur's request and attempts to pull it out, which results in him turning into ash before Arthur's very eyes. Arthur then successfully pulls the Excalibur from the stone himself but is shocked to discover that the tip of the blade is missing. Arthur decides not to inform the people of Camelot about this, and only that they now have a new King. He then tells Lancelot and Sir Percival that they must begin a new quest, to make Excalibur whole. However, this quest drives him mad, and Arthur soon turns from hero to villain.
After the Second Curse[]
Somewhere in the Enchanted Forest, Arthur and his knights approach Emma and her allies to tell them they arrived to find her. He explains that their arrival was prophesied by Merlin. He tells Emma that according to the prophecy, she is destined to reunite them with Merlin, and takes them to his castle in Camelot.
Before the Third Curse[]
While there, it is revealed that Arthur cannot be trusted after Snow meets up with an old friend she thought long dead: Lancelot, who was believed killed by Cora years before. Working together Snow and Charming prove that Arthur's plan is to steal the Dark One's dagger and unite it with the blade, using in means necessary. He means to kill not only their daughter Emma Swan (the current Dark One), but Merlin himself. When Snow and Charming refuse to cooperate, Arthur did what he did to his wife Guinevere years before: he uses the Sands of Avalon to force them to cooperate.
But Emma catches on to Arthur's deception and manages to get to the former Queen Regina before she gives the dagger away to Arthur. Quickly, Emma and Regina work against Arthur and find the ingredient to free Merlin: the tear of a lost love. Although Arthur and his men try to stop them, Regina holds them off with her dark magic, while Emma releases Merlin from a tree. Once released, Merlin expresses how disappointed he is in Arthur, his once-great hope. This comment causes Arthur to react in anger, accusing Merlin of having given him an impossible quest. However, Merlin manages to release Snow and Charming from the king's enchantment and agrees to release Emma from her curse, if she's ready to be free.
Arthur battles Merida.
Arthur and Zelena use the heroes as bait to force Emma to turn over the dagger and the eternal fire flame but after an intense fight, they are defeated and travel back to Camelot. Arthur then plans to use a magical helmet called the Helm which is in DunBroch to lead an army that will fight the heroes. After learning from a witch that the Helm was purchased by Merida's father, Zelena and Arthur plan to find it before Merida and Mulan do. After finding it and thanks to Ruby/Red Riding Hood, Merida discovers that Arthur is the man who killed her father and after a big fight Merida thanks to Mulan, Ruby, and the Clans of DunBroch defeat Zelena and Arthur who then retreat back to Camelot. Afterward, when the third Dark Curse is cast Arthur and his wife Guinevere watch as the curse consumes them and all of Camelot.
After the Third Curse[]
Six weeks later, after citizens from Storybrooke and Camelot alike are pulled back to Storybrooke with their memories removed by Emma, Arthur (despite having no memory of that last six weeks) continues his nefarious plans, this time he plans on overthrowing an established peaceful community for the sake of desiring power and making Storybrooke the new Camelot. He explained to the residents that Emma might use the reunited Excalibur to snuff out either the dark or light magic.
When Regina plans to contact Merlin, King Arthur goes in alone to do it and throws the toadstool into the fire and claimed that he wasn't able to get through. Though King Arthur was unaware that magical toadstools don't burn. He is caught and sent to jail by David.
Hook and Arthur in the Underworld.
When the heroes return to Storybrooke from the underworld, along with Hades, Arthur goes to meet with them at the Troll Bridge. However, he encounters Hades, who kills him. Arthur is then sent to the Underworld. While there, he assists Hook in finding the missing pages of the Underworld storybook that contain Hades' weakness. After finding out that Cruella De Vil threw the book in the River of Lost Souls, Arthur and Hook journey to the River to retrieve the book. There they are forced to fight a few of the souls from the River in order to get it. When a portal opens up allowing Hook and Arthur to leave, Arthur decides to stay behind, as he feels that he should become the new ruler of the Underworld, and help the souls stuck there to pass on.
Trivia[]
- Like Peter Pan and the Beast, Once Upon a Time's version of King Arthur takes on a more villainous role than he is traditionally portrayed.
- But unlike those two, Arthur is the first to truly show an effort to reform.
- Liam Garrigan, who portrayed Arthur in Once Upon a Time, would reprise the role in, of all places, the unrelated Transformers: The Last Knight.
Gallery[]
See also[]
- Arthur Pendragon
- King Arthur (Gargoyles)
- Arthur Castus
- Allie Pennington
- King Arthur (Legend of the Three Caballeros)
External links[]
