abstract
| - The Sheriff surrounds Nottingham Castle with men and unfurls the flag of truce to give his demands. Robin and Gisborne ride out, and the Sheriff's requests are simple: To demonstrate, he launches a Byzantine fireball into the market square. Returning to the town, Robin aims to prepare for a siege, delaying tactics until the King's men at Loughborough can be alerted to the situation and summoned. Gisborne asks why Robin didn't end it all by handing him over to the Sheriff: The outlaws hold a funeral for Allan, whilst Gisborne visits Isabella in the cells, and gives her a vial of poison, as he believes the outlaws will show her no mercy now, and he chooses to give her the easy way out. Kate makes her way out of the castle to get word to the King's men. Archer admits that he was the one who sold the Byzantine fire to the Sheriff; in the resulting confrontation, he accuses Robin of leading the peasants to their death. Robin decides to sabotage the Sheriff's trebuchets, and a short while later infiltrate his camp. However, as they are escaping, the Sheriff prepares to attack; he had no intention of waiting till dawn. The sabotaged trebuchets launch their missiles straight up; what goes up must come down, and the trebuchets are destroyed. Attempting to escape, the outlaws are stopped, but Archer comes to their rescue. Back in Nottingham, he hands Tuck a bottle of Byzantine fire in the hope of making some more. His long-range weapons destroyed, the Sheriff prepares to storm Nottingham. The Sheriff breaks down the Nottingham gate, but the outlaws are waiting for him with several lines of archers, and they take down many of the Sheriff's men before retreating to the courtyard. In the dungeons, Isabella makes her escape. In the courtyard, the outlaws prepare to respond as the Sheriff breaks through the gates. However, he has captured Kate, who was making her way back from Loughborough - with the news that King Richard has been captured by Leopold of Austria and is being held to ransom, and that the troops will not fight without Richard to lead them. The Sheriff, bored of the usual "game", orders Kate killed, only for Much to drop down and rescue her; the rebels open fire. Beaten back, the Sheriff proclaims "That is the last time Robin Hood makes a fool out of me!" As the Sheriff's men fall back, reality sets in and the troops' morale dies. Tuck tells Robin that the people need him, inspiring him for one last Rousing Speech: The troops' morale returns, conveniently just as the Sheriff's men renew their attack. As the fight continues, the Sheriff prepares to enter Nottingham Castle via the secret tunnel, remembering just as they get there that it's blocked by Isabella's trap. He prepares to clear the tunnel with the remaining stocks of Byzantine fire. Back in the castle, Tuck finds supplies of boiling oil, which is the base compound of Byzantine fire; with a little adaptation, it is ready for use. At that moment, the situation in the courtyard gets worse, as the Sheriff's men breach the portcullis. Everyone is drawn back into the castle, but Isabella lures Guy (followed by Archer) into the secret tunnel. In the tunnel, Archer notices a grille which leads into the cellars of the castle. At that moment, the Sheriff's Byzantine fire goes off, clearing the tunnel. Gisborne goes on alone as Archer fetches Robin, only to find it is a trap laid by the Sheriff and Isabella. Before the Sheriff can kill Guy, though, Archer returns with Robin. A fight breaks out, during which Archer is disarmed; Gisborne throws his sword to him, then pushes Robin out of the way of Isabella before she can stab him, but that leaves him defenceless as both the Sheriff and Isabella impale him. Isabella still managed to graze Robin with her knife, which is coated with Gisborne's poison. The elated Sheriff and company run off to summon an army to finish off the rebels. Gisborne tells Robin about the extension of the tunnel that leads into the cellars, and admits with his dying breath that he has lived in shame, with not even Marian waiting for him in Heaven, and he is just grateful that he "dies free". Tuck has now positioned all the Byzantine fire he has made in the Great Hall. The rebels make their way to the cellars, and watch as the Sheriff brings his men through the tunnel to the Great Hall. They make their escape as the last of the men go by; Robin and Archer double back to the castle, and Robin fires a flaming arrow into the castle just as the Sheriff and Isabella arrive, wondering how everyone could have escaped. As Robin and Archer run for it... The Great Hall explodes; as it collapses, one of the castle towers loses integrity and crashes against the other, bringing the entire castle down and (presumably) killing the Sheriff, Isabella and all the guards. The outlaws begin to celebrate, but then they learn that Robin has been mortally wounded. In Sherwood, Robin says his goodbyes to the outlaws, imploring them to continue the fight. He leaves them to wander deeper into the forest; as he crawls up against a tree to die, he has a vision of Marian's spirit coming to fetch him. Later, the outlaws are carrying his body through the forest. Pausing for a moment, Tuck assures them that they will continue his work, and carry on in his name; then they carry on, taking the body deeper into the forest.
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