Thus, Arthur's triumph in The Queen of Air and Darkness is more mental than military. After seriously considering Merlyn's argument, the King is finally able to think for himself and come to the conclusion that "the last battle we had — in which seven hundred kerns were killed — was not so much fun as I thought it was" and that "battles are not fun when you come to think about them." This epiphany may strike some readers as obvious, but these readers should recall that Arthur is not living in a twentieth-century democracy; he is a product of the feudal system and a world that, in every economic, political, and social way, continually asserts the idea that "Might is Right." Kerns, what the military today might call "common soldiers," are seen by Arthur's contemporaries as expendable; Arthur, of course, thinks differently. His thinking here is a breakthrough, akin to Galileo's idea that the Earth revolves around the Sun — and just as shocking and dangerous to his opponents. Arthur conjectures that people are "half horrible and half nice," but they often let themselves "run wild," in part due to their "Norman idea about the upper classes having a monopoly of power, without reference to justice."
Arthur plans to "harness Might so that it works for Right" — in other words, he will fight the upcoming battle of Bedegraine in order to stop people from thinking of war as he once did. As World War I was called "The War To End All Wars" and viewed, in its time, as an event that would destroy the old world to make way for new progress in humanity, so Arthur plans to win this last battle in order to institute his own idea of order: chivalry, whose oath will be "Might is only to be used for Right." The King has freed himself from the clichéd notions of war held so dear by other nobles, and has formulated a new world order. This conclusion is exactly the one that Merlyn wanted Arthur to draw, for after he hears the King explain it, he begins reciting the Nunc Dimitis: a canticle beginning with the words, "Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace." The wizard is at peace because the King will bring peace to the nation and attempt to right the wrongs mentioned in the epigraph.
