David Belcher of Scottish broadsheet "The Herald" was far more positive in his view, picking up on the episode's political allegory. "In a political sense, things were much worse in Britain in 1192. Back then, as Robin Hood's opening instalment made clear, this nation was engaged in a ruinously expensive and unwinnable war in the Middle East at the behest of an expansive global superpower." He also praised the cast, feeling that Armstrong "succeeds in being likeably noble, a possible sufferer from crusades-induced post-traumatic stress, yet still spry... But it's the baddies who give the new Robin Hood its winning tension. Guy of Gisborne is a cool and sinister lizard. Keith Allen portrays the Sheriff of Nottingham with subtle brio."