Gisburne and the Sheriff
Aug 6, 2020 8:34:47 GMT
Lucy of Ravenscar, Dennis of Ravenscar, and 2 more like this
Post by Wolpertinger on Aug 6, 2020 8:34:47 GMT
First I examined Gisburne’s relationship with women, now I’d like to dive into my interpretation of the complex relationship between Gisburne and the Sheriff. There’s a lot more material here, so this is going to be a much longer post. Again, discussion is welcome! You can pick out singular points if you like.
Mostly I’m looking at whether their relationship is purely a matter of costs vs benefits, or if some form of emotional connection is involved. Also I’ll highlight whenever I feel like changes take place in the dynamics of their relationship throughout the three seasons.
** HISTORY **
To start off, what was the relationship between lord and knight expected to be like around the year ~1200?
Originally knights were awarded tracts of land for their fealty and service, which consisted of military service 40 days a year per fief granted to a knight. However, knights of lesser means were also willing to accept money, horses, armor, and board in exchange for military service. It was the hope then to be granted a manor after good service, on which a knight could establish his own line as a vassal to the lord.
According to historians Georges Duby and James Neill, “The lord of the castle was the master of his knights, in peace as in war, with authority over them that was ‘familial’, like that of a father. The castle community of knights, squires and other retainers of service of the lord of a castle in Norman England and France was called a familia, Latin for family or household.” (…) “Indeed, in copies of decrees issued by feudal lords that survive from the period, names of knights were often intermingled indiscriminately with names of blood relatives of the lord.” (…)
“In this military family, the feudal lord treated his knights as he would his own sons or sons-in-law. He fed and housed them, sometimes awarded tracts of land to them if their service warranted it and he was rich enough, reined them in if discipline was needed, and served as mediator if disputes arose among them. As part of their duties, the knights assisted in the administration and oversight of the ‘familial’ property, which included keeping the peasants on the lands of the castle lord in line. This would be accomplished through regular tours of the lord’s dominion, called cavalcades, in which the knights would show off their armed might in a menacing display consciously intended to intimidate the peasants and townspeople.”
This, for the most part, sounds very similar to the deal the Sheriff and Gisburne have between them, with the difference of Guy’s service being expected every minute of every day (including menial tasks), rather than only 40 days a year, all the while never being awarded land or a manor of his own.
Possibly this loophole is a result of Guy working both as the steward of Nottingham Castle and as the Undersheriff, and occasionally as Captain of the guard. In the Robin of Sherwood 1986 Annual, the Sheriff asks, ‘Is the bishop’s room prepared? The sheets aired? Herbs on the pillows?’ and Guy feels irritated by dealing with this trivia like a “housekeeper” while he ought to be out preparing the soldiers to escort. The Sheriff then asks, ‘Is your escort ready?’ and Guy feels dismay that he is expected to do everything at once. The Sheriff makes his position clear: ‘And when I say problems, Gisburne, I mean anything from preventing the bishop from having cold feet in bed to stopping a full-scale invasion by the king of France. That’s your responsibility, do you understand?’
While this example is from the Annual rather than directly from the show, I think it does display the unusual position Guy is in very well. How did he end up with such a raw deal? Perhaps because he has no family who would back him up, at least not that he would expect them to. It’s no surprise he wants to leave the Sheriff all the time, while the Sheriff has possibly secured himself the cheapest knightly labor on the market.
** IN THE SERIES **
The Richard Carpenter novel takes a moment to describe the curious dynamics between Guy and Robert de Rainault toward the end of the book:
He and Gisburne had a strange relationship. It was probably true to say that the steward disliked his master rather more than the master disliked his steward, but neither way was there much love lost between them. Gisburne had taken every opportunity to betray the Sheriff, even resorting to murder to get away from the man. But owing to a combination of bad luck and sheer stupidity, none of his plots had ever succeeded. The Sheriff knew this. But it amused him to have Gisburne around, to tease and torment him and to take out his frustrations on him. As for Gisburne, he was bound in service to the Sheriff. It was as if he were the Sheriff’s dog, given the freedom only of a short leash.
So when the Sheriff spoke, it was more to sneer at Gisburne than to reason with him.
** THE WITCH OF ELSDON **
When Sir Guy and Sheriff de Rainault first meet, Gisburne still works for Abbot Hugo as steward of St Mary’s and as mean muscle to keep poachers and peasants in line. The Sheriff and Gisburne are on formal terms, although Guy is certainly more polite than de Rainault, which makes sense due to their difference in age and rank. At this point in time, the Sheriff does not take Gisburne’s incompetence or humiliation personally, as it is his brother who has been shamed. From the Richard Carpenter novel after Guy’s first encounter with Robin and the Merries (In the novel, Guy was stripped completely and paraded nude across his horse through the villages):
Yet despite Gisburne’s miserable failure, the Sheriff has taken an interest in him, although it is not at all clear why. Again from the Richard Carpenter novel:
‘Shall I tell you why I came to Elsden today, Gisburne?’ he said quietly, so that Hugo couldn’t hear him. ‘To persuade my brother to find another steward. So that you can work for me.’
Gisburne looked at the Sheriff with surprise. He could hardly believe his good fortune. After failing to catch Robin Hood he hadn’t expected this. ‘Did the Abbot agree?’ he whispered eagerly.
The Sheriff patted his horse and smiled. ‘In the end I decided not to ask him,’ he said softly. ‘This business with the girl has made me think again. You always seem to be making trouble, Gisburne. You provoke people.’
This shows that de Rainault has seen through Gisburne and already knows what trouble he would be if hired. And yet. Despite this, and despite telling the young knight he had changed his mind about the offer, Guy will be hired by the next episode. This begs the question, what does de Rainault see in him?
In these early days of The Witch of of Elsdon, the Sheriff still seems much more inclined to play the role of mentor than later, and even praises Guy, something he stops doing entirely once the young knight is hired:
This episode also contains a very interesting exchange between Robin and the Sheriff, especially if you examine the flow of conversation more closely.
Right off the bat, after Robin reveals himself beneath Guy’s helmet (‘Where’s the villain’s head?’ ‘On the villain’s shoulders!’) the Sheriff asks about Gisburne. Considering he could just as well have said “You’ll pay for your insolence!” or “You think you can get out of here alive?” or any other kind of threat or insult.
The Sheriff stood his ground. ‘Where’s Gisburne?’ he said.
‘Where do you think?’
‘Murdered?’
This short sequence of exchanged words (to me) sounds like the Sheriff’s first thought upon seeing Robin unmasked is that Gisburne has been murdered, and he immediately seeks confirmation for this suspicion before anything else. Establishing Gisburne's status is the priority.
(Hugo pleads at this point and is ignored.)
Robin shook his head.
‘So Gisburne’s your hostage?’ he asked Robin.
‘For Thomas of Elsden,’ said Robin.
Right here, Robin (in my eyes) makes a strategic mistake. He reveals that there is something he really wants from the Sheriff (Thomas of Elsdon), but he has no confirmation if his hostage (who doesn’t even work for the Sheriff yet) has any value to the Sheriff. And the Sheriff knows this. In consequence, it doesn’t matter if de Rainault sees value in Guy, because he has been given the leverage of hypothesizing. And that he does.
The Sheriff smiled. ‘But he’s been sentenced to death. And suppose I tell you I don’t care what happens to Gisburne?’
The Sheriff has now visibly calmed down. He doesn’t bluntly say “I don’t care what happens to Gisburne”, instead he invites Robin to “suppose”, to gamble. De Rainault may or may not care about Guy. Robin definitely cares about Thomas.
‘And your soldiers?’
‘Soldiers have a habit of dying, don’t they? It’s an occupational hazard. So you have nothing to bargain with, have you?’
Robin drew his sword. ‘Haven’t I?’ he said.
De Rainault outright rubs his strategic victory in Robin’s face, which forces Robin to change tactics onto more familiar territory.
At the end of the episode, when the Merries remark that Guy had some value after all, Robin points out it was in truth de Rainault’s life he had bargained with. This frames the events as though the Sheriff only cared about his own hide. Personally though, since de Rainault’s first questions were about Gisburne’s status and he then cunningly maneuvered to dismantle the power of Robin’s hostage point, I believe he did care (emotionally? financially?) about what happened to the captured knight. And indeed, if he didn’t, why would he hire Guy right after such a disaster (the second one in a row)?
** GISBURNE’S START ON THE JOB **
When Guy first starts working for the Sheriff, he is (mostly) polite and obedient. He is very eager for acknowledgement and praise, adding details to statements someone else is making, finishing sentences before they are spoken, like a child with his hand up in class hoping to be picked by the teacher. He seems to put an effort into being approved of.
The Sheriff exploded with mirth so Gisburne thought it diplomatic to join in.
His exuberance works to his detriment however, and with his constant failures he only ever earns scorn and ridicule from his master, which at this point he still wordlessly bears. The Sheriff meanwhile seems to be going out of his way to make Guy feel worthless. Not just through barbs and sneering, but by humiliating him with menial servant tasks such as toweling him dry or scrubbing his back in the bath. This could be simply the expression of the Sheriff’s nasty personality, with no motive but instant gratification through bullying. But there is a small clue that de Rainault intentionally chips away at Guy’s self-esteem knowing very well how hungry he is for acknowledgement. This clue doesn’t pay off until the very last episode however, I’ll go into more detail then.
One more moment I’d like to highlight in season 1, the incident of King Richard humiliating Guy in front of the court. There’s a brief exchange of glances between Guy and the de Rainault brothers, like a silent plea for help. They coolly ignore him in that instant, but later we have this little scene:
‘Who’s going to do it?’ asked Richard calmly.
‘Sir Guy of Gisburne,’ answered the Sheriff immediately.
‘Can he keep his mouth shut?’ said Hubert.
‘Yes, my lord,’ said the Sheriff. ‘That’s something I’ve taught him.’
** THE REBELLION **
By season two, Guy has somehow managed to be appointed Undersheriff/Deputy Sheriff, despite never actually proving himself competent. It is the same mystery as when Guy was hired in the first place after de Rainault himself explained why that would be a bad idea. While Gisburne has a blatantly self-destructive personality, de Rainault is no better, appointing the young knight to increasingly important responsibilities while at the same time fueling the young man’s inner turbulence and self-hatred. A recipe for disaster.
Interestingly, this season also sees the start of a rebellion of Gisburne toward his master, heightening their tension, but at the same time the Sheriff becomes more comfortable keeping his underling’s company, now actively trying to keep him. Guy tries to break free, while the Sheriff tightens the leash.
This season, in Lord of the Trees, we see Guy interact with Bertrand de Nivelle, the closest thing he has to a friend. We see Guy knows how to smile, he enjoys hugging (although he is a little awkward about it), and he seems to really want to have friends to play around with. He still craves acknowledgement, something that even Bertrand seems to deny him. There aren’t any young men his age around Nottingham Castle (even the soldiers all look older than him) and the one time someone does show up, Ralph of Huntingdon, Guy is instead plagued by murderous envy and jealousy. The new dashing Captain of the guard presents another instance when the Sheriff knowingly attacks his steward’s self-esteem, and he’s not surprised in the least that Ralph ends up dead “by accident”.
Gisburne, racked with rage and jealousy, could have killed them both on the spot.
This, to me, reads as Guy stuck in a suffocating limbo of watching someone else earn praise and favor when he had been trying so hard for so long. It comes as no surprise that he wants to be free of it. If he can’t cover his emotional needs, he has to cut those ties and try again elsewhere.
In this season, we also see Guy take charge. By the time the Sheriff returns, the damage is done. He considers himself the superior man. The whipping boy remark is the first time Guy stands up for himself, even noted as such in the original script. From here on out, Guy will sass the Sheriff more often, roll his eyes, snap back in arguments.
‘I’m not your whipping boy,’ complained Gisburne, and the Sheriff detected a note of real defiance.
[[ This chapter also contains a playful detail in the novel. These are phrasings of Guy thinking about Sarah, and the Sheriff thinking about Guy, creating a parallel:
The beautiful object of his thoughts could not relax.
** KEEP YOUR STEWARDS CLOSE **
While in the first season the Sheriff would warn and lecture Guy about the consequences of his actions, he is becoming increasingly interested in keeping him close. When Guy tries to elope with his kidnapped Jewish bride, the Sheriff sets out to fetch him back (personally). When Nottingham soldiers throw themselves at the Merries and the resurrected Simon de Belleme, the Sheriff holds Gisburne back to flee with him. For his own protection, most likely, even if no one is paying him much heed at this point. The other soldiers perish.
The Sheriff and Gisburne appeared on the battlements, Gisburne drawing his sword. He started towards his men, but the Sheriff held him back. (…) Gisburne and the Sheriff, though hit by the wind, argued furiously, Gisburne screaming that he must help his men, the Sheriff determined to flee. The Sheriff’s arguments prevailed and the pair made their escape through the battle, clawing their way over piles of rubble in their haste to get away.
Gisburne watched the barber’s fumbling efforts with a little smile playing round his lips. The smile disappeared as the Sheriff turned to him and asked, ‘I hope I’m doing the right thing?’
‘Oh yes, my lord,’ said Gisburne encouragingly. ‘A great improvement!’
The Sheriff glared at him, then told the barber to get on with it.
In that same scene, Hubert de Guiscard comes with private business, ‘What I have to say is for your ears only’, and Guy departs the room only with some reluctance, as though he expects to be a part of the Sheriff’s secrets.
Finally, by the end of the season, the Sheriff finds himself in such a good mood he even addresses Guy as “my friend” and pats him on the back. This can be seen as the Sheriff being so jovial he’ll even be friendly to somebody he dislikes. Conversely, one could argue maybe the Sheriff doesn’t even dislike Guy, he’s just in a bad mood all of the time.
‘Sympathizers don’t do anything but sympathize, Gisburne,’ the Sheriff said heartily, and patted Gisburne on the back. ‘Relax, my friend, we’ve won!’
** THE LAST STRAW **
By season three, Gisburne has become more seasoned and even at times clever, as he takes on quests of his own accord. He (successfully!) investigates Robin Hood’s true identity by himself, possibly came up with the plan to steal the cross of St Ciricus, charms his way into the new Sheriff Philip Mark’s service, aids the Gloucesters in attempting to assassinate the Queen, and finally abandons his position to flee from the law. He now feels free to outright scold the Sheriff about Robin Hood and related matters, and has become more independent from de Rainault than ever, while de Rainault has become even more restrictive. He shuts down Guy’s hopes of attending the joust on the Earl of Derby’s team, expects Gisburne to always be within earshot, even when he has nightmares of being betrayed by him. It is easy to see why Guy concludes the Sheriff burdens his hawk too much, equally harried.
Sometimes the extent of Gisburne’s idiocy surprised even him. And this time the steward’s behaviour was more surprising still. Instead of sloping off and sulking, as he would normally have done, he held his ground. (…)
The Sheriff stared at him. Gisburne was actually angry. He was convinced that he was right and he was angry because the Sheriff disagreed. The Sheriff was amazed, but he was also in a good mood. After all, at the end of the month he would have all the lands of Leaford, along with the Grange, to call his own. If Gisburne wanted a little holiday . . .
And even when the Sheriff doesn’t agree with his steward’s “stupid” ideas, he does take him more seriously than Gisburne expects.
‘Suppose I did accuse young Robert – and was proved wrong? Can you imagine what the consequences would be? We wouldn’t have time to pack our bags!’
Gisburne gritted his teeth, exasperated. (…) Why wouldn’t the Sheriff listen to him?
As if reading his thoughts, the Sheriff smiled. ‘I haven’t ignored your suspicions, Gisburne,’ he said.
** THE BIG FINALE **
Time of the Wolf becomes not just the TV show’s finale, but also the climax of the Sheriff-Gisburne relationship. For the first time, it is the Sheriff who betrays Guy, and to make it worse he does it right when Guy stands up for his master, which is the straw that breaks the camel’s back for the beleaguered knight. Why did de Rainault do it? Was he finally ready to be rid of his backstabbing underling? Was he paying him back for all the trouble and treachery to save his own skin? It’s likely. But also possibly de Rainault is throwing Gisburne under the bus because he knows there is a good chance he can buy Guy a commuted sentence, while if he was the one arrested, King John could seize his assets and any bribe would become moot. Either way, Gisburne goes off like a powder keg, as to him the Sheriff has proven himself a coward who doesn’t care an iota about him.
Amusingly, the Captain of the guard in this episode is the same one who revealed Guy’s secret plot in Children of Israel, and he seems all too eager to tell the Sheriff that Gisburne has fled North (while de Rainault lets the golden grain run through his fingers, possibly contemplating all the golden things he has lost in the past hour, haha). Also fun, during de Rainault’s pursuit of Guy (in Part Two), a soldier in the background says ‘Here we go again’.
When Sheriff and Gisburne are reunited by the Fenris wolves, the former steward seems so hungry for revenge, so eager to see de Rainault suffer. But the Sheriff shames Guy by coolly ridiculing his new outfit and declining the offer to join, choosing death. Even while hatchets are tossed at the Sheriff's head he calmly keeps his gaze on Gisburne, disproving the image the young man has of him in his mind. De Rainault is obviously not a coward or afraid of dying, which contradicts the motivation of throwing Guy under the bus to save his own skin. And right now on death’s doorstep, when Guy is neither his Deputy nor a man of rank, he's still looking right at him instead of defying his tormentors. Guy's change in expression becomes the focus, as if he has realized something, and from this point his priorities shift.
No longer burning to kill the Sheriff, Gisburne looks for excuses not to do it, and the wolves expose him as having fallen from their faith. In the novel, Guy even counters Grendel’s ‘Then you are no longer one of us’ with a sassy ‘I don’t think I ever was’.
Now comes a very interesting part that differs between TV show and novel. Here the TV show version of the scene (emphasis mine):
Gisburne: That's far enough, Sheriff.
Rainault: *fake laugh* Now listen to me, Guy.
Gisburne: Guy, is it? I've listened to you long enough. And where has it got me? What's your life worth?
Rainault: The same as yours, Guy. Brewers demanded your head. I can save it.
Gisburne: Is it worth saving mine? Worth crawling to the king?
Rainault: My life for yours.
Gisburne: Or. Yours for mine.
This is the clue that I mentioned earlier about de Rainault purposely manipulating Guy’s emotions to make him feel insecure and held at bay. The Sheriff has knowingly withheld the use of Guy's name through all three seasons until now, addressing him only ever as “Gisburne”, or on occasion “Sir Guy” when in polite company. In contrast, he was quick to refer to Ralph of Huntingdon as “my dear Ralph”, and Robert of Huntingdon as “my dear Robert” in the short periods of time when he was pleasantly acquainted with them. Robert of Huntingdon does, however, refer to Gisburne as “Guy” when speaking to him on friendly terms (when he was tricking the Sheriff into believing Robin Hood to be someone else).
In this case, Guy picks up on the sudden use of his name, and reacts angrily. In the novel version, de Rainault tries the same trick at an earlier point in time (when being chained up by the wolves), but Guy doesn’t remark on it directly.
‘Now I have them all. All except Lady Wolfshead. And I have you as well!’
‘You have no one!’ replied the Sheriff desperately. ‘You are alone! You’re not one of these lunatics! We can escape, Guy! Don’t you see? We can use Robin Hood’s death to our advantage! We can say we hunted them down! That we killed them all! The King will pardon both of us!’
‘Soon there will be no king!’ retorted Gisburne wildly. ‘Besides, I’d rather see you suffer!’
In this version, Guy then realizes the Sheriff was right about him, he is not a cutthroat and not one of these people, and that is why he refuses to kill him.
Back to the scene quoted above from the TV show, I emphasized the word “worth” because I found it interesting that Guy uses it three times in a row. He echoes season one when he deemed himself worth nothing (while being waterboarded by the Merries), and the Sheriff was said to have bargained with his own life instead of Gisburne's. To me, aside from wanting security against being betrayed again, I see this as Guy trying to get the Sheriff to confirm that he's worth something. That he matters. Meanwhile de Rainault studies his wayward steward carefully throughout this exchange, and whatever conclusion he draws seems to have calmed things between them for the while. Neither the TV show nor the novel explain what exactly they agreed on.
The novel does switch up the events again a little here, as the Sheriff and Guy run into Marion as she weeps over clay-Robin’s dead body:
She looked up to find the Sheriff and Gisburne standing over her. She rose and looked at them with scorn. They couldn’t harm her now. They could kill her too if they wished.
‘You’ve got what you always wanted,’ she said quietly.
Neither moved to stop her as she walked past them. For once the Sheriff showed some mercy. He knew Marion’s heart was broken. Young Huntingdon’s death had finished her. In silence he watched her ride away from the headland.
I love this scene. It shows the Sheriff understands what love is and how it feels, and that he isn’t a cardboard cut-out villain. Gisburne’s perspective is not described, but at least he doesn’t move to stop her, so it can be assumed he is affected in some way. To me this scene makes even more sense if you believe the previous showdown between Guy and de Rainault was heavily emotionally charged. That would put them both in a rare state of emotional exhaustion and possibly serenity for once in their lives, which pairs well with feeling empathy for someone else in an emotionally charged situation. A moment of exception.
In any case, the Sheriff is in a very good mood now that Robin Hood is supposedly dead on their wagon.
‘Don’t you see?’ explained the Sheriff excitedly, looking down at the body. ‘This has saved us. Both of us. King John will forgive the business of the grain when we take him the body of Robin Hood.’ (…)
As they rode along the Sheriff painted a glowing picture of their arrival.
‘Think of it, Gisburne,’ he said enthusiastically. ‘To appear unheralded with such a prize.’
Guy is back to being “Gisburne” but also back in the Sheriff’s fold, and the two of them do get a snippet of the song “Together We” playing for them as they ride off into the distance, for the first time in the show. It gives their relationship an optimistic note to end on. The novel adds in the epilogue that they realize halfway to Newark the body is gone, so they turn back around to Nottingham. The Sheriff then writes an obsequious letter about defeating the Fenris wolves and adds a generous amount of gold to smooth things over with King John.
** DO THEY CARE? **
Finally, to the question if these two villains care about each other? Personally, I think they do. They find each other annoying, unpleasant, and stupid, but for years they have had no other social contact to converse with aside from Abbot Hugo. Nobody else likes them. They don’t like anybody. I think as irritating as de Rainault finds Gisburne’s personality to be, he wants Gisburne’s blunt statements and snappy retorts and seeks them out. He probably has fun bantering, even if it puts him in a sour mood at the same time. Sometimes it even feels as though the Sheriff is making his interactions with Gisburne a part of his own character. What would he be talking about all day if he wasn’t rhetorically needling him with “Gisburne, look at this!” and “Gisburne, what do you think?”, his monologues probably don’t roll off half as well on the servants. He probably also feels comfortable around the young knight despite the constant treachery because he thinks he understands Guy’s way of thinking (though perhaps he doesn’t quite), which makes him easy to predict and control.
Gisburne, meanwhile, I think does not understand the Sheriff’s way of thinking at all. He can only project assumptions based on de Rainaults actions, and ends up with a cardboard cutout. If de Rainault cares about him, he doesn’t (explicitly) show it, invisible to the love-and-attention-starved steward, who probably genuinely feels hated by his boss and is continuously driven to more desperate measures of finding acknowledgement. I do think that Gisburne craves to build more bonds with people and be liked or at least accepted by others, and since this basic need remains unfulfilled in Nottingham Castle he in turn feels much more resentment toward de Rainault than the other way around. But even then, Guy realizes when push comes to shove he doesn’t truly want to kill the Sheriff, and likely doesn’t wish him as dead as he may think he does.
This is demonstrated well in the new novel version of Sanctuary,
‘You don’t need a Bible, you need a turn or two on the rack!’ threatened the Sheriff.
Now he looked at Robert with renewed interest. Perhaps he had misjudged the boy on their first meeting. He seemed to be sullen, cruel, vindictive and completely without pity. In other words he was a young man very much after his heart!
** ROMANTIC INTEREST? **
There has been some matter of debate on the Sheriff’s sexuality and whether he has a romantic interest in Gisburne, and even Prince John speculates with his remark ‘the fact that you’re de Rainault’s protégé – if that’s all you are – means nothing to me’. I’ve seen posts stating Richard Carpenter had said the Sheriff is either bisexual or gay. Andrew Orton in his reference work Hooded Man argues the Sheriff is asexual. Personally, I find all of these to be perfectly plausible. The question then remains, could he have an interest in Gisburne?
In a sense, both love and lust lead to a loss of control over one’s own mind and actions. It's a weakness that can be exploited. The Sheriff doesn’t drink excessively, or gamble in any significant way, he is in seemingly perfect control of his habits. Except, of course, his infatuation with gold. And, if one looks closer, he is ridiculously tolerant of his golden-haired steward’s shenanigans. (His greed for gold actually works as an explanation for this behavior: Guy is like a jewel, pretty to look at but otherwise useless, yet he needs to be at the Castle as part of the treasure hoard so the Sheriff can feel the peace of mind that his collection is whole.)
Gisburne is a pretty, handsome young knight, and I think if the Sheriff did feel a fascination for him, he’d actively nip that feeling in the bud. This would leave him in the limbo of being attracted to Guy, but never actually making a move on him. De Rainault’s hostile reaction to the Sheriff of Lincoln’s camp flamboyance could then also be easily explained. Rather than a distaste for homosexuality or sex itself, he feels resentment that Philip Mark can just let go of inhibitions like that, that he flaunts his acceptance of the risks that come with human bonding. The camera shots in this episode often capture the two Sheriffs and Gisburne in triangle constellations, and for the first time the Sheriff seems out of his element when he observes, stunned, the development between Gisburne and Mark.
There also seems to be a detail of the Sheriff fidgeting with his sigil ring at the beginning of the episode, and after his exile the ring is now on Gisburne’s finger, which he flaunts in the showdown scene when de Rainault is caught sneaking back into the castle with Robin Hood and the Merries. At the end of the episode, the Sheriff plucks his ring off Guy's finger and puts it back on his own. A subtle game of power, but it adds another layer to the showdown scene where Mark boasts about having Gisburne now, while Gisburne is wearing de Rainault’s ring (Maybe that prompted de Rainault’s sudden and strange exclamation that Guy helped him get into the Castle?).
And with that, my exhaustive analysis of the relationship between these two villains comes to an end. If there’s something I’ve missed, I’ll gladly hear it! This is obviously one of my favorite RoS subjects, haha.
Mostly I’m looking at whether their relationship is purely a matter of costs vs benefits, or if some form of emotional connection is involved. Also I’ll highlight whenever I feel like changes take place in the dynamics of their relationship throughout the three seasons.
** HISTORY **
To start off, what was the relationship between lord and knight expected to be like around the year ~1200?
Originally knights were awarded tracts of land for their fealty and service, which consisted of military service 40 days a year per fief granted to a knight. However, knights of lesser means were also willing to accept money, horses, armor, and board in exchange for military service. It was the hope then to be granted a manor after good service, on which a knight could establish his own line as a vassal to the lord.
According to historians Georges Duby and James Neill, “The lord of the castle was the master of his knights, in peace as in war, with authority over them that was ‘familial’, like that of a father. The castle community of knights, squires and other retainers of service of the lord of a castle in Norman England and France was called a familia, Latin for family or household.” (…) “Indeed, in copies of decrees issued by feudal lords that survive from the period, names of knights were often intermingled indiscriminately with names of blood relatives of the lord.” (…)
“In this military family, the feudal lord treated his knights as he would his own sons or sons-in-law. He fed and housed them, sometimes awarded tracts of land to them if their service warranted it and he was rich enough, reined them in if discipline was needed, and served as mediator if disputes arose among them. As part of their duties, the knights assisted in the administration and oversight of the ‘familial’ property, which included keeping the peasants on the lands of the castle lord in line. This would be accomplished through regular tours of the lord’s dominion, called cavalcades, in which the knights would show off their armed might in a menacing display consciously intended to intimidate the peasants and townspeople.”
This, for the most part, sounds very similar to the deal the Sheriff and Gisburne have between them, with the difference of Guy’s service being expected every minute of every day (including menial tasks), rather than only 40 days a year, all the while never being awarded land or a manor of his own.
Possibly this loophole is a result of Guy working both as the steward of Nottingham Castle and as the Undersheriff, and occasionally as Captain of the guard. In the Robin of Sherwood 1986 Annual, the Sheriff asks, ‘Is the bishop’s room prepared? The sheets aired? Herbs on the pillows?’ and Guy feels irritated by dealing with this trivia like a “housekeeper” while he ought to be out preparing the soldiers to escort. The Sheriff then asks, ‘Is your escort ready?’ and Guy feels dismay that he is expected to do everything at once. The Sheriff makes his position clear: ‘And when I say problems, Gisburne, I mean anything from preventing the bishop from having cold feet in bed to stopping a full-scale invasion by the king of France. That’s your responsibility, do you understand?’
While this example is from the Annual rather than directly from the show, I think it does display the unusual position Guy is in very well. How did he end up with such a raw deal? Perhaps because he has no family who would back him up, at least not that he would expect them to. It’s no surprise he wants to leave the Sheriff all the time, while the Sheriff has possibly secured himself the cheapest knightly labor on the market.
The Richard Carpenter novel takes a moment to describe the curious dynamics between Guy and Robert de Rainault toward the end of the book:
He and Gisburne had a strange relationship. It was probably true to say that the steward disliked his master rather more than the master disliked his steward, but neither way was there much love lost between them. Gisburne had taken every opportunity to betray the Sheriff, even resorting to murder to get away from the man. But owing to a combination of bad luck and sheer stupidity, none of his plots had ever succeeded. The Sheriff knew this. But it amused him to have Gisburne around, to tease and torment him and to take out his frustrations on him. As for Gisburne, he was bound in service to the Sheriff. It was as if he were the Sheriff’s dog, given the freedom only of a short leash.
So when the Sheriff spoke, it was more to sneer at Gisburne than to reason with him.
How did they get to this miserable, toxic point? What does it mean, “the steward disliked his master rather more than the master disliked his steward”? I’ll backtrack now, to the start of the series.
** THE WITCH OF ELSDON **
When Sir Guy and Sheriff de Rainault first meet, Gisburne still works for Abbot Hugo as steward of St Mary’s and as mean muscle to keep poachers and peasants in line. The Sheriff and Gisburne are on formal terms, although Guy is certainly more polite than de Rainault, which makes sense due to their difference in age and rank. At this point in time, the Sheriff does not take Gisburne’s incompetence or humiliation personally, as it is his brother who has been shamed. From the Richard Carpenter novel after Guy’s first encounter with Robin and the Merries (In the novel, Guy was stripped completely and paraded nude across his horse through the villages):
Abbot Hugo was purple with rage. Gisburne’s humiliation had incensed him. Now he stood before the Sheriff in the council chamber of Nottingham Castle and demanded action. The Sheriff remained calm and twiddled his fingers impatiently. Hugo’s ranting would get him nowhere and secretly he was amused that Gisburne had been so utterly humiliated. It was high time that arrogant young man received his comeuppance.
Yet despite Gisburne’s miserable failure, the Sheriff has taken an interest in him, although it is not at all clear why. Again from the Richard Carpenter novel:
‘Shall I tell you why I came to Elsden today, Gisburne?’ he said quietly, so that Hugo couldn’t hear him. ‘To persuade my brother to find another steward. So that you can work for me.’
Gisburne looked at the Sheriff with surprise. He could hardly believe his good fortune. After failing to catch Robin Hood he hadn’t expected this. ‘Did the Abbot agree?’ he whispered eagerly.
The Sheriff patted his horse and smiled. ‘In the end I decided not to ask him,’ he said softly. ‘This business with the girl has made me think again. You always seem to be making trouble, Gisburne. You provoke people.’
This shows that de Rainault has seen through Gisburne and already knows what trouble he would be if hired. And yet. Despite this, and despite telling the young knight he had changed his mind about the offer, Guy will be hired by the next episode. This begs the question, what does de Rainault see in him?
In these early days of The Witch of of Elsdon, the Sheriff still seems much more inclined to play the role of mentor than later, and even praises Guy, something he stops doing entirely once the young knight is hired:
‘What a worrier you are, Gisburne!’ the Sheriff chuckled. ‘You must learn patience if you’re ever to take service with me. And tact – you’re very short on tact.’
‘But that’s brilliant, Gisburne! Positively inspired!’
This episode also contains a very interesting exchange between Robin and the Sheriff, especially if you examine the flow of conversation more closely.
Right off the bat, after Robin reveals himself beneath Guy’s helmet (‘Where’s the villain’s head?’ ‘On the villain’s shoulders!’) the Sheriff asks about Gisburne. Considering he could just as well have said “You’ll pay for your insolence!” or “You think you can get out of here alive?” or any other kind of threat or insult.
The Sheriff stood his ground. ‘Where’s Gisburne?’ he said.
‘Where do you think?’
‘Murdered?’
This short sequence of exchanged words (to me) sounds like the Sheriff’s first thought upon seeing Robin unmasked is that Gisburne has been murdered, and he immediately seeks confirmation for this suspicion before anything else. Establishing Gisburne's status is the priority.
(Hugo pleads at this point and is ignored.)
Robin shook his head.
‘So Gisburne’s your hostage?’ he asked Robin.
‘For Thomas of Elsden,’ said Robin.
Right here, Robin (in my eyes) makes a strategic mistake. He reveals that there is something he really wants from the Sheriff (Thomas of Elsdon), but he has no confirmation if his hostage (who doesn’t even work for the Sheriff yet) has any value to the Sheriff. And the Sheriff knows this. In consequence, it doesn’t matter if de Rainault sees value in Guy, because he has been given the leverage of hypothesizing. And that he does.
The Sheriff smiled. ‘But he’s been sentenced to death. And suppose I tell you I don’t care what happens to Gisburne?’
The Sheriff has now visibly calmed down. He doesn’t bluntly say “I don’t care what happens to Gisburne”, instead he invites Robin to “suppose”, to gamble. De Rainault may or may not care about Guy. Robin definitely cares about Thomas.
‘And your soldiers?’
‘Soldiers have a habit of dying, don’t they? It’s an occupational hazard. So you have nothing to bargain with, have you?’
Robin drew his sword. ‘Haven’t I?’ he said.
De Rainault outright rubs his strategic victory in Robin’s face, which forces Robin to change tactics onto more familiar territory.
At the end of the episode, when the Merries remark that Guy had some value after all, Robin points out it was in truth de Rainault’s life he had bargained with. This frames the events as though the Sheriff only cared about his own hide. Personally though, since de Rainault’s first questions were about Gisburne’s status and he then cunningly maneuvered to dismantle the power of Robin’s hostage point, I believe he did care (emotionally? financially?) about what happened to the captured knight. And indeed, if he didn’t, why would he hire Guy right after such a disaster (the second one in a row)?
** GISBURNE’S START ON THE JOB **
When Guy first starts working for the Sheriff, he is (mostly) polite and obedient. He is very eager for acknowledgement and praise, adding details to statements someone else is making, finishing sentences before they are spoken, like a child with his hand up in class hoping to be picked by the teacher. He seems to put an effort into being approved of.
‘(…) I crawled in round the back, while the rest of ‘em was busy with the horses, got that thing off the banner – and – and crawled out again.’
‘And that is when they saw him, my lord,’ finished Gisburne.
‘And that is when they saw him, my lord,’ finished Gisburne.
Siward nodded. (…) ‘I thought I was safe. But in the morning, they came after me again.’
‘They would,’ said the Sheriff quietly.
‘That’s when he met the outlaws, my lord,’ added Gisburne.
‘They would,’ said the Sheriff quietly.
‘That’s when he met the outlaws, my lord,’ added Gisburne.
The Sheriff exploded with mirth so Gisburne thought it diplomatic to join in.
His exuberance works to his detriment however, and with his constant failures he only ever earns scorn and ridicule from his master, which at this point he still wordlessly bears. The Sheriff meanwhile seems to be going out of his way to make Guy feel worthless. Not just through barbs and sneering, but by humiliating him with menial servant tasks such as toweling him dry or scrubbing his back in the bath. This could be simply the expression of the Sheriff’s nasty personality, with no motive but instant gratification through bullying. But there is a small clue that de Rainault intentionally chips away at Guy’s self-esteem knowing very well how hungry he is for acknowledgement. This clue doesn’t pay off until the very last episode however, I’ll go into more detail then.
One more moment I’d like to highlight in season 1, the incident of King Richard humiliating Guy in front of the court. There’s a brief exchange of glances between Guy and the de Rainault brothers, like a silent plea for help. They coolly ignore him in that instant, but later we have this little scene:
‘Who’s going to do it?’ asked Richard calmly.
‘Sir Guy of Gisburne,’ answered the Sheriff immediately.
‘Can he keep his mouth shut?’ said Hubert.
‘Yes, my lord,’ said the Sheriff. ‘That’s something I’ve taught him.’
Not only is the Sheriff making a bid to restore good favor with the king, but he is also reinstating Gisburne as a figure of competence. After all, Guy had technically done nothing wrong by apprehending Robin Hood. It would have been folly to assume any outlaw approaching the castle had been personally invited by the king. And this might be the sort of thing that happens offscreen most other times whenever Gisburne gets himself into royal trouble and de Rainault bails him out.
** THE REBELLION **
By season two, Guy has somehow managed to be appointed Undersheriff/Deputy Sheriff, despite never actually proving himself competent. It is the same mystery as when Guy was hired in the first place after de Rainault himself explained why that would be a bad idea. While Gisburne has a blatantly self-destructive personality, de Rainault is no better, appointing the young knight to increasingly important responsibilities while at the same time fueling the young man’s inner turbulence and self-hatred. A recipe for disaster.
Interestingly, this season also sees the start of a rebellion of Gisburne toward his master, heightening their tension, but at the same time the Sheriff becomes more comfortable keeping his underling’s company, now actively trying to keep him. Guy tries to break free, while the Sheriff tightens the leash.
This season, in Lord of the Trees, we see Guy interact with Bertrand de Nivelle, the closest thing he has to a friend. We see Guy knows how to smile, he enjoys hugging (although he is a little awkward about it), and he seems to really want to have friends to play around with. He still craves acknowledgement, something that even Bertrand seems to deny him. There aren’t any young men his age around Nottingham Castle (even the soldiers all look older than him) and the one time someone does show up, Ralph of Huntingdon, Guy is instead plagued by murderous envy and jealousy. The new dashing Captain of the guard presents another instance when the Sheriff knowingly attacks his steward’s self-esteem, and he’s not surprised in the least that Ralph ends up dead “by accident”.
Gisburne, racked with rage and jealousy, could have killed them both on the spot.
‘I’m free of you, Sheriff!’ he exulted.
This, to me, reads as Guy stuck in a suffocating limbo of watching someone else earn praise and favor when he had been trying so hard for so long. It comes as no surprise that he wants to be free of it. If he can’t cover his emotional needs, he has to cut those ties and try again elsewhere.
In this season, we also see Guy take charge. By the time the Sheriff returns, the damage is done. He considers himself the superior man. The whipping boy remark is the first time Guy stands up for himself, even noted as such in the original script. From here on out, Guy will sass the Sheriff more often, roll his eyes, snap back in arguments.
‘I’m not your whipping boy,’ complained Gisburne, and the Sheriff detected a note of real defiance.
‘I’ve left the Sheriff,’ Gisburne announced. ‘I’ve taken enough of his insults. Why should I go on being belittled? Why should I serve him, knowing that I’m the better man? I mean to take service with the Earl of Chester.’
[[ This chapter also contains a playful detail in the novel. These are phrasings of Guy thinking about Sarah, and the Sheriff thinking about Guy, creating a parallel:
The beautiful object of his thoughts could not relax.
The object of his thoughts was at that moment taking Sarah some way from her father and the children, who were being guarded by Gisburne’s men. ]]
While in the first season the Sheriff would warn and lecture Guy about the consequences of his actions, he is becoming increasingly interested in keeping him close. When Guy tries to elope with his kidnapped Jewish bride, the Sheriff sets out to fetch him back (personally). When Nottingham soldiers throw themselves at the Merries and the resurrected Simon de Belleme, the Sheriff holds Gisburne back to flee with him. For his own protection, most likely, even if no one is paying him much heed at this point. The other soldiers perish.
The Sheriff and Gisburne appeared on the battlements, Gisburne drawing his sword. He started towards his men, but the Sheriff held him back. (…) Gisburne and the Sheriff, though hit by the wind, argued furiously, Gisburne screaming that he must help his men, the Sheriff determined to flee. The Sheriff’s arguments prevailed and the pair made their escape through the battle, clawing their way over piles of rubble in their haste to get away.
There’s also a scene of the Sheriff putting stock in Guy’s opinion of his appearance, a rare moment of using him for reassurance. At least Guy has the decency to hide his Schadenfreude:
Gisburne watched the barber’s fumbling efforts with a little smile playing round his lips. The smile disappeared as the Sheriff turned to him and asked, ‘I hope I’m doing the right thing?’
‘Oh yes, my lord,’ said Gisburne encouragingly. ‘A great improvement!’
The Sheriff glared at him, then told the barber to get on with it.
In that same scene, Hubert de Guiscard comes with private business, ‘What I have to say is for your ears only’, and Guy departs the room only with some reluctance, as though he expects to be a part of the Sheriff’s secrets.
Finally, by the end of the season, the Sheriff finds himself in such a good mood he even addresses Guy as “my friend” and pats him on the back. This can be seen as the Sheriff being so jovial he’ll even be friendly to somebody he dislikes. Conversely, one could argue maybe the Sheriff doesn’t even dislike Guy, he’s just in a bad mood all of the time.
‘Sympathizers don’t do anything but sympathize, Gisburne,’ the Sheriff said heartily, and patted Gisburne on the back. ‘Relax, my friend, we’ve won!’
[[ On a related note, in the '80s Look-In comics, de Rainault frequently pats Guy on the back or shoulder. This gesture is almost never returned, Gisburne only touches the Sheriff to push or pull him out of the way. ]]
** THE LAST STRAW **
By season three, Gisburne has become more seasoned and even at times clever, as he takes on quests of his own accord. He (successfully!) investigates Robin Hood’s true identity by himself, possibly came up with the plan to steal the cross of St Ciricus, charms his way into the new Sheriff Philip Mark’s service, aids the Gloucesters in attempting to assassinate the Queen, and finally abandons his position to flee from the law. He now feels free to outright scold the Sheriff about Robin Hood and related matters, and has become more independent from de Rainault than ever, while de Rainault has become even more restrictive. He shuts down Guy’s hopes of attending the joust on the Earl of Derby’s team, expects Gisburne to always be within earshot, even when he has nightmares of being betrayed by him. It is easy to see why Guy concludes the Sheriff burdens his hawk too much, equally harried.
At least the Sheriff realizes that Guy has changed. He isn’t as unobservant as Guy assumes him to be, but still just as condescending.
Sometimes the extent of Gisburne’s idiocy surprised even him. And this time the steward’s behaviour was more surprising still. Instead of sloping off and sulking, as he would normally have done, he held his ground. (…)
The Sheriff stared at him. Gisburne was actually angry. He was convinced that he was right and he was angry because the Sheriff disagreed. The Sheriff was amazed, but he was also in a good mood. After all, at the end of the month he would have all the lands of Leaford, along with the Grange, to call his own. If Gisburne wanted a little holiday . . .
And even when the Sheriff doesn’t agree with his steward’s “stupid” ideas, he does take him more seriously than Gisburne expects.
‘Suppose I did accuse young Robert – and was proved wrong? Can you imagine what the consequences would be? We wouldn’t have time to pack our bags!’
Gisburne gritted his teeth, exasperated. (…) Why wouldn’t the Sheriff listen to him?
As if reading his thoughts, the Sheriff smiled. ‘I haven’t ignored your suspicions, Gisburne,’ he said.
Time of the Wolf becomes not just the TV show’s finale, but also the climax of the Sheriff-Gisburne relationship. For the first time, it is the Sheriff who betrays Guy, and to make it worse he does it right when Guy stands up for his master, which is the straw that breaks the camel’s back for the beleaguered knight. Why did de Rainault do it? Was he finally ready to be rid of his backstabbing underling? Was he paying him back for all the trouble and treachery to save his own skin? It’s likely. But also possibly de Rainault is throwing Gisburne under the bus because he knows there is a good chance he can buy Guy a commuted sentence, while if he was the one arrested, King John could seize his assets and any bribe would become moot. Either way, Gisburne goes off like a powder keg, as to him the Sheriff has proven himself a coward who doesn’t care an iota about him.
Amusingly, the Captain of the guard in this episode is the same one who revealed Guy’s secret plot in Children of Israel, and he seems all too eager to tell the Sheriff that Gisburne has fled North (while de Rainault lets the golden grain run through his fingers, possibly contemplating all the golden things he has lost in the past hour, haha). Also fun, during de Rainault’s pursuit of Guy (in Part Two), a soldier in the background says ‘Here we go again’.
When Sheriff and Gisburne are reunited by the Fenris wolves, the former steward seems so hungry for revenge, so eager to see de Rainault suffer. But the Sheriff shames Guy by coolly ridiculing his new outfit and declining the offer to join, choosing death. Even while hatchets are tossed at the Sheriff's head he calmly keeps his gaze on Gisburne, disproving the image the young man has of him in his mind. De Rainault is obviously not a coward or afraid of dying, which contradicts the motivation of throwing Guy under the bus to save his own skin. And right now on death’s doorstep, when Guy is neither his Deputy nor a man of rank, he's still looking right at him instead of defying his tormentors. Guy's change in expression becomes the focus, as if he has realized something, and from this point his priorities shift.
No longer burning to kill the Sheriff, Gisburne looks for excuses not to do it, and the wolves expose him as having fallen from their faith. In the novel, Guy even counters Grendel’s ‘Then you are no longer one of us’ with a sassy ‘I don’t think I ever was’.
Now comes a very interesting part that differs between TV show and novel. Here the TV show version of the scene (emphasis mine):
Gisburne: That's far enough, Sheriff.
Rainault: *fake laugh* Now listen to me, Guy.
Gisburne: Guy, is it? I've listened to you long enough. And where has it got me? What's your life worth?
Rainault: The same as yours, Guy. Brewers demanded your head. I can save it.
Gisburne: Is it worth saving mine? Worth crawling to the king?
Rainault: My life for yours.
Gisburne: Or. Yours for mine.
This is the clue that I mentioned earlier about de Rainault purposely manipulating Guy’s emotions to make him feel insecure and held at bay. The Sheriff has knowingly withheld the use of Guy's name through all three seasons until now, addressing him only ever as “Gisburne”, or on occasion “Sir Guy” when in polite company. In contrast, he was quick to refer to Ralph of Huntingdon as “my dear Ralph”, and Robert of Huntingdon as “my dear Robert” in the short periods of time when he was pleasantly acquainted with them. Robert of Huntingdon does, however, refer to Gisburne as “Guy” when speaking to him on friendly terms (when he was tricking the Sheriff into believing Robin Hood to be someone else).
In this case, Guy picks up on the sudden use of his name, and reacts angrily. In the novel version, de Rainault tries the same trick at an earlier point in time (when being chained up by the wolves), but Guy doesn’t remark on it directly.
‘Now I have them all. All except Lady Wolfshead. And I have you as well!’
‘You have no one!’ replied the Sheriff desperately. ‘You are alone! You’re not one of these lunatics! We can escape, Guy! Don’t you see? We can use Robin Hood’s death to our advantage! We can say we hunted them down! That we killed them all! The King will pardon both of us!’
‘Soon there will be no king!’ retorted Gisburne wildly. ‘Besides, I’d rather see you suffer!’
In this version, Guy then realizes the Sheriff was right about him, he is not a cutthroat and not one of these people, and that is why he refuses to kill him.
Back to the scene quoted above from the TV show, I emphasized the word “worth” because I found it interesting that Guy uses it three times in a row. He echoes season one when he deemed himself worth nothing (while being waterboarded by the Merries), and the Sheriff was said to have bargained with his own life instead of Gisburne's. To me, aside from wanting security against being betrayed again, I see this as Guy trying to get the Sheriff to confirm that he's worth something. That he matters. Meanwhile de Rainault studies his wayward steward carefully throughout this exchange, and whatever conclusion he draws seems to have calmed things between them for the while. Neither the TV show nor the novel explain what exactly they agreed on.
The novel does switch up the events again a little here, as the Sheriff and Guy run into Marion as she weeps over clay-Robin’s dead body:
She looked up to find the Sheriff and Gisburne standing over her. She rose and looked at them with scorn. They couldn’t harm her now. They could kill her too if they wished.
‘You’ve got what you always wanted,’ she said quietly.
Neither moved to stop her as she walked past them. For once the Sheriff showed some mercy. He knew Marion’s heart was broken. Young Huntingdon’s death had finished her. In silence he watched her ride away from the headland.
I love this scene. It shows the Sheriff understands what love is and how it feels, and that he isn’t a cardboard cut-out villain. Gisburne’s perspective is not described, but at least he doesn’t move to stop her, so it can be assumed he is affected in some way. To me this scene makes even more sense if you believe the previous showdown between Guy and de Rainault was heavily emotionally charged. That would put them both in a rare state of emotional exhaustion and possibly serenity for once in their lives, which pairs well with feeling empathy for someone else in an emotionally charged situation. A moment of exception.
In any case, the Sheriff is in a very good mood now that Robin Hood is supposedly dead on their wagon.
‘Don’t you see?’ explained the Sheriff excitedly, looking down at the body. ‘This has saved us. Both of us. King John will forgive the business of the grain when we take him the body of Robin Hood.’ (…)
As they rode along the Sheriff painted a glowing picture of their arrival.
‘Think of it, Gisburne,’ he said enthusiastically. ‘To appear unheralded with such a prize.’
Guy is back to being “Gisburne” but also back in the Sheriff’s fold, and the two of them do get a snippet of the song “Together We” playing for them as they ride off into the distance, for the first time in the show. It gives their relationship an optimistic note to end on. The novel adds in the epilogue that they realize halfway to Newark the body is gone, so they turn back around to Nottingham. The Sheriff then writes an obsequious letter about defeating the Fenris wolves and adds a generous amount of gold to smooth things over with King John.
Finally, to the question if these two villains care about each other? Personally, I think they do. They find each other annoying, unpleasant, and stupid, but for years they have had no other social contact to converse with aside from Abbot Hugo. Nobody else likes them. They don’t like anybody. I think as irritating as de Rainault finds Gisburne’s personality to be, he wants Gisburne’s blunt statements and snappy retorts and seeks them out. He probably has fun bantering, even if it puts him in a sour mood at the same time. Sometimes it even feels as though the Sheriff is making his interactions with Gisburne a part of his own character. What would he be talking about all day if he wasn’t rhetorically needling him with “Gisburne, look at this!” and “Gisburne, what do you think?”, his monologues probably don’t roll off half as well on the servants. He probably also feels comfortable around the young knight despite the constant treachery because he thinks he understands Guy’s way of thinking (though perhaps he doesn’t quite), which makes him easy to predict and control.
Gisburne, meanwhile, I think does not understand the Sheriff’s way of thinking at all. He can only project assumptions based on de Rainaults actions, and ends up with a cardboard cutout. If de Rainault cares about him, he doesn’t (explicitly) show it, invisible to the love-and-attention-starved steward, who probably genuinely feels hated by his boss and is continuously driven to more desperate measures of finding acknowledgement. I do think that Gisburne craves to build more bonds with people and be liked or at least accepted by others, and since this basic need remains unfulfilled in Nottingham Castle he in turn feels much more resentment toward de Rainault than the other way around. But even then, Guy realizes when push comes to shove he doesn’t truly want to kill the Sheriff, and likely doesn’t wish him as dead as he may think he does.
This is demonstrated well in the new novel version of Sanctuary,
in which Guy wishes the Sheriff to have frozen in the snow or drowned in the icy river after he goes missing in a winter hunting expedition. He breaks off the search for him and heads back to Nottingham Castle, where he expects the Sheriff is already warm and waiting, cursing him all the while. When he gets there and finds the castle empty, he is uneasy. The longer he waits for the Sheriff to show up, the more he considers how he doesn’t want the responsibility of the Sheriff’s post, which might just be a way of masking his growing concern. And finally when someone reports that a gruesome, murderous priest might have the Sheriff in his grasp, Guy flips out. This is the only time he ever refers to the Sheriff as “Robert”.
‘If he’s done anything to Robert then I’ll do more to him than fill his mouth with eels,’ cried Gisburne angrily.
‘If he’s done anything to Robert then I’ll do more to him than fill his mouth with eels,’ cried Gisburne angrily.
‘You don’t need a Bible, you need a turn or two on the rack!’ threatened the Sheriff.
This is another point. Despite all Gisburne’s betrayals and blatant disrespect, the Sheriff never punishes him in a significant way. He doesn’t hurt him, doesn’t imprison him, at most he cancels tournament attendance or maybe docks his pay, perhaps sends him to bed without supper (as implied in the 1986 Annual), and only in one of the game books does de Rainault outright slap him. He does keep him working late at night and early in the morning, which can be used as a punishment (also employed in the Annual). In the new audio Blood that Binds, the Sheriff confines Guy to the castle, which is basically the same as grounding him. Guy’s ill behavior never has any serious negative consequences. And, in a way, it seems that despite resenting Gisburne for being unpleasant, he might enjoy that type of personality. Here observed with Robert of Huntingdon (when he pretended to be a regular haughty noble):
Now he looked at Robert with renewed interest. Perhaps he had misjudged the boy on their first meeting. He seemed to be sullen, cruel, vindictive and completely without pity. In other words he was a young man very much after his heart!
** ROMANTIC INTEREST? **
There has been some matter of debate on the Sheriff’s sexuality and whether he has a romantic interest in Gisburne, and even Prince John speculates with his remark ‘the fact that you’re de Rainault’s protégé – if that’s all you are – means nothing to me’. I’ve seen posts stating Richard Carpenter had said the Sheriff is either bisexual or gay. Andrew Orton in his reference work Hooded Man argues the Sheriff is asexual. Personally, I find all of these to be perfectly plausible. The question then remains, could he have an interest in Gisburne?
Firstly, again, I find the asexual/aromantic interpretation valid. If he does experience attraction to men (and/or women), however, I believe his approach to relationships would not be a healthy one. The Sheriff shows a vaguely flirtatious side when chatting with Ralph of Huntingdon or during his drunken scheming with Robert of Huntingdon (Gisburne's a sour grape in both scenarios), but nothing indicates that the Sheriff is actually sexually active. While his lack of sexual expression throughout the show might be confirmation for asexuality, it can also be the result of de Rainault simply not allowing himself to love or to lust. Outside of speculation on the Sheriff’s formative years, could the reason for holding back be the homophobic society of the time?
Historically, during this period a homosexual relationship would not have been considered unusual or particularly contemptible beyond the most ascetic members of the Church. In the late 12th century, Gerald of Wales documented pairs of men getting married in Church by a priest in Ireland. (Only a century later, the Church’s brutal persecution of homosexuals was already in full swing.) For the RoS time, however, the general population was tolerant. Norman knights and the clergy were particularly known for same-sex relationships, and several chansons and literature of the time sang of romantic bonds between two knights or two ladies (Lancelot-Propre of the Lancelot-Grail, Amis and Amile, St Serge and St Bacchus). Since de Rainault is not a very religious man, and not even Abbot Hugo is a hardcore ascetic man of cloth, a fear of homophobic reprisal seems unlikely.
Why else might de Rainault withdraw from relationships? I wager not out of piety, but in self-defense for his own power.
In a sense, both love and lust lead to a loss of control over one’s own mind and actions. It's a weakness that can be exploited. The Sheriff doesn’t drink excessively, or gamble in any significant way, he is in seemingly perfect control of his habits. Except, of course, his infatuation with gold. And, if one looks closer, he is ridiculously tolerant of his golden-haired steward’s shenanigans. (His greed for gold actually works as an explanation for this behavior: Guy is like a jewel, pretty to look at but otherwise useless, yet he needs to be at the Castle as part of the treasure hoard so the Sheriff can feel the peace of mind that his collection is whole.)
Gisburne is a pretty, handsome young knight, and I think if the Sheriff did feel a fascination for him, he’d actively nip that feeling in the bud. This would leave him in the limbo of being attracted to Guy, but never actually making a move on him. De Rainault’s hostile reaction to the Sheriff of Lincoln’s camp flamboyance could then also be easily explained. Rather than a distaste for homosexuality or sex itself, he feels resentment that Philip Mark can just let go of inhibitions like that, that he flaunts his acceptance of the risks that come with human bonding. The camera shots in this episode often capture the two Sheriffs and Gisburne in triangle constellations, and for the first time the Sheriff seems out of his element when he observes, stunned, the development between Gisburne and Mark.
There also seems to be a detail of the Sheriff fidgeting with his sigil ring at the beginning of the episode, and after his exile the ring is now on Gisburne’s finger, which he flaunts in the showdown scene when de Rainault is caught sneaking back into the castle with Robin Hood and the Merries. At the end of the episode, the Sheriff plucks his ring off Guy's finger and puts it back on his own. A subtle game of power, but it adds another layer to the showdown scene where Mark boasts about having Gisburne now, while Gisburne is wearing de Rainault’s ring (Maybe that prompted de Rainault’s sudden and strange exclamation that Guy helped him get into the Castle?).
Is de Rainault infatuated with Gisburne? I think the character is played openly enough to allow the interpretation. As for if Gisburne returns any such interest, I personally believe he is too busy trying to win even basic recognition and praise from the Sheriff, regardless of his sexuality.
** END, FINALLY **
And with that, my exhaustive analysis of the relationship between these two villains comes to an end. If there’s something I’ve missed, I’ll gladly hear it! This is obviously one of my favorite RoS subjects, haha.
