Written by Steve Roberts
Directed by Peter Ellis
This episode provides examples of:
- Achilles' Heel: The Hydra immediately retreats from fire and only comes back when the torch is removed.
- Amicable Exes: Hercules and Nemesis used to be an item, haven't seen each other in years, and pick up right where they left off.
- Armor-Piercing Response: As Lydia pesters him with questions about Hercules, Iolaus gives passive aggressive answers to vent his lingering frustration. It makes Lydia doubt he's actually Herc's best friend and what she says gives him pause.Lydia: Well, nobody talks about their best friend that way.
- Bad Boss: When a couple of the men argue over who gets Iolaus's items, Rankor reminds them that's his decision by shooting arrows and only narrowly missing.
- Badass Boast:Nemesis: Even you can't defy the will of the gods, Hercules. There's nothing you can do.
Hercules: That's where you're wrong. - The Bet: Disagreeing over which road goes to Thrace and which is a scam, both Hercules and Iolaus insist they'll be waiting for the other to arrive. Iolaus bets 100 dinars (that he doesn't have) about who makes it to Thrace first, which leaves him on his own when he runs into the bandits and Hercules racing to find him after learning what Nemesis is up to. Through the course of the story, Hercules wins the bet (albeit just barely).Iolaus: How long have you been here?
Hercules: Hours.
Iolaus: How many, Hercules?
Hercules: Oh, about... a hundred dinars' worth. - Big Damn Heroes: While everyone is preoccupied with William Telling, Rankor shows up and takes aim at the blindfolded Iolaus. Nemesis possesses Rankor long enough for Hercules to notice and shout a warning to Iolaus.
- Big "WHAT?!": Hercules upon learning Nemesis is going to kill Iolaus.
- Blatant Lies: On the run from the bandits, Lydia asks what their chances are. Iolaus says they'll make it, but she tells him to be more honest.
- Call-Back: Iolaus recalls facing a Hydra before, which is how he knows about their aversion to fire.
- Covered in Mud: Iolaus convinces Lydia to do this with him so that they can hide their scents from the bandits' dogs. He adds in some tree brush to help seal the deal. Rankor later realizes the trick and is quite pissed about it.
- A Day in the Limelight: The first one for Iolaus.
- Deadly Dodging: With Nemesis's warning, Hercules jumps out of the way just in time for two bandits to stab each other instead of him.
- "Die Hard" on an X: Once out of the pit and running in the forest, Iolaus decides that picking off the bandits one by one is the only way out of this.
- Dramatic Irony: Iolaus and Lydia talk about this adventure, unaware Hercules knows more than he's letting on.Lydia: I just wish you'd been there to see it, Hercules.
- Early-Installment Weirdness:
- Dialogue suggests Nemesis had only started her job at some point after last seeing Hercules a decade ago. Young Hercules would later establish she'd been at it since the Olympians won the war against the Titans.
- It's said that Hercules knew Nemesis when he was 10, but her appearance on Young Hercules changes this to when he was 18.
- "Eureka!" Moment: Spotting a deer skull, Iolaus gets the idea to start picking off the bandits with guile tactics.
- Eye Scream: Iolaus tells Lydia he overcame the water serpent by biting out its eyes.
- Failed a Spot Check: Averted. Iolaus sees Hercules talking to thin air and knows it means one of the gods was just there.
- Fatal Flaw: Pride for Iolaus is almost quite literally this.
- The Greatest Story Never Told: Seeing that Iolaus escaped the cave on his own, Hercules is content to quietly leave. He beats Iolaus and Lydia to Thrace and simply acts like he fell asleep waiting for him to show up. Though Iolaus would learn next season about Nemesis targeting him, it's never said that Hercules went into full detail about his efforts to protect his buddy.
- Guile Hero: With too many bandits to take on at once, Iolaus opts for cunning sneak attacks.
- Harmless Lady Disguise: Down in the pit, Iolaus dons Lydia's skirt and covers his face in order to take one of the bandits by surprise.
- He Knows Too Much: Rankor ordered Lydia killed for knowing about their hoax. After she and Iolaus escape with proof, the bandits go into overdrive to find and kill them.
- Impaled with Extreme Prejudice:
- Iolaus uses a deer skull's antlers to rig up such a trap for one of the bandits.
- Hercules is confronted by one bandit with a sword, while a second one sneaks up behind him. Nemesis warns him of this, allowing for a little Deadly Dodging.
- Irony:
- Iolaus is somewhat amused to learn that he was right all along about which was the road to Thrace and what it landed him into.
- Hercules is displeased over how he can't step in to help his best friend when he helps complete strangers every day.
- It's Personal: Rankor starts out wanting to kill Iolaus and Lydia for simply knowing the bandits' secret, but he grows to really hate Iolaus over the course of pursuing him and becomes more focused on just settling a score.
- Just Following Orders: Nemesis says she just does as the gods tell her to and doesn't bother to ask for details. Hercules is displeased, to say the least.
- Not Quite Dead: Rankor is considered as good as dead after the Hydra re-emerges, but he ended up surviving and following Iolaus and Lydia to Thrace.
- Not So Similar: Nemesis reasons she and Hercules are both in the punishment business. He retorts that he finds out whether or not a person deserves the punishment before doing anything. He cops to having made mistakes, but he says he owns up to that instead of just casually brushing it off.
- Overshadowed by Awesome: The first time Iolaus really expresses frustration over being in the shadow of a more famous hero and thus being derided as just a traveling companion or kid brother.
- Pet the Dog: Ultimately, Nemesis feels Iolaus earned a reprieve and spares him, despite Hera's orders.
- Poor Communication Kills: Lydia knew about the Hydra in the cave, but Iolaus wouldn't let her explain before rushing inside for cover.
- Pride: According to Nemesis, Iolaus is being punished because he's guilty of this, despite Hercules pointing out that pride is considered a virtue on Olympus. Through the course of this adventure, Iolaus swallows his pride, which Nemesis feels warrants showing mercy.
- Pride Before a Fall: Iolaus refuses to back down against some thugs at a bridge, leading to a needless fight and wounded pride over Hercules having to save the day. Iolaus stubbornly storms off on his own afterwards, ending up in trouble. Nemesis reveals the bridge brawl set in motion the chain of events that will lead to his downfall. However, due to the adventure, Iolaus learns greater humility and refuses to endanger Hercules during a bit of William Telling, which Nemesis feels earned him a reprieve.
- Punch-Clock Villain: Nemesis is only at odds with Hercules because of Hera's orders, and she still helps him out, anyway.
- Revenge Before Reason: After surviving his encounter with the Hydra, Rankor followed Iolaus and Lydia to Thrace to get some payback rather than be thought dead and evade the authorities. He gets captured for his trouble.
- Revenge by Proxy: As Hercules surmises, Hera can't kill him, so she'll settle for ordering Nemesis to kill his best friend.
- Running Gag: "An old hunter's trick."
- "Scooby-Doo" Hoax: The bandits dress up as Satyrs to scare the locals into staying out of the woods, leaving them free to commit crimes without any pushback and control the area's only road into Thrace. Lydia was trying to go get help when she was captured and learned what they were doing.
- Screaming Woman: Lydia after the Hydra emerges. She's so loud that Hercules can hear her a good distance away from the cave.
- Superman Stays Out of Gotham: Iolaus has his hands full with multiple bandits, a water serpent, and a rather large Hydra, which a super-strong half-god would have far easier times with. Hercules steps in to offer some covert help against a few of the bandits, but Nemesis talks him out of helping him with the Hydra by saying that would just make Iolaus resent him even more.
- Villain Has a Point: Nemesis warns Hercules that the last thing that someone with wounded pride needs is for someone else to save him.
- Wham Line: "'Iolaus' is the name of the man I've come to kill."
- What the Hell, Hero?: Hercules chastises Nemesis for her job even before learning she's after Iolaus, saying she lost her sense of justice.
- Wide-Eyed Idealist: Hercules doesn't truly grasp why Iolaus has wounded pride, as he values him so much and deeply appreciates the help he gives.
- William Telling: Iolaus has Hercules go along with this to make up for earlier deriding his archery skills, though the arrival of Rankor mucks things up. Nemesis later points out that Iolaus was never actually going to take the shot out of concern for Herc's safety; he just wanted to know that Hercules trusted him.
- You Do Not Want To Know: When Iolaus asks which of the gods he was just talking to, Hercules tells him this.
