In Camelot's Great Hall, Collum is told bluntly that King Arthur is dead, killed at Camlann by his incestuous bastard son Mordred even as Arthur ran him through with a spear. The remaining knights—Bedivere, Villiars, Dinadan, Constantine, and Palomides—recount the disaster: Lancelot was accused of bedding Queen Guinevere, killed Gawain's brothers Gareth and Gaheris during her rescue, and fled across the Channel. Arthur pursued him, leaving Mordred as regent, who promptly seized the throne. Constantine insists Lancelot and the queen were framed in an Orkney plot. Collum, devastated, recalls his own mother's death in a blizzard and grasps the depth of the loss.

The knights bicker, mourn, and resign themselves to being the dregs of Camelot. Bedivere declares the age of enchantment over and tells them to return to ordinary lives. Collum prepares mentally to leave for Astolat.

Nimue, a young woman who introduces herself as Arthur's adviser in magical and supernatural matters, strides in uninvited and berates them. She warns that King Rience of the Old North is rallying to seize the throne, that Saxons, Hibernians, Orkney lairds, Franks, Picts, and even Mordred's son Melehan are all positioning to claim Britain. She insists they must fight back. Bedivere agrees, vowing that if God will not give them a king, they will make one.

As servants bring lunch, Collum nervously suggests they imitate Arthur's old custom of refusing to eat until witnessing a marvel, asking God to reveal the rightful king. The knights are skeptical but Bedivere pronounces the traditional oath. They wait, grumbling and dozing. Just as hope fades, Nimue wakes them with thrown bread rolls and points: the back wall of the Great Hall has vanished.