XenaPages: Hercules Season 1

Prologue:

This is the story of a time long ago, a time of myth and legend when the ancient gods were petty and cruel and they plagued mankind with suffering. Only one man dared to challenge their power: Hercules

Hercules possessed a strength the world had never seen, a strength surpassed only by the power of his heart. He journeyed the Earth battling the minions of his wicked step-mother Hera, the all-powerful queen of the gods. But wherever there was evil, wherever the innocent would suffer, there would be: Hercules!

Episodes:

Episode 1 - The Wrong Path - 1/16/95 Hercules

Hercules and Iolaus surprise a band of hoodlums, the Ugly brothers, in the midst of robbing a local innkeeper and his wife. A fierce fight ensues, but Hercules and Iolaus ultimately bring the Uglies to their knees and free the couple.

When Hercules arrives home later that night, his family is sound asleep. As he gazes down at his wife Deianeira, an enormous ball of fire suddenly bursts through a window into the bedroom and consumes her. In the blink of an eye she is gone. Before he can catch his breath, he hears the same horrifying sound as the fireball rushes into the next room and engulfs his three young children. Out of the silence of his paralyzing anguish and grief, he hears Hera's bloodcurdling cackle. He knows at once that it is she who has destroyed his family and cursed him to a lifetime of loneliness.

Unable to conceive why Zeus has allowed such a thing to happen, Hercules renounces his love for him and sets out on a path of destruction. Possessed by an unbridled hatred, he burns his own home to the ground and turns his back on the pleas of a desperate farmer, Lycus of Ister, to save the men of his village who are being turned to stone by a she-demon. [Iolaus]

Unbeknownst to Hercules, Iolaus agrees to help the farmer in Hercules' absence and the two set out for Ister while Hercules pays a visit to his mother and vows to take personal revenge on Hera by destroying each of her seven temples.

After forcing his way into the first of her temples, he interrupts the sacrificial slaying of a slave girl, Aegina, and rescues her. After the temple walls tumble, Hercules reluctantly agrees to escort Aegina home, to Ister, justifying the good deed by noting that one of Hera's temples is located just east of the town. Aegina challenges Hercules' path of retribution, suggesting that his vengeance is misguided and does not honor his fallen family. Recalling how - in his blind grief - he had refused to help Lycus of Ister, Hercules now agrees to go with her to challenge the she-demon.

On their way to help the farmer, Aegina and Hercules learn that Iolaus has been stung by the she-demon and transformed into a statue.

Entering the darkness of her cave, he is immediately confronted by her sensuous, tantalizing form. Using her demonic charms, she attempts to seduce him into submission. A battle of wits and strength ensues, taxing all of Hercules' powers. Barely avoiding the savage swipes of her deadly tail, he finally outmaneuvers her and the lethal tail whips back on itself, turning her to stone. With the she-demon safely petrified and her spell now broken, the stone prisoners slowly come back to life. Hercules is greeted by Iolaus and the rest of the grateful town. With a renewed sense of purpose, he bids them farewell and starts down a new path to help others in need.

Episode 2 - Eye of the Beholder - 1/23/95 [Salmoneus]

While trying to evade the Fifty Daughters of King Thespius, all beautiful and wanting to bear his children, Hercules hears of a terrible Cyclops wreaking destruction in a nearby town. He sets off to right the situation. He comes upon Salmoneus, a traveling toga salesman dangling from the branch of a tree. Salmoneus explains that a giant Cyclops attacked him when he ventured too close to Hera's vineyard.

Upon arrival at the village, they learn that the Cyclops has diverted the town�s river to Hera's sacred vineyard. When Scilla, a seamstress from the village, is terrorized by the Cyclops while picking flowers near the river, Hercules decides to confront the Cyclops.

However, he discovers that the marauding Cyclops is actually misunderstood - he has been mistreated all his life, taunted by the townspeople. He ended up working for Castor, the man in charge of Hera's vineyard, since Castor was the only person who ever treated him with decency.

Hercules tries to broker a truce between the Cyclops and the town, but a fierce band of Hera's executioners arrives to dispose of Hercules. With the Cyclops help, Hercules defeats the attackers, brings the townspeople to a better understanding of the monster, and restores the river. The Daughters of Thespius settle on Salmoneus for all their paternal needs.

Episode 3 - Road to Calydon - 1/30/95 [Broteas]

A band of war-weary refugees wandering in search of a safe place to settle come upon the ghost town of Parthus. Broteas, their leader, decrees it a gift from the gods and ordains the town as their new home. That night, a mysterious figure moves through the shadows to the dilapidated temple of Hera, creeps inside and extracts a shining jewel-encrusted chalice. As the magnificent cup is removed, thunder roars angrily in the heavens unleashing a storm of unparalleled fury.

Not far from the town, Hercules takes shelter from the raging storm in a small ruin. Inside, he is startled when a Seer emerges from the shadows. The blind old man tells Hercules that this is no ordinary storm, but in fact the evil rage of the almighty Hera.

The next morning, Hercules and the Seer travel to Parthus. The Seer conjures a vision revealing that his town is cursed. They soon discover the food has gone bad and the water in the well has turned to blood. That night, the seer enters Hera's temple and as he lays his hands upon the very spot where the chalice sat, images start flooding his mind. Later he reveals to Hercules that Zeus gave a young maiden of the town a golden chalice and when Hera learned of her husband's gift, she turned the maiden into a mangy dog and inflicted a curse on the town forever.

Hercules offers to lead the refugees onward, to the promised city of Calydon. Broteas is miffed, but goes along. Unfortunately, the people�s woes continue - rocks fall from the sky and a band of Hera�s hitmen dog their travels. Hercules valiantly defends the travelers, including Jana, a compassionate and beautiful young woman who watches over feisty nine-year-old orphan Ixion. The Seer finally reveals that one of the travelers is the thief who took the chalice from Hera's temple and is carrying the curse with them as they travel. Unable to expose the guilty party, the travelers press on, with Broteas relentlessly challenging Hercules' leadership the whole way.

Yet, there is no time for investigation when they run enter the Stymphalian Swamp: they are attached by a pterodactyl-like bird. As Hercules courageously fends off the aerial assault, Broteas scrambles for cover and drops his bag, which opens to reveal the stolen chalice.

Meanwhile, when the menacing bird goes after Jana and Ixion, Hercules wages a long and desperate battle against the winged monstrosity, which he ultimately buries in a pit of quicksand. The danger now past, the crowd turns on Broteas, who is spared their violence only by Hercules' intervention. With a mighty fling, Hercules hurls the chalice towards the horizon and the greedy Broteas futilely chases after his misbegotten prize. Upon safely delivering the settlers to Calydon, Hercules bids his new friends farewell and sets off to help others in need.

Episode 4 - The Festival of Dionysus - 2/6/95 [Hercules]

A foreboding dream prompts Queen Camilla of Meliad to dispatch her youngest son Nestor to summon Hercules. Nestor tells him that something terrible is going to happen at Meliad's annual Festival of Dionysus, and persuades Hercules to come with him to see the Queen. When they reach the city, Nestor leaves Hercules in a local tavern and sets off to alert his mother of their arrival.

While in the pub, Hercules stops three thugs from roughing up an old man, who turns out to be the Seer, with whom he's traveled before. As the Festival gets under way with happy revelers cramming the narrow streets, the Seer tells Hercules that the celebration which honors Dionysus, the god of wine, will be a joyous one as long as Dionysus deems the King worthy to rule for another year. If he doesn't, the ten beautiful virgins chosen for the Festival will become drunk on the first wine of the new harvest and slaughter the King in a murderous frenzy.

Meanwhile, Nestor's older brother Pentheus has been secretly plotting to overthrow his father without giving his family the slightest indication of his true nature or intentions. He also covets Nestor's beautiful girlfriend Marysa, the lead maiden in the Festival. Allied with Gudrun, the commander of the palace guard, Pentheus prays to Ares, the god of war, to usurp the will of Dionysus and make him King. He promises Ares that Meliad's long era of peace will be over, and that nations will be conquered and peoples enslaved once again.

When Hercules and Nestor go to the virgins' chamber to begin investigating for the Queen, they are ambushed by Gudrun and his henchmen. Hercules leaps into action and takes on the guards one by one until Gudrun pulls a lever releasing a trap door, which sends Hercules and Nestor plummeting into a muck-filled dungeon. Suddenly, Pentheus appears and it becomes painfully clear to Nestor that his own brother is behind the sabotage.

As the trap door slams shut, a hungry ten-foot eel-like creature slithers towards Hercules and Nestor. As the eel bursts from the water, Hercules strangles it in a deadly grip and uses it as a rope, lassoing a rock outcropping above. Hercules and Nestor climb to freedom just as the trumpets sound the beginning of the ceremony of the virgins.

They arrive too latefor them to stop the virgins from drinking the possessed wine. Hercules and Nestor hurry ahead to the castle to try to prevent the impending tragedy. Thwarting an attack by Gudrun, Hercules rushes on to the royal bedchamber to warn the King and Queen that the ceremony has been defiled by Ares. When the virgins reach the bedchamber, they grab the ceremonial silver daggers, pounce on the bed, and begin stabbing through the bedclothes. In the throne room on the other side of the door, Pentheus listens to the assassination.

When the throne room door bangs open and Pentheus spins around to welcome his virgins, he is shocked to find Hercules standing with the very much alive King and Queen. Pentheus rushes into the bedchamber and finds pillows under the tattered sheets covered with red wine used to simulate blood. Pentheus desperately charges to the ceremonial table and drinks from the jug of possessed wine. His veins now bulging with the fighting spirit of Ares, he becomes a genuine threat to Hercules. A fierce battle ensues until Hercules is finally able to outmaneuver his foe and break the spell over the wine. Nestor is reunited with the beautiful Marysa as King Iphicles proudly gazes on his youngest son and future heir to the throne.

Episode 5 - Ares 2/13/95 [Ares]

Hercules comes upon a battlefield in time to grant the wish of a dying soldier. The man asks Hercules to deliver his sword and a letter to his wife, Janista, and 13-year-old son Titus in Fallia.

Before Hercules reaches the village of the fallen soldier, Titus goes hunting in the forest with his friend Ximenos. While daydreaming about becoming future warriors, the two boys are surprised by Aurelius, a tough young man dressed as a soldier, who challenges them to fight each other to prove their warrior spirit. The weapons he gives them are clubs possessed by Ares, the evil god of war, and the friends begin a fight to the death. Only when Ximenos knocks the club from Titus' hand is the spell broken, and Titus manages to escape. Ximenos, on the other hand, is caught up in the excitement and agrees to be inducted into Aurelius' army of young soldiers in the service of Ares. [Atalanta]

Hercules arrives in Fallia. Titus rushes in, frantic to tell his story. But Janista interrupts him, and he quickly takes off again. Meanwhile, Hercules learns that the men of the village are all away fighting wars, and offers to give the widow a hand in making repairs to her home. When he goes to the local smithy to get nails, he is surprised to find that the blacksmith is a powerful woman of uncompromising strength and beauty named Atalanta. Immediately attracted to him, Atalanta challenges Hercules to an arm-wrestling match, which she wins by clever use of her feminine charms.

When Hercules goes in search of Titus to tell the boy his father is dead, he becomes embroiled in a struggle to keep Titus from joining Aurelius' band of roving hoodlums. In the process, he is ambushed by the teenage soldiers and left for dead under a huge pile of rocks. When Ares learns that Hercules is still alive, he angrily orders Aurelius to kill him. Determined to use Titus to deliver the fatal blow, Aurelius manipulates the boy into believing that Hercules killed his father. [Titus]

Finally, Hercules, Janista and Atalanta all try to free Titus and Ximenos from the evil clutches of Aurelius. When the three come upon the band of boys, the earth begins to rumble, the wind whips through the trees, and thick roots spring from the ground imprisoning them. Subdued by Ares' powerful magic, Hercules and the women attempt to make Titus see that he and the other boys are being used to feed Ares' personal blood lust. At first unable to listen, Titus edges toward them, his sword, wet with the to Titus and he realizes that it isn't in his heart to commit murder. He turns to oppose his brothers-in-arms, now fighting alongside Hercules and Atalanta, who have managed to break free from the roots which have bound them.

Hercules resolves to confront Ares and goes to his cave. There he sees Ares, rising from behind a pool of blood, his huge bulbous skull-head atop of a body of mangled corpses of fallen warriors. A fierce battle ensues; Hercules musters all his will and strength and beheads his foe, defeating the bloodthirsty Ares for the time being.

Later, Hercules explains to Titus that just before his father died, he asked that he deliver a message to his son. He tells the boy that his father's message was "the way of the true warrior is not to kill...but to destroy the forces of evil." Hercules promises Titus that if he heeds his father's words, he will grow up to be the kind of man that would have made his father very proud.

Episode 6 - As Darkness Falls - 2/20/95 [Nemis]

As the town of Nespa prepares to celebrate the wedding of Penelope and Marcus, Nemis the Centaur kneels at a makeshift altar and prays to Hera for a way to win Penelope for himself. Startled by a loud whoosh of flame behind him, Nemis peers into the fire burning in his cave, reaches in, and pulls out a wicked-looking iron-spiked cudgel. Eagerly accepting the weapon, the Centaur welcomes Hera's challenge to kill Hercules, the man responsible for the death of his twin brother Nessus. Craesus and Deric (Centaurs) accompany him, along with the human Lyla, the lover of Derek the Centaur.

On the way to Penelope's wedding, Hercules meets a young soldier, Tyron, who is bringing the body of a dead comrade back to the man's family. Tyron blames himself for his friend's death and refuses Hercules' assistance. [Marcus]

Hercules then runs into Salmoneus, who has exchanged togas for real estate as a career. Marcus expresses his dismay that Penelope's father's workers Deric and Craesus have been invited to the wedding, fearing that they will cause a scene.

The Centaur Craesus challenges Hercules to a javelin throwing contest, which the strongest man in the world deftly wins. Seeing an opportunity, Salmoneus starts taking bets. As the contests continue, Lyla lures Hercules to a secluded spot where she tries to seduce him. After refusing her advances, Lyla, as commanded by Nemis, laces Hercules' drink with a drug which induces blindness.

While competing in athletic events the next day, Hercules realizes his sight is fading. Deric, unaccustomed to being treated with respect as a Centaur, is impressed by Hercules' politeness. Despite Hercules' blurred vision, he accepts Deric's invitation to test his legendary skills. Hercules ties Deric in the archery contest. [Penelope]

As Penelope comments on Hercules' friendliness towards the Centaurs, Nemis crashes the party and joins his friends Deric and Craesus at the wine keg. Hercules and Penelope turn to see an exhausted Tyron, who has just arrived, drop his heavy load of armor at the feet of his dead friend's brothers. A fight ensues when the brothers bully Tyron for being unable to avenge their sibling's death but Hercules, now half-blind, manages to thwart their attack. Suddenly, another commotion diverts Hercules' attention and he and Salmoneus turn to see a drunken Nemis and the other Centaurs smashing up the banquet tables and bridenapping Penelope and her maid of honor, Cheris.

Hercules, Salmoneus, Marcus and Tyron set off after the centaurs. Leading them into a forest, the Centaurs use guerrilla tactics against Hercules and his group. Nemis, Craesus, Deric, Lyla and their hostages flee to a cave where Nemis tells Penelope his plans to kill Hercules. Regrouping on higher ground, Nemis and the Centaurs lure Hercules out of the brush and a volley of arrows is unleashed from both sides. Marcus is wounded in the thigh, while Hercules, with Salmoneus acting as his eyes, skewers Craesus in the chest with an arrow. With his iron-spiked club, Nemis dislodges a monstrous boulder and sends it flying down the mountain. Tyron fearlessly barrels into Marcus knocking him out of the way of the oncoming disaster, but the heroic Tyron is killed. [Salmoneus]

Hercules insists that Salmoneus take the injured Marcus back to Nespa, despite Hercules�s now-complete blindness.

After the other centaurs have fallen, Hercules finds his way to the cave where Nemis has chained the women. Hercules is startled by Deric and Lyla who, after admitting they blinded him with a temporary poison, reveal their plans to leave Nemis and start a new life together rather than kill Hercules as ordered. Warned by the couple about Nemis' club, Hercules makes his way to the Centaur's cave. Unbeknownst to him, Salmoneus, who has stayed in the area to help, acts as a decoy and lures Nemis out into the woods. Hercules enters the cave unseen, extinguishing the fire inside, and when Nemis returns, the two battle it out in the dark. Nemis blindly swings his club, demolishing the granite walls. Hercules wounds the Centaur and struggles to free the chained women before the cave collapses. In a final moment of nobility, Nemis supports the crumbling cave to allow his beloved Penelope to escape with Hercules and Cheris. The group returns to Nespa for the marriage ceremony. Following the festivities, Salmoneus looks on as the bag of gold from his many bets is presented by Hercules to the happy couple.

Episode 7 - Pride Comes Before a Brawl - 2/27/95 [Iolaus]

En route to The Festival of Thrace, Hercules and Iolaus come upon a band of thugs looking for a fight. Hercules is content to ignore them, but Iolaus' pride is offended by their taunts and a brawl ensues. Hercules finally steps in when his friend's life is threatened. Instead of being grateful, Iolaus angrily protests that he was perfectly capable of taking care of himself. Iolaus' irritation persists and when the two reach a fork in the road, Hercules goes one way and Iolaus the other, betting his friend he will reach Thrace first. Hercules hurries ahead eager to win the wager. When he comes to a broad river, he persuades a boatman working on shore to let him use his vessel for a crossing in exchange for launching it into the water for free.

However, Iolaus is attacked and imprisoned by Satyrs. There he encounters the resourceful and charismatic Lydia, a Thracian girl, also captured by the Satyrs. He learns from her that their captors are really human thieves masquerading as satyrs in order to keep the locals away from the area.

As the two speculate on their fate, bandit chief Rankor orders his lieutenant Rak to kill both prisoners. Rak drops a rope and descends into the prison cave to carry out his orders. Iolaus quickly hustles Lydia into the shadows and urges her to take off her dress. Upon reaching the floor of the cave, Rak lasciviously advances on "Lydia" only to receive a punch in the face from Iolaus. The prisoners make their escape into the woods. Along the way, Iolaus and Lydia battle murderous thieves and a giant eel. Gratitude and respect slowly turn to love.

Hercules, for once able to relax, rows to Thrace by boat. He is joined by his childhood sweetheart, Nemesis, now Goddess of Divine Retribution. He is upset to learn that Hera has sent her to kill Iolaus for the sin of pride. Despite Hercules' angry protest, Nemesis explains that it's too late - the events have already been set in motion to cause Iolaus to bring retribution on himself. Iolaus must fight this one battle alone.

Hercules arrives at a clearing and sees the bloodthirsty bandits surrounding the mouth of a cave. Just inside, he sees Iolaus battling a ferocious hydra but before he can move, Nemesis appears and reminds him that he must not interfere. She stresses that it was Iolaus' injured pride that led him to this point and that he must win or lose this battle for himself. Frustrated, Hercules looks on as Iolaus grapples with the deadly hydra while Rankor waits outside. Deep in the cave, Iolaus momentarily subdues the hydra, who is afraid of fire, by igniting a wall of flammable moss. Knowing the fire will soon burn itself out, he lures Rankor into the cave and quickly escapes, leaving his foe to face the angry hydra alone. Overjoyed to see Iolaus safe, Hercules slips away towards Thrace and arrives first to win the bet.

When Iolaus and Lydia reach the city, Lydia begins to sing the praises of her companion, recounting to Hercules his acts of courage and bravery. Hercules, in turn, proclaims that he would trust Iolaus with his life. Brashly putting his friend's words to the test in front of a large crowd, Iolaus places a pomegranate on Hercules' head, borrows a bow and arrow from a passing archer and asks Lydia to blindfold him. [Rankor]

Just as Iolaus takes aim, a battered Rankor -- who has followed his quarry to Thrace -- draws his bow and aims at Iolaus. At the last second, Nemesis merges into Rankor's body and redirects the arrow, causing it to smash the pomegranate on Hercules' head instead. Quickly realizing the situation, Iolaus turns and fires at Rankor, killing him. When Hercules thanks Nemesis for sparing the life of his best friend, Nemesis reveals that the blindfolded Iolaus never intended to follow through on the dangerous pomegranate stunt for fear of injuring Hercules, and thereby earned his own reprieve.

Episode 8 - The March to Freedom - 2/27/90 [Alcmene]

While visiting his mother, Alcmene, Hercules visits the memorial of his deceased wife and children.

On a stretch of beach nearby, Belus, a wealthy and devious merchant, leads a band of settlers who have fled their war-torn homeland in search of peace and prosperity. Suddenly, a gang of thugs on horseback emerge from behind a dune and launch a brutal attack on the settlers. Cyrus and his fianc�e Oi-Lan run for their lives but are finally brought down and shackled. The corralled prisoners quickly realize they have been betrayed by Belus, who turns out to be a notorious slave trader. [Oi-Lan]

Hercules arrives at the marketplace to sell some grain for his mother. He and Iolaus come upon the slave auction just as Oi-Lan is being dragged to the block. Disgusted by what he sees, Hercules impulsively buys the desperate woman and sets her free. He then learns that her fianc� is being transported to Libya, to be sacrificed to the lions at the Animal Games. He also discovers that Oi-Lan is a terrific fighter, highly skilled in the martial arts, and agrees to help her free her fiance from his captors.

En route to Libya, the guards transporting the slaves taunt young Cyrus. They tell him that Hercules has purchased his precious Oi-Lan for his own pleasure. Cyrus vows to kill Hercules and in a desperate act of bravery, manages to break free. He escapes into the woods to hunt down Hercules and get Oi-Lan back.

He finally catches up with Hercules and Oi-Lan and sets a deadly trap. Dropping from the trees, he snatches Oi-Lan a split second before releasing a catapult which propels Hercules off the side of a cliff. At that moment, Belus' thugs appear from all directions, unfurl their nets and easily recapture the defenseless lovers. The slave party resumes its trek to Libya, leaving Hercules for dead.

Shortly afterwards, Hercules manages to overtake the slave party. Pretending to be a madman, he confuses Belus long enough to grab the keys and free Oi-Lan and Cyrus from their shackles. A pitched battle ensues during which Belus takes Oi-Lan hostage, but in the end, Hercules and Cyrus are able to defeat the evil thugs.

Charmed by Oi-Lan and Cyrus, Hercules' mother offers to have their wedding at her home. As a tribute to his fallen family, Hercules invites the young couple to settle on the land he once shared with his wife and children, restoring love and laughter to this place he loved so much. [Cyrus]

Meanwhile, Cyrus breaks free of his captors and goes to the "rescue" of his loved Oi-Lan, vowing to kill the man who bought her. In a jealous rage, he attacks Hercules and knocks him over a cliff. The slave traders recapture Cyrus and Oi-Lan and throw them into chains. Hercules ambushes the slave convoy, releases Cyrus and Oi-Lan, and, in an all-out martial arts battle, they defeat the slave dealers. Hercules gives the young couple the land where he and his family used to live and sets off.

Episode 9 - The Warrior Princess- 3/13/95 [Xena]

Xena sets out to kill because that's the only way she will ever be able to secure complete control of the region of Arcadian. With the help of her faithful love-struck lieutenants, Xena plans the mighty Hercules' downfall. She poses as a maiden in distress to lure away Iolaus. Enchanting him with sex and lies and preying on his loneliness, she uses him as bait for Hercules.

When Hercules learns Xena's identity, he goes to rescue Iolaus, falling into her trap. Blinded by Xena's guile, Iolaus turns on his friend and wears him down in an emotional confrontation. Finally, Iolaus realizes the truth and again, joins Hercules to fight against Xena and her army. However, when Iolaus is wounded, Hercules goes to his rescue rather than pursuing Xena for a fight to the finish. She vows to return and wreak her revenge on Hercules and Iolaus.

Episode 10 - Gladiator - 3/20/95 [Iolaus]

While on the road, Hercules and Iolaus rescue a beautiful woman, Felicita and her baby from highway bandits. She tells them she is on her way to introduce her husband, Gladius, to the son he has never seen. (Gladius was wrongly enslaved by Menas Maxius, the wealthiest man in Apropus.)

Hercules and Iolaus agree to help her and deliberately get themselves thrown into prison in order to help free her husband. Once inside, they learn that Gladius, along with the other slaves, are routinely forced to battle wild animals for the amusement of Menas and his wealthy landowner friends.

Meanwhile, Felicita, who was banished by Menas and presumed dead by Gladius, is discovered lurking outside the prison and brought in to be sentenced. Menas, attempting to please his sadistic wife Postera, orders the gladiators to now fight each other to the death. Hercules and Gladius are brought forth to battle. To ensure the gladiators fight according to the rules, Menas produces Felicita and Iolaus - bound and gagged - vowing to execute them should the warriors refuse to fight. Hercules convinces Gladius that they must turn on their oppressors and fight for their freedom. Together they overthrow the guards and bring the evil Menas and his wife to their knees.

Episode 11 - The Vanishing Dead - 4/24/95 [Ares]

A war rages between two armies, brother and sister bent on destroying each other. Worse, someone or something is devouring the fallen soldiers, feeding on the battle dead. The Dog Of War has come to Tantalus.

Hercules knew Daulin and Peona once, ten years ago, as a loving brother and sister. Now he and Iolaus arrive to find the siblings waging all out war on each other. Hercules can hardly believe the accusations being hurled by both sides. Most troubling are the stories of the disappearing dead. It is not until Hercules discovers a huge paw print that he realizes what is going on: Ares is at work. Ares has tricked Daulin and Peona into a blood feud for no other reason than to feed his evil pet.

Now the final battle is about to begin. With the bloodbath imminent, Hercules and Iolaus are lured to a cave, where they battle Ares� beast. After defeating the dog, our heroes race to the battlefield just in time to expose Ares and stop the senseless annihilation. However, it is not over yet. Ares attacks Hercules and the two wage a war of their own. Finally, Hercules defeats the god, driving him from Tantalus, leaving the unified armies in peace.

Episode 12 - The Gauntlet - 5/1/95 [Xena]

Hercules learns that Xena is raiding villages throughout the land. Hercules and his cousin Iloran follow the bloody path of destruction, which is headed towards Parthis, the town where Iloran's mother lives.

Meanwhile, Xena's command is challenged by her cruel and ruthless lieutenant Darphus, who goes against her instructions and code, killing even women and children. When Xena stops the slaying of an infant, Darphus denounces her act of compassion as weak. He forces her to endure the deadly warrior ritual known as the Gauntlet, a series of trials in which she is first punished by the fists and feet of her former soldiers, then by their staffs and clubs, their knives and short swords, and finally, their spears and long swords. Xena survives by her formidable skills and staggers alone into the wilderness.

Hercules and Iloran are joined by Salmoneus, who explains that although Xena is dangerous, she is much less brutal than Darphus, who now controls her army. Suddenly, Xena steps out from the brush in full battle garb and challenges Hercules to a duel. Both warriors put on an astounding display of swordsmanship, but it is Hercules who ultimately triumphs. Xena is shocked when he spares her life and invites her to join him to fight Darphus. Pride keeps her from accepting and she storms off into the forest. Hercules and friends rush to Parthis but Hercules has difficulty protecting the entire village by himself. Just when all hope appears lost Xena storms in from the woods and fights side-by-side with Hercules. Together they defeat Darphus.

Episode 13 - Unchained Heart - 5/8/95 [Xena]

Hercules and Xena discover that Darphus has miraculously risen from the dead and is again roaming the land slaughtering innocent people. Recognizing that Darphus' return must be the work of Ares, Hercules and Xena set out to stop him and his army. Unbeknownst to Hercules, Darphus is feeding the victims of his bloody crusade to Ares' man-eating dog, Graegus. With every bite, the evil beast grows larger and gets closer to becoming unstoppable. Darphus plans to use the beast to fulfill Ares' destiny - to rule the world.

Hearing of the trouble in Elysia, Iolaus sets out to find Hercules to offer his help in the fight against Darphus and his murdering troops. When he learns that Xena has joined forces with Hercules, he is extremely reluctant to trust her because of her previous plan to kill him. Not until she rescues him from certain death in a battle is he convinced that Xena has truly changed. That night, when Iolaus volunteers to scout ahead for potential trouble, Hercules and Xena finally admit their feelings for one another and give in to their passion.

Meanwhile, Darphus has kidnapped Salmoneus, who has been traveling with Hercules and Xena, in an attempt to lure the two warriors into a deadly trap. Hercules cleverly outwits Darphus and in a final explosive battle, kills him. He is also able to destroy Graegus, thereby saving Salmoneus from the jaws of the beast.

Despite their love for each other, Xena feels compelled to leave Hercules in order to make amends for her past wrongdoing. As she departs, she gratefully thanks him for unchaining her heart and the two parted company with sadness, but a renewed sense of purpose.

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