The Once and Future King Book 1, Chapter 24 Summary

  • Almost everyone accepts Wart as king, with a couple of exceptions that are soon stopped.
  • Turns out, people are looking for a new boss. King Uther was apparently too much into Might as Right, and all sorts of unfair stuff was going on.
  • Wart has a grand coronation, and gets tons of gifts. Among the grossest is the fewmets (poop!) that Pellinore and the Questing Beast sent. Just… no.
  • He also gets a lot of requests to fix things—like bottles that cannot be easily opened, faucets that are stuck, and various other household dysfunctions.
  • The best present, however, is sent by Sir Ector. It's a sort of dunce's cap. It's to be lit on fire (odd), and when it's finished burning, Merlyn appears standing before him.
  • He informs Wart that King Uther Pendragon was (or will be—Time is confusing) his father, and Merlyn himself had taken him as an infant to Sir Ector's castle to be fostered.
  • No one will ever call Wart Wart anymore.
  • In fact, Merlyn is pleased to be the first to address Wart with his proper new title: King Arthur.
  • Wart asks Merlyn if he'll stay with him for a long time, and Merlyn says yes.
  • And so ends the first book.