Jonas Armstrong.net - Robin Hood Series 2 Episode Guide

Jonas Armstrong is back as Britain's best-loved outlaw, as Dominic Minghella's Robin Hood returns for a new series.

Robin and the gang have been busy constructing their ingenious new camp, but, when Knighton Hall is razed and Marian and Edward are taken to the castle under house arrest, it's clear that the rules have changed.

As the state of Nottingham gets worse, Allan A Dale becomes agitated. He wants more and a distracted Robin cannot reassure him – he's too busy preparing to rescue two girls and their pretty mother, Rose, as well as formulating a plan to help Marian – so Allan goes AWOL, determined to make his own way in the world.

A series of events then changes everything – Allan's trickster japes land him in the castle dungeons, Rose is revealed as the Sheriff's sister and the lure of the two girls is exposed as a brilliant trap laid by the Sheriff.

In his first mission since discovering the devastating truth about operation Shah Mat, Robin launches an abortive raid on Nottingham Castle's new Strong Room, as Dominic Minghella's drama continues.

The Sheriff has stored all his Shah Mat funding in the medieval Fort Knox, but, before the Black Knights arrive to divide up the silver, he's preparing a final big deposit.

Having underestimated the Strong Room's array of deadly traps, Robin rethinks his strategy – resolving to track down the original Strong Room designers who have been mutilated, by order of the Sheriff, to prevent them leaking the secrets behind their brilliant designs. With the help of now-blind designer Steven, Robin and his men build up a picture of the Strong Room mechanics and practice how to beat it.

Meanwhile, in the Castle, Gisborne has ordered Marian to pander to every whim of the high-roller Prince Frederick of Hanheim, who has arrived to play in the casino. In fact, the Sheriff has no intention of losing to this Bavarian Count, and, when outraged Frederick learns the Sheriff's plan to fleece him using crooked dice in the casino, Marian gains a vital ally. For Frederick is not the booby the Sheriff initially thought, and, together with Robin and the gang, they formulate a plan to rob the Strong Room.

All Frederick must do is lose, but he ends up winning. Things aren't looking so good for Robin in the Strong Room, either. Traitor Allan has leaked information about Robin's attempt on the Strong Room and Gisborne has ordered modifications.

When a group of boys accidentally stumbles on Gisborne's weapons-testing site, all but one is taken prisoner as Dominic Minghella's drama continues. The resourceful escapee, Daniel, is able to elude Gisborne's men and runs to Robin to raise the alarm. Robin is horrified to discover that Gisborne has developed an indestructible new suit of armour, made of special Damascus steel – an army wearing this armour would easily defeat King Richard and must be stopped!

Gisborne has taken the boys back to Locksley Manor where the Sheriff orders that they be hanged. Luckily, Robin and his gang arrive in the nick of time. What's more, Robin cleverly steals the impressive black diamond, used to create the Damascus steel. But disaster strikes and Daniel is captured during the scramble.

The Sheriff immediately demands an exchange – Robin can have Daniel back if he hands over the black diamond. Robin's priority is rescuing Daniel and he and the gang decide that they will agree to the exchange and, once made, they will then torch Locksley and melt the black diamond once and for all.

Marian learns of Daniel's capture and puts a plan into action. Feigning interest in seeing Gisborne, she requests a night pass from the Sheriff. She doctors the document so that the signature can be mistaken as a release for Daniel. Marian runs her plan past Robin as she needs one of the outlaws to pose as a guard and take Daniel. To everyone's surprise, Allan volunteers, but he only sees it as a brilliant opportunity to leak Robin's plan to Gisborne.

Once Gisborne is forewarned of Robin's plan, he arms himself to the hilt, donning his indestructible suit of armour. Now a rescue attempt is virtually impossible and Robin must think fast if he's to save a boy's life and stop a vital part of the Sheriff's war machine.

The Sheriff and his sinister scientist, Joseph, are testing a chemical weapon on a street in Nottingham Town and blaming the ill effects on the Pestilence; but Dan Scarlett, who's in town to visit his son, Will, knows it's not the pestilence at all, as Dominic Minghella's drama continues.

Dan wants Will to become his apprentice and run the family's carpentry business, but Will is frustrated that his father is blind to the good work he does as an outlaw. Father and son bicker about what's best for Will – but tragically fail to resolve their dispute before the Sheriff murders Dan for speaking out against the suspected poisoning.

Now Robin realises that the Sheriff is up to something and resolves to track down the source of the poison before more innocent people die. Bravely plunging into the heart of "pestilence" territory, the outlaws work tirelessly to soothe the sick – little realising that the strange helper from Leicester is none other than Joseph!

Worse still, Robin believes Will has returned to Scarborough when, in fact, he's headed straight for the Castle to punish the Sheriff for his act. With lives at stake, Robin must track down the source of the poison in time. But what will he do when he realises that Will is intent on avenging his father's death at any cost..?

Marian (Lucy Griffiths) is put in danger in the castle by a spy in the outlaw's camp. A horrified Robin realises that his plan to capture the Sheriff's spy, Henry of Lewes, has failed because he has a traitor in his gang. Fearing for Marian's safety in the castle, Robin sets about rooting out the turncoat. His only clue is supplied by Marian: the spy's meeting place is located at the Trip To Jerusalem Inn, where the traitor outlaw sells his secrets to Gisborne.

With two missions to complete Robin is relieved when Henry of Lewes arrives at the castle unconscious, his vital information about the King's landing sites remaining a mystery. Robin infiltrates the castle to silence Henry, but help arrives in the shape of harridan wise-woman Matilda, tasked by the Sheriff to nurse Henry to health. Asking Robin to look after her heavily pregnant daughter, Matilda promises that she'll silence Henry using special herbs, but doesn't bargain upon the Sheriff making the connection with Robin Hood and putting her life in mortal peril...

Robin returns to the forest with Matilda's daughter, to a confused and hurt gang: they resent being suspected of treachery and it takes all of Robin's leadership skills to rally his outlaws into helping Rosa.

But then Marian arrives, reporting that Matilda is about to be tried for witchcraft. The race is on to rescue her before she drowns. Can Robin trust his gang to save the lives at stake as well as silencing Henry? As Robin well knows, there is a spy in his gang who needs catching before this day is out.

Guest Star - Josie Lawrence as Matilda

The Sheriff's Black Knights gather at the castle to attend a feast and declare their allegiance to Prince John by signing the Great Pact of Nottingham. With the outlaws disguised as entertainers, Robin infiltrates the castle to join forces with the only man who can stop them: former Sheriff Edward's old ally and Black Knight, the Sheriff of Winchester. Winchester's territory is key to the Sheriff's Shah Mat plan that will apprehend a homecoming King Richard at the southern ports.

Once Robin is satisfied he has convinced Winchester to stand up to the Sheriff, he sends the outlaws on a diversionary mission and writes a farewell letter to Marian. Preparing to make his greatest sacrifice alone for King Richard and England, Robin hopes to finish Shah Mat once and for all by killing all the Black Knights.

As Robin enters the feast disguised as a Black Knight, he's in for a terrible shock: Winchester is revealed to be corrupt and has double-crossed Robin, lining him up for the Sheriff to kill. With Marian added as a sweetener to his deal, Winchester has set Robin up. Surrounded by a roomful of enemies, Robin faces certain death alone. Only with the help of his outlaw gang can he hope to fight for his life.

Guest Star - Dennis Lawson as Sheriff of Winchester

Robin is determined to get hold of the Great Pact of Nottingham, written proof of the Sheriff's treason as Dominic Minghella's drama continues. So when lovelorn Knight John of York and his chest of silver pass by Robin and the gang, and the Knight begs the outlaws to take pity on him and save his girl, Robin formulates a plan.

The Knight is sent off not only with his money, but the gang's too. For Robin intends to rob everything back once it reaches the castle by using York's silver to locate where the Sheriff's treasure – including the Pact – is hidden.

As the outlaws gather at the castle shadowing York's chest, fate is about to deal a devastating blow in the form of Gisborne's new right-hand man, Allan A Dale. While Marian tends to Edward in the dungeons she overhears Allan earning his keep by giving all of the outlaws' secret entrances away. Once Robin realises that Marian's under threat too, he decides that England can wait: Marian needs saving!

Edward, meanwhile, is spurred to action: if the Pact offers irrefutable evidence of Prince John's treason, then he resolves to do all he can to retrieve it. Escaping his dungeon, he locates the Pact of Nottingham in the Sheriff's secret safe.

But, as Marian prevents Robin from silencing Allan, Edward is discovered escaping Nottingham and concealing the pact – with tragic and life-changing consequences for Marian.

Marian wakes up in Sherwood Forest on the first day of the rest of her life as an outlaw with Robin and his gang, as Dominic Minghella's drama continues. Surprising everyone with a new energy and recklessness, however, she jeopardises the gang's mission to bring aid to Clun Village after it's ransacked by the Sheriff's men.

The outlaws think their luck is in when Clun's new avenging hero, Carter – a fearless ex-Crusade fighter – arrives in the nick of time to help them all out. Unfortunately, Carter just happens to be the Sheriff's hired assassin, and the ransacking of Clun village has been staged to allow Carter access to Robin. A man with a mortal hatred for all things Robin Hood, Carter is tasked to infiltrate the camp and retrieve the Pact of Nottingham.

Carter's act is flawless, and he earns the gratitude of the outlaws – they even take him back to camp to help him with his injuries. However, everyone seems to be too busy squabbling about the new dynamics in the gang to notice they have an assassin in their midst.

Marian, meanwhile, must contend with worried Gisborne's attentions as he sends Allan out to track her down. Annoyed with Robin, Marian and Allan work together to trick Gisborne into thinking she's become a nun.

Just when the gang's guards are completely down, Carter strikes a deadly blow against each outlaw. But he's concealing a secret of his own – vengeful love for a dead brother – for which he mistakenly blames Robin. As Robin gets to the root of Carter's hatred, so he begins to understand the real Carter and sets about rehabilitating him, and the greatest turnaround of this day will be the trick that Carter – now Robin's man through and through – plays on the Sheriff of Nottingham.

A mortally wounded, one-legged messenger from King Richard flees Locksley Manor pursued by Gisborne's men and ends up in the arms of Robin, in tonight's instalment of Dominic Minghella's drama. In his dying breath, he tells Robin that the King needs him to return to fight in the Holy Land, and utters the word "Lardner".

The Sheriff is furious that the messenger got away, especially now that he and Gisborne are also on the hunt for Lardner, having received a prediction from a fortune-telling Fool that the "ring of Lardner" spells trouble.

When Will and Djaq discover that Locksley Village is being scoured for Lardner's ring, Djaq tells Robin what Lardner really is – a Saracen carrier pigeon. Consequently, Robin's reply to King Richard will only take days to reach him.

When Robin and Marian ride off to the last place they saw the King's messenger, the gang set about composing the note to the King. But, just as Robin and Marian reach Lardner the pigeon, the Sheriff and Gisborne arrive. Surrounded, and trapped in a tree, Robin and Marian realise that unless they resort to desperate measures and the help of Fool they will face certain death.

Episode 10 - Walkabout - Saturday 8th December 2007 UK Air Date

Tormented by Robin Hood, The Sheriff sleepwalks straight into Sherwood Forest, as Dominic Minghella's drama continues. Unfortunately, he goes missing on the very day that Prince John's messenger, Jasper, arrives to check all is well in Nottingham.

By the time Gisborne raises the alarm, Prince John's private army is already on its way, ready to raze Nottingham at sunset. Drastic action is called for, so, while keeping up appearances with Jasper, Gisborne and Marian secretly task Robin with tracking down the Sheriff in the forest.

The Sheriff, meanwhile, is getting to grips with nature and embarks on a journey of rediscovery. When he comes across some scheming beggars intent on fleecing Robin, he realises he can get his hands on the Pact at last. Little John is fooled by the Sheriff's brilliant, blind, poor-man act and brings the enemy right into the heart of the camp.

As sunset and oblivion draw closer, and Prince John's army looms on the horizon, Gisborne risks his life standing by Marian as they fight together to save the people of Nottingham. Only Robin can save them now.

Guest Star - Charlie Brooks as Cerys

The Sheriff has turned Locksley into a garrison town, throwing its people out to make room for an army of vicious mercenaries, as Dominic Minghella's drama continues. As Robin and the outlaws formulate a response plan to stop them, they are intercepted by three burly King's Guards, led by the fearsome Legrand who brings a vital message from King Richard.

The King has sent coded information concealing plans to move his "thesaurus patriae", or treasure of the nation. Torn, Robin decides that he must help the King, even if it means forsaking Locksley. Marian believes Locksley must be protected and soon the Nightwatchman is in action, wreaking vengeance on the mercenaries. But Gisborne and Allan are ready for trouble, and Marian finds herself cornered, and then finally unmasked by Gisborne. Her secret is out, and Gisborne swears she will die as punishment for her treachery.

Robin's cornered, too – the Sheriff has already killed Legrand's contact, and the man Robin and company meet is really the Sheriff's spy, feeding back all information about the treasure hunt.

As the Sheriff and Robin discover, everyone's in for a surprise when King Richard's treasure turns out to be neither gold nor jewellery.

Robin and the Outlaws arrive at a barn for Robin's birthday party, only to find that they are surrounded by The Sheriff's mercenaries and won't be let out alive, in the penultimate episode of Dominic Minghella's Drama.

The Outlaws share their secrets with one another whilst the traitor, Allan A Dale, realises that The Sheriff and Gisborne are heading to the Holy Land to kill the King. Fearless Marian takes it upon herself to stop The Sheriff in his tracks while Allan must choose his allegiance. Will Robin realise that the mercenaries are merely there to distract him from The Sheriff's new dastardly plan, and will Allan come to his senses?

Robin and the Outlaws, The Sheriff, Gisborne and Marian are now in the Holy Land, in the Dramatic conclusion of Dominic Minghella's Drama. Robin warns the King of the impending threat to his life, but The Sheriff's cunning has prevailed; instead of a heroes' welcome, Robin and the Outlaws are treated as traitors...

Marian makes a final attempt to redeem Gisborne – if he kills The Sheriff, he will have everything he wants, including her. Will fear of The Sheriff or the smell of power win the battle for Gisborne's soul?

The battle for England is on. Will Robin be released in time to save the King's life? Will Marian escape from the clutches of The Sheriff? High stakes and ultimate tragedy ensue...

Robin Hood Series Two Episode Guide & Synopsis