Ahav’s sudden reappearance at the conclusion of the challenge implies his passiveness throughout the challenge and the killing of the prophets of Ba’al. Eliyahu's wholehearted return to his people following the religious turnaround of all of the nation and its king, at Carmel is dramatically completed with the reconciliation between the prophet and the king.

Courtesy of the Virtual Beit Midrash, Yeshivat Har Etzion