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The Book of Merlyn

 The Book of Merlyn
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 TVTItem
 The Book of Merlyn
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 The Book of Merlyn
 The Book of Merlyn
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 TheBookOfMerlyn
 The Book of Merlyn
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 Advertisement:propertag.cmd.push(function() { proper_display('tvtropes_mobile_ad_1'); })The Book of Merlyn: The Unpublished Conclusion to The Once and Future King is the posthumously published fifth book in T.H. White's retelling of Arthurian Legend. Written in the 1940s, it remained unpublished due to wartime paper shortage and its anti-war message. It would not be included in the 1958 composite edition of The Once and Future King.White's manuscript was finally published in 1977, thirteen years after his death. It was published as it was written with no editing done to bring it more in line with the omnibus version of "The Once and Future'', so it reflects the installments of the tetralogy as the individual books they were originally published as before they were revised to be collected in one volume.Chronologically, it is set within the fourth book, during the last few pages. On the eve of the Final Battle between King Arthur and Mordred, Arthur is once more taken by Merlyn to contemplate various things. Together they arrive at the Badger's Sett Arthur visited in his childhood where he is reunited with his animal mentors from his youth. Together they discuss the evils of humanity, war, and what can be done to cure it. Through it all, Arthur, thoroughly worn out and exhausted after seeing his noble dream shattered, is unsure if he even wants to face his bastard son in battle.Advertisement:propertag.cmd.push(function() { proper_display('tvtropes_mobile_ad_2'); })Notable in the book are two episodes where Arthur is once again turned into animals: first an ant and later a goose. These episodes would be recycled into "The Sword in the Stone" when it became part of "The Once and Future King", since White's publisher would not allow the fifth volume to be in the collected book, despite White's wishes.
 The Book of Merlyn
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 2022-04-11T14:11:01Z
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 2022-04-11T14:11:01Z
 The Book of Merlyn
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 DBTropes
 The Book of Merlyn / int_4eaa9b84
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 Author Tract
 The Book of Merlyn / int_4eaa9b84
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 Author Tract: The whole damn book is one on White's opinions of human nature, whether or not it is good by nature, the origins of war and plenty more. As Sylvia Townsend Warner says in the introduction:
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 Ant War
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 Ant War: The Author envisioned this here, but Executive Meddling put it in The Sword in the Stone.
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