Conquests of Camelot: The Search For The Grail - Themes

Themes

The game was marked by immense amount of historic knowledge and folklore that is woven between the dialogues and the descriptions as the plot unfolds. The message boxes (narration) are the wizard Merlin speaking and counseling the player.

The narration makes a preference to less known forms of words, for example Gwenhyver, Excaliber, Gawaine, Launcelot, magick instead of the better known Guinevere, Excalibur, Gawain, Lancelot, magic. The parser however will understand all alternative forms without a problem.

Conquests of Camelot is heavily colored by its heavy religious overtones, since the game is centered on the recovery of the Holy Grail. If appropriate tributes are not made to Christ and Mithras in the beginning of the game, Arthur will never venture beyond the walls of Camelot, as the castle's grating will fall and kill him. If Arthur decides not to help his knights, avoid thus the trials and arcade sequences, the Grail will also kill him at the very end of the game.

The Grail's power seems to be universal both as a Christian relic and an artifact (the cauldron) of feminine power of the Goddess in pagan folklore. The old gods, such as Mithras, Cernunnos and later Aphrodite are portrayed as real gods, but their powers and influence are in decline because of the advent of Christianity. In the ending sequence of the game, the Grail obliterates what purports to be Mithras's symbol in the chapel in Camelot (in fact it is a Labarum, an early symbol of Christianity).

However there are no religious authorities such as priests that are encountered in the game; the Mad Monk is revealed as serving the "Old Ones". If the player specifically asks Merlin about Rome, he will comment on the Bishop of Rome and the Christian Church, but this is the only mention of religious authority. However when the player moves the cursor around the map of England, Merlin will frequently comment on early legendary Anglo-Saxon saints.