The Choice

The Choice is the seventeenth chapter of The Black Cauldron. Here the hero is asked to relinquish his claim on the object of the story, won through noble self-sacrifice, to the benefit of his arrogant rival. The themes of keeping one's word, of loyalty to a cause, and of pride clouding honor strengthen the potent flow of the narrative.

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Plot

Ellidyr, feverish and wounded, demanded food from the Companions; Taran ordered a grumbling Gurgi to feed him. Eilonwy offered to give the Prince directions straight to Morva, which he had been seeking before being barred by Huntsmen and attacked by gwythaints. He assumed the companions too had failed, but Taran pointed out the Black Crochan, wedged in the shallows of the Tevvyn.

Ellidyr, proud and angry at being beat to the task, refused to help. Gwythaints circled overhead and descended to settle on the Cauldron -- eyeing the group who took cover in the woods -- before flying away. Under new urgency, Ellidyr said he and Islimach would help -- on condition that the companions would all swear before Gwydion that he, Ellidyr, had won the Crochan from Morva, and that the group were under his orders. Eilonwy refused, but Fflewddur put the matter in Taran's hands, and Eilonwy begrudgingly followed suit. Taran consented to the proud prince's demands.

Ellidyr put forth a superhuman effort to dislodge the Cauldron, but then turned on Taran with his sword, certain the "pig-boy" would betray him. Before the Assistant Pig-Keeper could draw his sword, he toppled into the river where a sharp rock knocked him out cold.