Xena wordt verraden door haar luitenant, Darphus, en moet 'de spitsroeden' lopen. Vastbesloten om wraak te nemen, vormt ze een snode samenwerking met Hercules, die probeert haar te laten zien dat er meer is dan wraak en slechtheid.

Hercules was angry to learn that the warrior princess Xena was raiding villages to increase her power and territory. What Hercules didn't know until later was that Xena's lieutenant, Darphus, was the cruel and heartless one. When Xena spared the life of an infant, Darphus forced her to endure the Gauntlet, a series of trials in which she was punished by her own soldiers. Fleeing on her own, Xena challenged Hercules to a duel - and lost. But he spared her life, so she joined him in defending the village of Parthis from her former lieutenant.

Hercule apprend que sa belle ennemie, Xena, la redoutable guerrière, fait des razzias dans des villages à travers tout le pays. Hercule et son cousin Iloran suivent la trace ensanglantée et semée de décombres qui les mène vers Parthis, une ville où vit la mère de Iloran

Der grausame Feldherr Darphus wiegelt seine eigenen Leute gegen Xena auf und schafft so eine ungewöhnliche Allianz: Xena und Hercules verbünden sich, um Darphus zu bezwingen. Doch Kriegsgott Ares erweckt den Getöteten zu neuem Leben und gibt ihm einen Kampfgefährten an die Seite: den schrecklichen Götterhund Graecus.

Hercules si infuria quando viene a sapere che la principessa guerriera Xena sta saccheggiando villaggi per aumentare il suo potere e i territori. Xena subisce un ammutinamento dei suoi soldati, guidato dal suo luogotenente; da sola sfida Hercules, ma perde.