Morgan le Fay (The Last Defender of Camelot)

Morgan le Fay is the secondary protagonist of "The Last Defender of Camelot," the second segment of the 24th episode of the first season of The Twilight Zone's 1985-1989 iteration, the episode airing in 1986. Said episode was based off a short story of the same name, written by Roger Zelazny in 1979. She is an adaptation of the classic Arthurian sorceress, an immortal magic-user who united with Sir Lancelot to stop Merlin from taking over the world.
In the episode, Morgan le Fay was portrayed by Jenny Agutter. In the original short story, she survived the events of the battle against Merlin, unlike the episode.
== Biography ==
=== Arthurian era ===
Morgan le Fay lived in the early middle ages, as half-sister to the legendary King Arthur, related by their mother, Igraine. However, while Morgan was still a child, Igraine was raped by Uther Pendragon, father of King Arthur, who was aided by Merlin, a fact Morgan eventually became aware of. Becoming a sorceress as she grew up, Morgan presumably lived through classic Arthurian tales, although unlike the Knights of the Round Table and King Arthur himself, Morgan was able to see through Merlin's façade of being a wise, just, peace-seeking advisor, seeing just how far he would go to make Camelot appear just a little more perfect. Regardless, Merlin was able to paint an image of Morgan le Fay being an evil sorceress with no morals, likely manipulating any conflicts against her to make her appear as a villain. She also appeared to have met Sir Lancelot, who gave her speeches about Merlin's supposed greatness.
At some point, an affair between Queen Guinevere, wife of King Arthur, and Sir Lancelot became apparent to Morgan, and whether willingly or not, Morgan eventually revealed the affair to King Arthur. Arthur, who she could see had been brainwashed by Merlin, attempted to burn Guinevere at the stake, but Lancelot intervened and rescued her. Later, when Arthur's bastard son Mordred, Morgan's nephew, tried to take over Camelot, Morgan sent a nymph under her command to lead Merlin away to a cave in what is now known as Cornwall, intending to lock him away for good as Camelot fell. However, as Merlin was let inside and put under a spell to sleep forever, Merlin was able to cast at least three last spells: animate a suit of armor, known as the hollow knight, to be his guard while he slept, reduce the effects of Morgan's spell down to a thousand years, and render Sir Lancelot immortal. Arthur and Mordred promptly slew each other in the battle of Camlann, which also claimed the lives of the rest of the Knights of the Round Table, leaving Lancelot, Morgan, and Merlin as the last survivors of the Arthurian era.
=== The Last Defender of Camelot ===
As Morgan le Fay was immortal, she lingered in England until 1986, where she lived in the guise of a psychic fortuneteller in London. She also appeared to have befriended a young punk named Tom, and eventually discovered that Sir Lancelot was also residing in England under the name Mr. Lake. She soon sensed that Merlin was awakening, and that he had managed to implant a thought in Lancelot's mind to retrieve him, and as such, sent out Tom and two other hired punks to bring Lancelot to her, ordering them not to harm Lancelot. However, Lancelot easily fought off the thugs, as while his appearance aged, his youthful strength remained. Lancelot then had Tom bring him to Morgan, who was waiting in her fortuneteller shop, hidden in shadow. Lancelot, not recognizing her at first, demanded to know why she hired thugs to kidnap him, but Morgan responded by addressing him by his current name, asking if he believed in magic. After sending Tom away, Morgan referred to Lancelot as her knight in shining leather, musing about always wanting a champion of her very own. Lancelot then turned on the light, recognizing Morgan, who asked him if he had any smiles for an old friend. Lancelot, still seeing her as an enemy to Camelot, instead rebuked her, although Morgan told him that holding a grudge for a thousand years was too long. Lancelot then stated that he thought he was the last of Camelot, starting to tell her about the other wars he fought in, before stopping himself, asking aloud why he was telling any of that to Morgan, who replied that no one else would believe him, expressing how she felt lonely as well.
Lancelot then told Morgan that he felt tired, but believed that his immortality was a curse he must bear due to his sin, referring to his affair with Guinevere. When Morgan questioned it, Lancelot told Morgan that Merlin said she had no morals, but Morgan brushed it aside, claiming to have just gotten horrible press, and showed Lancelot an image of Merlin, still alive, in his magic-induced sleep in Cornwall, revealing that Merlin's own powers were influencing Lancelot, inciting him to go to Cornwall. She also informed Lancelot that Merlin was the one who kept him immortal, figuring it was to use Lancelot as a loyal pawn. Lancelot said that he could forgive Morgan after seeing the vision, but Morgan told him to save it, saying that Merlin was the one who needed forgiveness. When Lancelot tried to protest, Morgan told him how Merlin was willing to commit or pardon any crime that served his policies, how he started as many conflicts as needed to make Camelot strong, and how he helped Uther Pendragon rape her mother. When she brought up Arthur trying to execute Guinevere, Lancelot tried bringing up Merlin's law, making Morgan remind him that adultery was against Merlin's law as well. Lancelot, angered, stood up, but Morgan apologized, Lancelot saying that Merlin could not have intended for all that came to pass. Morgan then lit a cigar with magic flames, asking Lancelot what happened with chivalry, to which he responded "it's dead." Morgan then tried to say that Merlin was dangerous, but Lancelot still wanted to help his old friend, and asked to take Tom with him. Morgan accepted, and teleported the two to Cornwall after giving them flashlights, via a spell created from the smoke of her cigar.
In Cornwall, Lancelot soon found Merlin and awoke him with a magic elixir, finding that Merlin sought to place a king of his choosing on the English throne and rewrite world society in his image. Additionally, he discovered that Merlin required a human sacrifice to fully restore his powers, and had in fact manipulated Lancelot to bring someone unworthy, namely Tom, to him for said sacrifice, entering an interdimensional plane known as True Stonehenge with Lancelot and Tom. Knowing Lancelot could object, Merlin removed Lancelot's immortality to weaken him, but Lancelot still challenged Merlin regardless, Merlin saying that he had half a mind to let Lancelot try to fight. Morgan, possibly viewing the events remotely, then teleported into the plane, telling Merlin that he had half a mind and nothing more. Merlin, outraged that Lancelot would work with a supposed sworn enemy of Camelot, then gave Lancelot his armor and weapons, so that he may duel Merlin's hollow knight. Lancelot then displayed that he kept his strength despite Merlin removing his spell, also revealing that earlier, when he left Merlin's sight for a moment, he drank the rest of Merlin's elixir to keep his strength, anticipating Merlin's move, which amused Morgan. Merlin then commanded the hollow knight to move forward, where it dueled Lancelot in fierce combat, continuing to fight even after Lancelot cut off its arm and head. Morgan stood to the side with Tom throughout the duel, but then saw Merlin raise his staff to empower the hollow knight, and pushed Tom aside, unleashing red magic lightning on Merlin. However, Merlin, while injured, managed to return fire with his staff, overpowering and fatally wounding Morgan with a magic blast. Lancelot then destroyed the hollow knight, and faced Merlin, where he cut Merlin's staff in half, depowering him. Merlin, depowered, then faded away into nothingness.
With Merlin dead, Lancelot approached the dying Morgan, who was glad that Merlin was finally gone, and only asked for some good press out of this excursion. Tom tried to believe that Morgan would survive due to her powers, but Lancelot knew she would die soon. Morgan, also recognizing that, told Lancelot that she could finally see what Guinevere saw in him, before directing him down a road in the plane, saying that taking the right fork of said road would take him and Tom back to London. She then hugged Lancelot as she took her last breaths, and died in his arms. Tom, stricken with grief, cursed at Merlin's empty robes, but Lancelot silenced him, saying that Merlin was just an old man who slept too long and dreamt too hard. After kissing Morgan's hand in respect, Lancelot and Tom departed back to London, only to see an image of a reborn Camelot down the left fork, following it instead.
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