Robin of Locksley and his manservant Much return home from the Crusades, and following a series of adventures with some guards apprehending a poacher and a weaver and his daughter digging a ditch, discover that the Sheriff of Nottingham and the interim lord of Locksley, Sir Guy of Gisborne, are brutalizing the people. Robin receives a hostile welcome from the former Sheriff, Edward, but is pleased to find his daughter, Marian (to whom Robin was once betrothed), is still unmarried.
Robin confronts the Sheriff at the Council of Nobles and suggests abolishing all taxes, but the Sheriff bites back; later, Robin learns that Will and Luke Scarlett, as well as Allan-a-Dale, are due to be hanged the next day. He meets in secret with Edward and Marian, who inform him that it is a test, and that he should not interfere, instead playing the "long game".
The next day, Robin is to oversee the hanging of the four men, and after a failed trick to protect them under benefit of clergy, the hanging begins. At the last moment, Robin has a change of heart and rescues all four of them, plus Much, who was being held hostage by the Sheriff. Robin, Much, Will and Allan retreat to Sherwood Forest, where they are confronted by Little John and his men.
Tropes
- Action Film, Quiet Drama Scene: Leading into the climatic rescue of the Locksley prisoners, there's a scene of Robin brooding in his chair by the fireplace by himself, silently considering his options.
- Brief Accent Imitation: The first appearance of this talent of Allan-a-Dale's.
- Bullet Dancing: Robin does this with arrows to Little John and his men.
- Disproportionate Retribution: The Sheriff's decision to hang four men for stealing flour.
- Dropped After the Pilot: Viewers might be forgiven for assuming that Jeffrey (the Locksley villager that impersonates a monk in an attempt to free the condemned prisoners) was going to be a regular (or at least recurring) character, especially given his resemblance to Friar Tuck. However, he's not seen again after the pilot.
- Early-Installment Weirdness: In these first two episodes the director seemed fond of an editing technique that involved split-second cuts that showed certain scenes from slightly different angles, or rapid zoom-ins on people's reactions. See Robin backflipping from the weaver's house, or the zoom-in on Marian's hair-clip.
- The episode also establishes a watchtower has been erected in Locksley and that two spies are constantly watching Knighton Hall (Marian's home). Neither of these plot-points ever reappear in future episodes.
- Establishing Character Moment: Robin is introduced interrupting the corporal punishment the soldiers are inflicting on Allan. It establishes his master archery skills (being able to shoot between a man's fingers) and his sense of justice (intervening at the sight of a person in need), but also his impulsiveness and tendency to make things up as he goes along (when the soldiers realize they're "surrounded" by only two people and he's forced to make a run for it).
- In the Hood: Robin's very first scene has his face totally obscured by a hood, leading to a Dramatic Unmask when he confronts the soldiers.
- Public Execution: Will, Luke, Allan and Benedict are nearly hanged to death in the courtyard of Nottingham Castle.
- Rousing Speech: Robin on the steps of Nottingham Castle: "Will you tolerate this injustice? I, for one, will not!"
- Shoot the Rope: How Robin frees Allan, Benedict and the Scarlett brothers.
- Throwing Your Sword Always Works: Not only does Robin manage to hit two men with the same thrown sword, from the top of the steps to the top of the wall across the courtyard, but Marian manages to succesfully stab a man with a thrown hairpin.
- Shout-Out: The show's creators are on record for saying they didn't initially include Friar Tuck in the show because they felt he was too much of a comedic character. As such, the character of Jeffrey — a rather rotund man who pretends to be a monk in a bid to get clemency for the condemned men — is a nod to this absent member of the Merry Men.
- Time for Plan B: Plan A was getting Jeffrey (a Locksley villager) to impersonate a priest and pretend that the condemned men are under the protection of the clergy for having become novices the night before. When the Sheriff sees through this ruse, Robin reverts to Shoot the Rope and fighting his way out.
- Title Drop: The episode title, in Robin's Rousing Speech (see above).
- Unspoken Plan Guarantee: Subverted. The audience knows nothing of Robin's plan to have Jeffrey impersonate a clergyman, but the scheme doesn't work anyway.
- Weaponized Headgear: Marian throws one of her hairpins into the hand of a guard who is about to land a fatal sword-blow on Robin.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: Ultimately subverted with Luke Scarlett, who reappears a series later in The Angel of Death. Played straight with Benedict Giddens (the fourth man due to be hanged) and the man who pretends to be a priest as part of Robin's first attempt to stop the hanging, neither of whom appear or are mentioned again.
- You Can't Go Home Again: In choosing to save the condemned men from hanging, Robin becomes an outlaw himself.
