The knights are sent out on their quests and two years pass. Slowly, knights begin to trickle back in twos and threes, limping, worn, confused and fantastical. One day, Gawaine returns. The King and Queen settle in the Great Hall to hear the tales of his adventures. Gawaine's story is of Galahad's piety and virginity; of violence committed unnecessarily; and of Gawaine accidentally killing a fellow knight.
Gawaine is the first to return from the Quest—but his story is not of religious reformation. Rather, Gawaine somewhat naively recounts how he had killed a fellow knight and thus failed the tests posed to him as part of the questing process. Gawaine is depicted throughout the novel as a good person whose natural brutal instincts often get the better of him.