Written by Old Bluffer 20th Nov 2006

For many fans, this is the greatest Python death ever, and it's easy to see why.
Arthur, King of the Britons is travelling across his realm, seeking worthy heroes to join him in his quest to find the Holy Grail.
The only problem is, the Britons are proving to be far less respectful of his crown than he would have wished, and he is therefore already near the end of his patience when he meets the Black Knight - who has just brutally despatched a Green Knight in fair combat.



At first, he tries to recruit the impressive warrior, but the masked figure refuses to respond to any of his entreaties.
"You make me sad", says Arthur, curtly, and tries to be on his way. At this point, the Black Knight speaks.

The Black Knight: "None shall pass!"
King Arthur: - I have no quarrel with you, good Sir Knight, but I must cross this bridge.
"Then ... you ... shall ... die."
- I command you, as King of the Britons, to stand aside!
"I move ... for no man!"
- So be it!

Arthur then draws his sword and starts laying into this upstart of a subject.

This is pretty much the only time we see Arthur's combat prowess in the entire film, and surprisingly, he is pretty good.
Within a few short exchanges Arthur has the measure of his opponent, and the decisive blow is as sweet as you could wish for, severing the left arm at the shoulder.

Unfortunately our logo is obscuring John Cleese's arm, lying on the ground.

Arthur proves magnanimous in victory, sternly commanding his one-armed foe :
"Now stand aside, worthy adversary."
- 'Tis but a scratch.
"A scratch? Your arm's off!"

Yes, the Black Knight is far from being incapacitated with this fairly serious wound, and claims he's "had worse."
He still of course has a great sword in his "good arm" so when he continues the fight, Arthur has no recourse but to defend himself, and soon he hacks the remaining arm off.


Britain's monarch is disarmingly bloodthirsty.

"Victory is mine!" declares Arthur, and kneels in prayer, only to receive a crisp kick from his determined opponent.
"Look you stupid bastard, you've got no arms left!"
The Black Knight is in complete denial though, and continues to kick the exasperated king.
"I'll have your leg!" warns Arthur, and soon makes good his threat.


Arthur stretches the meaning of "reasonable force" to defend himself from being kicked by an unarmed attacker.

It is only now that the Black Knight finally loses his temper; and as he hops on the spot, gushing blood from three stumps, he utters the classic line : "Right! I'll do you for that!"
"You'll what?" Arthur sneers. "What are you going to do, bleed on me?"
"I'm invincible!" cries the insane knight, attempting to headbutt Arthur. "The Black Knight ALWAYS triumphs!"
"You're a loony", retorts the king, and duly slices off the remaining leg.

This finally stops the Black Knight's attacks. "All right, we'll call it a draw" he offers hopefully.

Arthur has had enough of this silliness though, and walks past without a backwards glance, the Black Knight's threats still ringing in his ears.

"Oh. Oh, I see. Running away, eh? You yellow bastards! Come back here and take what's coming to you. I'll bite your legs off!"

We don't actually see John Cleese die, but given the English Health Care we see in the "Bring out your dead" scene, it can be assumed he doesn't last long as a limbless torso.


Monty Python out-gores Kill Bill!