Sir Tor, pursuing the bound, encounters two knights served by a dwarf, fights them at their demand, beats them, and gives them mercy when they ask it. The dwarf leads Tor to the hound and Tor seizes it; but as be returns to Arthur's court a knight demands the hound. They fight, Tor overcomes the knight, and the knight refuses to ask for mercy. A lady rides up and asks a gift. Tor agrees, and the lady asks for the wounded knight's head. He murdered her brother and would show no mercy, though the lady pleaded for half an hour on her knees. The wounded knight now asks mercy, but because he asks too late, Tor grants the lady's request. Tor returns to Camelot and is honored both by the court and by Merlin.
Sir Pellanor, riding on his quest of the kidnaper, passes a lady with a wounded knight in her arms, who asks for his help. In his haste, he refuses to stop. He achieves his quest nobly, but on his return he finds that both the lady he would not help and her wounded protector have been eaten by lions. Back at Camelot, Guinevere reproaches Pellanor for these deaths, and Pellanor crossly shrugs it off: the lady should have taken care of herself. Merlin tells Pellanor that the lady was his own daughter and that his act was shameful. Because Pellanor would not stop to help the lady, his best friend shall fail him at need. This is the penance God has ordained, he says. Arthur distributes lands and rewards, then spells out the new code of the Round Table, which requires them to show mercy, to fight for the right, and to honor ladies.
