The brevity of the coronation description and its essential blandness -- there is little sense of the lavishness of the ceremony -- further reinforces the importance of Arthur's more humbled background. Merlin is also conspicuously absent from the coronation scene, removing the supernatural element of Arthur's rise to the throne and crown that is otherwise instrumental in much of the story. Arthur is shown not as singled out in this scene so much as he is surrounded by other nobles of a similar position, and though they are paying him obeisance and apologizing for the delay in bringing Arthur to the throne, there is a sense of collective endeavor and almost equality in this scene that makes it quite odd for the scene of Arthur's true ascension to power. The list of officers that Arthur creates immediately following...

Taken as the final detail in the scene of Arthur becoming King, this makes his image -- at least at the outset -- as a humble king with origins amongst the people (or at least amongst the lower nobility of the realm) his most salient characteristic. Though this changes as Mallory's version of the tale continues, it is an important point at the outset of the story.