All is Not as it Appears.

In sections three and four of "The Knight's Tale," mysterious things happen which only the gods can explain, but to the humans, they are just actions and things that were not what they appeared initially. The main question is what is not what it appears? In these sections, the competitions continue. Theseus, the great duke of Athens and Thebes, raises a grand stadium in tribute to the tournament which will take place in the near future. The tournament is between to men who in their past had been "sworn brothers," but now were in competition for the same maiden whom they did not even know but knew of her beauty.

As a symbol of tradition and respect, Theseus builds three temples to honor the three gods involved with this particular competition. He builds one for Venus the goddess of love, one for Mars the god of war, and one for Diana the goddess of chastity. Once completed, the three main people involved in the tournament go to each of the temples in order to ask for help and guidance. The first brother, Palamon, goes to Venus and implores her help to prove that love conquers all. She makes a sign which Palamon interprets as a positive sign, but is it as it appears? The second brother, Arcite, goes to Mars. He asks Mars to help him win the tournament by force and he too interprets what he seems to think is a positive sign from the statue. The last person, Emelye, goes to the temple of Diana. She prays to the goddess and asks her to keep her a virgin for eternity, but Diana comes to her and tells her that she must marry one of the two brothers. Emelye accepts this information and awaits for the tournament to determine her future. Will the tournament be that simple? Will there be a secret intervene from another god?

Soon after, the tournament begins. As in tradition, before the actual dueling begins, everyone feasts and drinks to their fill and the next day they proceed to the actual duel. The two armies confront each other on the field and begin to fight to their deaths. Meanwhile, the gods were intervening with the outcome of the battle. Venus and Mars were trying to help each of the brothers, while Saturn waited until the end before he intervened for himself. For the people the winning of Arcite seemed like a fairly won battle, little did they know that the god of war, Mars, made sure he did not lose. Soon after Arcite was named victorious, Saturn showed his great strength and created an earthquake which led to the fatal wounding of Arcite by his horse. Once it was announced that Arcite would die, Venus accepted victory over the battle and the gods stepped back from those particular lives. Arcite respects Palamon greatly and suggests his honor and loyalty to him. He tells Theseus that after his death, Emelye should be wedded to Palamon. This occurs in time and they both live a very long and happy life together by what they think is their own destiny, little did they know of the small interferences that occurred throughout their lives.