Arwencelot

Arwencelot is the poly ship between Arthur Pendragon, Guinivere and Lancelot du Lac that is present in multiple fandoms, including The Once and Future King and BBC Merlin.

The Queen of Air and Darkness/The Witch in the WOods
Guinevere does not appear in the book, but Merlyn mentions her and Lancelot in the same conversation when warning Arthur of what’s to come using his backsight. Later, Arthur shows himself frustrated with this seemingly useless information, though his fateful meeting with Lancelot does occur at the end.

The Ill-Made Knight
The love triangle between Arthur, Lancelot and Guinivere (referred to as “Guenever”) is properly set up when Merlin tells Lancelot about Arthur having married Guenever since their last meeting. Lancelot is upset to receive this information, his love for Arthur leads to him projecting an image of Guenever being a horrible person to justify his hatred against her. When Arthur introduces Guenever to Lancelot, however, something changed. Seeing her in person confused Lancelot, and Guenever getting entangled in an accident of Lancelot’s making caused the two of them to fall in love with each other. Arthur had been warned by Merlin, but he was still upset about this development. During the war, having Arthur and Lancelot become closer, Arthur expresses hope that he may have changed their destinies, with Lancelot not entering an affair with Guenever after all.

However, love is a fickle thing that cannot be suppressed, so Lancelot and Guenever couldn’t resist one another whenever nobody, especially not Arthur was watching them. It is not that Guenever did not care for Arthur, but she openly admits to not loving him, finding him to be far too much an ideal to live out a loving relationship with him. It does not help that Arthur is 8 years older than both of them in this version of the tale, making their attraction to one another all the harder to resist.

Circumstances lead to Lancelot striking out on his own and becoming the object of affection of a maiden named Elaine of Corbin. Elaine had fallen for Lancelot when he rescued her from a cursed tub, but also took advantage of him when she forced him to drink gallons of wine, getting him to impregnate her. News of Lancelot becoming a father did not sit well with Guenever and her trying to remove him from her life causes Lancelot to go mad and run into the woods.

Arthur was worried sick over Lancelot, having not seen him for years, but Lancelot is eventually found and returned to Camelot, causing Arthur and Guenever to urge him to tell them what happened to him. Lancelot tells the whole story, with Arthur pardoning him and Lancelot taking Galahad to find the Holy Grail to prove his loyalty. However, Guenever has a harder time forgiving Lancelot, jealous of him and his accomplished son and tells both of them to return to Elaine.

They are initially content with doing so, but Elaine’s sudden death of her own making caused Lancelot to come back to Camelot, with Arthur welcoming him.

Fanon
Arwencelot is one of the most famous love triangles in all of mythology. Helped somewhat by all three characters generally being agreed to love and respect one another, many see no reason why they couldn't just enter a polyamorous relationship.

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