Pasiphae and Medea perform a magic ritual on a man, who turns out to be Prince Telemon. It turns out that Telemon was sent by Pasiphae to trap Ariadne all along. It is revealed that Telemon was never reconciled to his father and is an exiled prince in search of a home. He has agreed to help Pasiphae in the hope of finding a place at her court.
Telemon has arranged for him and Ariadne to travel to Aegina to have his father’s blessing before they get married. Dion is against this plan out of concern for Ariadne’s safety. Ariadne agrees to make the journey, but orders that Dion be the only one to know what route they will take.
Jason has a private audience with Ariadne in which he urges her to reconsider the journey and the match. Ariadne says she has no reason not to trust Telemon based on what she knows, and though she is sad she can’t be with Jason, a political alliance with Aegina is her best option for protecting Atlantis from Pasiphae. Jason asks her to at least let him come on the journey so he can protect her from any possible dangers on the road, and Ariadne agrees to this suggestion.
The convoy sets out for Aegina. Hercules keeps a close eye on Telemon the whole night but doesn’t see anything suspicious. Telemon finds out from Dion which route the group is going to take and carves a hidden message in a piece of wood that he leaves behind at the camp. After the convoy has moved on, the Colchians find the message and plan an ambush for Ariadne.
As the convoy heads into the desert, they are ambushed by archers, and many quickly fall. Telemon corners Ariadne and prepares to stab her but is unable to go through with it. Telemon rides away while the heroes and Ariadne take shelter in a gorge.
Pasiphae is furious that Ariadne is still alive and stabs Telemon, but when General Goran notes that killing a prince might be offensive to the gods, Pasiphae tosses a water bottle to Telemon and rides off, leaving his survival up to the gods. Medea is feeling less merciful and throws a sword through Telemon’s water bottle, puncturing it. Wounded and abandoned in the desert, Telemon vows revenge.
Under the cover of darkness, the heroes manage to fight off a group of Colchians and sneak out of the gorge, but Dion is wounded by an arrow and the group ends up lost in the desert with Pasiphae hot on their trail.
Dion urges the others to go on without him, but Jason refuses. The group stops to rest, but Pythagoras notes that without water they won’t last long. Ariadne doesn’t think she deserves such loyalty. Jason tries to keep her spirits up with some light teasing, but the situation is too bleak for Ariadne to have much sense of humor. Suddenly a group of pilgrims appears, led by a blind old man named Orpheus. The heroes beg for help, saying that they are merchants on their way to Paros who were beset by robbers. The pilgrims agree to take them along. Orpheus has a gift of the second sight that soon tells him Ariadne is the queen, but he assures her he will keep her secret.
That night, the group is attacked by Colchian scouts and are forced to take shelter in the Necropolis: a system of catacombs. The Colchian soldiers are too afraid of the Necropolis to enter, which forces Medea and Pasiphae to go in themselves.
In the tombs, Dion succumbs to his wound and dies. When Pasiphae arrives, she is shot by Ariadne. Medea causes a magical rockslide which sends Jason plummeting into the unknown far below.
Tropes
- Blind Seer: Orpheus.
- Call-Back: When the group must take shelter in a cave, Hercules complains that he is still having nightmares about one-eyed giants.
- Guys Smash, Girls Shoot: All the heroes use hand-to-hand weapons except for Ariadne, who uses a bow.
- Kick Them While They Are Down: Medea destroys Telemon’s water bottle while abandoning him in the desert.
- Punished for Sympathy: Telemon chooses not to kill Ariadne when he has the chance. Pasiphae stabs him for this and abandons him in the desert. Medea punishes him further by breaking Telemon’s water bottle.
- Redshirt Army: When the Colchians attack, all the guards of the convoy are quickly killed except for Dion and the main heroes.
- Trail of Bread Crumbs: Telemon leaves behind his knife to leave a sign of where the group camped for the night.
- Uncertain Doom: Telemon is last seen abandoned in the desert with a knife wound and no water.
