- [first lines]
- Merlin: The universe. Vast, desolate, cold. Still and lifeless, save for a solitary outpost. The planet Earth. Our fragile Eden. A precious vibrant stone glittering in the cosmic void. How is it that humankind seems so intent on charting a course that would lead to its destruction? Threatening it with the ruthless hand of war, dishonoring it with the grim parade of man's inhumanity to man? It seems at times that we have eaten of a vile root, that we have abandoned reason, leaving many of us to believe that peace on Earth is unattainable. A dream dreamed by a fool. But it is from such a dream that hope is born, and men of courage draw their strength.
- King Arthur: Here now, this is no time for melancholy. Go and join the others in the banquet hall. The bells will be ringing soon enough.
- [Denys runs off]
- King Arthur: That is my hope, and my prayer.
- Merlin: We can no more abandon the celebration of Christmas than we can abandon hope itself.
- King Arthur: Hope is all we have now. Hope that Valiant and the others will put an end to this senseless violence... That they will soon find their way home to Camelot.
- Prince Valiant: Before King Arthur, the people of Camelot lived as you do: constantly fighting but it never changed anything.
- Prince Thomas: And King Arthur's put an end to that? How?
- Prince Valiant: He has a dream, Thomas. It's called the New Order. It's a way of life, where might does not make right, Where people live by truth and justice, not by the sword.
- Prince Thomas: What a wonderful notion that is, Valiant! If only we could live that way here!
- King Arthur: With the lighting of these candles, we signal the coming of the Christmas spirit, and we pray that it will remain in our hearts for all the year. Peace to all.
- Crowd: PEACE TO ALL!
- Prince Valiant: It is in your power to stop the killing now. The choice is yours.
- Prince Thomas: But I can't just... This is our life, Valiant. We are warring tribes. The ideas of Camelot could never work here.
- Prince Valiant: [touching his shoulders] There is one way to find out.
- Prince Thomas: Let my father's blood be the last to be spilled.
- Prince Thomas: How can we ever find peace when the fires of hatred rage out of control in the hearts of such men?
- Prince Valiant: There must be a way, Thomas. And we must find it soon. Or God help us all.
- Denys: I don't understand, Merlin. It's so peaceful here. People are fighting and dying... It's Christmas Eve. Can't they even stop for that?
- Merlin: War becomes a kind of addiction for some, Denys. A violent drug which leaves its victims only able to live in battle and feed on danger.
- Denys: How will it ever stop then?
- Merlin: Mmm, how indeed?
- Prince Thomas: People of North Gallis, and people of Lindem, we have been at war far too long. Our soil was stained with the blood of the innocent. Our homes lie in devastation and our families are scattered and broken. And we've done it all in the name of this. A book. A book that has lain unopened for so long that no one alive today can even recall what it says.
- [reading]
- Prince Thomas: "Let it be decreed that this land belongs to no one king or another. That this land belongs to the people. And that it shall be the shelter and domain of those who dwell upon it, in peace."
- [last lines]
- Prince Valiant: I bring you tidings of hope, Your Majesties. For at this moment, there is peace on Earth.
- Merlin: Peace on Earth. There are those who call that notion the promise of fools, nothing but a dream, And if that is so, then, let us become dreamers. One and all.