Seven Poor Knights from Acre
BBC Series Robin Hood
This was an interesting episode featuring the Knights Templar, which I've written quite a bit about in my Da Vinci Code pages. The series makes them out to be evil robbers. Like all groups in history, they had good and bad about them and it's a shame to just portray them as highway robbers. The knits have their golden emblem stolen and accuse the Robin Hood gang, and Much is threatened with death unless it's returned.
This begins what seems to be a sequence of "specific character" episodes, each one focussing on one character. This seems to be Much's turn. At the beginning in an archery test, Much is the one being a goofball and running around. We do get to see Marion is not a slouch - she's the first of the group to hit the moving target. Robin Hood of course is a god, shooting out the rope. Scarlett gets a lecture on why they are staying put, with Robin giving REALLY dumb logic about "well it's good that the villagers are being trounced on, otherwise they wouldn't turn to us". So by this logic, if the villagers were happy it'd be bad, because they wouldn't need Robin Hood any more??
Anyway along comes thief Seward, who they are mean to. So much for supporting the poor and downtrodden. The Sheriff has some great lines with Guy, talking about whether they are actually Norman any more or if they've become English. Marion has some angst about having been evicted in essence from her own home. You see a lot of similarites between Much the Dolt in Robin Hood's group and Guy the Dolt in the Sheriff's entourage.
I liked the fact that the Knights were multi-lingual, with French, German and Latin in evidence. It reminds us that medieval times were involving a lot of groups with their own languages, all meeting up with each other. On the other hand, I don't like how these great, awesome warriors can't hold their own to Robin, who to my knowledge has never trained in fighting with a flail. Suddenly he can defeat this much older, well trained warrior monk? They should have settled that battle in another manner for it to seem plausible.
In any case, the series ends with 2 knights riding away on one horse in poverty. This is interesting both because of their emblem, but also because of how the next episode ends.
BBC Series Robin Hood Episode List
Robin Hood Information, Movies and Legends