The Sheriff and Gisborne, accompanied by a squad of soldiers, ride into Locksley. The villagers are rousted from their homes and assembled in the commons.
The sheriff says he is looking for Robin of Locksley and can't seem to find him at home. No one speaks up so the sheriff offers a reward of £20 for the information. Still no one comes forward.
"Loosen your tongues or lose your tongues," Gisborne shouts, startling the sheriff and the villagers with his outburst.
The villagers remain silent, so the sheriff indicates for a villager to be chosen. A pair of soldiers grab the man who had bowed in mockery at the sheriff when he first rode into the village, and proceed to cut out his tongue. The sheriff says that will continue, one an hour, until somebody talks.
~
Sherwood Forest
Robin, Much, and Allan-A-Dale are tied to some trees, stripped down to their undergarments, while the rogue band of forest men ransack their belongings.
Will has not been captured and looks on from a distance, although he has made his presence known to Robin.
When the large rogue pulls the spit with a roasting rabbit off to eat it, Much warns him that the meat is not properly cooked and that he could get sick from it. They all laugh at him.
Much attempt to convince the rogues that he and his friends are also against the sheriff. Unfortunately, the main rogue finally realizes Much has called Robin 'master,' that and he and Robin still smell rather fresh from their bathing the day before like rose petals, although the rogues argue it's lavender, and the rogues aren't buying it.
Robin condemns them for stealing willy-nilly and not caring who they take from. The outlaws don't care. "Heartbreaking."
The rogues finally move off, taking everything, including the horses.
Robin nods to Will who comes out of hiding and cuts the ropes, releasing Much, and Allan from the trees. Robin was able to free himself.
Much blathers on that had they still had their weapons they should go after the rogues and teach them a lesson. When he finally realizes that Robin was able to free himself the whole time, he questions why Robin did not fight. Robin says he thought it best to wait. They dig up some large branches to use as staffs and clubs.
~
Back in Locksley, the sheriff sits around counting the minutes and then indicates that another tongue should be cut.
~
While the rogue outlaws sit around a fire making fun of Much's care about properly cooked meat, Robin and his gang come upon them, weapons at the ready. The rogues are taken into custody quite easily. Robin orders them to take their clothes off.
~
Locksley Manor
A couple of soldiers have arrived to move Gisborne's things back into the manor. A house servant tells them off. They name Robin as Robin Wood.
~
Back in the forest, Robin, Much, and Allan reclaim their clothes while the rogue outlaws stand tied together in their underclothes.
Much berates their behavior here at home while he and Robin were away fighting valiantly alongside King Richard in the Holy Lands.
Robin commands the rogues to dance. When they refuse, he takes aim at their feet and shoots. They begin bouncing around, and Robin sends a few more arrows into the ground around their feet. When he's done with that, starts yelling at them. He's angry and disgusted by their behavior, how they treat their fellow man like animals, and take from those who have less than they do, and then leave them to die.
He tells them they are not Englishmen not the England that he and Much fought for. Men who think it a boast to be dead. He can't understand why they would steal a half-penny from Allan when the sheriff is robbing them all twenty times over. Why they skulk in the woods while the sheriff steals spirits and livelihoods.
One of the rogues reminds Robin that he's also skulking in the woods, and asks Robin what he's going to do about it.
With barely a moment's thought, Robin says he's going to stop him (the sheriff, that is).
Much counters that you can't stop the sheriff, and that only the crown can withdraw his license.
"When the king returns, he will have his comeuppance," says Robin. "Until then, we will sculper his sadistic punishments, we stop his insane taxes, and give them back to the poor where they belong."
"And if dead man had any spines, that what you would have been doing these last five years."
"Rousing, lavender boy," says the mouthy rogue.
Robin takes aim at the main rogue, but is warned against it. The man glances upward to a spot behind Robin. Robin turns to look and finds that they are surrounded by a dozen or more men. Robin throws down his bow.
As the rogues are freed from the ropes, thee man freeing them steps up and whispers to the large rogue.
"You Robin of Locksley, Robin, the Earl of Huntingdon?" the large rogue asks.
With a smile, Robin admits that he is. The large man punches Robin and knocks him out.
~
Back in Locksley, the bell chimes the top of the hour. In trying to convince the villagers to speak, Gisborne assures them there will be no reprisals from Robin as he will never be their master again. Still no one speaks.
~
An unconscious Robin is dropped to the ground on a small hill overlooking Locksley. Water is poured on his face to wake him up. He wakes to find his hands tied. Robin laughs and tells them they've brought him home, only to find out he's being turned in for the reward.
~
The sheriff tries to get the villagers to reveal Robin's whereabouts by telling them that he suspects that Robin is no longer himself since returning from the Crusades. That he's not the kind benevolent master they once knew. The sheriff is trying to find Robin for his own good. They continue to remain silent.
As the rogues drag Robin, Much, Will, and Allan down toward the commons, a woman is pulled from the crowd to be the next one to lose her tongue. The large rogue realizes it is his wife, Alice.
"You're Alice's John? She thought you were dead," says Will.
Alice continues to cry out from the clutches of the soldiers.
"It's you they want," John groans out, throwing Robin across his shoulders. "Let's go."
"There is no time. I can save your wife," Robin says. "Put me down."
John does so reluctantly.
"Untie me. My bow quickly," says Robin.
Alice cries out, drawing John's attention. He sees the soldier raise the shears.
"I'm good with the bow," Robin insists.
"You saw him shoot your feet," Much adds.
"Trust me." Robin holds out his tied up wrists.
John removes the ropes and Robin takes his bow.
In a moment, the shears have been sent flying from the soldier's hands, and in another moment, the shears go breaking into pieces in mid-air.
Everyone gasps in amazement.
The rogues and Robin's gang start to run away, but Robin wishes them Godspeed. He apologizes to Much for leading him to this new life. But that he must do this. He turns toward the village.
"Good scheme, Sheriff. Very effective. Impressive logic," Robin calls as he saunters into the commons, not looking worried at all. "Now, I wonder...if I tell you where I am, can I claim the £20? That would be a pound or so for each family here. Eat a whole winter off that."
The sheriff doesn't find that amusing and tells Robin to put down his weapon as he's surrounded.
Gisborne introduces himself and gloats that he is the new lord of Locksley and soon to be the Earl of Huntingdon, and also instructs Robin to put down his weapon.
Robin does so, but only after he snaps the string of his bow towards Gisborne's face.
Robin finds himself tied up once again, and this time Gisborne holds the other end of the rope. The soldier slaps him across the face and then pushes him to his knees.
The sheriff informs Robin that he shall hang in the morning.
Gisborne gets his horse moving, and Robin is tugged off balance and dragged until he finally makes it back to his feet. He is led out of Locksley.
The rogues and Robin's men watch from a distance.
"I liked him," says Will.
"I did not," says John.
"He saved your wife," replies Much indignantly. He looks at Will. "Liked...? He's not dead."
The men move head back to the forest.
~
Nottingham Castle
Gisborne rides into the castle square with Robin still trailing by rope behind him.
Marian exits the castle and is surprised to see Robin and Gisborne. When Gisborne sees Marian, he offers her an exaggerated nod of the head. He indicates for the soldiers to come get the prisoner.
The soldiers untie him and escort him into the castle as Marian is leaving. When she passes by him, she hisses "fool" at him.
~
Back in the woods, the rogues and their prisoners reach camp. Much is beside himself over Robin's fate at the hands of the sheriff and reminds the group that he selflessly gave himself up to stop the sheriff's cruel plans.
One of the rogues tries to joke that now when people don't talk, they can ask, "Sheriff got your tongue?" instead of "cat got your tongue?" No one finds it funny, least of all Much. He points out to Allan and Will that they'd both be dead if not for Robin.
He pleads with the group to help Robin, but when no offers or ideas are forthcoming, Much takes off on his own.
John asks Will which house in Locksley belongs to his wife, Alice, so he can go fetch her to live in the forest with him.
Will says she can't come live in the forest because there's something John doesn't know.
~
Robin is dragged down and thrown into a cell in the dungeon. The bailiff calls out that they're now calling him Robin Wood, but the jailer mis-hears and calls him Robin Hood but says there'll be no hood for him when he's hanged the next day. The sheriff wants everyone to see the fear in Robin's eyes, and to watch his eye's pop right out.
~
Knighton Hall
Much sneaks to Knighton Hall to speak with Sir Edward, begging him to help Robin.
Sir Edwards says he can do nothing, to Much's dismay.
Marian derides Robin, calling him an unimpressive outlaw if he has allowed himself to get caught after only the first day until Much tells them that Robin gave himself up to save tongues.
Sir Edward and Marian share a look of knowledge at the news.
As Much rises to leave, he says he hates the sheriff and he hates the two of them if they will do nothing to help Robin.
Sir Edward offers to speak in court, but warns Much to resign himself to the inevitable.
Much looks at Marian, sadness all over his face. "In the Holy Land, my master had dreams. He spoke your name..."
Marian looks suitably shaken by that admission.
Much bids them good night and takes his leave.
~
In Locksley, a young boy exits one of the small huts and limps to the edge of the small yard, which is up against a copse of trees. John Little sits hidden in the foliage. The boy carries a small bow and an arrow.
John gets the boy's attention, and asks him who he is. The boy says he is John Little, although people call him Little John because his father was also John Little. When the boy asks who John is, John just says he is a friend of the boy's mother. John asks after her. The boys says she "always tired, always sewing" but that "everything will be better now because Robin's back from the Holy Land."
John just sighs.
The boy is confident that things are going to be better now. Soon, they hear Alice calling for Little John. When the boy turns to look at his mother, John disappears out of sight.
~
The sheriff pays a visit to Robin in his cell. He has realized that Robin could have killed him but didn't. And he wonders why. He muses that Robin has lost his taste for bloodshed.
Robin asserts he would kill the sheriff in an instant.
But only if that were the only way to stop the bloodshed, deduces the sheriff. He has half an inkling that Robin does not care whether he lives or dies at this point.
The sheriff tells Robin he's free to go, but if he does, a couple of more tongues will be lost. Robin sits down on the small stool in the cell.
As the sheriff walks away, Robin says, "I do not know why Englishmen travel two thousand miles to fight evil...when the real cancer is right here."
~
Late that evening, Alice Little sings a song to her son as he drifts off to sleep. John sits outside the window weeping softly.
~
In the outlaw camp, the rogue outlaws ponder Much and Robin's fate, not giving either one of them much a chance. Will opines that if Robin dies, then the villagers of Locksley will lose all hope and have nothing left to live for. The head rogue tells Will he can go save them, they don't do town. "Town is death."
Will asks what happens to the loved ones left behind; what happens when a family has only one breadwinner. He knows, he's seen it lived it.
"Heartbreaking.... We don't go to Nottingham."
Until John stands up and says otherwise: "We *go* to Nottingham."
~
Gisborne has gone to visit Lady Marian and invites her to Locksley for a visit now that it is his again. Marian is unsure.
Gisborne boasts that he has higher ambitions, but having land in the Gisborne name once more makes him happy because it makes his father proud. He was quite embarrassed to be Guy of Gisborne without "Gisborne" lands.
"And Locksley's your Gisborne," Marian asks.
"Yes, actually," says Gisborne with a smile. "I am intent on changing its name."
"Does changing a name really make a difference?"
Gisborne thinks it does much like a woman changing her name once she is married.
Marian asks if Gisborne is not worried about Robin contesting the acquisition of his lands. Gisborne says no as Robin will be dead in the morning. Because Robin is classified as an outlaw, he is an enemy of the state and will not be granted a trial.
Marian is in shock at the news.
~
Much has made it to the castle wall and is going around it looking for a way in. He finds a ladder and climbs it, but it is just a hair too short and he cannot quite reach the parapet. In the meantime, a dog has come and decides to lie down at the foot of the ladder and Much is stuck. He eventually falls asleep clinging to the top of the ladder.
Much is woken by Allan talking to the dog. He climbs down as the rest of the outlaws arrive. John lifts the ladder to his shoulder, allowing the ladder to reach the parapet.
~
Marian comes to see Robin in the dungeon, ostensibly to retrieve a ring her father gave to Robin before he realized the wickedness of Robin's heart. It takes him only a moment to catch on, but he plays along. The jailer reminds her that just asking for something doesn't usually produce results and he's willing to crush Robin's thumbs in order to extract the information.
Marian tells the jailer to leave the room, but he refuses. With an amused look, Robin watches Marian as she send the jailer from the room. She tells him she doesn't want to him to hear where the ring is for his own protection, so he can't be accused of stealing it if it's not where it's supposed to be.
Once the jailer is gone, Marian tells Robin he cannot help his people if he is dead. He reminds her he is in custody for preventing unjust hangings, and that he protected the people from his village.
"Oh, that will make your death romantic," she quips.
"It would make it honorable," Robin replies.
She wants to know who will protect his people when he's dead. "What is it with men and glory?" she asks, disgusted. "Glory above sense and above reason?"
"It is principle."
"Principle is making a difference and you can't do that if you're dead. You could have stayed here in the first place instead of following your king to the holy land if you'd cared so much about your precious people. But you didn't. You chose war. You chose glory." You didn't choose me.... Marian is now choked up.
Robin leans in. "What is this about," he asks gently.
"It is about you saying that you care about the people of Locksley when the truth is you ran off to battle thousands of miles away."
Robin reaches up to caress her cheek, but she smacks it away. Robin remarks that she just had something on her cheek.
To push away her hurt, Marian moves on with the escape plan. She digs something out of her bag and fills him in on the plan. As they are arguing about it, the jailer enters and then collapses. Much steps in behind him. "This is a rescue." He tosses Robin his bow and quiver.
When the soldiers arrive, Marian feigns needing help while Robin makes his escape. He meets up with that outlaws and his friends in the castle square. He thanks them for coming, but asks for five more minutes. If he's not back, they are free to leave without him.
John agrees.
Robin asks the other rogue for help with a dangerous scheme, he also agrees. Robin takes the end of a rope and ties to an arrow and then shoots the arrow into a gallows up on the wall. They take cover on the side of some stairs as a squad of soldiers comes racing out o the castle, Robin and the rogue sneak back into the castle. The rest of the outlaws fight the soldiers.
Robin has snuck to the sheriff's bedchamber.
He makes a ruckus outside the doors, waking the sheriff and bringing him to the door. He pulls it open and the two guards fall to the ground.
Robin steps in, bow and arrow at the ready, forcing the sheriff back inside the chamber.
Robin admits that he no longer has the stomach for killing but should the sheriff harms one person in the slightest way to try to get to him, he will kill him.
The sheriff calls him on his boast and tells Robin to prove it. Robin sends several arrows flying; one between the sheriff's fingers and three surrounding the sheriff's head. The sheriff is impressed by the skill but not by the fact that he wasn't even grazed surely he deserved at least that. He accuses Robin of being afraid of authority.
Robin nicks him with the tip of the arrow. As the sheriff continues to mock Robin, claiming him to be weak and having a tender conscience, one of the guards wakes up and quietly slides his sword from its scabbard. Before the guard can make his move, Robin has swiveled and killed the guard and turned back to the sheriff. Robin tells the sheriff he has over-estimated his conscience.
At arrow point, Robin forces the sheriff to the tower.
Meanwhile, the gang is still fighting the soldiers in the square below.
From the tower the sheriff is forced to allow the gang to go free, apologize to the people for his illegal acts and promise to pay £500 probably to the people of Locksley but he refuses to complete that promise and turns to tell Robin he'll have to kill him first. But Robin has disappeared.
Back in the sheriff's chamber, the guard Robin shot sits up. It turns out to be the Robin's rogue helper with some kind of protection under is mail.
The sheriff hollers down to not let the outlaws get away and the fighting is back on.
Up on the castle wall, Robin grabs the rope he he'd sent flying up there earlier.
"And shoot Locksley!" the sheriff yells when he spots him.
Marian peeks out from a window at the chaos, seemingly please that Robin has escaped.
Robin throws the end of the rope to Much and tells him to tie it off.
Much can't find anyplace that is safe from a soldier's sword.
John yells for Much to bring him the rope. John secures the rope around his waist and draws it taut. He tells Much to defend him. Will knocks out a pair of soldiers. John nods to Robin who hooks his bow and slides down the rope to safety (sort of).
Marian watches, pleased that Robin has escaped. The sheriff watches in consternation.
"That arrow hurt, lavender boy," says the rogue as they continue to fight side by side.
"Heartbreaking," says Robin.
The gang forms a line and back toward the portcullis as another squad of soldiers comes racing out of the castle followed by the sheriff.
The gang gets through the portcullis while Robin continues to fight, making his way to the rope that holds the gate up.
He cuts the rope and dives beneath the falling gate.
He looks back in and catches Marian's eye. She's pleased until he moues a kiss at her. She disappears back out of sight, slightly put out.
The outlaws take off running to safety.
The sheriff grabs the helmet off a soldier and throws it to the ground and stalks back into the castle.
~
Back in Locksley, the outlaws have left baskets of food and bags of money for their families, and they watch as the families discover the gifts: one of the rogue's wives, one's mother, and John's wife, Alice.
~
At the camp, Much is cooking a couple of small animals while he admits he doesn't feel sad about his lack of family.
When John grabs the spit and makes to take a bite, Much freaks out as he's done about the meat not being properly cooked and they all laugh at him. He accepts their teasing good-naturedly.