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“Oh come on, Robin. This is just pillow talk, isn’t it? You can be honest with me. It’s not the real reason is it? You want to know what the real reason is? Nobody loves you anymore.”
- Sheriff of Nottingham
We find ourselves in the village of Nettlestone where Robin is reassuring the miller and his wife that they will not be evicted. Robin meets the bailiff on the road and hands over money. He says that it’s enough to cover the family’s debt. It seems that the bailiff agrees to Robin’s plan (including handing it in to the sheriff in small amounts to make it credible). But when Robin goes back to observe what happens, things go south. It appears that the bailiff isn’t going to honor the deal when he tells the miller he didn’t see Robin (Robin told the bailiff to offer up the scheme as his own), but he mentions they could work something out. Before the bailiff can say more, he’s shot in the back with an arrow. Robin and his men, still hidden in the forest, look around frantically for the bowman but come up empty handed. And the people of Nettlestone believe it’s Robin who has killed the bailiff.
Robin spots a cloaked and masked figure making a break for it and runs after them. Robin manages to tackle them to the ground but gets his butt handed to him with a solid kick to the stomach. Back at camp, the others are teasing Robin that he can’t stand that there is someone better than him. We quickly learn it was the Night Watchman. He goes about at night delivering food and supplies to the villages. He’s somewhat of a folk hero. Robin is determined to find him and figure out why he hurt the bailiff if the Night Watchman is supposed to be so peaceful. Meanwhile, news of the bailiff’s death has reached the Council of Nobles in Nottingham. The sheriff is quite pleased with the news since it makes Robin out to be a villain. Gisborne immediately suggests reprisals against the villages, but Marian speaks up and says it wouldn’t do any good and didn’t work before. Why punish the villagers who brought the crime to the sheriff’s attention? Another of the nobles says it would be politically strong to not take action. But Gisborne wants to use force to find and stop Robin. So both plans are put into action.
The sheriff is giving something of a eulogy for the fallen bailiff when Marian spots an older soldier in the crowd. It appears he is an old friend of the family, and Marian is surprised to see him there. He says everyone has been called in, even out of retirement. He’s sick, and Marian insist that once the funeral is over, he’s going back to Knighton Hall with her and her father. Robin and his gang show up at the funeral, and Robin is not pleased to see what’s going on. Though he’s not surprised the sheriff is making him out as the bad guy. Robin sneaks off and manages to get Marian alone. He begs her to help him clear his name and catch the killer. He can’t look in the castle, but she can. She says she’ll try to help him. And in good form, she positions herself at the castle by playing Gisborne’s affections towards her. She convinces him to speak with the sheriff about letting her stay at the castle as her father thinks it safer with a killer on the loose.
Gisborne and his massive army of dogs head out to the forest, and Robin and his men are forced to split up to avoid being caught. Meanwhile, Matthew (the son of miller from Nettlestone) is serving the sheriff what is probably wine. The sheriff makes him stand on one leg to punish him for forgetting which side he likes the tray on (annoying prick). The sheriff is lording over Matthew that his father’s mill is shut when an arrow flies through the window and lands in Matthew’s back. It seems enough to convince the sheriff that it may not be Robin behind it after all, and he orders the Master at Arms (whose plan was to take no action) to get Gisborne and his men back and call off the dogs. Then, he reconsiders and says it’s possible to blame Robin for the second death but orders the Master at Arms to look for the real killer. Guess his thinking is to kill two birds with one stone.
Robin and the gang meet up at the place where their provisions were stored to find it raided. The soldiers obviously found it. But they (the gang) are still evading the dogs at least. Gisborne arrives in Nettlestone to bring Matthew’s body home and swear they will catch Robin. Back in Nottingham, the sheriff has devised a new plan. He doesn’t thinking pinning two deaths on Robin is enough. So he orders the Master at Arms to facilitate a few more. So a bunch of servant women and other peasants bite it. Marian sees the first servant hit and sees a masked person disappearing from a window. Gisborne returns and is furious about the deaths. He and the Master at Arms get into an argument which Marian manages to interrupt. She basically calls the Master of Arms out on his scheme and leaves.
Back in the forest, the dogs are still pursuing Robin and company. Robin makes a stand to fight, but he then realizes the futility and takes the gang to Nettlestone. Too bad they’re not so welcome there after everything that’s happened. He tries to tell the villagers that he didn’t kill the bailiff or Matthew or any of the others (he was really surprised to know there even were others). The villagers pretty much chase the gang out of town. They get back to a safe spot in the woods, and Robin vents a little and decides he’s going to the castle to end things. He puts Little John in charge.
Back at the castle, Marian has gone to the soldier (Sir Lacey) at his post. She ends up getting him to tell her that she could shoot an arrow from his position through the window that killed the servant girl. She seems to be suggesting that Lacey was the killer. He tells Marian it’s hard to say anything these days when you have to use double meaning. He asks if she’s trying to prove Robin innocent, and she waffles a bit.
That night, Allan helps Robin get into the castle by setting fire to some brush to distract a guard. Robin slips into the castle and into the Sheriff’s room unseen. Robin and the Sheriff have a little chat which is kind of amusing because they’re so calm and almost buddy-buddy about it. Of course they still hate each other. Robin tells the Sheriff to go to Nettlestone and draw the killer out, and then Robin and his men will stop him. The Sheriff thinks this is a ploy on Robin’s part to make the people love him again. Robin denies it, but it appears they have a deal. Robin’s nearly out of the castle when he’s noticed by two guards and, he ends up hiding in Marian’s room (under her covers). They have a heartfelt talk where Marian expresses her worry that he doesn’t seem to feel and acts as though nothing could hurt him. She says she believes the killer to be the Master at Arms. Robin thanks her with a kiss and tells her they’ll see tomorrow if she’s right. In the very early morning, Robin fills in his men and then decides as an offering of peace and good will, they’ll take the food the soldiers didn’t find and bring it to Nettlestone. The villagers aren’t entirely pleased to see them and think the food is just trying to buy them off.
A short while later, Gisborne and the sheriff are in the village talking to people to show they’re unafraid of the outlaws when one of the guards is shot. Robin sees the shooter escaping and tackles them. He discovers it is Marian who is the Night Watchman. But the real killer is Sir Lacey. Robin begs him not to kill the Sheriff, as it will do far more harm than good, but Lacey takes the shot anyway and gets shot by Marian and Robin at the same time. It turns out he’s shot the deputy, and Gisborne runs Lacey through. Back at the castle, Gisborne becomes the new Master at Arms and promptly (and literally) stabs the old one in the back. Back in Nettlestone, Robin tries to dissuade Marian from continuing her pursuits as the Night Watchman, but she says she was raised to make choices in life, and she is choosing to help the poor. Robin isn’t entirely happy with this but leaves it for another day as he and his men to reopen the mill in Nettlestone to much applause and renewed admiration.
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