Hello Sir Blake,
Nice to 'meet' you.
I stumbled upon this web forum and your post whilst in my lunch break at work today, and I have to say that hearing a like-minded individual like yourself sounding so down made me want to come here, registered and let you know that Castle theme Lives On! This is my first ever post and you are responsible for that so thanks.
I've recently come out of my dark ages and fully intend to write up an S.A. on the details of it all and my journey since then.
Until then, I want you to know that I feel the same about historical themes in Lego and especially Castle.
I feel where you're coming from and I have to say that I don't think Lego is through with the Castle themes, but rather just on a hiatus, so take a break, save your money, and come back with Lego swords flailing when they release the next Castle line and when there's another beautiful Knight minifigure in Series 19 CMF.
Until then, I'm enjoying my newly built 1980s King's Castle that was pieced together a mixed lot I bought from a charity shop!
Yours truly,
Leafan.