The most important antagonist in the novel is Morgause, Mordred's evil mother, who uses him as a tool in her revenge on her half-brother. Morgause is not realized as a fully rounded character but is simply evil with little human motivation for her behavior. Her driving passion is to destroy and pervert those around her, including her own sons, and to exert a magic power that she probably does not really possess. The novel never makes it clear whether she actually possesses magic, but she certainly pretends to. Her four sons, wild, undisciplined and violent, are used by her ruthlessly, and she shows little emotion for them. Even after her violent death at the hands of the son who probably loved her most, the seeds of evil sown by her continue to grow.

The remaining characters are aligned behind the forces of law and order or chaos and...