Contains spoilers for this episode.
Blackadder avoids an order to advance by pretending that the telephone connection is faulty, then ignores a telegram addressed to a misspelt version of his name. When a carrier pigeon provides another route for orders, he shoots it. Learning that killing military pigeons is an offence, he has the bird cooked to remove the evidence. George and Baldrick's attempts to deny everything only attract attention, and its speckled feathers identify Melchett's beloved pet, Speckled Jim.
A court-martial places Darling in charge of the prosecution and the furious bird owner on the judge's bench. Blackadder hopes for a famous lawyer, but confused correspondence brings George to defend him instead. The lieutenant's questions achieve nothing useful, and Melchett sentences Edmund to death. Baldrick supplies an escape kit full of impractical objects rather than the tools his captain needs. A mistakenly delivered letter finally reveals a possible rescue: George's uncle Rupert has become Minister of War.
George and Baldrick intend to ask Rupert for help but celebrate before sending the telegram and forget it entirely. Blackadder nevertheless returns alive because Rupert independently heard about the trial and reversed the decision. A second message exposes the forgotten appeal, leaving Edmund furious with the men whose drinking almost abandoned him to the firing squad. When headquarters asks for volunteers for Operation Certain Death, he immediately offers George and Baldrick as the ideal pair.