The outlaws return from the Holy Land and Robin breaks up the gang – all he wants is to avenge Marian's death. Tuck arrives in England, promising himself he will find Robin Hood.
Robin races to Locksley Manor, alone, to confront Gisborne, and a battle commences. The Outlaws arrive as Gisborne throws Robin into the river, far below.
Sir Jasper arrives at the castle with a message from Prince John. He blames the Sheriff for the bungled assassination attempt on King Richard and demands 1,000 crowns a month and the body of Robin Hood, just as Gisborne enters to announce he has killed Hood.
Tuck saves Robin from the river. Robin tries to leave but Tuck knocks him out and ties him up, determined that he'll rest. Tuck tells him that Robin Hood is the only hope the people of England have left.
The Sheriff sends Gisborne to Locksley, and Sir Jasper suggests they try to locate Hood's loot, instead. They torture Much, who says he'll take him to a fictional loot. Luckily, Little John and Allan are outside the castle and rescue him right under the Sheriff's nose.
Tuck shows Robin how much the people need him, but all Robin cares about is revenge – even if it means getting killed in the process. Tuck needs a new plan. He needs to take drastic action and risk everything. So Tuck tells Gisborne that Hood's body is buried at Dead Man's Crossing, while also telling the Outlaws that Robin lives and wants to meet them at the same place. Tuck watches, secretly, as the outlaws are captured by Gisborne.
Robin realizes he must return to being Robin Hood, firstly by saving his men. Luckily, Tuck has a master plan and, with the help of Tuck and an eclipse, Robin saves his men. He then confronts Gisborne but, instead of killing him, Robin realizes a far worse punishment is to leave him living in hell...
Tropes
- Actually Pretty Funny: The Sheriff seems to find Allan's Gallows Humor genuinely amusing.
- Armor-Piercing Response: Tuck gives one to Robin when the despondent hero asks Tuck why his fight matters so much to the priest.Robin: Whay are you doing this?! Why does it matter so much to you?!Tuck: Because I have nothing in my life but my God and my country. I have no family, no wife, but I have a full heart, and passion must go somewhere, Robin.
- Batman Gambit: Tuck has the outlaws arrested in order to motivate Robin back into becoming Robin Hood.
- Big "NO!": Gisborne gets two: one at the beginning of the episode when a vengeful Robin tells him Marian married him, and again when he sees Robin is still alive.
- Tuck also lets out one when he thinks Robin is about to murder a helpless Gisborne.
- Combat Pragmatist: After seeing Tuck easily beat John and Allan, Much decides discretion is the better part of valour.
- Cruel Mercy: Robin allows Guy to live, tortured by his own guilt.Gisborne: Do it! End it, please!Robin: [stunned] You want this?Gisborne: I live in hell.Robin: Then stay there!
- Crusading Widower: For this single episode, Robin is driven solely by vengeance for Guy's murder of Marian. Tuck walks him back from the ledge, he recommits himself to serving the people, and by the next episode he's pretty much back to normal.
- Death Seeker: Guy appears to have become one. Robin too, to a lesser extent. The latter gets over it, at least long enough to last the course of the third series.
- Despair Speech: Robin gives one to Tuck, insisting that he gave everything he had for the people of Nottingham and it cost him everything; his home, his title and the love of his life.Tuck: Every day it gets worse. Injustice, cruelty, corruption...these people suffer and they starve. And you'll abandon them? [Robin walks away] Robin! Where are you going?Robin: [angry] I struggled, I fought, I gave everything I had! I even gave the life of the woman I love!
- He's Back!: With Tuck's help, Robin does this in spectacular fashion, rescuing Much, John and Allan and humiliating Vaisey and Gisborne in the process.Tuck: You see, the sun emerges again, like England's protector - his journey is complete. He appears into the light and he will save you. He has returned. The legend is alive!Jasper: Surprise, surprise!Gisborne: No, it can't be--Vaisey: [to Gisborne] YOU INCOMPETENT... FOOL!!!Gisborne: NOOOOOOO! [Robin pins Gisborne and Vaisey to the wall with arrows]
- Implied Death Threat: Jasper drops one of these to Vaizey when he protests the impossibility of paying the Prince 1000 crowns a month, pointing out John's protection is the only thing that kept Vaisey's head on his shoulders and that if he doesn't justify that faith, John might decide to just cut his losses.Vaizey: This is impossible!Jasper: Count yourself lucky; the King wanted your head on a spike. Prince John protected you and demands that you repay his loyalty, otherwise he'll be obliged to...Vaizey: [unnerved] What?!Jasper: Let you go.
- Impossible Task: Although not directly stated, it is implied that meeting the new tax of 1,000 crowns a month is not something the Sheriff is seriously meant to be able to sustain; he directly calls it "impossible" the moment he hears about it (his reaction suggests he thinks it's a joke), and his struggles to raise the money in time drive the plot of most episodes between now and "Do You Love Me?", when Prince John appears in person.
- Kung-Fu Jesus: What Tuck seems to want to turn Robin into in Total Eclipse by having him rescue the other outlaws during an eclipse, with it ending just as Robin is perched dramatically on the battlements.
- Miles to Go Before I Sleep: Robin is ready to throw in the towel and go on a Suicide Mission to kill Gisborne in a Taking You with Me Murder-Suicide — but circumstances bring him down off the ledge, as do Marian's final words to him to "keep fighting for me". He vows to go on, though by the Grand Finale he's clearly emotionally and mentally exhausted, and finally gets to succumb to death and join Marian in the afterlife.
- The Mourning After: Robin is still clearly heartbroken by Marian's death. Tuck convinces him that the Sheriff and Gisborne still need to be fought, and the episode ends with him burying Marian's ring beneath a tree.Robin: I will never stop loving you.
- Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: While Gisborne and Vaisey are still united in their desire to destroy Robin, it's pretty clear that their failure in the Holy Land and Marian's death has irrevocably poisoned their relationship.Vaisey: You pathetic, misery-addled mess. You are teetering on the brink of dispensability, Gisborne; see that you don't fall off.Gisborne: You know, I've come to the conclusion that I really don't like you.
- Total Eclipse of the Plot: As the episode title would suggest, an eclipse plays a dramatic part in the story.
