Episode 3 of Time Bandits unfolds with Saffron's return from school, her world turned upside down. Her parents, transformed into lifeless lumps of coal, and Kevin's absence greet her, leaving her home a chaotic shell of its former self. As she steps into Kevin's room, the wardrobe malfunctions, revealing a bizarre new realm within, which Saffron dismisses as "random" before the very walls tremble with unease.
Meanwhile, deep within their temporal escapades, the Bandits unravel the enigmatic identity of Fianna—a demon in their midst. The realization that Pure Evil is hot on their heels, thirsting for the map, sends them into a flurry of strategizing. Penelope, her words stumbling over their plans, struggles to devise a countermeasure. Widgit, the custodian of the map, miscalculates their temporal coordinates, mistaking their location for Paris when in truth, they've stumbled upon the prehistoric era. A terrifying pterosaur sends them scurrying, blasting through time once more, landing amidst the chaos of medieval times.
As Pure Evil receives Damon's disheartening news that Fianna lacks the map, she vows to track her down, her nostrils now filled with his pungent scent as a beacon. Back with the Bandits, Kevin arrives, bearing a colossal triceratops skull fossil, mistaken by the townsfolk as a vanquished dragon. The group is hailed as dragon slayers, a title that comes with both accolades and dire circumstances.
The land is ravaged by famine, and acorns are all that sustain them. But their newfound status brings an unexpected request: to vanquish the threat plaguing the village. Penelope, eager to please, agrees without hesitation, only to discover that the foe they must confront is none other than the sheriff himself. Attempts to back out prove futile, and their plan to hide in the woods is thwarted by the Lead Soldier, dispatched by the Sheriff's authority.
With the Lead Soldier flexing his might, the Mayor dares to challenge the Sheriff's ironclad rule, declaring a moratorium on resource exploitation. Yet, this act of defiance lands the Bandits behind bars, their freedom abruptly curtailed. After a brief confinement in the dank dungeons, they're paraded before the Sheriff, a self-proclaimed dragon slayer with a trophy skull of his own. Kevin, ever the skeptic, swiftly exposes the truth—a grotesque assemblage of various animal skulls, a shoddy facsimile of a dragon's.
The Sheriff of Nottingham looms menacingly over Kevin and his companions, his voice dripping with malice as he vows to reduce their village to ashes should the harvest fail to materialize by dawn. Amidst this dire threat, Saffron finds herself embarked on a ship alongside Madame Chung, navigating the tides of time with a remarkable lack of perturbation. She casually exhibits sketches of Kevin, which the captain's practiced eye recognizes, their communication bridged by gestures that transcend language barriers.
Back in the village, as the first rays of dawn pierce the sky, the Sheriff and his entourage arrive, their presence foreboding. But the group, ever resourceful, decides to stage a spectacle, employing sleight-of-hand tricks and even a phone, which the Sheriff promptly confiscates. Their ruse unravels, leaving them bound to a tree, the flames of impending doom licking at their heels.
Kevin, ever the diplomat, works his charm on the soldiers, turning their swords into plowshares with words that awaken their sense of morality and autonomy. The soldiers, swayed by his reasoning, unanimously decide to spare them. As for the Sheriff, he remains engrossed in his digital realm, oblivious to the shift in sentiment, until the Lead Soldier's stern presence interrupts his digital escapade.
Time skips forward, revealing Penelope's triumphant return, her promise of aid fulfilled in the form of pterosaur eggs, a beacon of hope amidst their famine. She claims a tapestry as her reward, convinced that it holds a portrait of her former lover. Meanwhile, the pterosaur itself descends upon the village, unleashing chaos and destruction. As the group flees to the outskirts, a shocking revelation dawns: the cats lurking there are not what they seemed, but pawns of Pure Evil, a twist that upends their initial assumptions.
And in Troy, Saffron arrives to a battlefield ablaze with conflict. Amidst the carnage, Fianna stands tall, her presence unnoticed by all except for Saffron. Their eyes meet in a moment frozen in time, as the episode draws to a cliffhanger, leaving their fate hanging in the balance.
