Written by Robert Bielak
Directed by Jack Perez
This episode provides examples of:
- Actually Pretty Funny: Xena shows Salmoneus mercy in part for finding him amusing.
- Blood Knight: Darphus is quite content to kill anyone in the path of the army. Unfortunately for Xena, the men feel similarly and side with him.
- Cliffhanger: After the heroes depart, Darphus is resurrected by Ares. The war god's emissary tells Darphus that he'll get a chance for revenge against Xena provided he kills Hercules first. When Darphus asks how he can possibly achieve such a task, the emissary presents him with Graegus.Emissary: This beast can give you that help. Under your control, it can destroy Hercules once and for all.
- Death Is Cheap: Darphus gets stabbed in the heart, but that's no issue for Ares.
- Determinator: Xena when pushing her way through the eponymous gauntlet.
- Disguised in Drag: Salmoneus had the misfortune of being in a village targeted by Xena's army. To save himself, he donned a dress and wig, as well as a scarf to cover his beard. The disguise was working until the scarf got pulled away.
- Dragon with an Agenda: Darphus openly scoffs at Xena's preference for not harming civilians. He'd much rather just slaughter everyone in his path.
- Due to the Dead: Before leaving Parthus, Hercules and Iloran take the time to bury the dead.
- Easily Forgiven: Hercules and Iloran don't begrudge Spiros for his attack, due to the horrific tragedy he's suffered.
- Even Evil Has Standards:
- Before her Heel–Face Turn, Xena denounces Darphus for slaughtering women and children.
- Even though Xena survives the gauntlet, Darphus orders her killed. The other men, however, refuse to violate this principle.
- Evil Laugh: The episode ends with a red-eyed Darphus doing this.
- Guile Hero: With the army so large, Hercules and friends resort to guile tactics to knock out those doing solo patrols; they also set the horses loose when no one's looking. Their actions buy time to evacuate the civilians at the next village and prepare for an all-out fight.
- Heel–Face Turn: Xena when coming back to help against her former army.
- Impaled with Extreme Prejudice:
- During the final battle, Spiros engages Cretus and sees the guy is wearing a bracelet he had given to his wife. Spiros immediately realizes what Cretus did, knocks him down, and drives a spear into him.
- How Xena disposes of Darphus during their duel, getting him right in the heart.
- Improbable Infant Survival: In a village where all the inhabitants are slaughtered, a lone baby survives. Cretus killed the child's mother and was certain he had gotten the little one, too.
- Laser-Guided Karma: Cretus murdered an unarmed woman and stole her bracelet. Spotting the bracelet during the final battle, the woman's vengeful husband deduces what Cretus did and kills him.
- Late-Arrival Spoiler: Xena pulls a Heel–Face Turn. Anyone seeing this episode after September 1995 will see this coming thanks Xena getting her own show
- A Lighter Shade of Black: Xena is as vicious as ever against her enemies, but she actively refuses to harm innocent civilians. Darphus doesn't share such a concern, to the point of razing one village to the ground and wanting to murder a baby just so he can say everyone died.Salmoneus: Believe me, compared with Darphus, she looks like the goddess of love and light.
- The Man Behind the Man: Ares doesn't appear in-person and instead has a hooded emissary deliver his message to Darphus. By providing Graegus, Ares becomes this to Darphus, as well.
- My God, What Have I Done?: Spiros reluctantly agreed to leave Parthus in order to find help against the approaching army. Coming back to find everyone he cared about dead, he had this reaction.
- "Not So Different" Remark: Attempted. Hercules tries to console Spiros in his grief by saying he knows what it's like to lose a family. Spiros says that means Hercules knows firsthand that absolutely nothing he says can make him feel better.
- Poor Communication Kills: Because he saw Hercules and Iloran at the scene of the massacre, Spiros initially thinks they're responsible and attacks them.
- Pre-Mortem One-Liner: "That bracelet belonged to my wife!"
- Properly Paranoid:
- Salmoneus warns Xena that Darphus isn't in her corner. Unfortunately, by the time he's made this warning, it's already too late.
- After the horses are let loose, Darphus realizes this is the work of Hercules.
- Red Eyes, Take Warning: Darphus after being resurrected by Ares.
- Robbing the Dead: Cretus lifted a bracelet off a woman after killing her.
- Secret Test of Character: Xena makes a show of threatening not to return the baby to Spiros to see if he'll go Papa Wolf or not. When he does, she expects him to be a good father.
- The Starscream: Darphus is constantly questioning Xena's authority, even causing a massacre while she's gone. He ultimately convinces the other men to side with him.
- This Is Gonna Suck: While talking to a grieving survivor at the scene of an attack, Hercules is told the leader was a woman "like a demon from Hades" and has this reaction.Hercules: A woman.
Iloran: Do you know who did this?
Hercules: I've got an idea. - Thou Shalt Not Kill: Seeing Salmoneus was right about Xena, Hercules passes up the chance to kill her.Hercules: Killing isn't the only way of proving you're a warrior, Xena. I think you know that.
- Throw the Dog a Bone: The surviving baby turns out to be Spiros's son.
- Token Good Teammate: Xena turns out to be this to her army, actively opposing harming innocents and valuing actual loyalty over those just interested in wealth.
- Villain Cred: Xena loses hers by protecting the baby. She engages Hercules one-on-one in the hopes of killing him and regaining her standing with her army.
- Remember the New Guy? : Darphus is Xena’s second in command. He was nowhere to be seen in The Warrior Princess
- We Meet Again: Hercules and Xena when greeting each other.
- Wham Episode: Hercules redeems Xena.
- Wham Shot: Graegus entering during the final scene.
- Wide-Eyed Idealist: Salmoneus when convincing Hercules that Xena can be redeemed.
- Would Hurt a Child: Darphus is perfectly content to kill a surviving baby. Cretus even thought he had already killed the child after killing the mother.
- Wouldn't Hurt a Child: Xena threatens to kill anyone who harms the baby.
