Although the Wart has grown into a teenager and has had the benefit of Merlyn's tutoring for six years, he is still, in many ways, a boy. His jealousy of Kay's future honors is understandable, but his blind devotion to Kay (who mocks the Wart's parentage and rank as a squire) suggests a mind less sophisticated than one may expect. Even White himself describes the Wart as "stupid," which, in this context, also means "naïve" and "boyish." Clearly, the Wart's education is not yet complete, which is why White has him approach Merlyn to receive his final lesson. Merlyn attempts to dispel the Wart's worship of Kay by describing the knighting ritual in a sardonic and dismissive tone: He calls it "only a lot of fuss" and says that Kay will hear "a long lecture about the ideas of chivalry such as they are." The Wart, however, recognizes none of Merlyn's sarcasm and speaks so prophetically to his teacher that the irony is unmistakable: "If I were to be made a knight . . . I should pray to God to let me encounter all the evil in the world in my own person, so that if I conquered there would be none left, and, if I were defeated, I would be the one to suffer for it."
The Wart's idealism here is, indeed, admirable, but unlike the reader and Merlyn, he cannot recognize his folly in asking for such a fate. As King Arthur, the Wart will encounter "all the evil in the world" and will "be the one to suffer" when he is defeated; Merlyn knows this and also knows of the pain which will eventually come to his pupil. However, the reader does see a tender side of Merlyn in this scene that is not found elsewhere in the novel: Because he cannot reveal the Wart's fate to him, Merlyn must ultimately say nothing and sit silently, with his beard in his mouth, staring "tragically" into the fire. His concern over the eventual destruction of his pupil's lofty ideals disturbs the usually pragmatic wizard.
