meanwhile, merlin, joan, and the clown have made their way to wales, where king vortigern, a saxon ally, is having trouble building a castle. to keep the edifice from continual collapse, the welsh must sacrifice a "fiend begotten child"; therefore they are pleased and relieved when merlin appears. merlin, however, foretells vortigern's imminent defeat at the hands of edol and the british. a series of battle scenes portray edol's victory, culminating in a spectacular special-effect scene in which merlin prophesizes on a blazing comet.