Years later somewhere in the West Country, a 12-year-old orphan named Arthur, commonly called Wart, accidentally scares off a deer his older foster brother Sir Kay was hunting, causing Kay to launch his arrow into the forest. In attempting to retrieve the arrow, Arthur meets Lord Merlin, an elderly wizard who lives with his talking pet owl Archimedes. Merlin declares himself Arthur's tutor and returns with him to his home, a castle run by Lord Ector, Arthur's foster father and Kay’s father. Ector's friend, Sir Pellinore, arrives to announce that the annual jousting tournament will be held in London, and the winner will be crowned king. Ector decides to put Kay through serious training for the tournament and appoints Arthur as Kay's squire.