A family reunion between Allan and his brother Tom turns sour when Tom and his crooked friends tag along. Meanwhile, a young couple turn up at Nottingham, asking Sir Guy of Gisborne to marry them. Gisborne takes a small necklace off the girl, the only thing of value she has. He then gives it as a gift to Marian, who gives it to Robin to return to the girl.
When Gisborne sees it around the girl's neck again, he suspects that Marian is in league with Robin, and gives it to a local conman named Lucky George, saying that it no longer means anything to him. The Sheriff suspects a spy in the castle is betraying his plans to Robin Hood and orders Gisborne to set a trap. Gisborne mistakenly suspects his own sergeant, who dies under torture. The actual culprit is Marian.
Eventually Tom and his gang are taken by the Sheriff's men and hanged. In a cruel twist, the Sheriff advances the hanging by an hour, so that by the time Robin and the gang arrive for the rescue they are already too late, and Robin, finding out that Gisborne knows Marian gave the necklace back, goes to get it from Lucky George to find that he does not have it; however, among Tom's possessions is the necklace, which they stole back.
While Robin eventually returns the necklace to Marian just in time for her to "prove" her innocence, Marian is forced to promise Sir Guy that—in order to protect herself and her father from the Sheriff—she will marry him the day King Richard returns from his crusade. A devastated Robin listens just outside Marian's upstairs window.
Tropes
- Almost Kiss: An interesting variation occurs here, in which Guy moves in to kiss Marian after she's accepted his marriage proposal. The Moment Killer is the fact that Marian is tearful and frightened, having just been threatened by Guy over the whereabouts of a missing necklace that links her to Robin and been forced to accept Guy's proposal in order to assuage the suspicion. Realizing that now is not the best time to kiss his bride-to-be, Guy backs off.
- It provides a much darker comparison with an Almost Kiss between Robin and Marian earlier in the episode, in which Robin tries for a kiss and Marian coyly draws away.
- Balcony Wooing Scene: It's not quite a balcony, but Robin parkours up to Marian's window to have a conversation with her, in a way that's clearly staged as romantic and quite possibly a Shout-Out to a similar scene between Errol Flynn and Oliva de Havilland's Robin and Marian in The Adventures of Robin Hood.
- Chekhov's Skill: Robin parkours his way up the side of Marian's house for a chat at the beginning of the episode; at its end he has to it again in order to return the necklace without Guy noticing him.
- Dramatic Irony: Robin Hood is famous for robbing the rich to give to the poor. In this episode, his nemesis Guy of Gisborne robs from the poor to give to the rich (taking a necklace from village girl Eleri to bestow on high-born Lady Marian).
- Dramatic Necklace Removal: Averted. When this trope is played straight, the necklace is easily pulled off by the villain without any pain on the part of the wearer. Here, the first time Guy takes Eleri's necklace, he gently unclasps it (even taking off his glove to do so); the second time he yanks it off, but it visibly hurts her.
- Fake-Out Make-Out: Much and Eleri when a patrol of soldiers go by.
- Mandatory Line: Little John gets exactly one (1) line in this episode.
- Ransacked Room: Marian does this to her own room in an attempt to make it look like the necklace has been stolen. Unfortunately, Guy catches her in the act and realizes what she's up to.
- You Are Too Late: Of the sixth kind. When Robin and the outlaws attempt to save Allan-a-Dale's brother from hanging, they find that the Sheriff, in a rare smart moment, has already hanged him an hour ago.
