This chapter's epigraph comes from a line in Shakespeare's play The Merchant of Venice. It's a quote from the play's famous epigraph, "The Boar's Sin of gluttony" . The epigraph is a reference to the sin of gluttonous eating, which is a common sin in the Old Testament. In other words, it's not gluttony that's bad, but gluttony as a sin itself. In this case, gluttony is a sin against God. The scene opens with a conversation between Merlin and Bardolph. Merlin asks Bardolph if he's been with King Arthur the whole time. Bardolph replies that he has been with Arthur all the time. He and Merlin are outside Arthur's palace, and they can't get in because of the "perfect cube" that keeps them out of the royal chamber. The king's magic works, but it doesn't work for everyone, Merlin points out. He points out that the king and his "sacred treasures" don't have the power to break through the cube's defenses. He also points out how Bardolph has been hurt by all the men in the kingdom, including the king himself. He says that he missed Merlin there, too, and that he hasn't changed much at all. He adds that they defeated the hendrickson clan in order to free elizabeth from captivity. He's glad that they've freed the kingdom from the clutches of the clan demon. He asks why they framed them ten years ago. The narrator explains that they were captured by vivian, who was obsessed with the demon, gilthunder. She took margaret and margarets hostage, and then she and her husband killed