Despite that attempt on his life, Robin tries to save Yahya's young adult son from being beheaded, but fails and gets an arrow in the chest and is shipped back to England as a result. Unbeknownst to him, Yahya stowed away on that ship and now informs Robin that he's selected him to assist in stopping the war effort.

And he says the way to do that is by stealing from the Sheriff who's taken to heavily taxing the locals to support the war (and line his own pockets), thus forcing most of them to live at the nearby mines. That includes Marian who, having been wrongly told that Robin was killed in battle two years ago, lives there with her husband, Will Tillman (JAMIE DORNAN), and objects to the way the Sheriff treats them and others.

While Robin lets his close friend, Friar Tuck (TIM MINCHIN), know of his return, he initially avoids Marian -- at the request of Yahya, now known as John -- and cozies up with the Sheriff via handsome donations -- that he's stolen from him in the guise of "The Hood" -- in a ploy to get into that man and his associates' inner circle.

As the thefts increase and the locals find themselves with newfound hope, the Sheriff increases his pressure on them, all while the more powerful religious figures there call in the big gun, the Cardinal (F. MURRAY ABRAHAM), to figure out how to handle the situation. With Robin learning of their real plan, he, John, Marian, and others do what they can to stop them.