Edmund is "awarded" the post of Lord High Executioner, a position which frequently results in the loss of one's own head.
Following the execution of the Lord High Executioner himself, Queen Elizabeth appoints Edmund Blackadder to the post. Blackadder is hardly excited as nobody ever lasts very long in the role. Delegating the entire operation to the incompotent Lord Percy, he suspects he might be in trouble when the Queen pardons a prisoner that has already been executed.—Murray Chapman