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| Arthurian Connector |
 Title text: Most coffee shops have a descendant of Sophia of Hanover on staff for this, but just as I was about to ask for help, a previously unknown heir of Uther Pendragon who was ordering a muffin tripped on my laptop cord. |
Explanation
This is the eighth installment in the series of Cursed Connectors and presents Cursed Connectors #158: Arthurian Connector. It follows 2880: Sheet Bend (#46) after about 2.5 years. This is the longest break between two connectors, beating the 1.5 years between the previous two by a year.
Various connectors are known for being difficult to connect, but in this instance we have one that is difficult to disconnect. The design of the connector, with a sword on one side connecting to an anvil on the other, references the legends of King Arthur and The Sword in the Stone. In these stories, a sword is embedded in a stone or anvil, and only the lawful king of Britain can remove it. By extension, Randall says this connector can only be unplugged by a "rightful heir to the British throne", which would make this very difficult to unplug.
Since the Act of Settlement 1701, only descendants of Sophia of Hanover, granddaughter of James VI and I, can inherit the British throne. In the title text, Randall claims that coffee shops have "a descendant of Sophia of Hanover" employed specifically to help unplug the connector (as they would be a rightful heir to the British throne). This would be impossible, as there are hundreds of thousands of coffee shops in the world and only about 7,000 descendants of Sophia of Hanover. It would be even more problematic if it were only the current first-heir-in-line (or even the current extant true monarch) that could accomplish this task, only allowing a further successor to take on the task after more deaths (or births, or perhaps even meaningful DNA tests) elevate them to the 'top end' of the list.
Fortunately, this was unnecessary, as someone descended from Uther Pendragon (according to legend, the father of Arthur and King of the Britons) tripped, causing the connector to unplug. Arthur is known as the once and future king, with the legend claiming that he will rise to become king again at the time of greatest need. This would make him, and potentially others in his line, 'rightful heirs' to the throne, notwithstanding any succession acts. If Uther was a real person it would not be at all exceptional for a random stranger to be descended from him, given the number of generations since the time he supposedly lived, but in reality he is a character from legend who is likely an amalgamation of multiple real people, folkloric elements, and fictional embellishments.
In many versions of the story, Arthur is an illegitimate son or orphan being raised away from the royal court, sometimes in secret, and may even be unaware of his own status. He notices the sword and removes it, or does so as the last person to attempt it in a contest, and is proclaimed king. The sword is sometimes identified as Excalibur, although in other versions Excalibur was acquired by King Arthur from the Lady of the Lake. The most familiar version of this story is The Sword in the Stone by T. H. White, which is based on Le Morte d'Arthur by Sir Thomas Malory. The animated musical film by Walt Disney is a well-known version of this tale based on White's book. While Arthur was the true King of Britain, if this title existed it would, by now, have been subsumed into the crown of the United Kingdom.
In the original legend, the true succession was technically unknown at the time of the challenge, and certainly was not governed by the Act of Settlement (that would not exist for about another millennium), with a combination of the politics of the time and 'might makes right' being a more typical precursor for any such assumption of power. This demonstration that the previously largely unknown/unknowing Arthur was the true king was therefore largely dependent upon everyone accepting, in the first place, the authority of the scenario that set up the performative nature of there being a sword to free from the stone/anvil. This then has the effect of persuading enough of the people, including those who might previously have entirely conflicting ideas as to who is worthy, of the 'fact' of Arthur's kingship. The situation with this connector, however, vests the authority in people who are already marked as worthy (in some manner, with respect to established legislation and/or lore), giving them something that they can do because they are already an official successor.
Furthermore, only Arthur was capable of the original sword-extraction, not even any others who (at least in the total absence of Arthur) might normally have been able to lay claim to the kingdom. By contrast, it is explicitly the case that this connector may be disconnectable by many possible candidates, and even across multiple possible historic justifications/precedences.
The legend was first referenced in 1521: Sword in the Stone, but has since become a recurring theme on xkcd.
Apparently, there is no mystical restriction upon connecting the connector in the first place, perhaps due to the anvil/'stone' coming with a prepared hole ready to receive the sword. However, most versions of the legend involve some significant magical or physical power to embed the sword into its resting place in the first instance, as has been noted by others.
This comic ran the day that Andy Burnham became the new Prime Minister of Great Britain.
Transcript
- [Above the drawing there is a header in two lines. Below the header, a cable plug shaped like an unsheathed sword is shown above a socket-hole in an object shaped like an anvil mounted on a block, with both items having a cable running away from them (from the 'sword' hilt and sideways from the 'anvil' base). Beneath the drawing there is an explanation in brackets.]
- Cursed Connectors #158:
- The Arthurian
- (Can only be unplugged by a rightful heir to the British throne)
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