“What I would give to see that." Claudius still savors the thought of Lancelot losing a fight and facing his rightful comeuppance, even as he reminds himself Galahad had no choice. Galahad had no choice but to defend himself, to act as a weapon of God, and what he chooses now is peace. But even so. "Elsinore isn't Camelot …but in many ways it wishes it was. It wishes it was Valhalla. For all the court is nominally Catholic, it’s still enamored with Denmark’s Viking history, full of soft courtiers who adore tales of violence. But we paper it over with propriety and ceremony. Everyone loves to go on about how King Hamlet defeated King Fortinbras in single combat, but first they preface it was a sealed compact, ratified by law and heraldry¹, as though that makes all the difference. You see, when you kill a king in public, it's a heroic military feat. Only when you do it in private does it count as regicide. Not, of course, that I'm excusing myself — or excluding myself from the ranks of soft courtiers. I’ve the same weakness for righteous violence as the rest of them. I told Lancelot when we met: I wasn't comforted by piteous excuses, only pleased to know he'd been made to regret his actions immediately, and would regret ever trying it again. I was under the influence of a truth spell, as you'll recall," he adds rather dryly, "or I may've kept that to myself. But perhaps the only way I'll ever tolerate the man is if we have a tourney and I can see being him beaten multiple times.”

Claudius could and likely should say more about how the court used propriety to paper over the violence of his own childhood, since that’s the thing that influences him the most and drives so many of his instincts. But he doesn’t.

¹ Sorry, Horatio, Claudius isn't deliberately shading you. (He also probably doesn't know who you are.)