Contains spoilers for this episode.
The Bishop of Bath and Wells arrives to collect the thousand pounds Blackadder owes the Bank of the Black Monks. His threatened punishment makes finding the money urgent, but Edmund has already spent Percy's and Baldrick's savings. The Queen takes his remaining cash through a bet with Melchett. Selling Baldrick's sexual services earns almost nothing, and Elizabeth promptly takes that small sum as well, leaving the bishop's deadline uncomfortably close.
Percy attempts to manufacture gold, producing a green substance instead. Edmund sells his house at an inflated price and appears to have enough for the debt, until another summons to court costs him the proceeds. The Queen's supposed levy against a French invasion is another joke at his expense. Preparing to flee, Edmund hears that the bank has branches everywhere and that his neighbours already use his name as an insult. He changes from escape to revenge.
Baldrick drugs the bishop's wine while an artist waits nearby. When the cleric wakes, Edmund presents a painting that places him in a compromising sexual scene and threatens to distribute copies. The bishop's appetite for cruelty gives way to admiration for the blackmailer's methods. He agrees to cancel the debt and provide further money for Edmund's house and expenses. Percy is introduced as the other figure in the picture, having helped rescue his master through an ordeal very different from alchemy.