In all the description of the warriors there is no description of their armor, only the clothes and scarves. 
	Rhonabwy and his guide get to Baddon hill, the site of Arthur’s most famous battle. Arthur is sitting aside Bedwini the Bishop, who witnessed Arthur pull the sword from the stone. The only problem with them being on Baddon Hill is the presence of Iddawc the Agitator. Iddawc did not become the Agitator until the battle of Caamlan in which Arthur died. His presence in this story at the same time as Arthur is odd in itself. The only meaning of this can be satire; purposeful misguidance that the audience would have all noticed. 
Owain and a couple other men are sitting with Arthur when Arthur asks Owain to play a game of chess with him. The name of the game was actually called gwyddbwyll. There is no record of what this game actually is, there is only speculation from different tales that include the game. Neither Owain or Arthur describe the game other than it being like chess. In this game the King piece is in the middle surrounded by four lesser kings and 12 ravens surround these five pieces. If this were the game that Arthur and Owain were playing then this would explain the naming of Owain’s troops, which were called ravens in the brandubh game. The game that they were playing on the board was being fought out on the battle field. There seems to be a commentary here on the nature of war. The generals get to sit back and play games with their soldiers while the soldiers are actually risking life and limb for the king. 
While most of the story has been humorous or ironic this part is a rather serious commentary on war. War is just playing games with human life. The knights and the ravens were the soldiers of Owain and Arthur that were nothing more than pieces in a game. The lives of the men were just to be used by the generals. This portion of the text paints a dark picture of war.
Understanding that both Arthur and Owain were struggling for their men, that they both wanted to win, would explain the seeming negligence for their troops. They were not ignoring them while they were playing the game. The battle that was going on was their game; Arthur’s princes against Owain’s ravens. Arthur lost the game; he smashed all his remaining pieces save the rest of his men. 
The explanation for the critical treatment of Arthur is not found simply within the text. Arthur is treated satirized because he is the previous “great king” of the Welsh. The legend must pale in comparison to the one being honored. 
Llywelyn the Great was the next great leader of Wales and the grandson of Owain. Llywelyn’s rule was from the early 1200’s to 1240 when he died. 