The Black Adder episode 2  

Warning this review will contain spoilers 

Story Summery   

The episode starts with Richard the fourth heading out to war. In his place he leaves prince Harry to watch over England, along with Edmund to do the jobs fitting of him, (which included Hearding sheep in the cold weather). No surprise he hated it and called Harry a bastard, (not to his face mind more behind his back). But then Baldrick and Percy gave him in interesting thought, if Harry was in fact a bastard son it would be Edmund who would be next in line to be king. 

We then find Edmund and his crew sorting out the entertainment for St Lenners’d day, which is going as well as a jelly made sword. This is not good due to the fact that the kings trusted commander Lord Dougal McAngus will be joining the celebration and he likes a bit of good old entertainment. When He arrived, Harry greeted him with open arms and McAngus presented him with the spoils of war. Harry then announces that his father offers McAngus anything he wants, as a reward for his service in battle. So, he asked for the lands of Fair Selkirk and Roxburgh, (which happened to be owned by Edmund with him being the Duke of Edinburg and all). Edmund tries to get him to change his mind as he didn’t want his land being taking off him, however McAngus being a reasonable man gets Edmund to agree to his demand, (by sticking a sword in his face).  

Outraged, Edmund came up with a cunning plan to kill McAngus, he does this by getting him to star in the play he has put down for the entertainment. Original called the death of the pharaoh he renamed it death of a Scotsman, (No surprise why he called it that now is there). Sounds better then Baldrick plan really, which was to have McAngus look down a cannon and fire it with his head inside. When the time of the play came Edmund replaced the face dagger with a real one, however before going on stage he tells Edmund about some very interesting letters, which he says talks about the details of Harrys birth. Knowing that his one chance to become king is on the line Edmund quickly jumps on stage and stabs McAngus with the fake dagger before the real one could tough him and the play was a great hit with the audience, (yeah right). 

McAngus then shows him the letters, which were indeed written by his mother to Donald, Third Duke of Argyll and they were written in 1460 the year Harry was born, (so technically speaking Harry is indeed a bastard son). Now Edmund would indeed be next to be king, however McAngus said it might be sooner than he thinks because last he saw the king, he was facing 10 000 enemies’ soldiers with only a fruit knife. Edmund then reads out the letters to everyone at the celebration, to which Harry then steps down as heir and tells Edmund he must look after the kingdom until his father gets back. But he then tells him that king Richard is dead and that he is now king of England, but he soon finds out he is dead wrong as the king comes into the room triumphant, (which just shows that Richarde the fourth is the greatest fighter in the land, due to the face he killed all those enemies with a fruit knife! very nice).   

Edmund then tells the king about the letters and revels that… (what! the letter were written after Harry was born and they were dated nine months before Edmund birth. Oh, dear Edmund is the bastard son). Once again Edmund manages to Weasel his way out of his own grave by clamming the letters are fake and throwing them in the fire. He then challenges McAngus to a due, (to the death) and that goes badly. But Edmund manages to save his skin by saying he’ll give McAngus everything he has, to which he agrees to. 

The episode ends with Edmund going back to Baldricks plan by giving McAngus a final tour of the castle and showing him “the Cannons”. McAngus then looks inside the cannon and then “Boom”, Edmund then informs the king of McAngus terrible “accident”, and he jumps for Joy knowing is land is safe. 

Thoughts and Feelings     

I thought this episode was very amusing, an example of this was when Edmund was trying to tell Baldrik and Percy about the letters that McAngus has. This was funny because while Edmund is trying to tell them they have to save him they were going on talking about watching McAngus getting killed. 

Another part I liked about this episode was when Edmund found out he was the bastard soon. This was good because when he found out McAngus had tricked him he was like “you bastard!!” and then Harry jumped in telling him the Bastard actually is Edmund.  

I also thought that McAngus was a great character (who was played by guest star Alex Norton). This was because he was just a violent as King Richard was and I liked the way that he tricked Edmund into thinking Harry was the bastard son when in fact it was Edmund. 

It was also very amusing when Edmund kept getting stuck in McAngus’s trap. This was funny because he went from being hung upside down to falling into a pit whole after speaking to McAngus.

Also, I still think it’s funny how King Richard still can’t remember Edmund’s name. 

Overall, I thought this episode was very good and I look forward to seeing what comes next.