One Fateful Knight (short story)

One Fateful Knight was the second short story in the Short Trips anthology Short Trips: The Quality of Leadership. It was written by Peter David. It featured the Eighth Doctor.
== Summary ==
When the Doctor lands in a castle, he is immediately asked to help deliver a baby. It turns out the mother is Igerna, who claims the baby's father is her husband, Gorlois, who died on the battlefield the night the baby was conceived. When the baby is delivered, Igerna names him Arthur. The Doctor calls himself "Merlin".
The Doctor later encounters another Time Lord who has been calling himself Merlin. This Merlin intends to disrupt the normal timelines by supplying advanced weapons to primitive cultures. The Doctor plans to stop him and tracks his TARDIS.
The Doctor loses "Merlin" but ends up overhearing Morgaine and Arthur. Morgaine gives Arthur a sword and leaves; after which the Doctor meets up with Arthur.
Much later, Arthur and his men are fighting Mordred and his men, who have advanced technology. Mordred taunts Arthur, implying Arthur's loyal follower Ancelyn is having an affair with Arthur's wife Guinevere. Morgaine arrives and tries to kill Arthur, but the Doctor shows up in the nick of time and materialises the TARDIS around Morgaine.
The Doctor strands Morgaine and returns to the battle, where Mordred has been captured. The Doctor promises Arthur that he will chat with the queen about the rumours spread by Mordred.
However, the Doctor materialises within the other "Merlin's" TARDIS. "Merlin" goes to Guinevere and warns her that Arthur is dead and Mordred is coming to claim her. She readies a crossbow and kills the man who enters — who happens to be Arthur.
The Doctor arrives but he is too late to save Arthur. The other Merlin gets caught by Morgaine.
The Doctor buries Arthur in Lake Vortigern and leaves a message for his past self.
== Characters ==
* Eighth Doctor
* Merlin
* Morgaine
* Mordred
* Igerna
* Guinevere
* Uther Pendragon
* Arthur Pendragon
* Ancelyn
* Lunt
* Fontayne
== Worldbuilding ==
* Igerna's husband was Gorlois, Duke of Cornwall.
* The Doctor mentions Julius Caesar.
* Merlin mentions the Round Table and Camelot.
* The Doctor claims that his new look is supposed to be Byron-esque.
* The Doctor compares Ancelyn's name to Lancelot.
== Notes ==
* This story is both a prequel and a sequel to the television story Battlefield. However, it notably disregards the idea put forward in Battlefield (and adhered to in other media spun off from the TV story) that Camelot only existed in a parallel world, with the Renegade Time Lord's plan treating the history of Arthur's Camelot as simply a part of human history.
== Continuity ==
* The Doctor calls himself Merlin and creates messages for his past self. He receives the messages in TV: Battlefield.
Category:Eighth Doctor short stories
Category:Stories set in alternate timelines
Category:Short Trips: The Quality of Leadership short stories