Galavant Rewatch 2.3, "Aw, Hell, the King"

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The series commits to Richard's arc as it continues.

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2.3, "Aw, Hell, the King"

Written by Kat Likkel, John Hoberg, Luan Thomas, Julia Grob, and Joe Piarulli
Directed by Declan Lowney

Synopsis

It's not an auspicious sign--or an accurate floorplan.
Image taken from the episode, used for commentary.

Richard and Galavant stand at the site where Richard's castle formerly stood. Richard takes stock and rages at the loss, while Galavant focuses on his own goals. As they pursue their ends, they find that the area has left off monarchy in Richard's absence; Richard has trouble adjusting to the new circumstances. Galavant responds more positively to the democratic impulses that seem to be at work in the kingdom-that-was and that are explicated in song.

In a dream, Gareth is confronted by Richard. He wakes from the dream, screaming, much to Madalena's annoyance. She rages at Sid to have him fix the issue, threatening to kill him if he does not resolve the matter.

It seems a reasonable concern.
Image taken from the episode, used for commentary.

Isabella, in her pink prison, gorges on sweets as Steve puts on a puppet show dramatizing the miscommunication of the previous episode. He expresses concern for her well-being amid repeated performances. Another performance is interrupted by Isabella's parents, who press upon her to move ahead with issues of the wedding. They introduce a Chester Wormwood, a wedding planner--and clearly a sinister character, if the puerile crossed fingers are to be believed.

In the erstwhile kingdom, the locals continue to show Richard how his former goods have been taken to the common use. Richard continues to adjust poorly, and Galavant tries to conscript an army. He is invited to make his case to the town in a coming meeting; the local inviting him makes a pointed comment about sending a volunteer military into an open-ended conflict that aides the wealthy, calling it "madness."

Sid's initial efforts do not go well.
Image taken from the episode, used for commentary.

Sid tries to help Gareth with his dreams. Gareth admits to his problem and his uncertainty about things; Sid suggests that Gareth is feeling guilty, which Gareth rejects--and Madalena threatens again.

Galavant conducts his campaign to secure the town's agreement to lend him an army. Richard does help with some materials, though his own insecurities continue to emerge. He considers taking up other professions than that to which he was born, betraying his lack of knowledge of the trades and crafts upon which life depends--and returning to his realization of incapacity, unaware of the destiny that appears to await him.

The glowing sword would be a clue, did he but see it.
Image taken from the episode, used for commentary.

Wormwood works an enchantment on a tiara that Isabella will wear for her wedding, planning to use it to control her mind and thence Hortencia. Isabella does not want to participate in the planning until the tiara is applied to her. When it is, its spell works upon her swiftly and deeply, and she engages in the planning.

Certainly an attitude adjustment.
Image taken from the episode, used for commentary.

The town meeting takes place, with Richard continuing to grouse. Galavant makes his case for the army to rescue Isabella. It does not go well for him, with most of town jeering him. Richard springs to his defense, speaking powerfully to them in Galavant's support. It is of no avail--save for one person who rises to join Richard. He is moved by it, even if nobody else moves to it.

Gareth, meanwhile, continues to suffer his nightmares. Sid tries again to aid him, and Gareth softens slightly. But only slightly. Galavant, Richard, and the villager--Roberta--proceed to rescue Isabella. And Isabella announces a wedding date...

Roberta seems eager to be involved.
Image taken from the episode, used for commentary.

Discussion

It might well be thought that even the bad and partial democratic ideas voiced by the villagers early in the episode do not fit with the Middle Ages in which they are described as "progressive" in the episode. Owing to long use, the three-estates feudalism encapsulated by Georges Duby is regarded as the "standard," "real" social organization of the European High Middle Ages--the overall template from which Galavant and no small number of other medievalist properties work. As is often the case, however, prevailing conception is not entirely accurate; such concepts were known to the people of medieval Europe. Direct democracy by the relatively wealthy citizenry was known in the Classical world, and some records thereof were available to medieval Europeans. Additionally, constructions similar to, if not congruent with, them were also known in medieval European practice among members of the Hanseatic League (with the focus on local businesses and spread of Lübeck law) and in a number of German towns (such as followed the Magdeburg model). Again, the correspondences are not complete, but it is clear that medieval minds could well conceive of other forms of government than the feudal in which most mainstream medievalist properties operate. That Galavant shows such at work is something it gets right.

It is also of note that Steve McKenzie, the jester, is the observer who remarks upon Isabella's shift in attitude towards her wedding--only to be disregarded by Isabella's parents. As a jester, and in motley, Steve is clearly working within the fool-archetype. (That he is as close to a narrator as the series has bears some mention; the fool is the bridge between the story and the audience, which marks the series as the farce it clearly is--but also the audience as foolish for needing the intermediation of a fool. It is something of a backhanded comment on the viewership.) Accordingly, it is his to point out things that others will not allow themselves to see, even if he is not heeded as much as perhaps he should be. And that is far from unknown in the medieval, as well.