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I just wanted to know something...

"The Once and Future King" Is mentioned twice in X2. The first time when Magneto is reading it in his cell, and the second when Professor X is talking to the kids at the end. I am not a huge X-Men fan, so I don't know all the plots that were in the comics. (I didn't even know and Jean being a Phoenix.) But can anyone tell me how this book is connected to the storyline? Will a future character come into play that has something to do with "The Once and Future King" or "The Sword and the Stone"

(I love dancing Fruit)

Hmm,..I dunno..it's probably some running theme throughout the movie...whether or not Magneto wanted to read it, or if there is some link there in something else..

But you have to admit that the concepts between the book and the movie do go hand in hand..

In the book, King Arthur is a leader who is forced to theorize on might and right and their relationship, and the use of force.
(Magneto later tells Pyro that he is a God amongst insects, which is interesting because the author character in the novel theorizes about might vs. right while observing ants warring...)

In the end, Arthur is sent off to a mythic land where he is thought to be reborn (Phoenix parallel?)

In the second part of the novel Arthur finally secures his kingdom from outside threats, but it crumbles from internal problems (Guinevere and Lancelot's affair). Could this foreshadow problems with the Professor's dream and his Camelot? They've all ready lost Pyro, could Jean turning rip the team apart, or threat to?

Also, the love triangle between Scott/Jean/Wolverine really mirrors Arthur/Guinevere/ Lancelot. Lancelot and Arthur both believe in Camelot, fight for the same causes, and love the same woman. Guinevere is married to Arthur and loves him, but is equally in love with Lancelot. (but in a more passionate sense.)

Also in the beginning of the book, we saw Arthur's reluctance of what and who he is but he can't do anything to change it. Just like how the mutants are afraid and uncertain of what they are but are unable to do anything to change it.


Hope these helped.

good job blue!

Indeed, very good job.

Well, here is the line of the dvd commentary about this :
(B.Singer) "I wanted to have 'THe once & future king' in there for both obvious and less obvious reasons. Obviously, because he was once and hopes to be the future king of his domain (...) and it's all about kind of evolution. You're destiny is not necessarily...(...) " then he says it's related to things that occur at the end of the picture.

At the end it is said in both commentaries (B.Singer and the writing/producing crew) that it reminds Pr. Xavier's relationship with Magneto...

wow thats interesting, i'd been wonderin about that for a while but i had never read 'the once and future king' so i didn't know.

And I forgot.

There also was this one part in "Once and Future King" where there was a certain man that for some reason lost his nose. All the children who sees him were always throwing stones at him while insulting and making fun of him. This is also an example of how the mutants are being shunned by humans just because they are different and doesn't look normal.

Now in this book, the man who lost his nose also lost his temper. He was sick of all the children chasing him and stuff. He grabbed one of the children and bit the child's nose. Since that incident, the other children also made fun of the child and did all the exact same things that they did with the man before.

Now this incident reminds me of what Magneto did with Senator Kelly in X1. Kelly was the number 1 guy who was against the mutants and did everything he could to get rid of them. Then Magneto abducted him and shared his fate with him. For awhile Senator Kelly became a mutant himself and realized how it felt to be shunned by others. He felt the fear that the mutants have felt just because they are different. He was scared that the crew in the hospital will "treat him like a mutant."

All in all, the book and the movie really have some major similarities.

I like these little details, it shows that the X-men movie has a very rich symbolical subtext. This has just given me an even more higher respect for these X-Men movies.

I also like the metaphor about Magneto and the Professor's chess game and its importance in the X-Men movies.

I think is in referance with magneto because he could be "the once and future king"

no that's not why well the part about Lancelot, Guinevere, and Arthur could be right but I think that they used the Once and Future King because it symbolizes justice and chivalry in the world. In the book, Arthur uses might for right meaning that he influences the knights of his round table to use their anger, rage, and need for bloodshed for the good of the people like with Xavier and the X-men. Magneto would be the people before Arthur's reign in England like people who use their might to harm others, in this case, the humans.

this isn't really part of the X-men but to make it clear what the Once and Future King by T.H. White is about:


Part 1: The Sword in the Stone

in this section, Arthur is going through a bildungsroman. He meets Marlyn along the way and Marlyn becomes his mentor, turning him into different animals to learn what is good and what is bad such as in one time, Arthur learns that power can be corrupting and another would be that war is created by invisible boundaries. Later on, as the title suggests, he becomes the King of England by pulling out the sword in the stone. The reason why Marlyn turns him into animals is so that he learns things that will make him a good king, a just king to the people of England. Arthur does not go to some mythical or fantasy place to be reborn.(this part is titled like so because as the title suggests, he pulls out the sword in the stone which can only be pulled out by the legal and rightful heir to the throne of King of England)

Part 2: The Queen of Air and Darkness

This is when Arthur is a young king, around 17 or 18 years old. Marlyn is still with him and Marlyn teaches him how to think like looking into the deeper meaning of things to help the good of the people. This is what helped him be a good king. Because Marlyn taught him how to think, he thought of using Might for Right and by using this idea, he creates the Knights of the Round Table. Also, he ends up accidentally sleeping with his half sister because she is a cold-hearted woman who is also a witch and makes Arthur fall in love with him by using a spell. This later causes trouble in a later part. He also learns that the former king was his father(also said in part 1) and that the woman he slept with is his half-sister. (this part is called like so because the half-sister is the Queen of Air and Darkness and I won't go into detail why though)

Part 3: The Ill-made Knight

This is the part when Lancelot comes into play. Arthur promises Lancelot a position in his Round Table when Lancelot is a young boy. Lancelot is the protagonist of this part and it talks about how he strives to be the best knight in the world and the most perfect knight. However he falls in love with the queen(Guinevere) and his chastity is stolen by another woman who later gives birth to his son. Arthur's table is falling apart because England has now become a fair and just land and sends the knights off to look for the grail. During this quest, Lancelot finds out that his son is the perfect knight he has been striving for and also becomes devoted to god, forgetting he and Guinevere's love affair. Later on, he realizes he loves the queen to much and goes back to her and due to a miracle, he becomes the best knight in the world except he dreads the fact he is because of god. (This part is called the ill-made Knight which is Lancelot.)

Part 4: The Candle in the Wind

This is the part when Lancelot and Guinevere's relationship is revealed and is punished for it due to the son that was conceived with incest between Arthur and his half-sister. The son, Mordred strives for revenge against Arthur and uses Lancelot to do it. Lancelot and Arthur's friendship is broken because of his nephews and Mordred. His Round Table ends up being broken and he is but an old man imprisoned in his justice for the people. Later, Mordred finally carries out his revenge by declaring Arthur is dead when Arthur is away at war and proclaims his title as the new King of England. He proposes to Guinevere as a part of his revenge. Upon hearing this, Arthur runs back to England and Lancelot comes along to help later. Their relationship doesn't actually reform in the story though. In the last chapter, Arthur passes on his great idea of justice, chivalry, and honor and the idea of the Round Table of Knights to a young page named Tom. Tom is suppose to fight in the final battle between Arthur and Mordred but Arthur wanted someone to deliver his great idea to all the people, to remember his legacy. So he tell the page to go back home and grow up to be a man, telling everyone about Arthur's great idea. Then he remembers his lessons when he was a boy that he learned from Marlyn and knows for sure that he will come back one day with a Round Table with no boundaries and finish his great idea. Also, he knows that he cant do it know because he knows he is destined to die the next day in war. (The part is called like so because Arthur compares his idea to a candle in the wind that flickers sometimes and only he has protected it so it won't go out. He passes on the candle to a page so that the fire will grow strong.)

Title explanation

This book is called the Once and Future King because as you know, Arthur was suppose to be a great and righteous King of England. Because he was so great, but did not finish his great idea, he is thought to return to the world one day to carry out and finish his great idea.

This is just a rough outline of the book, not that great in detail and of course isn't that great of a summary but its sort of like the basic idea of it. This book is really great, I recommend it, i also heard JFK based his presidency on this book and I'm glad he did cause this book relates to reality very much and can teach you many things. (sorry for making it so long too)