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Recap / Robin Hood S 03 E 02 Cause And Effect

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The Sheriff agrees to sell all local men to Finn, the rightful King of Ireland, who wants them to help liberate Ireland.

Kate, a village girl, tries to save her younger brother, Matthew, from the conscription being imposed by the Sheriff of Nottingham, but her sibling still gets caught by Gisborne and his henchmen. Now she has endangered herself, but she escapes and Robin manages to save her.

Kate joins the Outlaws as they try – and fail – to save the conscripts. Robin is caught, shackled and taken to the Castle, though his identity remains unknown. Tuck takes control and concludes they'll have to launch an ambush, as Robin is transported.

Kate, however, sneaks inside the Castle but she's recognised by Gisborne, who says her brother will hang. To save him, Kate tells Gisborne that Robin is with the conscripts.

Robin leads the village men in a fight for freedom but they get trapped. Gisborne kills Kate's brother and goes for Robin, but the Sheriff wants him to suffer a slow death and locks him in the vault.

Finn is impressed by Robin and wants them to join forces to destroy Prince John. Robin rejects the offer, but Finn still tries to break him out, only to be betrayed by his brother, Tiernan.

Kate tells the Outlaws about Robin, who prioritises his rescue. Kate reluctantly realises she must help Robin.

The Sheriff and Tiernan leave to transport the conscripts to the coast. Meanwhile, in the dungeon, the appearance of a mouse shows Robin a loose stone, which he and Finn manage to dislodge in order to escape (before converting a canopy on the castle roof into a hang-glider). They speed to the coast road to help rescue the conscripts where the Outlaws launch an arrow attack. Gisborne and the Sheriff meet Prince John's men who are expecting payment. Instead, the Sheriff gives them Gisborne.

Kate's paid her debt for turning Robin in; now she never wants to see him again. Robin announces the day is coming when they will fight to overthrow the injustice in England.


Tropes

  • Air-Vent Passageway: How Robin and Finn escape the Oubliette, once they dig far enough through the walls to reach it.
  • Always Save the Girl: The moment Robin sees that Kate is being held hostage by Gisborne, he calls off the conscripts' attempt to fight their way out of Nottingham Castle.
  • Armor-Piercing Response: Vaisey gives a furious one to Gisborne when Guy mouths off to him, reminding Gisborne that his master is still dangerous.
    Sheriff: [furious] Because... [he throws his dagger at Gisborne; it lands in the wood of the door an inch from Gisborne's head] I AM THE SHERIFF OF NOTTINGHAM!!!
  • Badass Crew: Invoked by Finn, who comments at the end of the episode that it's better to have a small, well-trained and loyal group of men than an army.
  • Be Careful What You Wish For: On taking her leave of Robin, Kate tells him: "I never want to see you again." She'll eventually get her wish, but by that point she'll deeply regret it.
  • Bedmate Reveal: Guy walks into the Great Hall to wake up Tiernan, and quickly realizes that he's got a woman with him in the makeshift bed.
  • Being Evil Sucks: As Robin points out to Gisborne during their confrontation, he's living in abject misery and no punishment could be worse than his own self-loathing.
  • Bitch Slap: Kate's mother slaps her in the face on learning that her son is dead.
  • Bloodless Carnage: Matthew gets run-through with a sword, but there's not a trace of any blood.
  • Bond Villain Stupidity: Robin is completely surrounded and at the Sheriff and Gisborne's mercy... and they opt to lock him in a windowless cell which he naturally escapes from in a matter of minutes.
  • Cain and Abel: Irish brothers Finn (Abel) and Tiernan (Cain). Subverted a little in that it's the younger brother who betrays the elder (it's usually the other way around).
  • Cardboard Prison: The Sheriff brags that the Oubliette Robin gets locked inside is completely impenetrable. It's not long before he pulls out the mortar around the stones and makes his escape.
  • Character Shilling: Much calls Kate "amazing!" when she sneaks into Nottingham Castle despite the fact that the outlaws do this practically Once per Episode due to its Swiss-Cheese Security, while Allan describes her as "a good fighter" even though the only time he's seen her fight is when she rushed prematurely into battle without a weapon and subsequently botched the whole operation.
  • Chekhov's Army: Ultimately averted. The freed village men are certainly set up to be this, with Robin explicitly referring to their Slave Brands as identifying marks and informing them they'll one day be called upon to help him overthrow their oppressors, but after this episode they're never seen or mentioned again.
  • Continuity Nod: Marian's lockpick makes a reappearance, with Robin using it to unlock the chains of the enslaved men in Nottingham Castle's courtyard.
  • Crash-Into Hello: How Robin and Kate meet, with the two of them tumbling over each other after Robin pulls her off the road and into the bushes.
  • Detrimental Determination: Kate is determined to save her younger brother from forced conscription, but every time she tries to help, she only makes the situation worse for him.
  • Devious Daggers: Guy thinks he's bested Tiernan in their swordfight, only for Tiernan to draw attention to the fact he's drawn a dagger and is holding the point against Guy's stomach.
  • Dramatic Irony: As Kate and Robin part ways at the end of this episode, she tells him "I never want to see you again." Eleven episodes later, she'll get her wish — but by then it won't be to her liking.
  • Easily Forgiven: Kate rats out Robin's location to Guy in exchange for her brother's freedom. Robin is only in the castle in the first place because he tried to help Kate free her brother, but the outlaws express shock at her betrayal for about two seconds before being completely fine with it. The episode ends with Robin apologizing to her for her brother's death.
  • Enemy Mine: Finn figures that he and Robin can be allies since they have a mutual enemy in Prince John.
  • Epic Fail: Kate sneaks into Nottingham Castle to save her brother and is immediately recognized and taken captive by Gisborne.
  • Fighting Irish: The Irish brothers, one of whom arbitrarily picks a fight with Gisborne whilst hung-over.
  • Foreshadowing: Guy makes a brief (and somewhat random) comment that his mother was French, setting up a detail in the Whole Episode Flashback later in the season.
  • The Hedonist: Tiernan clearly prefers women and wine to his brother's cause of winning the Irish throne.
  • Hypocrite: Kate criticizes the outlaws for prioritizing Robin over the rest of the Locksley villagers after he's taken prisoner, ignoring the fact that she didn't spare a thought for anyone but her own brother in any of her repeated attempts to save him (including the one in which she bungles the ambush in the forest when the outlaws are clearly attempting to rescue everyone).
  • In Defence Of Storytelling: Tuck is a big proponent of this, telling Kate: "Stories are important. Stronger than truth. Heroes inspire us."
  • In the Hood: Matthew lends Robin a hood in order to disguise himself when he's taken prisoner along with the other Locksley men.
  • Improbable Hairstyle: The first appearance of Kate's notorious forehead braid, though her dark roots and straightened hair also stick out like a sore thumb, even in a show with this many anachronisms.
  • Love at First Sight: It only takes a glimpse of Kate for Much to fall head-over-heels.
  • Made a Slave: The able-bodied men of Locksley are rounded up for enforced conscription into Finn's army.
  • The Millstone: First Kate gives away Matthew's hiding place when keeping her distance would have prevented any attention from being drawn to him, then she prematurely runs into battle in Sherwood Forest to untie Matthew before the outlaws have properly scoped out the terrain, resulting in both Matthew and Robin being caught unawares by Finn. Then she ditches the remaining outlaws in order to try and free Matthew from Nottingham Castle by herself, resulting in her immediate capture by Gisborne and Matthew getting killed when he tries to rescue her. Had she just stayed home that day, Matthew would have been safe three times over.
  • New Neighbors As The Plot Demands: We've never seen Kate or her family before this episode, but as future episodes will confirm, they've lived in Locksley for many years.
  • Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Poor Matthew stood a better chance of survival in the army considering his sister botches three separate attempts to save him from his enforced conscription. When she's taken captive by Gisborne, Matthew dies trying to save her.
  • Ooh, Me Accent's Slipping: Finn and Tiernan's Irish accents are... questionable.
  • Oubliette: Robin is wrapped in chains and locked within a windowless chamber in the middle of Nottingham Castle. He can only escape by pulling out one of the flagstones and crawling his way into the Air-Vent Passageway.
  • Paper-Thin Disguise: Matthew gives Robin a hood that covers his head and shoulders to disguise himself, though it still doesn't do much to hide his face.
  • Remember the New Guy?: A strange inversion since Robin doesn’t acknowledge Kate as one of his serfs when they run into each other, calling her “young lady” in lieu of knowing her name and clearly not recognizing her as a Locksley villager. This is decidedly odd since Robin is on a First-Name Basis with all of his people, and indeed, the very next episode has him addressing Kate’s mother by name and in such a way that suggests he’s known her for years (the episode after that confirms Rebecca and her family have lived in Locksley for at least a decade).
  • Ridiculously Cute Critter: The appearance of a cute little mouse from out of the walls of his prison cell gives Robin the idea to dig his way through the walls. Later he prevents Finn from stamping on it.
  • Rousing Speech: The episode ends on one of these when Robin addresses the newly-freed men, telling them to prepare for a day when the Sheriff will be held accountable for his crimes against them.
  • Sibling Rivalry: Between Irish brothers Finn and Tiernan, with the latter eventually betraying the former.
  • Slave Brand: The conscripted men are branded as they're taken prisoner. In his Rousing Speech, Robin tells them that one day these marks will be a badge of honor.
  • Standard Female Grab Area: Gisborne renders Kate helpless by holding her upper arm.
  • Take Care of the Kids: Matthew's final words are to beseech Kate to take care of their family.
  • Taking the Heat: After Tuck scolds Kate for running prematurely into battle, Allan tries to deescalate the situation by admitting that he did it too — even though he was clearly attempting to prevent Kate from doing so.
  • Too Dumb to Live: Matthew. It's admirable that he would try to help his sister, but she wasn't in any immediate danger and what was he hoping to achieve by going up against a man twice his size with no plan?
  • A Tragedy of Impulsiveness: If Kate had just slowed down and considered her options, or allowed Robin and the outlaws to assist her without rushing off half-cocked, Matthew would have almost certainly survived the episode.
  • Victim of the Week: Matthew, who Gisborne kills as he's trying to save his sister.
  • Waif-Fu: Tiny Kate manages to overpower an armored guard with a Groin Attack and a high-kick to the face.
  • We Can Rule Together: Finn offers this to Robin, impressed by how he inspires such loyalty in his men.
  • Well, Excuse Me, Princess!: Allan's initial reaction to Kate's attitude is this trope epitomized in a single facial expression.
  • What Happened to the Mouse?: The outlaws utilize a device that shoots off multiple arrows at the same time — a very handy invention that's never again seen after this episode.
    • It's also unclear what happened to Matthew's body. Previous episodes have demonstrated that the bodies of executed men are handed back to their families, but Matthew's is last seen in the courtyard of Nottingham Castle.
  • What the Hell Is That Accent?: Despite being brothers (and therefore presumably from the same place), one of the Irish boys has a Northern Irish accent while the other has a Dublin accent.
  • Why Don't You Just Shoot Him?: Gisborne has Robin Hood completely at his mercy, but is stopped from killing him by the Sheriff who opts for a slow and painful death by locking him in a stone chamber (which Robin naturally escapes from in a matter of minutes).
  • You Have Failed Me: Having finally had enough of Gisborne's failures, Vaisey hands him over to Prince John's men to explain where his money is.
    Sheriff: Ah, Prince John's escort. They want their money, Gisborne.
    Gisborne: So what do we do?
    Sheriff: We? [chuckles] Do you think that I'm going to be responsible for your arrogance and your incompetence again!? [pulls out Gisborne's sword and points it at him] Hm?
    Gisborne: You can't be serious! Put it down!
    Sheriff: [sternly] No, Gisborne. This time, you pay my dues! [to Prince John's men] Gentlemen, good to see you! Very smart, lovely colours, tight-fitting uniform, excellent! Slight change of plan. There is no patronage money... [shoves Gisborne towards them]
    Gisborne:What?!

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