Film / Kaamelott: Second Installment - Part I

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Kaamelott: Second Installment - Part I (French: Kaamelott: Deuxième Volet - Partie I) is a 2025 French medieval fantasy comedy film written, directed and produced by Alexandre Astier and starring him as Arthur Pendragon once again. It is the first half of the two-part sequel to Kaamelott: First Installment and the second installment of the theatrical film continuation of the 2004-2009 Arthurian Legend-inspired comedy series Kaamelott.

Arthur Pendragon has retaken the Kingdom of Logres from the usurper Lancelot (Thomas Cousseau), and has let him flee instead of killing him, an act that is believed to have angered Celtic gods. However, his siege to retake his castle of Kaamelott has left the latter in ruins, and so his in-laws Léodagan (Lionnel Astier) and Séli (Joëlle Sevilla) have to reluctantly house him and their daughter Guenièvre (Anne Girouard) in Carmélide. Adding to this, Arthur is now deeply apathetic and unwilling to rule, and Léodagan and Séli plot a new gathering of the Round Table in his back with the hopes that things can get back to normal in the kingdom. As a result of the chaotic (at first) gathering, the new (mostly bumbling) Knights will have to prove themselves in quests to earn their place at the Round Table.

In town, a mage known as Conle the Famed (Daniel Mesguich) presents himself to Merlin (Jacques Chambon), proposing him to team up and investigate worrying signs of Black Magic he's seen in the ruins of Kaamelott. Meanwhile, Lancelot, who now inhabits the ruins of the castle of his late father Ban like a pariah, sees his father manifest as a giant human-shaped cloud, and also sees his Evil Mentor Méléagant return to him with nefarious projects...

The film was released on October 22, 2025. Kaamelott: Second Installment - Part II is set for release on November 11, 2026.

Previews: Trailer 1, Trailer 2.

Kaamelott: Second Installment - Part I provides examples of:

• Agony of the Feet: One of Anna's henchwomen steps on a bear trap barefoot, though she doesn't seem affected.
• Always Someone Better: Elias is not happy that Conle's presence means he's no longer the most powerful wizard around.
• Amazon Brigade: Anna of Tintagel and her sisters-in-law, a disturbing all-female group living in the fortress of Orkney implied to prey on travelers.
• Ambiguously Human: Anna's henchwomen are as off-putting as she is, from their vampiric appearance to their silent demeanor to their climbing walls to carry out assassinations. One of them steps on a bear trap and is later seen still wearing it, another takes a bolt to the chest, and both are clearly unaffected by the pain.
• Ambiguous Syntax: On learning the message from the gods reads "The king's assassin comes from Orkney", Arthur hopefully asks if it's in the possessive sense, as in "the assassin hired by the king". Unfortunately, it's not.
• Awesome, but Impractical: Lancelot's scythe gets turned into a triple version (three scythes welded at the base of their handles) that looks ludicrously unwieldable.
• Awful Wedded Life: Goffanan compares his marriage to one of Loth's sisters (out of pure politics) to slamming his genitals in one of those huge leatherbound books, five times a day.
• Badass Crew: Alzagar (Guillaume Gallienne), Quarto (Clovis Cornillac) and to a much lesser degree Silas (Redouane Bougheraba) reveal themselves as this at King Loth's castle when they're attacked by Anna de Tintagel and her henchwomen in their bedroom and defend themselves very well, including through the use of a Bear Trap and a crossbow.
• Black Magic: Birds refuse to fly over Kaamelott, leading Conle to suspect there's black magic practiced there. The fact that Lancelot wears white armor is apparently a logical (to wizards) clue that he practices it.
• Big Damn Movie: The cinematography and special effects are sharper than those of First Installment, the cast is still enormous, and there are much bigger stakes than in the original series.
• Big Entrance:
  • Conle shows up at the tavern, strikes the ground with his staff to produce a spherical shockwave, then lists Merlin's (uninspiring) titles as though preparing to challenge him to a duel... and then asks for his help.
  • The duke of Aquitania enters the Round Table meeting wearing a ludicrous peacock-feather vest followed by servants carrying his belongings.
• Butt-Dialing Mordor: Lancelot somehow manages to summon a major demon via magic circle, completely unintentionally.
• Cain and Abel: Trevor keeps trying to murder his brother Lucan (he insists it's not over the fact that Lucan has a sword with a cuttlefish on it when he only got a dinky knife), but isn't very good at it, mostly trying to poison his food with a Technicolor Toxin.
• Chronic Backstabbing Disorder: What the Jurisconsult (Christian Clavier) admits to Arthur.
  Jurisconsult: You know my loyalty, Sire! I have none!
• Cliffhanger: On their way to rescue Karadoc, Kolaig and the Innkeeper in Sicily, the ship Venec, Arthur and Guenièvre are on sinks. Then the end credits.
• Colon Cancer: "Second Installment - Part I".
• Competence Porn: Admittedly it's not a high bar to clear, but it's a thrill to see the three mercenaries (well, Quarto and Alzagar) effortlessly clear out Anna and her cronies.
• Continuity Nod:
  • Conle the Famed greets Merlin by citing his "exploits", which is a tradition as seen in the Kaamelott episode introducing Elias. The scroll Druidism Explained to Old Folks authored by Merlin is even mentioned again.
  • Even after more than a decade, Arthur is still touchy about Anna being called his sister and corrects it to "half-sister" reflexively.
  • Bohort had a strong mentor streak for the younger knights in the series (for everything but combat and adventure, of course). Here again, he remains the recruiter of new knights, follows their quests with interest, and saves Lucan's group from their own recklessness by preventing them from challenging Lancelot.
  • Kolaig has a neckbrace, following his fall from the tower he tried to climb in the previous film.
• Cumulonemesis: Lancelot's deceased father Ban appears to him in the form of a giant (castle-sized) and walking humanoid-shaped cloud, although he doesn't attack anything, and doesn't react to/seem aware of his son calling out to him.
• Defrosting Ice Queen: Arthur, in regards to Guenièvre. They have come to actually enjoy each other's company, and after years of jabs and disdain, Arthur recognizes, in front of her, that she is dear to him (unfortunately she's hard of hearing at that moment), and that even though they're still in a Sexless Marriage, it's not her fault and she is no less attractive than any of his past mistresses.
• Disney Death: Two Uncertain Dooms are addressed:
  • The last time he was seen in First Installment, Quarto was jabbed by a scorpion thrown in his robes by Arthur and presumably died from that (as he fell unconscious). He's alive and well in this film.
  • Kolaig was last seen (and heard) falling from the wall of the tower in which Guenièvre was prisoner of Lancelot, which he tried to climb. He's alive, helping out at the tavern (albeit still recovering, considering he has a neckbrace).
• Didn't Think This Through: Merlin uses a (single-use) teleportation sphere to get past a metal grate. Then it turns out he'd only bought one.
• The Dung Ages: Since the castle of Kaamelott is in ruins, the Round Table had to be set up in a wooden building that previously served as a cattle market (and a siege factory before that). Cue the knights complaining about the loads of animal feces they had to remove from it.
  Léodagan: In the dung up to your knees, that'll teach you humility!
• Ear Ache:
  • After being struck by lightning, Guenièvre suffers from ear bleeding and partial deafness, with the pain taking days to go away.
  • Bohort and Lionel grabs the young knights foolhardily trying to challenge Lancelot by the ears (or by the nose in one case) and drag them away.
• Every Man Has His Price: When Arthur is recruiting Alzagar, Quarto and Silas to go spy in Orkney, Alzagar mentions he's a Bounty Hunter, not a spy. Then Arthur pulls out an additional purse of money, and Alzagar accepts the mission.
• Excalibur in the Stone: Upon not caring to rule anymore, Arthur puts Excalibur back in the stone and tells the resulting Dramatic Thunder to "get it done yourselves".
• Exotic Weapon Supremacy: Subverted, one of Anna's mooks wields an Egyptian khopesh, but it's of no particular help against the mercs' longswords.
• Extra-Long Episode: The film is 20 minutes longer than First Installment, and it's only the first part of Second Installment.
• Eye Take: Arthur's eyes bug out and he nods silently when hearing what Perceval's been up to, much like when Perceval delivered his reports in person.
• Foreshadowing: Arthur hires a trio of mercenaries to spy on Loth, saying he chose them because they're the best. While they're hardly what you'd call a team (Quatro outright says he's planning to shoot Alzagar), when faced with an assassination attempt they do indeed pull off an Assassin Outclassin' with more skill than all the knights combined.
• Family Relationship Switcheroo: Anxious about the lack of an heir, Guenièvre summons Aziliz and Tumet, Arthur's past mistresses, in hopes that he would be more "inspired" by them, conceive a child with either of them, and that she might adopt the baby, invoking the adoption practices of the Roman Emperors. Even though the twins are fairly enthused by the project, Arthur himself is uninterested, to say the least.
• The Friend Nobody Likes: Of Lancelot's government, the Jurisconsult was left behind by the others as they fled rowing to the Isle of the Banished, and has since been rotting in the cells of Carmélide.
• Fun with Homophones: Elias definitely sates his jealousy of no longer being the top magician around by exploring the depths of the difference between "Conle le Fameux" ("Conle the Famed") and "Con le Fameux, le fameux con" ("Dumbass the Famed, the considerable dumbass").
• Gender-Equal Ensemble: The quest party that goes deep up North to find a dragon includes Karadoc's daughters Mehben and Mehgan and their friends Iagu and Gareth, Mehben's husband Petrok remaining behind to mind his farm.
• The Ghost:
  • Perceval is on his own offscreen quest to find The Holy Grail (see Sequel Non-Entity), but he still has a presence of sorts, via the letters he sends at Kaamelott (and said letters exude his trademark silliness).
  • Yvain still hasn't resurfaced; Gauvain, Trevor and Rostand set off on a quest to find him, but fail, losing their way in the woods. Arthur and Léodagan, Yvain's own father, are fairly confident that he is dead.
• Giant Spider: Before Méléagant starts guiding him, the one attempt at Black Magic we see from Lancelot is to summon a giant spider, which hides in the ruined tower of his father's castle (it might be the dead little spider he tried to revive earlier). Lancelot has no control over it and rather panics at the sight, though, frantically running away to fetch his armor and sword.
• Global Ignorance:
  • Karadoc doesn't know where the Mediterranean is, and assumes getting there is a two-day trip. Venec wonders if he shouldn't have charged more given that it's more like a month and a half.
  • Karadoc's daughters, while brave and motivated, proudly continue the tradition, excitedly wondering if the trip is a quarter done when they haven't even travelled a hundredth of the distance.
• Gone Swimming, Clothes Stolen: Perceval is victim of his clothes being stolen while bathing, as he retells in a letter to Arthur. A letter written by the same old man who stole the clothes, in fact.
• Happy Ending Override: Not as drastic as the first movie but Arthur is once again unhappy about being King, his marriage with Guenièvre is still sexless in spite of their kiss in the previous film and, once again, he puts Excalibur back in the stone. Petrok's marriage with Mehben is also now on the rocks since she wants adventure and he wants to work his farm. Perceval had a major fight with Karadoc and is only present via his letters.
• Horrifying the Horror: Méléagant, who is quite dreaded himself, is scared absolutely shitless by the appearance of the demon Ssabernock, which has come to enchant Lancelot's new weapon and possibly annihilate both of them from every plane of existence. His appearance also convinces the Gods themselves to bring the Lady of the Lake back to her plane after over a decade of exile on Earth... just as she was about to get on the ship.
• How the Mighty Have Fallen: After ruling the kingdom of Logres as The Usurper and getting ousted, Lancelot is now reduced to inhabiting the ruins of his father's castle like a hobo with his white armor in tatters. He soon turns again to Black Magic under the influence of Méléagant.
• Inconvenient Summons: The Lady of the Lake is recalled to the astral plane just as she and the others are about to set sail for the place she dreamed about.
• I Want Grandkids: Arthur's mother and aunt Ygerne and Cryda have grown very impatient with him and Guenièvre not producing an heir for the kingdom of Logres, and bring an aphrodisiac potion (that's also said to help fertility, since Arthur and Guenièvre aren't young anymore) to them when they come to Carmélide so they can get down to business.
• Intergenerational Rivalry: At the gathering of the Round Table, there's a clear and heated divide between the remaining aging knights and the new and younger ones (made somewhat worse since a part of the older generation worked for/with Lancelot during his Reign of Terror while the young ones were in La Résistance). The young ones want to go on adventures right away, while the older ones would prefer administrating the kingdom from the Round Table.
• Joke Item: Géran (one of the new knights of the Round Table) doesn't even have a sword, just a rather small wooden club resembling a gourd more than anything else. If he doesn't keep it on himself, people will mistake it for firewood and throw it in the chimney.
• Karmic Misfire: A bolt of lightning hits Arthur's bedroom and carves a message in the stone. Too bad Guenièvre was in there when it hit, and she ends up hard of hearing for much of the movie.
• Knight of Cerebus: The Ssabernock demon's appearance doesn't lend itself to comedy, reducing the previous Knight of Cerebus Méléagant to a terrified wreck.
• Mad Scientist Laboratory: When exploring the tunnels beneath the castle of Kaamelott, Conle and Merlin find out Lancelot practiced necromancy when they stumble upon his secret laboratory, which contains a nearly grown "matrix" for such magic.
• "Magic A" Is "Magic A":
  • Elias' liberal use of electrocution against people who annoy him is apparently distinct from Black Magic.
  • Conle, Merlin and Elias and a guy from the tavern explore the foundations of Kaamelott. When they find a magical matrix hanging from the ceiling, Conle says it's not mere Black Magic but outright Necromancy, which is evidently a different and worse thing.
• Moment Killer:
  • Arthur has a minor Heel Realization after Guenièvre gets hit with a Bolt of Divine Retribution meant for him and explains that he's going to make an effort to help the new Round Table. Unfortunately she's still hard of hearing and has to yell that she can't hear him.
  • Lukan and Girflet pull out their swords and cross them to celebrate their quest to kill Lancelot. Then Géran joins in with his wooden branch, ruining the moment.
• Movie Multipack: This film and its follow-up form a narrative arc of their own and were made together several years after Kaamelott: First Installment.
• Multi-Part Episode: The first part of Second Installment, as mentioned in the title.
• No Ending: Nothing the film sets up is resolved by the time it ends (none of the missions/quests are carried out bar the spying of Alzagar, Quarto and Silas in Orkney; what kind of power Lancelot builds up towards is not all that clear yet; Karadoc, Kolaig and the innkeeper are prisoners in Sicily; Arthur's boat sinks on the way to rescue them), it's left to Part II to conclude it all.
• Non-Nude Bathing: The Lady of the Lake is given a (much-needed) bath at the tavern when Karadoc decides to interrogate her about their shared prophetic dreams; she's still wearing a chemise while in the water.
• Not Helping Your Case: One of King Loth's sons is reminded that his father is a traitor and uses his magic ring to zap the offending speaker.
• Not so Dire: When Conle comes to find Merlin, he calls him out with the same overblown list of titles casters use to challenge each other. However, it turns out he's there to ask for Merlin's help.
• Pajama-Clad Hero: As part of his uncaring and apathetic attitude in the first third of the film, Arthur wears his pajama onesie for a good half of his screentime.
• Pillow Pistol: In his bed in Orkney, Quarto turns out to have a loaded crossbow at hand when Anna de Tintagel and her henchwomen try to slaughter him, Alzagar and Silas in their sleep.
• Put on a Bus: Perceval doesn't appear in the film, he's off on his own offscreen quest for The Holy Grail.
• The Quest: Several groups of Knights of the Round Table are sent on quests to prove themselves as a result of the gathering.
• Refusal of the Call:
  • Petrok is obsessed with making his livestock farming profitable and refuses to go to the gathering of the Round Table as a result.
  • When Arthur asks for volunteers to go on adventures at the gathering of the Round Table, the Duke of Aquitania (Alain Chabat) sheepishly declines to come.
  • Arthur himself felt a rush of motivation after the ousting of Lancelot, but has now lost it again and spends most of his days sleeping, walking around in his onesie pajamas and doing nothing, going as far as to plant Excalibur back into the stone. He agrees to "make an effort", however, when Guenièvre is struck by lightning, not going as far as to follow his destiny to slay Lancelot, but at least taking his place at the new Round Table.
• Rhetorical Request Blunder: While they are both hiding from the demon Ssabernock, Méléagant sarcastically asks Lancelot to beg him for forgiveness. He then has to stop Lancelot from doing it.
• Rousing Speech: Arthur gives one on what it means to go on a quest, then asks who is for going on quests. Even Léodagan raises his hand... but it's subverted when he still doesn't want to go, he's just impressed by the speech.
• San Dimas Time: According to Venec, it takes about a month and a half to go from Logres to the Mediterranean, meaning the various subplots take place over about half a year given that he sails to Sicily and back then sets out again.
• Self-Fulfilling Prophecy: Having been given a message from the gods that his killer would come from Orkney, Arthur sends spies there to find out whether King Loth and his cronies have returned to plot against him. Quarto, Alzagar and Silas only find Anna, Loth's wife and Arthur's half-sister, and get into a brutal fight with her and her own cronies. Furious that Arthur would have sent bounty hunters to spy on her, Anna swears revenge...
• Sequel Non-Entity:
  • Perceval doesn't appear. His actor Franck Pitiot had major invokedCreative Differences with Alexandre Astier about the character after he'd read the script, and he opted out. Perceval still has a presence in the film, via the letters (accompanied by food, which is rotten on arrival because, being The Ditz, he Didn't Think This Through) he sends to Arthur & co detailing everything (stupid or not) he does in his own quest for the Holy Grail.
  • The Saxon mercenary leader Horsa (Sting). The last time he was seen at the end of First Installment, he was on the isle of Thanet, which is his to administrate now (still on behalf of the Kingdom of Logres, he didn't ask for independence). He asked to become a Knight of the Round Table, to which Arthur didn't answer either yes or no. He's presumably still on the isle as of this film, but he doesn't show up at the gathering of the Round Table, for whatever reason.
• "Shaggy Dog" Story: Mehben, Mehgan, Gareth and Iagu set off on a very long journey up North to protect the last opalescent dragon, in hopes that it might lay eggs and save its own species. After months of hard journeying, a trapper tells them that it's already dead, killed by a dragon slayer.
• Shout-Out: The magical "holographic" message of the Lady of the Lake to Arthur towards the end parodies the call to Obi-Wan Kenobi for help of Leia Organa in Star Wars: A New Hope. Complete with Hologram Projection Imperfection as if the Lady of the Lake somehow had poor magical internet broadband or needed a better antenna or something.
• Sinister Scythe: Méléagant orders Lancelot to take a weapon and plant it in the ground. Lancelot then takes a handheld scythe and plants it in the ground. Towards the end, when Lancelot tries pulling it out of the ground, it's turned into a triskele-looking weapon with two more scythes.
• Slain in Their Sleep: When Alzagar, Quarto and Silas are guests of Anna de Tintagel (King Loth's wife), Anna and her henchwomen try to kill them in their bedrooms at night. Turns out Alzagar, Quarto and Silas weren't sleeping, and they defend themselves very well, including via the use of a Bear Trap and a crossbow.
• Smart Ball: Karadoc grabs it when he realizes that the fact that he's repeatedly had his dream instead of just once means it's significant, and immediately starts grilling the Lady for information.
• Soap Opera Rapid Aging Syndrome: Only half a year has passed since the end of First Installment in-universe, but the movie spent four years in production - long enough for Lucan (Ethan Astier) and Trevor (James Astier), both children in First Installment, to age very visibly.
• The Stinger: The end credits come after the Cliffhanger with the sinking of the ship of Venec, Arthur and Guenièvre. Towards the end of the credits, Arthur is seen swimming underwater after the sinking and looking at something.
• Stopped Caring: After retaking the kingdom, Arthur grows very apathetic when housed at his in-laws' castle in Carmélide, doesn't bother ruling anymore and even puts Excalibur back in the stone.
• Time-Passage Beard: The Duke of Aquitania has grown a grey beard and a horseshoe mustache since First Installment.
• Try to Fit That on a Business Card: Cole greets Merlin by listing all of the latter's titles. This being Merlin, they're not that impressive.
• Twin Threesome Fantasy: Subverted: Guenièvre's idea of getting an heir is to bring over two of Arthur's former mistresses, get everyone hopped up on fertility potion, and when the baby is born adopt it. Arthur's reaction? He just grabs his pillow and goes to sleep in another room.
• The Unfought: Lucan's group decides to kill Lancelot as their quest. While their idea of ganking him three-on-one might have worked, they managed to get there just as: Lancelot discovers a magic weapon, Méléagant is there, and so is the demon Ssabernock. Fortunately they get pulled back by Bohort and Lionel, of all people.
• Where I Was Born and Razed: The Siege of Kaamelott by Arthur's armies to retake it in the previous movie left the castle in ruins. The kingdom isn't in a good enough shape to rebuild it yet, so Arthur and Guenièvre are housed at the castle of Léodagan and Séli in Carmélide, and the Round Table is relocated in a wooden building that previously served as a cattle market and looks like a pyramidal siege tower.
• Written-In Absence: Franck Pitiot had invokedCreative Differences with Alexandre Astier and so he opted out of the film and its follow-up. His character, Perceval, is now out on his own offscreen quest to find The Holy Grail, and sends letters to Arthur & co with (rotten) food attached.