I had this thought the other day that what if the Sword Taran found in the tomb of the dead King was actually Excalibur and that was King Arthur. I know how in the Legend it says that the sword was thrown back to the Lady of the Lake when Arthur had no use for it anymore, but what if he died before he could return it? Kings were often buried with their sword and armor and many other things, so what if he was too? So after King Arthur dies the kingdom falls into despair at the tragedy of it all and with no heir their is a vie for power among different rulers and dignitaries. Out of all of the fighting a great evil arises, The Black Cauldron, created by dark magic in favor of finding the most power king to take over. Because of the power of the Cauldron many great evils come from far and wide seeking it; wars start, there is blood shed, and the cauldron is lost for a great time. One of the evils happened to be The Great Horned King who was VERY powerful and triumphed over many. He later decided to reside in the abandoned castle after his conquest over the land in hopes of locating the Black Cauldron again to increase his power to continue his horrible reign for eternity. Unbeknownst to him of the great power that resided in the belly of the Camelot lost to time. So in turn does that mean that Taran was the reincarnation of the once and future king seeing as he could wield the sword? Or was a magical sword in a castle buried with a dead king just a coincidence? I for one think its a pretty plausible theory.