The Sheriff and his sinister scientist, Joseph (Ralf Little), are testing a chemical weapon on a street in Nottingham Town and blaming the ill effects on the pestilence, but Dan Scarlett, who is in town to visit his son, Will, knows it is not the pestilence at all.
Dan wants Will to become his apprentice and run the family's carpentry business. Will is frustrated that his father is blind to the good work he does as an outlaw. The men bicker about what is best for Will. Dan speaks out against the Sheriff, because he knows it is poison and not the pestilence. The Sheriff murders Dan for spreading the truth, leaving Will and his younger brother, Luke, heartbroken. Robin realizes that the Sheriff is up to something and resolves to track down the source of the poison.
The outlaws work tirelessly to soothe the sick, assisted by none other than Joseph, who is recording the results of his "experiment." Little John discovers a cure for the poison, an old woodman's remedy. With the sick on the mend, the outlaws head to the castle to find Will has poisoned the Sheriff and Joseph as revenge for killing his father. After making the Sheriff apologize to Nottingham for trying to poison them, Robin convinces Will to use the antidote on the Sheriff.
Angry that there is a cure to his poison, Joseph lunges at Robin, then falls to his death out of a window of the castle. Robin and the outlaws return through the town to the cheers of Nottingham. In the forest, Will makes a monument in memory of his father using stones placed so that when the sun shines on them, Dan's face is seen smiling.
Tropes
- Even Evil Has Standards: After his openly hostile attitude to her for the first three episodes of the series, the Sheriff forcing Marian to read the false proclamation about the plague in exchange for having her imprisoned father fed seems to be too much for Gisborne (particularly in the knowledge that this is happening because she saved his life), who apologises to her for what happened and promises her he will make sure Edward is fed.
- How Did You Know? I Didn't: "How did you know there wasn't some kind of infectious disease?"
- Roof Hopping: Marian does this to get into the quarantine; later the Scarlett brothers do this to get out.
- Sudden Sequel Death Syndrome: This is Dan Scarlett's second appearance, and he's killed fairly early on in the episode.
- You Killed My Father: narrowly averted when the gang prevents Will from killing the Sheriff.
