What’s Going On In Prince Valiant? What’s got you so excited about Wales? April – July 2023

The current storyline in Prince Valiant has taken them to Gwynedd, which I learned was not just a place name but an actual spot in Wales. This brought me to a journey of discovery of Welsh local government which, believe me, I had to push myself away from lest I be late for bed and for this essay. When I’m getting into the Lord-Lieutenants you know it’s time for me to stop.

This should catch you up to mid-July 2023 in Mark Schultz and Thomas Yeates’s Prince Valiant. I hope to have another plot recap by no later than October 2023, so if you’re reading this after then, there’s maybe a more useful essay for you there. And now to what things look like to me, this week, near the time of King Arthur.

Prince Valiant.

23 April – 16 July 2023.

King (retired) Arthur had a mission for Prince Valiant and Valiant’s son Arn. Father and son haven’t been getting along well since Arn became co-regent of Camelot in Arthur’s absence. Arthur’s mission was that they explore what’s going on in the far west and what kind of mess Dialyodd made before turning to witch-burning.

In Gwynedd, the far northwest of what’s now Wales, they find wrack and ruin. They capture a band of 1d4 + 1 Saxon invaders, holding one as hostage to guide them away from Saxon encampments and letting the others go to spread word that Camelot is coming. Valiant and Arn enjoy this, bonding over a little light torture, at least until their captive gets killed by a stray spear from an ongoing battle. The Britons, winning in overtime, give Valiant and Arn much-needed backstory about Dialyodd’s madness.

Arn takes it hard. He’d seen Dialyodd as a way to shore up Camelot’s western frontier against Saxon intruders. Dialyodd saw their deal as a pledge Camelot would join the war once it started. When nobody came to support his war against the demon Saxons, Dialyodd blamed witches and vowed to cleanse the world of them. Setting fire to uppity women was at least something he could accomplish. Valiant offers to his son that they can at least make it better.

Mark Schultz and Thomas Yeates’s Prince Valiant for the 4th of June, 2023. I appreciate Valiant’s gentleness with his son over the issue here. I am also curious whether Arn — and Maeve — could have reasonably known that Dialyodd was planning to use Camelot’s endorsement to turn Saxon raids into something terribly like total warfare for the time, though. If I understand the timeline right, Arn’s deal with Dialyodd came before anything obviously dangerous happened. But perhaps Maeve would have been able to probe Dialyodd’s character better.

A woman, Caitrin, approaches the two asking for help. Her husband refuses to believe there can be peace; can they talk with him? They’re up for seeing what trap this is. In Caitrin’s basement Arn catches a large Saxon man before he can attack. Turns out the man is Radolf, Caitrin’s husband. He’s been hiding since Dialyodd stirred up all this Saxons-are-demons talk.

Radolf’s been living in the area for years, though. And he knows some things that would really help the people if they’d stop throwing spears around. That there’s edible seaweed to harvest, for example, or all sorts of tidal critters that haven’t been burned out by battles on the land.

While Arn learns all this, Valiant’s learning about the Saxon raiders. Their leader’s a fellow named Baedwulf, and they’re holed up in a castle that’s strong enough that they can’t be forced out, with a force not quite strong enough to take over the countryside. Valiant thinks that he, with his knowledge of Saxon ways — recall that he’s from Thule, not Britain — can make progress where armies can’t. And that’s what sort of plan he’s thinking of as we look to next week.

Next Week!

Has Rufus got over his amnesia yet? Is he still kind of acting like the same guy anyway even if he doesn’t remember who he is? Jim Scancarelli’s Gasoline Alley follows up the epic with the screwball, and I hope to see you in a week to talk about it. Or less than a week to talk about other things. We’ll see.