Demon Knights Vol 1 4
Demon Knights #4 is an issue of the series Demon Knights (Volume 1) with a cover date of February, 2012. It was published on December 14, 2011.
Synopsis for "Merlin Watches the Storm"
As Exoristos and Shining Knight express their horror and outrage that the Horde has just brutally murdered Audofleda, Shining Knight is struck with a vision. Outside of space and time Shining Knight and Merlin meet. Merlin shows Shining Knight the Holy Grail and explains that it represents many different things and then shatters it on the ground. Merlin next shows Shining Knight a vision of the last time they saw each other in reality - the fall of a Camelot different than before.
In the vision Ystina is dying, wounded in combat. Merlin tells Ystina that Artus the Bear King is in Avalon before allowing the dying squire to drink from the Holy Grail. He states he is interested by Ystina's duality. As the Grail grants Ystina long life, the watching Shining Knight realizes what she quests for now, the hunger she always feels. Merlin explains that first the resurrected Shining Knight sought the beasts that destroyed Camelot and when she found none, began her insatiable quest. Along the way, she saved her horses's life with her own blood which granted long life to the horse as well. Merlin then reveals that this is not the first time Shining Knight has had this vision.
In Little Spring Shining Knight's comrades are trying to wake the vision-struck warrior. When Shining Knight mutter's Merlin's name nearly incoherently, Jason Blood becomes enraged. Back in the vision Merlin entrusts Shining Knight to return the Grail to him. He states that the quest will bring choices of the heart, an evil that dominates the spirit, and the loss of everyone Ystina loves.
Merlin tells Shining Knight that the quest can be turned down. Shining Knight accepts steadfastly, Merlin is pleased by his response stating that he always accepts. Merlin tells of his watching of storms and energy from the beginning of creation and the cosmic signs they provided. Mentally weakened by his research Merlin cast the Grail into a wormhole of sorts in some pit of the Earth. Merlin was confident that the Grail would reappear somewhere on Earth within a couple of decades, but centuries have passed and his searches have been fruitless.
Merlin returns Ystina to his body with a renewed sense of hope. Meanwhile the Questing Queen awakes in her mobile fortress and tells Mordru of her vision from Merlin about retrieving the Grail. Back at Little Spring, Horsewoman fatally fires two arrows into the officer that killed Audofleda before turning her bow towards Exoristos and firing an arrow into her stomach.
Appearing in "Merlin Watches the Storm"
Featured Characters:
- Shining Knight (Ystin) (Flashback and main story) (Also in a vision) (Joins Demon Knights) (Origin)
Supporting Characters:
- Demon Knights (Real name revealed)
- Exoristos (Joins team)
- Jason Blood (Joins team)
- Vandal Savage (Joins team)
- Horsewoman
- Merlin (Flashback only) (Also in a vision)
Antagonists:
- "The Beasts" (Unnamed) (In a vision) (Behind the scenes)
- Mordru
- The Questing Queen
Other Characters:
- Artus the Bear King (Dies in an illusion)
- Audofleda (Little Spring resident) (Appears only as a corpse)
- Jesus Christ (First appearance) (In a vision) (Cameo)
- Twelve Apostles (First appearance) (In a vision) (Cameo)
- Vampires (In a vision) (Cameo)
- Demons (Mentioned only)
- Etrigan (Mentioned only)
Locations:
- Multiverse (Behind the scenes)
- The In-Between (First appearance; unnamed)
- Prime Earth
- Around 8000 BCE (In a vision)
- Camelot (In a vision)
- 33
- 7th Century
- 1013
- Little Spring
- Mobile Palace of the Questing Queen
- Camelot (Destroyed) (Mentioned only)
- Around 8000 BCE (In a vision)
- Sphere of the Gods (Unnamed)
- The Dreaming (Unnamed)
- Faerie
- Avalon (First appearance) (In a vision) (Cameo)
- Faerie
- Hell (Mentioned only)
- The Dreaming (Unnamed)
- Hypertime
- Timestream (Mentioned only)
Items:
- Caliburn (Also as an illusion)
- Holy Grail (First appearance) (In a vision)
Events:
- The Creation (Mentioned only)
- The Original Fall of Camelot (In a vision)
- Last Supper (In a vision)
Concepts:
- Magic
- Middle Ages
- Wormhole (In a vision) (Cameo)
Notes
- Although the "team" called Demon Knights is mentioned the members of the group do not yet call themselves the Demon Knights nor do they recognize themselves as part of the group.
- However, the group was originally glimpsed by the Scourge of the Worlds in Stormwatch (Volume 3) #1.
Trivia
- The flashback of the Last Supper is taken from Leonardo Da Vinci's The Last Supper.
- Merlin's mentioning of "watching storms" is also a nod to the Demon Knights's future incarnation.