After Hercules and his friend Iolaus stopped a band of hoodlums from robbing an innkeeper, Hercules went home to his family. The horror that followed was over almost before it started. A huge ball of fire burst through his bedroom window and consumed his wife, Deianeira. In the next instant the fireball took Hercules' three young children. His step mother, Hera, was to blame. Consumed by hatred, Hercules set out on a path of destruction. But the beautiful slave girl Aegina helped Hercules overcome his grief and set him back on an honorable path.

A group of traveling villagers arrive in the deserted town of Parthus, the only thing living there is a lone dog. One of the men of the group tells the others this is what they have been searching for and declare it their new home. Inside a temple, somebody steals a golden chalice. This of course angers Hera and she causes a storm to rage over the town. Hercules meanwhile is walking along a road near that town & finds shelter. Inside the building where he's staying, he encounters a blind seer who tells Hercules the storm is bad news. The following day Hercules continues on his way, accompanied by the seer. They arrive in the town, and Hercules discovers from Broteas that the town suffered some heavy damage due to the storm. The seer tells them that the town is cursed. Hercules introduces himself to the people. Later, the villagers tell him how they had to leave their previous home, Hercules gives the people some food. At night the seer goes into the temple where the chalice was kept and has a vision of a beautiful woman being given the chalice by Zeus. He also sees Hera exact her revenge on the villagers by turning them all to dust. Hercules wakes the next day to find the villagers about to sacrifice the food he had given them to Hera.

"The King of Thieves" is the first episode of the second season of the television series Hercules: The Legendary Journeys and the 14th overall episode of the series. Written and directed by Doug Lefler, it first aired in the United States on September 4, 1995.