In early 1191, with King Richard away on the Third Crusade, England is left in the hands of a fractured regency. Exploiting the absence, Queen Mother Eleanor of Aquitaine secures a return for her exiled son, Prince John. His arrival ignites a powder keg; as the regents William de Longchamp and Hugh de Puiset descend into open conflict, John moves swiftly to seize the crown.
But the coup is no accident of opportunity. Behind John’s ambition stands Eleanor, the true "Puppet Master." Having previously manipulated Richard into betraying his father, Henry II, Eleanor found her eldest son too difficult to control once he took the throne. By engineering Richard's departure for the Holy Land, she cleared the board for John—a far more malleable pawn—to take his place.
However, a rival player emerges to challenge Eleanor’s control: Alys of France, the former mistress of the late Henry II. Once betrothed to Richard, Alys was discarded when Eleanor orchestrated his marriage to Berengaria of Navarre to sideline her. Now, seeking the crown she was twice denied, Alys maneuvers to take her place beside John. As the Prince is torn between his mother’s calculated dominance and Alys’s vengeful ambition, the common people—led by the outlaw Robin Hood—become the collateral damage of a dynasty at war with itself.
