This article is about the character from Once Upon a Time. For the King Arthur character, see Lancelot (King Arthur).
- “I still do have a small shred of honor left.”
- ―Lancelot
Sir Lancelot is a character from Arthurian Legend, being one of the most well-known knights of the round-table.
Notably, he is a character from the film "King Arthur" and ABC's Once Upon a Time. He does not have a Storybrooke counterpart. He is one of King Arthur's knights of the round table and the son of the Lady of the Lake.
History[]
Sir Lancelot du Lac (Sir Lancelot of the Lake) is a character which originates from the Arthurian writings of the French Chrétien de Troyes in the 12th century. Unlike many major Arthurian characters who have basis in folklore or even history (Arthur and Mordred having only been documented in 537) Lancelot was an original character integrated into the mythology who embodied many literary themes and virtues which de Troyes had picked up from French campaigning in the Middle East.
Lancelot is frequently identified as having been born the prince of Benoic only for his nation to be conquered and his family to be killed by King Claudas of the Franks when Lancelot was an infant. Lancelot would go on to be rescued by the magical spirit known as the Lady of the Lake who raised him to be a knight of mythical status.
As an adult, Lancelot would become The White Knight of King Arthur's court and would become one of Arthur's closest friends. However, Lancelot would fall in-love with Arthur's wife, Queen Guinevere, who loved Lancelot in return as she had married Arthur as part of an arranged marriage. While he and Guinevere courted one another, this would lead to spurn from the sorceress Morgan le Fae, who had feelings for Lancelot and a hatred for Guinevere which caused the magician to take frequent attempts on Guinevere's life.
Story cycles following this in the 13th century written by English monks would show nothing but disdain for Lancelot's character due to perceiving him as a sinner. Said monks incorporated in the character of Sir Galahad (Lancelot's birth-name) who was the son of Lancelot and used to epitomize the church's views on chivalry. These stories would revolve around Galahad searching for the Holy Grail while being praised and rewarded at every turn meanwhile Lancelot would be constantly harassed and punished by God, at one point being shot at with a fire-ball by God after finding the Holy Grail. These stories ended with Guinevere choosing to become a nun to avoid any advances after Arthur's death while Lancelot would end up a hermit.
Once Upon a Time[]
Before the First Curse[]
During his tenure, Lancelot witnesses Arthur free Excalibur from its stone, though abandons his place on the Round Table after falling in love with Arthur's wife Guinevere, this after they went on a quest to find the dagger, which resulted in a deal with Rumplestiltskin that Lancelot was against.
After leaving Camelot, he became a servant of King George under the alias of "Leviathan." Lancelot captures Snow White and brings her to King George. Upon order by King George, he fetches Snow White a cup of water. The water curses Snow White to be barren forever, and unable to bear any children. Afterwards, she is let go, but Lancelot follows her into the forest. Snow White is furious, and attacks him. He begs her to spare him because he, too, was unaware of the poison the king put into the cup. She allows him to come with her, and together they return back to Prince Charming and his mother, Ruth. The king's men have them surrounded by the time they reach back, and worse yet, one of their poisoned arrows has struck Ruth. Prince Charming suggests they go to Lake Nostos and gather some of the lake's waters, which has magical healing powers. When they reach there, they find the lake has completely dried up. Lancelot finds a few droplets of the water left. Ruth drinks it, but the water does not heal her. Her last wish is to have seen Prince Charming and Snow White get married. Snow White decides that's a wish that can be fulfilled, and asks Lancelot to perform the marriage ceremony. During the ceremony, Lancelot fills a cup with water. He says the cup is believed to have magical properties to make someone immortal. Snow White drinks from the cup.
Afterwards, when Prince Charming is burning a candle for his mother, Snow White is apologetic that he had to lose the last of his family. But, Prince Charming is glad because he still has Snow White, and that one day they will have children of their own. Snow White is visibly distraught, especially when Prince Charming pulls out the necklace Ruth had previously shown her.
The necklace has the power to predict the gender of a woman's first born before they're even with child. It works by swinging in a certain direction, if it swings North to South it's a boy and if it swings East to West it's a girl. Ruth tried to demonstrate it on Snow White earlier on, but it did not move at all. Prince Charming is telling Snow White about the necklace's predicting ability just as she is about to tell him about her inability to have children. Miraculously, the necklace begins to swing. Snow White is astonished at how the curse was broken. She realizes Ruth only pretended to drink the magic water when given it, and gave the actual water to Lancelot so he could put it in the chalice Snow White drank from to break the barren curse..
After the First Curse[]
Mary Margaret Blanchard and Emma Swan end up in the Enchanted Forest when they are sucked into a portal generated by Jefferson's hat. They meet Lancelot, who is revealed to be the leader of the refugee camp, and he and Mary Margaret have a happy reunion. Ominously, Aurora remarks privately to Mulan that she doesn't trust Lancelot. He helps by sending Mulan with Mary Margaret and Emma as they search for their way home.
They end up in the old castle Emma was born in where the magic wardrobe still resides. They need magic to power up the wardrobe again so it works. Lancelot appears from behind; seemingly having followed them. Mary Margaret notices Lancelot seems to be fixated on the wardrobe, but he says he's just concerned about their safety and how they will get home. Then, Mary Margaret turns on him as she realizes this is not Lancelot, and there's only one person who would pretend to be him. In a puff of purple smoke, Cora emerges from her disguise. She reveals that Lancelot is dead and admits to having killed him a long time ago, knowing that the refugees would never listen to her and she could use his appearance as a disguise.
After a brief scuffle in which she has the upper hand, Mulan intervenes and this forces Cora to retreat. Mulan is stunned that she was fooled by a shape shifter all this time, and panics over what she will tell the rest of the survivors. Mary Margaret insists Mulan tell all of them the truth; that Lancelot was cut down by a terrible villain, and he "died" an honorable death.
Before the Third Curse[]
Lancelot turns up alive (revealing that Cora lied about his so called murder). At some point, he returns to Camelot and sneaks into King Arthur's castle. During the night where David is bestowed the Siege Perilous seat by Arthur, Snow White goes out to the hallway to calm down her crying baby son where she sees a shadowy figure walk past. When she calls out to the person, Lancelot steps out much to her astonishment. He assures her it is truly him. After putting aside the story of his struggles, Lancelot warns her about a villain that is currently in the castle. At first, Snow assumes he is speaking about Emma (who is now the Dark One). Instead, Lancelot reveals that King Arthur is the villain and Camelot is not what it seems.
When Arthur found out that Lancelot was alive and confronted him and Mary Margaret in the Dark One's Vault, David found out where the suspicions towards King Arthur were confirmed. When the rest of the Knights arrive at Granny's to help King Arthur, Lancelot also discovered that Guinevere was under Arthur's command thanks to the sand dust that was used on her by King Arthur. Lancelot is locked up in the dungeon where he meets Princess Merida as they both plan to find a way to defeat King Arthur. Both of them are freed by David's group with the help of Merlin.
Following Captain Hook being tethered to Excalibur, Merlin sends Sir Lancelot to his mother, the Lady of the Lake which is a two-day journey to help stop the darkness but he is too late to help and is not swept up by the third Dark Curse back to Storybrooke like everyone else.
Disney Parks[]
Le Carrousel de Lancelot[]
Disneyland Paris' counterpart to the King Arthur Carrousel is named for Lancelot, likely due to Lancelot being created by French authors. Found in Fantasyland, Le Carrousel de Lancelot (French: Lancelot's Carousel) is an attraction found behind the Sword in the Stone.
Trivia[]
- Lancelot was also known as Leviathan, which is also the name of a robot in Atlantis: The Lost Empire.
Gallery[]
See also[]
