At a knighting ceremony, Michael Sloan confidently expects a promotion after bribing officials, only to hear the commander call other names. When the announcements conclude without him, he confronts the commander, demanding an explanation. The commander coldly informs him his name is not on the knight roster. Instead, Sloan is stripped of his rank, banished from the city, and sentenced to work as a stable groom, leaving him reeling in shock at this sudden, devastating fall.