the thing about lancelot is that he IS first and foremost merlin's knight. he's mr. "your secret's safe with me." mr. "oh merlin you need to get to the cup of life? awesome i'm coming with you." mr. "i made a vow to gwen to keep arthur safe but merlin got hit by the dorocha so i am immediately going to abandon both the mission and my vow in order to look after him for however long he needs me. obviously" and it's really funny because nobody expects it from him. the difference between him and gwaine (also merlin's knight) is that he's quiet about it so nobody ever fucking suspects him. if arthur ever gave him an order he'd be like yeah sure alright and do it BUT if merlin pulled him aside to ask him if he would go against the order to cover for him saving the day (as usual) lancelot would be like "Say No More <3" and kronk wrong lever arthur into a pit on purpose. and then he would throw himself into the pit as well like "oh my god sire i am SO SORRY </333 i must've pulled the wrong lever or the rigging was messed up or something </333333 please my lord you have my utmost apologies and you can execute me for my foolishness if you want :((((" and arthur would take one look at his sad little face and be like No lancelot it's not your fault.....You are The Best knight i have and i trust you Completely....that lever must've been Tampered with...with Sorcery.... and merlin saves the day in the background and then he and lancelot go out drinking that night to celebrate
