Film
- The current main page quote, Arthur's last words to Guinevere. He wishes he could just be an ordinary man, a loving husband, devoted only to his wife, rather than the "stuff of future memory." And he knows it can never be. It's just a dream he has.
- Adds a whole new layer of tearjerk when you realise Arthur believes that even when he is dead his spirit will have some sort of duty of being a reminder to people of the future, and only after a perfect world is achieved and he is forgotten can they be together - and they never will, as in most versions of the Legend Arthur is taken off to 'sleep' after Camlann and recover from his wounds, for the day the British Isles are in their worst peril so he can rise again.
- Igrayne's reaction to having her child taken from her. She never signed on for any of this, was never given a choice...
- The deterioration of Camelot into ruin under a broken King Arthur. After 10 years of searching for the Grail, Perceval breaks down in tears as he recounts his journey and is tempted by Morgana to abandon the quest.Perceval: I found nothing, but sorrow and death. And I never thought to hear laughter again, until I saw [Mordred]
- The death of Uryens, the very man who knighted Arthur after initially opposing him with extreme prejudice, and then years later beaten to death and literally stabbed In the Back with a spear by Arthur's evil bastard son Mordred. What makes it even more heartbreaking is to hear him defiantly scream NEVER!!! when Mordred offers to spare him if he renounces Arthur. And then before he dies he encourages Perceval not to give up the quest.
- The reunion/farewell between Guinevere and Arthur at the end of the film.
- Merlin's farewell to Arthur... and then the dream where they meet again, right before the battle of Camlann.
- Kay... just Kay. Refreshingly, Kay is a loyal and good fellow in this adaption rather than the traditional boorish jerk - the love between Arthur and Kay through the film is clear even though they have no blood. Kay is steadfast to Arthur even through the dark years of Arthur's depression. Their most touching scene is where on the night before the final battle Kay and Arthur discuss how Merlin appeared to them in dreams; Kay says that Merlin told him he would fight valiantly tomorrow. The two just embrace.
- The final five minutes. Anyone who has seen it can understand. Wagner's music to it is perfect - it is so full of tragedy and grief and at the same time hope for a brighter future.
- Just seeing Lancelot ride in as a one man cavalry despite being horribly out of shape, looking like he was twice as old as Arthur, clad in rusty broken armor and knowing he probably didn't stand a snowball's chance in Hell of surviving, and then watching him fight to the bitter end with what remained of his strength in the name of the king and best friend he betrayed, is quite a Tear Jerker unto itself.
- Lancelot's death scene where, after helping defeat the forces of Mordred, poor old Lancelot (who is dying from an old self-inflicted nightmare injury and is still full of shame and guilt and regret over betraying Arthur's trust years earlier) begs Arthur to forgive him for the betrayal so he can at least die a Knight of the Round Table (which is his only salvation) and, before dying, stops to ask Arthur if Guinevere is Queen again (he still cared about her after all those years). Arthur forgives Lancelot and tells him Guinevere is in fact Queen again — she isn't, she's a nun, but it's a beautiful gesture that helps Lancelot to die with his mind at ease. It's certainly a far more satisfying end than the traditional tale that Lancelot dies a monk.
- Perceval — he is the lowest born of the knights, a peasant, and has to strive to prove himself amongst the Knights but does it magnificently, showing that he is the most faithful and true among them. And he is the only one of Arthur's court to survive; he must feel a loneliness incomparable as Arthur sails away. In many ways, he is a metaphor for the common folk, loyal and true, who goes on to survives on to spread Arthur's legend down the ages.
- Another particularly emotional moment for Perceval is when he recognizes the manic old preacher as Lancelot— only for Lancelot's followers to chase him into the river with their billhooks and pitchforks, blaming him as a knight for their misery. As the water sweeps him off he can only plaintively beg Lancelot that Arthur needs his help. In that moment it's clear that seeing his idol and mentor reduced to a madman has left him little more the brave, but sensitive boy who followed Lancelot home.
