2.3 “The witch of Elsdon”
Having seen something in a dream, Robin leads his men towards the village of Rufford, where they come across what seems at first to be an honest carter, transporting grain. But Robin has the inside track, and demonstrates that there is in fact money --- lots of it --- in the sacks of grain, and that the man who gives his name originally as James is none other than the Sheriffs's tax collector, Gregory of Bedford. Making short work of his escort --- who suddenly appear when it is clear the ruse has not worked --- the outlaws take their spoils back to their lair. Meanwhile, in the nearby village of Elsdon, a woman is being tried as a witch. Gisburn accuses her of holding the villagers under her spell, though she claims he is only trumping up these charges as she refused his sexual advances. Abbot Hugo, brother of the Sheriff, is presiding and in no mood to listen to the woman's pleas of innocence. As in almost every witch trial, she is found guilty and sentenced to be hanged, along with her husband, who also stands accused. It's clear Gisburn has cowed the villagers into signing false confessions, but what chance has an ordinary, harmless woman and her husband got against the power of the Church? They are both to be taken to Nottingham for the execution, to take place in four days.
In good spirits after the trial, the Sheriff's mood soon sours when he gets back to the castle and hears that he has been robbed! He blames Gregory, says he sold him out, and nothing the tax collector can say will save him from the rack. Now, suddenly, Robin and his men are a problem. When they were, as the Sheriff sees it, carousing in Sherwood Forest, they weren't his concern. But now, they're taking food out of his mouth, money out of his coffers, and he is not going to stand for it! He concocts a plan to use the condemned woman, Jannet, the accused witch, as a way of dealing with the outlaws. Knowing of her skill with plants, he offers her and her husband freedom if she will go into the forest, befriend Robin and his men and drug them, leaving them helpless and at the mercy of his men. With no other option, and the promise of a far more painful and lingering death than just hanging if she refuses, Jannet agrees.
Having “escaped” into Sherwood and come under the protection of Robin and his men, (especially Will Scarlet, who falls for her) she tells them that the Bishop of Leicester is due to pass through there in a few days. Initially worried that the rich cleric will be too well guarded, Robin eventually gives in to greed and necessity --- and probably does not want to seem timid in front of his men --- and they agree to waylay the fat prize, at Darkmere. But as they make their plans they are suddenly struck down over dinner by Jannet's deadly potion, and fall into a swoon. All but Marian who, having quarrelled with Robin over not being seen as one of the team and being left behind all the time (bloody women!)
is sitting at the shore of the lake when Herne appears to her, to warn her of the danger. When Jannet returns to Nottingham to advise the Sheriff she has done as bid, he orders Gisburn to head into the forest and take care of Robin and his men. He has, of course, no intention of keeping his promise to her, but he needs her to lead his men to where the outlaws lie helpless.
Luckily however (though not for Gisburn!) Marian has been able to revive them and they are all fully capable of taking on the Sheriff's men (though they feign unconsciousness, to gain the upper hand). Gisburn is captured, as is Jannet, and Marian has sympathy with her predicament and the terrible choice she had to make. So does Robin, though Will is less pleased when he learns she has a husband! Robin hatches a plan to free Thomas, her husband, and returns to Nottingham, dressed as Gisburn, to force the Sheriff to hand him over. Hostage for hostage, Gisburn for Thomas, but there's a problem: the Sheriff hates Gisburn and would be happy to see him dead. So Robin has to “convince” him that he really does want his knight back, at the point of a sword. When faced with death at the hands of the outlaw, the Sheriff suddenly realises that Gisburn is, after all, indispensable, and the exchange is made.
Quotes
Abbot Hugo: “Thous shalt not suffer a witch to live:
Exodus. Neither shall you use enchantments.
Leviticus? Leviticus.”
The Sheriff: “What a paragon of virtue you are, Gisburn! I'm really most impressed. If she'd tried to bewitch me, I'd be inclined to let her!”
The Sheriff: “I shall have to be very careful in the future, Gisburn.”
Gisburn: “My Lord?”
Sheriff: “Of you, Gisburn. Especially when you don't get what you want.”
Gisburn: “I don't understand, My Lord...”
Sheriff: “Don't you?”
Gisburn: “The woman was a witch, My Lord!”
Sheriff: “Of course she was. And a very pretty one!”
(The Sheriff is letting Gisburn know, in no uncertain terms, that he does not for a moment believe his story of the woman being a witch, and knows that Gisburn is ony taking revenge on her for not succumbing to his advances. The Sheriff will, however, completely fail to bring this important fact to the knowledge of his brother, and will allow Jannet to die, condemned for something she did not do. He really does not care either way, but he's warning Gisburn he had better not try that shit on him!)
Sheriff: “If Robin Hood want to prance around Sherwood worshipping Herne the Hunter, or any other bogeyman, why not let him? He can paint himself bright blue for all I care! There's a price on his head, and sooner or later someone is going to earn it. One of his merry men, I shouldn't wonder.”
Gisburn: “And the Lady Marian?”
Sheriff: “What about her? Poor girl's gone native! He'll tire of her. It's only a matter of time. One woman and half a dozen men: it's a perfect recipe for disaster!”
(Here the Sheriff is giving us an unusual point of view. Robin Hood is an outlaw, sought by the Crown and openly defying the authority of both the King and the Sheriff, yet the Sheriff seems content to let him be. He seems unaware of, or uncaring of the following the wolfshead is massing behind him, or maybe he just can't countenance that these English peasants could in any way threaten his rule here. This thinking will of course change, as he realises just how dangerous Robin is, not only as a man and as an outlaw, but as an ideal. He will later say “You can't kill an idea, Gisburn”. And he will be right. But at the moment, he is utterly blase about the whole prospect. Like Gisburn's spat with Jannet, he simply could not be bothered.)
The Sheriff: “I will
not have Jews in Nottingham! Whip them to the gates!”
(Hitler would be proud!)
Hugo: “Why don't you have their heads mounted over the gate? That's what I'd do: as a permanent reminder to the other rabble!”
Sheriff: “I'm not a gamekeeper, Hugo. And what about the stench? Are you forgetting that the prevailing wind blows from that direction? I want them forgotten as quickly as possible.”
(Of course he does. A dead martyr is the last thing the Sheriff wants, a permanent reminder that you can stand up to the King. Or him. For a while at least.)
Sheriff: “Well? Where's the villain's head?”
Robin: “On the villain's shoulders!”
Robin: “You can kill a man with that feather, or you can save his life.”
(The pen is, truly, mightier than the sword. Or in this case, the quill.)
Robin: “It wasn't Gisburn's life I bargained with, it was the Sheriff's. And now he'll hunt me till one of us is dead.”
(And so it begins).
Parallels
Interesting that once they've disarmed Gisburn, the outlaws put him on a ducking stool and dip him in the river, an ancient torture used to determine if someone was a witch or not. Given that the episode focuses on a so-called witch, can that be coincidence, or poetic justice?
Questions?
When asked how he knew about Gregory’s grain containing the sheriff’s silver, Robin says “A little bird told me”. Which little bird? Is he speaking of his dream? But in that dream, he had no idea what he was looking for, as he told his men “We’ll know when we find it”.
What was the deal with the Bishop of Leicester? Was he on the way? Or was it just a ruse, and if the latter, why? It’s not like Jannet led them into a trap or anything, so why mention it at all?
How did Marian save the band? We saw her being told by Herne cryptically to go back, but when the Sheriff’s men arrive in the forest Robin and his crew are all recovered. What did she do to arrange this, and how did she know how to counteract the herb, if indeed she did? Just rushing back to the glade was not enough to save them. We’re not told what she actually did, if indeed she did anything.
Nothing’s forgotten
No indeed. The Sheriff will not forget that he was made a fool of by Robin Hood. Outfought by the outlaw and at swordpoint forced to agree to his bargain, humiliated in front of his brother the abbot, he will now hunt Robin with a vehemence and dedication the exact opposite to the lackadaiscal approach he showed in his speech at the beginning of the episode. Now, it’s personal. Not only that, he has seen too how much of a figurehead and a rallying point Robin and his men can be, and how that can threaten his authority. Robin Hood is a real threat now, not just an annoyance as he originally believed, and that threat must be dealt with.
Gisburn, too, will not forget. He has been taken prisoner by Robin’s men, stripped and humiliated and finally sent back like a ransom to his master, in disgrace and no doubt with many laughing behind his back, though of course not to his face. A knight, Guy of Gisburn will see this as an intolerable blemish on his honour, and will wish to avenge himeslf on the Wolfshead.
Nor, finally, will the people, the poor villagers, forget how Robin helped them and shared out the grain from the Sheriff’s stock. They were willing to bow to his tyranny before, giving up Jannet and Thomas, even though they knew they were innocent, but the Sheriff will have a harder time grinding them down now. The people have a new hero, and they will be willing to hide him, stand by him, perhaps even die for him if necessary. Robin of Loxley is the embodiment of all the hatred, fear, anger and resentment simmering in England at the rule of the Normans, and his will be the avenging hand that will strike for the common man.
Houston, we have a problem!
Yes, yes, it’s only episode three (technically two, as the first one was a two-parter) but even so, this is pretty weak. I mean, the two storylines don’t hang together at all. There’s no real link between the “witch” and the tax collector, Robin’s stealing the money and grain doesn’t impact on the plot, other than to begin to cement his relationship with the villagers and to wake the Sheriff up to the threat he poses, the Marian-wants-to-be-one-of-the-boys idea is boring, even if she is the one who (somehow) ends up saving them all. But the real problem I have is with Robin’s plan to save Thomas.
Does he really think that the Sheriff cares about Gisburn and will ransom him? He would be happy enough to hear that Robin had cut the man’s throat! He barely tolerates him, certainly does not like or value him, and berates him every chance he gets. He thinks he’s useless, not a thinker, too rigid in his approach and hardly ever smiles. Perhaps the outlaw is unaware of the tetchy relationship the two share. Perhaps. So Robin has to change his tack, and go for the Sheriff himself. It seems like an obvious ploy --- your life for his --- but couldn’t he have come up with something better? It really does look like a plan half-cobbled together at the last minute, and doesn’t do the series --- or Robin himself --- justice. Plus he goes there alone, but just happens to catch the Sheriff and Abbot Hugo without their guards? Thankfully the series picks up with much better writing soon, but this is on the whole just pretty painful.