Prince John (Toby Stephens) pays a long-awaited visit to Nottingham, and he is out to make trouble, longing for the coveted title of King. Gisborne and the Sheriff are assigned a royal mission which surely spells the end for one of them. Meanwhile, Robin is forced to save a wounded Kate, and Locksley from destruction.
Tropes
- Ambiguously Jewish: Benjamin Palmer, Prince John's physician.
- Blindfolded Trip: This is how Robin brings Isabella to the outlaws' encampment. Somewhat Played for Laughs since the two of them exchange a Held Gaze when the blindfold comes off, only for Isabella to quickly realize that the rest of the outlaws are staring.
- Blow Gun: Tuck uses one of these during the ambush on Prince John's carriage.
- Body Double: Along with being Prince John's physician, Benjamin also travels as his decoy from place to place.
- Cowardly Lion: Benjamin is a rather timid man who's constantly asking people not to kill him, but comes through for Robin and the oulaws when he's needed to set up the Scrofula con.
- Disproportionate Retribution: After hearing that Robin called him a "coward" for utilizing a decoy, John travels to Locksley and has its church burned to the ground — while a couple he's just blessed is getting married inside.
- Elephant in the Living Room: Kate is felled by a dagger to the stomach and hovers on the brink of death. This is exactly how Marian died (though with a sword and not a dagger) and yet nobody says a word...
- The End... Or Is It?: The Sheriff is thought to have been Killed Off for Real, but as his body is being taken away his fingers move, indicating that he's Not Quite Dead.
- Epic Fail: At Locksley a random villager rushes up to Gisborne with the intent to kill... only to end up Taking the Bullet for him when he gets in the way of the arrow that the Sheriff has just fired, Vaizey having seized the opportunity to get rid of Gisborne at the exact same moment.
- Faux Action Girl: During the ambush on Prince John's carriage, Kate leaps into the fray alongside the villagers and the other outlaws... and is almost immediately felled by a dagger to the stomach.
- Finger-Twitching Revival: The Sheriff as his body is being carted away.
- Forgot About His Powers: Two episodes ago, Tuck could tell if a person was lying by taking their pulse. This isn't something he offers to do when it comes to gauging whether or not they can believe Isabella.
- Healing Hands: Prince John wants to believe he has these in order to prove himself the rightful king by laying his hands on a Scrofula victim and healing them with "the royal touch" (as was widely believed possible at the time).
- Insane Troll Logic: Prince John suffers from this, as he can't seem to fathom why the common people hate him... after he's just burned a church to the ground while a wedding takes place inside it.
- Lady in Red: Isabella wears two very fetching red dresses this episode, all the better to attract Prince John's attention.
- The Load: During her first skirmish as an outlaw Kate is hit by a stray dagger and collapses to the ground. She spends the next half-hour being tended to by the other outlaws, requiring Much to spoon-fed her at one point.
- Love Dodecahedron: Allan and Much are still chasing after Kate, who is casting moon-eyes at Robin, who is coming on strong to Isabella, who is just as attracted to him, but also flirting with Prince John.
- Master of the Mixed Message: Last episode Robin stole Isabella's purse and accused her of lying to him, grabbing her face and pushing her into a tree for good measure. This episode he's back to flirting with her and telling the other outlaws: "I trust her with my life."
- Meaningless Meaningful Words: Before his “death”, Vaizey tells Guy: “nothing is what it seems”, which is just vague enough to sound portentous and meaningful, but really relates to nothing that’s going on in the scenario. The only thing that’s “not what it seems” is the fact that he's not fatally wounded after all, as the Finger-Twitching Revival in the final scene proves — but then why would Vaizey want to draw Guy’s attention to this fact when it was within his best interests to be believed dead?
- Men of Sherwood: The Locksley villagers prove themselves competent fighters when they help the outlaws ambush Prince John's carriage and overpower his personal guards.
- Mistaken Death Confirmation: The Sheriff of Nottingham is assassinated by Guy of Gisborne on Prince John's orders, and Gisborne presents John with the Sheriff's bejewelled false tooth by way of proof. The Sheriff has a Finger-Twitching Revival at the end of the episode after two guards deal with his body, and returns as the Final Boss in the Grand Finale, but the show is very vague about how he survived (the Sheriff himself only noting it was a "very nasty wound" that Gisborne gave him).
- Never My Fault: During their fight to the death, Guy says to the Sheriff: "you're the reason Marian is dead." Vaizey wasn't even present when Marian was killed, demonstrating that Guy is still not ready to take responsibility for her murder.
- Plagued by Nightmares: The episode opens with Guy thrashing around in his bed, beset with nightmares. It's suggested that this is a nightly occurrence.
- Poisoned Chalice Switcheroo: When both the Sheriff and Gisborne worry that one has poisoned the other's meal, they keep on switching the two bowls of food over.
- Psychopathic Manchild: Prince John, who behaves like an overgrown Spoiled Brat.
- Slouch of Villainy: Prince John lounges in his open-air carriage like he's on a sofa in his private living room.
- This Looks Like a Job for Aquaman: When the outlaws come up with a plan to undermine Prince John and his belief that he can magically heal the sick, Kate is chosen to be the Scrofula victim. The justification is that she was hit by an errant dagger earlier in the episode and (in her words): "already looks like death." But this completely ignores the fact that Tuck then brews up a philtre that causes boils and sores to well up over Kate's skin — which is obviously something that any of the outlaws could have taken, to exactly the same effect. So all they're doing is sending a badly injured woman into a dangerous situation for no reason whatsoever.
- Traveling at the Speed of Plot: After Prince John has Locksley Church set on fire, Allan manages to deliver the news to the outlaws in Sherwood Forest and have everyone return to the village in record time — well before the church itself collapses.
- Unexplained Recovery: Vaizey is stabbed by Gisborne, but a Finger-Twitching Revival suggests he's Not Quite Dead — though how he managed to survive a stab wound to the chest goes completely unexplained.
- Victory Is Boring: Prince John doesn't sit around for very long watching Locksley burn before he announces that he's bored and heads back to Nottingham Castle.
- Wham Episode: Guy stabs the Sheriff of Nottingham to death (or so he believes) and delivers his false tooth to Prince John as proof.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: The ambush on Prince John's carriage involves dozens of men recruited from Locksley village — but as soon as the skirmish ends, they all disappear into thin air!
