Sherwood S1 E8

## Plot

The Sheriff demands that Robin tell him what the kelpotein is, but she refuses. Also, he and Gisbourne confirm that Tui is Maori. Thomas enters and finally comes face to face with his daughter, who tells him that he showed up fourteen years too late. He tells the Sheriff and Gisbourne that the kelpotein is food. He wants to run some tests on it, but Nottingham tells him that they don't have time for tests. Gisbourne surprises both of them when he volunteers to run the tests. He knows how to run a basic profile. Thomas doesn't want to leave Robin in the testing tank, but the Sheriff tells him that she's a terrorist and she's lucky he's treating her this well, even after Thomas tries to say that her brainpower could be an asset. He leaves the lab, and Nottingham tells his son to keep an eye on him to make sure he focuses on his work. Meanwhile, a storm is forming. Juba wants to leave on the sub before the floods come, but Iniko's arm was injured by a Drobo, and Tui doesn't have any medicine left, so he wouldn't make it, and the rest of them wouldn't last a week with no food. There's nothing left for Tui to make kelpotein with. Iniko wants to rescue Robin, but he can't even sit up. They hear the Sheriff announce that they've captured the insurgent leader, and will be purging all known insurgents. Rose says that if Robin is up there; they'll never see her again. Gripper wants to get her back, but Tui says this is bigger than her, or any of them, and Robin knows that. However, Rose left on her hoverboard while they were arguing. Thomas visits Robin, and she says that their DNA is all they have in common. He tells her that her mother hated the first gauntlet prototype he worked on. She thought it was just another way for the regime to keep tabs on its citizens. She was always a bit suspicious. He admits that he might not be suspicious enough, and asks Robin where she is now. He quickly realizes that she's dead, and asks how. Robin says she died when she was five. She got sick and never got better, like almost everyone else down there. Thomas is surprised that things are that bad. Unbeknownst to him, Gisbourne is eavesdropping on them. He tells Robin that he's not like the Sheriff. He cares that the Sea Croppers are suffering. The next storm that hits Sherwood will be the strongest yet. The only way for the Upper City to survive is to leave for places with more stable weather. Water is their most plentiful resource, and Thomas has found a way to turn it into fuel. When Robin figures out how the probe works, he says that she is like him. Humanity can thrive again. He shows her a giant orb. The future is DNA controlled biotech. It can unlock the universe. He asks her to work with him. This is bigger than them, bigger than everyone. She points out that he'd leave thousands of dead Sea Croppers in his wake, but if they don't leave, then everyone dies. Happily ever after isn't an option for them. He says it's an easy decision. She yells at him that it must've been easy for him to leave her mom, to never look for her, or even think of her again. Thomas asks her to see it from his perspective, and claims that he did everything he could. She tells him to leave. She doesn't need him. Her mother was right after all, her father is dead. Also, this is definitely the best episode so far in terms of writing, voice acting, character development, and lighting. And we're only nine minutes in! After Thomas leaves, Robin starts crying, and then Gisbourne comes in and talks to her. Her father taught him everything he knows. She says that's more than what he did for her, and tells him to leave her alone. He tells her that life in the Upper City isn't as good as it seems. Yes, they're healthy and safe, but the people in Sherwood are the ones who are truly alive. When he first saw her, he'd never seen anyone like her before: Bold, vivacious, spirited. He asks her what it's like to be free. When she calls him an idiot, he rants that the Upper City is a prison just like the Cube, and he's tired of his father's abuse. She tells him that she never thought about it like that before, and calls it tragic. He admits that it feels good to talk and actually be listened to for once. Robin says that he's a sensitive guy, and she gets it, because she's been alone too. She knows she should be thankful, but the gauntlet has been nothing but trouble. She offers to show him how it works, but he needs to hold it to really know what it can do, but she can't get it off. He says he might be able to help, and lifts the tank a bit. When she takes his hand though, she flips him inside, gets out, and traps him instead. It's really too bad that it was all a ploy on her part. Gisbourne actually undergoing a heel face turn and becoming an ally to the heroes would've been an unexpected twist. Also, this comes back to bite Robin soon enough. She takes the taser and leaves. She runs into a unit 8 Drobo and defeats it with the taser. The Sheriff finds Gisbourne in the tank and once again berates him for his incompetence. He even leaves him in there. Robin has made it outside, where it's raining, but she's being attacked by more unit 8 Drobos. She loses the taser. Luckily, her father saves her, but she still wants nothing to do with him. She may have his DNA, but he'll never be her father. She'd rather starve to death with her friends than have anything to do with this. Thomas tells her that her mother never told him that she was pregnant. She left him, not the other way around. He was heartbroken. He had to forget in order to survive. But now that he's found Robin, it changes everything. He apologizes, and says he wants to do right by her. She takes his hand, but then the Sheriff and a Drobo find them. Nottingham tells Thomas that sentimentality makes him useless, but he says that he needs him to make the Ascension Project work. Instead, the Sheriff pushes him over the edge of the platform, and the Drobo grabs Robin. After all, he needs a Loxley's living DNA, but he can decide which one. Okay, but killing one of them is the stupidest decision ever, since, as Robin demonstrates immediately afterwards, if she ever escapes, which she does, then you've screwed yourself and your plan, whereas before you could've doubled your chances with it and stopped the insurgency in one fell swoop. Also, it turns out that Nottingham's eventual plan was to take over the world with the Upper City's mobility and firepower. Rose fries the Drobo and frees Robin with Gisbourne's taser, and they escape on her hoverboard. They take care of the two Drobos that follow them. It turns out that Thomas is still alive.