The Uprising

In 1381, in the wake of the Black Death that killed half the population, England is effectively ruled by the council of Richard II, who at 14 years old is too young and too disturbed by terrifying nightmares of mobs of demons to rule on his own. The kingdom needs more revenue, necessitating an increase in taxes. The council determines that taxing the Church or the merchant class is politically untenable, so they will increase taxes on the peasantry.

A ploughman, who lost his wife and two children to the plague while surviving it himself, comes to town to pay his annual taxes. The townspeople complain to the tax collector that taxes have been raised to the point that they can no longer survive on their remaining yield. The collector demands that the Ploughman pay death taxes again on his family since he lacks documentation of their death seven years prior. After seeing soldiers forcibly examine young women's genitals to determine if they should be taxed as children or adults, the Ploughman accosts the tax collector, and kills a soldier who tries to arrest him.

The Ploughman's actions inspire peasant revolts across England, which come to be led by the Ploughman; Wat Tyler, who served the king's late father in the military; and John Ball, a priest with egalitarian views who was branded a heretic by the Church and imprisoned before being freed by the rebels.

The rebels decide they will march to London to petition the king, who they see as just and fair but held hostage by his council. At the advice of the council, the king, who sees the rebels as his nightmare come true, takes a boat down the River Thames to present himself to the rebels from a distance, but does not personally meet them or hear their petition, and in response the rebels march on and sack London. With the king's armies still days away, having to be recalled from campaigns in Scotland and France, the council persuades him to accept the rebels' demands to convince them to disperse, and then have his armies slaughter them when they least expect it.

The king meets the rebels and tells them he will grant them self-determination and clemency at the Priory of St. John the next day, and in the meantime they may seek justice against his council, who they see as traitors. The members of the council are captured by a mob and beheaded in the streets. The night progresses into looting and the beheading of merchants, to the horror of the Ploughman, Tyler, and Ball, who struggle to control the mob.

In the morning, the rebels go to meet the king. The king secretly has Tyler killed, and persuades the rebels to lay down their arms and follow him into a trap. The Ploughman learns of the king's treachery but is unable to warn the rebels in time. Ball and most of the rebels are slaughtered, while the Ploughman escapes with the few survivors.

One year later, the king is traveling through Sherwood Forest when he is ambushed by a group of archers. The Ploughman, now dressed in a green hooded garb, reveals himself as their leader and threatens the king and promises to pursue justice, ultimately sparing him to let him live in fear.