In 1247 England, a young woman tracks down the legendary outlaw Robin Hood, Hugh Jackman. The aging folk-hero lives solitary in the wilderness, troubled by a brutal past, and he dismisses the tales that have built him into a national symbol. The young Wainwright, Jade Croot, sets out to avenge kin who lie among his past victims, but Robin proves to be a dangerous shield against vengeance, silencing the would-be avenger and burying her with the many others who have sought the same revenge.
Robin is visited by his oldest friend and fellow bandit, Little John, Bill Skarsgård, who now lives as Edward, a farmer whose life Robin took. John pleads for help to retake his farm and win back his wife, Margaret, from the landowning family that holds it. The two outlaws strike a brutal raid, killing several men and saving John's daughter, Margaret the younger, Katie Breen, though Robin’s intervention costs him the life of his wife. He shoots down Hendrie, a boy who tried to warn others, and Hendrie dies with an arrow through his head as a ceremony marks his passing. The family burns the farm, Robin is badly wounded, and he duels the clan’s elderfather, who dies at John’s hand.
John ferries the delirious Robin to a remote island, the Priory of St. Clement, where he is cared for by Sister Brigid, the prioress. Robin, adopting the name Randolph, encounters the priory’s caretaker, a leper, and a traumatized Margaret who escapes to the island after her father is killed but soon runs away again. Robin finds her and spares her life, realizing she does not know the truth about their shared past, and he takes her under his wing, teaching her to hunt and helping sustain the priory.
Brigid helps Robin and Margaret recover, and the former outlaw follows the prioress to a secluded cave, where he observes as she indulges in a private act. An injured young man named Arthur arrives, and Robin suspects he belongs to Hendrie’s vengeful clan who killed John and may target Margaret. On his deathbed, the leper reveals that he recognizes Robin, for he is Guy of Gisborne, Robin’s old enemy, urging him to embrace a new life and warning him not to reveal the truth to Brigid.
Determined to shield Margaret, Robin rows to the mainland with Arthur and compels him to admit that he is Godwyn, the last surviving member of Hendrie’s family. Robin persuades him to abandon vengeance and return home to his kin. When they return to Brigid, Robin confesses his true identity as Robin Hood, a revelation that horrifies her, for Brigid learns that her own family were among his victims—the outlaw once burned her husband and children alive. She momentarily contemplates revenge, though a path toward healing also gnaws at her core.
After John appears to him in a dream, Robin convinces Brigid to help him die, unable to bear the weight of his former life. Brigid suggests that his monstrous deeds may have set her on a new path of healing, but Robin refuses to let her stop his bleeding. He shares the tale of befriending John and the heroic versions of their lives, and he swears Margaret to keep the truth about her father’s past secret. With a bow he crafted for her and lessons in marksmanship, Robin faces his end; he dies as Margaret lets an arrow fly, closing the circle of a life defined by both violence and mercy.
