Little John is captured by Guy, who has a plan to finally get his hands on all the Merry Men. After a prophecy from Herne, Robin thinks that Little John is the prisoner he is told he must rescue. While they are planning to rescue John from Nottingham another John turns up, Prince John. He has his own agenda and his own hooded prisoner, someone whose identity will be a big surprise to one of Robin's band. Robin realises that this hooded prisoner is the person who is in the prophecy and that freeing them from Prince John's grasp will be a daunting prospect.

King John, furious over the disappearance of the past several tax collections from Nottingham, schemes to put an end to the outlaws by ending their popular support. A band of his soldiers, led by the merciless Roger de Carnac, masquerades as Robin's band, committing atrocities against villagers throughout the shire.

'Mad Mab' is an old hermit who lives happily with her family of pigs, including her 'baby', Rutterkin. Edgar of Huntingdon, Robert's uncle, captures Rutterkin and later Mab, accusing the old woman of being a witch (and the pig her familiar), paid by the Earl, Robert's father, to cause the death of King John, who has been beset by a mysterious illness. The Earl is arrested for treason and sentenced to death. In trying to rescue him, most of the outlaw band is taken as well.