I finished Arthur last night and loved it, but I feel like I don't quite understand the ending. Spoilers ahead, obviously.
On p327 Arthur sees Camelot under siege and knows the boy is in danger, but he chooses to take a nap under a Hawthorn tree. Weird timing.
In Celtic myth, Hawthorn trees were associated with fairies and falling asleep beneath them put you in danger of being kidnapped and taken to the underworld.
When Palamedes wakes him the writing switches from past tense to present and they wander through fog (again, associated with being the veil of the underworld), Arthur sees Lancelot and Guinevere's ghosts/memories of them, and they stroll right into Camelot.
At this point, I was sure he and Palamedes were dead. But later interactions with other characters made me unsure.
I also feel like Uffa's helmet is key but don't know how.
And then, after everything, he chooses to run away with Prince Erbin/the boy. While I appreciate the redemption arc of Arthur finally being a father figure and also protecting the boy's childhood when no one protected his, I kind of feel like it was another betrayal to everyone and everything they had fought for?
I feel like I'm on the edge of understanding the significance of the ending but not quite smart enough to get there. Anyone have any insight/thoughts?
TL:DR: what happens at the end? I don't get it, haha.
Edited for typos.
by NovelDifference4