Can anyone answer this King Arthur question?

Question

How do each of Arthur's transformations prepare him for the day he has to pull the sword from the stone?

Answer 1

They each taught him an important lesson about the world.

Answer 2

As Wart explores the underwater kingdom of the fish, he meets Mr. P, who tells Wart "only Might is Right" (52). Mr. P, the ruler of the moat, represents the monarch in an absolute monarchy; he has all the power and strength but is lacking in the intelligence department. Mr. P tries to eat Wart the fish, but in this battle between brains and brawn, Wart learns that intellect can help him outsmart the more powerful creature.

  

During Wart's time as a bird, he stays in the Mews where he learns about etiquette. Wart is advised by Merlyn to pay close attention to his manners while visiting the Mews. Wart, using his knowledge as a hunter who uses birds to sight prey, manages to pass the first part of their demanding, and scrutinous initiation test.

  

Wart learns about war from a society that is content to follow directions and live a monotonous existence. After being injured by the Griffin, Wart is desperate to get out of bed and go on another adventure, and therefore, Merlyn turns him into an ant. Wart is easily accepted into this society of ants and soon learns of their "loyalty" to the queen in how they constantly repeat chants about her. He learns that the ants all work together Wart discovers that the ants have a blind duty to their queen, even though the rules make no sense. For example, they say that the enemy is more numerous than they, and is thus unfairly trying to conquer them, but also that they are more numerous than the enemy, so they have a right to be conquerors. Their view on war is that it is required; "EVERYTHING NOT FORBIDDEN IS COMPULSORY" (121) was written on a sign outside the entrance to the nest.

  

Consequently, when Arthur is a goose, he learns that the opposite is true for them. Each of the geese thinks for themselves, and it just so happens that their instincts lead them to a peaceful society where everyone is benefiting from this individualism. Unlike the ants, the geese feel like they have a purpose. In addition, unlike the ants, the geese don't believe in war against their own species, only against natural predators. When Arthur tells Lyo-Lyok, a goose, that he likes fighting, she responds, "Because you're a baby" (172).

  

From the Badger, Arthur learns a theory about Mankind. The Badger tells Arthur that he has recently written a paper about how Man came to be the leader of the animals, and describes it to him. He tells him the story of how God created all the animals. God gave them each a choice of what tools they would like-for example, badgers asked for their skins to be tough shields, for their mouths to be weapons, and for their arms to be strong tools to dig with. However, Man asked for nothing: Man only wanted to be able to use homemade tools, but to be defenseless without them. God was pleased by this, and made Man the master of all the other animals. Still, the Badger does not think that Man is really the luckiest of all the animals, because Man is one of the very few that makes war on its own kind. After Arthur argued his case about how war sometimes brings bravery, comradery, and endurance, the Badger asks him, "Which did you like best, the ants or the wild geese" (196).