Deceptions in "The Grail"

[Maidryn]

(Spoiler)
when the three remaining members of the cymbrogi are guarding the little chapel where the grail is and then are surrounded by an army and then King Arthur comes forth and tells them to "give up", I kept thinking that it wasn't really Arthur but a deception by Morgian or Morgaws. After all that Arthur has been through for the first four books , he's proven that he would give up his life long before he would give up his "honor". So when it turned out that it really was Arthur, I thought that it was unacceptable. For the first time in 14 SRL books I thought that I could have written it better. Maybe I'm missing a point. Could someone explain to me why Arthur gave up as long as there was breath in his lungs. Or does anybody agree with me that he is not acting true to character. I was really disappointed in the ending.

[Child of Immanuel]

I disliked it as well.

[dgan]

Here is my twist on that:

I think the Grail (the artifact) was in many ways a symbol of Arthur. The Grail was hailed as the saving of Britain, yet it was so easily stolen and all hope that was put in a thing was dashed.

Similarly, I think there was an attempt by SRL to show the fallibility even of Arthur. Everyone looked to the King, King Arthur, as Britain's salvation. Yet even when Arthur failed, it was the courage and action of a countryman that saved Britain.

I think it was a parallel that for Britain to put all their faith in Arthur or the Grail rather than the God who provided them those blessings, they would eventually fall back into despair once those fragile things were gone. And indeed Britain did, except for those few that served with Arthur and learned that lesson themselves.

That is completely speculation, mind you, but that was my interpretation. But then again, I always feel that if I perceive a mistake in an SRL novel, than I am the one in error. LOL