How we cite our quotes: (Book.Chapter.Paragraph.)
Quote #1
"Have I told you this before?"
"No, we only met about half an hour ago."
"So little time to pass?" said Merlyn, and a big tear ran down to the end of his nose. (S.3.71-73)
This is a poignant scene that can get you right in your feels. Merlyn is meeting Wart for the first time, but since he lives backwards through Time, he has things all out of whack. He already knows what's going to happen to Arthur in the end, and it makes Merlyn sad to know that their time together will pass by so quickly, and then it will be over.
Quote #2
Just as [the arrow] had spent its force, just as its ambition had been dimmed by destiny and it was preparing to faint, to turn over, to pour back into the bosom of its mother earth, a portent happened. A gore-crow came flapping wearily before the approaching night. It came, it did not waver, it took the arrow. It flew away, heavy and hoisting, with the arrow in its beak. (S.6.13)
This is not a good omen. A "gore-crow" is a carrion crow, meaning it feasts on dead and rotting flesh. The fact that it snapped up Wart's arrow doesn't really cast his future in a particularly rosy hue.
Quote #3
He lost his temper and challenged nearly everybody to have a fight, and in those few cases where he actually did have the fight he was invariably beaten. Also he became sarcastic. He made the sergeant miserable by nagging about his stomach, and went on at Wart about his father and mother when Sir Ector was not about. He did not seem to want to do this. It was as if he disliked it, but could not help it. (S.20.6)
There's a sense that Kay's personality is already predetermined: "he could not help it." He's totally powerless to stop this behavior.