TEN LITTLE WARLORDS

Xena is still stuck in Callisto's body for this one. "Ares" has sent out 10 "invitations" to various warlords. Soon we discover that the real Ares is now mortal and that, as a result, common people not used to anger have turned violent. Someone's stolen his sword (godhood) -and that's why Xena's not in her original body. So Xena sets off with Ares. One of the 10 is to become the new god of war. Gabrielle and Joxer follow. Someone named Sisyphus is behind all this. "He's quite an escape artist." -Xena. (Not the same Sisyphus from Death in Chains.) The 10 draw numbers for who will fight the beast first for the sword. A fight! The 10 are slowly but steadily killing one another. In the mean time, Gabby and Joxer are fighting like siblings! And we learn the truth: whoever "wins" gets to endure Tartarus in place of Sisyphus while he becomes god of war! More killings. We find that the beast is a machine. Soon, everyone is dead except Ares and Xena. Ares gets his sword and godhood back. Ares acts like he won't give Xena her body back even though she saved his life. But, in the end, after Gabrielle pledges friendship regardless, Xena is back -body and soul.

INTIMATE STRANGER

Xena is having guilty dreams about letting Callisto suffocate in the quicksand. She and Gabrielle are following Callisto's Theodorus. So is Joxer -who takes a beating. Xena follows an apparition of Callisto and learns that somehow Callisto is back, free, and working with Ares. Xena thinks she's out to kill her mother in Amphipolis. She tells all this to Gabrielle and then we learn that it's actually Callisto in Xena's body! (Xena's in Callisto's body in Tartarus!) Argo is onto it atleast. Xena convinces Hades of the misdeed and he gives her one day to correct things. Callisto assaults Argo. Xena finds him and convinces Joxer of her true self. Callisto kills Theodorus and orders the capture of Amphipolis. A fight between Callisto and Xena ensues! Gabrielle jumps in accidentally befriending Callisto. That is until knowledge proves the truth. We learn that Callisto plans to burn Amphipolis and Ares is against the vengeance. Xena must use guilt to get to Callisto -her family. "I'm not taking the weight of your crimes anymore." -Xena. Now Xena is back -in Callisto's body. "Try not to think of the hatred you have for this body; for Callisto. Try and think of the love that you have for Perdicus." -Xena.

WARRIOR... PRINCESS... TRAMP

King Leas is dying and calls for Xena to help make a smooth transition for his daughter, Diana, as she moves into power. We later find there is a third look-alike named Meg. She and a man named Agus plan to make conquest. Meg has a thing for Joxer. But when Joxer accidentally makes a move on Diana, he gets himself thrown into the dungeon. Finally, the real Xena shows up. Joxer makes a move on her, too! Anyway, Xena poses as Meg to find Diana and set her free. Only, they find that Diana's baby is missing! Gabby and Meg fight then have a heart to heart. As Joxer had said, she is a victim of circumstance. Xena teaches Meg about doing good and leaves her to watch over the ailing king. Diana is captured again trying to save her baby. Meg is captured doing the same. Then Xena appears and sets things straight. The king may yet live and he hires Meg as his personal cook.

RETURN OF CALLISTO

Callisto escapes out of prison. Elsewhere, Perdicus shows up in Xena and Gabrielle's camp. He proposes to Gabrielle. She has no immediate answer. Callisto finds Joxer and has him deliver a message to Xena. Soon, in a village under seige, Xena sees her for herself. Callisto wants to kill Xena's SOUL. Perdicus kills again and gives fighting up for good. That's when Gabrielle decides that her answer is YES. (Why does Xena kiss Gabrielle after the wedding!) Xena learns that Callisto is after Gabrielle. Callisto kills Perdicus! Gabrielle, at his funeral, realizes that she wants vengeance. She wants Xena to teach her how to kill. We see Xena say a prayer for Gabrielle. Gabby sneaks into Callisto's camp but can't bring herself to kill. We see Joxer's loyalty to Gabrielle. (He's turned good.) Callisto captures both Gabrielle and Xena and tries to burn Gabby at the stake. (When did Gabby get a new outfit? The green one!) Xena escapes with Joxer's help and saves Gabrielle. A fight! Xena vs. Callisto! They chariot race until Callisto gets thrown into quicksand. Xena lets her suffocate!

GIRLS JUST WANNA HAVE FUN

Xena and Gabrielle cross the hunting grounds of Bacchus, God of Wine. Only the music of Orpheus tames the bacchae. A single bite from a bacchae makes girls into followers of Bacchus. If she drinks his wine/blood, she becomes a bacchae forever. Next, we find Joxer being chased by bacchae wolves. Xena fends them off. He brings a talking head to Xena from Orpheus; it is Orpheus! Anyway, the gang find that the man they were looking for has been hung! They split up at some festival. During a fight, trying to capture a certain lyre, Xena gets bit by bacchae? They then head to Bacchus' lair with Joxer. (Joxer can play the lyre.) We learn that Orpheus' wife Eurydice was killed because Xena failed to protect her. A dryad bone kills a bacchae. A struggle in a graveyard! And, just when we least expect it, Gabrielle has turned into a bacchae. To the catacombs! A fight! Bacchus can only be killed by a bacchae -se Xena lets Gabrielle bite her. Then Bacchus is killed with a dryad bone. ALL return to normal. Even Orpheus gets his body back.

THE GIANT KILLER

We meet a giant named Goliath -Xena's friend. He's out for revenge against another giant named Gareth. We meet David. We meet the Philistines. (Yes, Goliath is their protector. Yes, Xena is a friend of the Philistines via Goliath. Xena, however, does not agree with their methods.) At first, David hates Xena. He thinks her a murderer. The imprisoned Israelites are sentenced to death for trying to escape. Gabrielle steps in. So does Xena's chakram. They all return to the Israelite camp. David apologizes to Xena. Goliath's desire to kill Gareth proves stronger than his loyalty to Xena. David and Gabrielle talk about stories (again.) Gabrielle is writing a story about David; we hear a bit of it. Xena tells another story of her own -about her past. A fight! Later, David volunteers -demands- to take his dead brother's place as leader in killing Goliath. David recites a psalm. Goliath faces David, Xena gets him to take off his helmet using the sun's reflection, and the rest is history. Xena remembers him as friend.

REMEMBER NOTHING

During a fast-paced fight, Xena kills "just a boy." Then the 3 fates grant a wish that Xena never "followed the sword in the first place." Everyone is made as though Xena had never become a warrior. This ends if Xena draws blood in anger. The next thing she knows, she's wearing a dress and talking with Lyceus -her undead brother! She's also back with her old suitor. Her mother, however, is dead. She's faced with the guilt of not having fought Corteze. Gabrielle turns out to be a slave! And the Amazons are mostly dead. Xena sneaks in and frees Gabrielle. They give her new clothes -her mother's old clothes. "It's beautiful." "So was she." Gabrielle thinks she is nothing like the friend she reminds Xena of. The suitor goes missing. He shows up with the bad guys and Gabrielle is captured. They're all captured. In prison, Lyseus says he'd rather die fighting than quit. A fight! "Don't fight...destiny." Even Gabrielle kills with a sword. Xena draws blood! Present day! The boy from earlier is spared. Xena is grateful for who Gabrielle is.

ORPHAN OF WAR

Xena enters centaur territory. We hear her called "Destroyer of Nations." There is a boy named Solan who believes that Xena killed his father Borias. The boy is Xena's son! But she's not there to retrieve him. She's there to keep someone named Dagnine from something called an Ixion stone. We see the flashback where Xena gives up the "son of Borias." He still doesn't know she's his mother. (He thinks his mother is dead.) Dagnine finds out that Xena has a son. Soon, they capture him and Xena sets out to the rescue. She snags the cage key from Dagnine. A fight! Xena and Solan fall into the Ixion cavern. Solan breaks his arm. Solan learns about Borias. The Ixion stone contains evil and can cause the holder to become an evil centaur. Gabrielle shows up with the centaur who has been father to Solan and they pull them out of the cave. Dagnine finds the stone. He melts it down, drinks it (ouch), and turns powerful. Solan learns to lose his hatred for Xena. The new Dagnine attacks -uglier than ever. He boasts of killing Borias! Xena defeats him. Solan decides he isn't a warrior. Xena departs -never telling Solan that she's his mother.

IS THERE A DOCTOR IN THE HOUSE?

On a shortcut to Athens, Gabrielle and Xena travel in a war zone. They find Ephiny (of the Amazons) pregnant and hiding. Her Phantese was captured and killed by Mitoans. Xena captures a Mitoan General and they all enter a Thessalian healing temple. The healers there rely on their gods -but Xena gets her hands dirty. (This is Xena meets E.R.) At one point, Gabrielle goes out after someone's son and comes back on a stretcher critically wounded. Xena does all she can for her for the time being. The healers take note. Ephiny has her child -a centaur. Xena performs a Cesarean section. The General has a change of heart about the war. Gabrielle suddenly gets much worse and goes under. We see how badly Xena needs and would miss her friend. (Xena accidentally invents CPR!) The war is over.

DEATH MASK

The men who attacked Xena's hometown turn up. "It was fighting him that twisted me...." -Xena. One of Corteze's raiders is Xena's brother! His name is Taurus and he, too, is after Corteze. We learn of the other brother, Lyceus, who died on the same mission. (Xena can pop a blade out between her breasts?!) Taurus is banished and Xena brought into camp. She learns that there's an inside man at the king's castle. She and Taurus go to tell the king. But the king is Corteze! He escapes. So do Xena and Taurus. We learn that Xena thinks Gabrielle wise when it comes to justice. She tries to talk Taurus out of becoming an assassin. (She doesn't want to lose another brother.) The baddies capture Taurus and set a trap for Xena. They let themselves get sent into the castle prison. She coerces the head guard into giving information about the king's location and lets Taurus leave. A fight! They all pool together in the courtyard with Corteze captured. "Fight now; talk later." -Xena. In the end, Taurus doesn't take revenge and feels all the more free.

CALLISTO

An evil warrior destroys a village in Xena's name. Then a man in a tavern is introduced to the real Xena and tries to take revenge out on her. (He lost a son.) Meet Joxer! They pass him on their way to investigate. He wants to be recruited. Later, in a battle, the evil warrior friggin' catches Xena's chakram! Her skill is equal because, as she says to Xena, "You made me." This Callisto is the poison dart woman! She's from a village called Cyrra where Xena had killed her family. "I made her -and I'll be the one to destroy her." Joxer is given a task to bring Gabrielle to Callisto so that he may join her legion. Xena has a fireside talk with Gabrielle about Cyrra. Gabrielle has a charming bit about forgiveness. Callisto's next target is an oracle. They split up. Gabby fends off Joxer. Xena captures Callisto. Gabby catches up. They take her to await a trial in prison. A lynch mob sets fire to the prison. Callisto escapes, switches Xena into the cell, and steals Gabrielle. "People like us should listen to people like Gabrielle," says Xena to the man who wanted revenge in the beginning. Xena escapes and chases them. Joxer can't bring himself to kill Gabrielle. Ladder fight! And we find that Callisto has a death wish. Finally, the whole gang is chained.

THE GREATER GOOD

(Gabrielle is getting pretty good with that staff!) We find Salmoneus posing as a Lord Seltzer. An army is out to destroy him for his bad merchandise but Xena jumps in. During the fight, by a mysterious hand, she is shot in the neck with a poison dart. (Why does Xena keep this news to herself?) During another fight, the poison sets in and Xena fails. Gabrielle, noticing something is wrong, rides off with her friend. In an attempt to convince this warlord that Xena is well, Gabrielle masquerades as Xena! When worried that Xena may die, Gabrielle is taught by Xena about the greater good. Next, Gabby throws explosives on his camp. In the struggle, her disguise is revealed. Mercenaries are sent to kill the real warrior princess. This takes the last of her strength and she dies (for the time being -but nobody knows it is temporary.) Argo comes to Gabrielle's rescue. Gabrielle grieves. Salmoneus offers himself and Xena for the town. But the warlord plans to sell the villagers as slaves anyway. A sign of life from Xena! A fight! And Xena returns! But WHO fired that dart....

TIES THAT BIND

Ares is out to replace an eager warlord with Xena's presence. Then, a fighter comes to the rescue of the warlord's slavegirls and Xena pops in to help the man. The man (Atrius) also claims to be Xena's father! The slaves are freed. We learn that one of them (Rhea) volunteered to be captured to help her sister. Soon, it's Xena's turn to save Atrius. An assassin is then sent to kill Xena. He is killed by Atrius. The point? Over and over again, in other areas besides parentage, Atrius proves himself NOT to be a liar. Gabrielle leaves so that he can spend some time with his daughter. A fight! Another fight! The gang gets split up and Xena winds up taking command of the warlord's army -whom she has just defeated. But once she sees that the villagers have strung her father "up for the vultures," a bit of evil Xena returns and she orders an attack. Gabrielle snaps her out of it. Then her father speaks. But it isn't her father! It's ARES! He's smooth-talking her into vengeance! "Join me or die," says Ares once he is revealed. Xena would rather die. But Ares can't bring himself to do it. He still has hope she'll turn. Xena tells Gabrielle that their friendship binds them "closer than blood ever could."

ALTARED STATES

A boy named Ikus is sent away from home by his mother to hide. He runs to the lake where Xena and Gabrielle happen to be fishing. (Was that a cheeky moment??) Anyway, Xena helps save him from his chasers -his family?! Karl Urban makes his debut as Ikus' older and more jealous brother. He and the band of believers are trying to sacrifice Ikus. (This is a spitting image of the Abraham and Isaac story). Xena goes to talk with the father herself. "God has commanded it," he explains of the sacrifice. He is, however, very unwilling to go through with such violence. Meanwhile, back in a cave, Gabrielle eats some of Ikus' nutbread -which she doesn't realize was spiked. Xena enters to discover Gabrielle drugged and Ike missing. Soon, Ikus is taken to the altar. Xena intercepts! It turns out that Ikus' father was being drugged, too. The brother shows up and has Xena and Gabrielle thrown into a well which they eventually climb out of. Ikus himself thinks they should obey! We learn the brother is causing the thundering and voices of "God" with a primitive megaphone. But the voice who, in the end, commands the hand to stay is a mystery.... "Killing Ikus isn't the will of any God."

THE PRODIGAL

During an ambush, Gabrielle freezes up. She then thinks herself a liability. This concerns her so much that she sets out for home. On her way, she discovers that her hometown of Potadeia is about to be under attack by a man named Damon. And they've hired Meleager the Mighty to defend them -but he turns out to be a useless drunk. So Gabrielle must use what she's learned from Xena to defend her town. Later, they set traps throughout the town. Gabrielle also clears up some hurt feelings that had developed between she and Lila since going away. Finally, Damon's men attack but are fully met! Meleager and his pay had disappeared but it turns out he'd gone to buy javelins. He finishes them off! Lila has a heart to heart with Gabrielle. She knows she has to leave. "You are destined for great things." At the end, Gabrielle is faced with the same ambush but doesn't freeze this time. And Xena finishes them off.

ROYAL COUPLE OF THIEVES

Baited with a fake jewel and coerced by his good reputation, Autolycus (the King of Thieves) is recruited by Xena to help steal the most valuable chest in the world. He masquerades as a feared man named Sinteres and Xena as some "concubine." They travel by ship, trying out their new characters. They reach the castle. Xena ("Cherish") must dance while Auto inspects and makes a mold of a key. Later, they sneak in only to find the body of the chest "owner." Now there is a hunt for the murderer. (We learn that Auto steals since his family was killed and brother died when he was young). The chest has been hidden in their room! They return it. They await the demonstration of this so-called weapon when the real Sinteres show up...with Gabrielle! The murderer is found and killed. The gang escapes. Later, a pressure point fight! (Whoosh!) Then another fight! (Gabrielle really wants in on the action.) The leader bad guy then opens the chest/weapon and only those who don't fear and run from it are spared. With the good gang still alive, the chest is returned to the people who hired Autolycus. It was the Ark of the Covenant with the Ten Commandments inside.