Training soldiers off in the countryside, Prince Richard is unaware that his father the King is ill. A messenger is sent to tell him, but scheming Prince John has him killed and a false message sent that causes Richard to go off to make a treaty with the unpredictable Lady Catherine. In the mean time, the King dies and John insists that in Richard's absence, he should become the new King.

Having returned to London to prepare for his coronation, Richard discovers that Prince John has fled the country with the Queen as hostage.

Anxious to learn the plight of his subjects firsthand. Richard sallies forth in disguise – and soon finds himself arrested for not paying his taxes.

Believing himself to be Richard's equal, Forked Beard, a self-styled 'King', seeks a treaty between himself and the English king. Having rejected his proposal, Richard is taken prisoner.

Lady Rosalie's appeal to Richard to help her father, whom she believes she has fallen under the spell of Villanus, an alchemist, almost costs Richard his life.

Led by a bogus pretender to the English throne, a Black Knight issues a challenge that Richard, with too few knights at court, must accept – or forfeit his throne.

Queen Berengaria, honeymooning with her new husband, is unaware that someone is plotting treachery at Richard's court — returning home, she faces a charge of treason.

Unaware that King Tancred of Sicily and King Philip of France are plotting his death, Richard accepts their invitation to a banquet given in his honour.

Pursuing his plot to have Richard killed, King Philip joins forces with Prince John. Together, they challenge Richard to face Saladin, in a 'friendly' tournament.

Arnold, master of Kernak Castle, is a Crusader in name only. So when he hears that the King is travelling to query his absence from court, he plans to have Richard killed.

On the pretence of Lady Edith's marriage to Sir Kenneth, Richard sends his confidant to Saladin to propose that the Moslem leader consolidate the peace between them marrying the girl.

Within sight of Jerusalem and victory, Richard readies for a final battle with the Muslim forces, but he realises his erstwhile allies are undependable. The Austrian King is losing interest because he won't get enough glory, and the French King and his troops outright leave the crusade, just as word is received the enemy forces are about to abandon the city.

With new friends Hugo and Marta, Richard stops at a market-town to purchase fresh mounts – and finds himself arrested as an enemy spy.

Within sight of escape from Austria, Marta collapses from fatigue. Though he risks capture, Richard refuses to continue until she has recovered.

Told by a fortune-teller that Richard is dead, Prince John makes plans to proclaim himself King. He has reckoned without Robin Hood and his Merry Men – Richard's loyal subjects.

Out hunting, Richard and Gilbert finds the body of a murdered man — a discovery which leads them to a murderous knight responsible for several killings.

In a small backward town, Richard finds the locals living in fear of a hermit living in a nearby cave, who blackmails them with threats of invoking a supernatural power over their water supply. After seeing the beautiful Lady Diane, the hermit insists she marry him, or the land will go dry.

After a desperate man steals Richard's horse, the squire of Fitzgeorge Castle takes him in. He can't see the man's son though they served gallantly in a crusade. The serving maid tells of a plot, where it was actually a serf that fought alongside the King, and the real scion of Fitzgeorge hid back in England.

Nicholas, a charlatan posing as a monk, goes from town to town selling indulgences, with forged documents of authority from Richard. His intention is to blackmail nobles who supported John's attempted coup. Richard seeks the phony friar, and pursues him to a country inn.