A warlord and his lover use Hercules and Iolaus in a plot with their captured dragon.
Tropes
- Achilles' Heel: Dragons are pretty tough creatures (to the point where it's doubted that even Hercules could kill one), but the spot right between their eyes is their one vulnerable spot. Certainly not easy to get to in a fight, but as Adamis explains, if the given dragon trusts a person, all it takes is the simple thrust of a sword.
- Bait-and-Switch: At a tavern, a man approaches Hercules from behind with a knife, suggesting a Bar Brawl is about to break out. It's actually his old friend, Marcius, dropping by to say hello.
- Batman Gambit: Adamis uses Cynea to tempt his old enemies into facing Braxis, knowing full well this would provoke the dragon into attacking and that they won't stand a chance. Zachariah is killed in The Teaser as a result, while Vedris and Meandra died earlier off-screen. Aside from revenge, this was also meant to draw the attention of both Hercules and Iolaus, due to Herc's well-established Chronic Hero Syndrome. Once Cynea has Iolaus worked up into facing Braxis, Adamis has his mooks delay Hercules as long as possible. He banks on Herc being broken by the death of his best friend and thus easy prey for Braxis. This fails, though, because Hercules managed to get to the cave while Iolaus was still alive.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Cynea has tricked past warriors into thinking she's their true love and pushed to go after the dragon. She's really Adamis' lover working with him.
- Chekhov's Gun: As part of her con, Cynea gives each warrior a scarf as supposed proof of her love. Hercules figures out she's helping Adamis because bodies in the cave have the same scarf that Iolaus has.
- Chronic Hero Syndrome: Adamis mocks Hercules for this, telling his mooks it's how he knows he can bait the half-god into coming to Laurentia.Adamis: He's so predictable. Threaten some innocents, and Hercules comes running.
- Delightful Dragon: It turns out Braxis is a child dragon, unaware he's being used to take out warriors who mistakenly thought he was a monster.
- Didn't See That Coming: Iolaus over Braxis being able to talk. Hercules knew dragons were intelligent, but even he's surprised by Braxis talking to them.
- Easily Forgiven: Neither Hercules nor Iolaus have any ill will for Braxis killing their friends, as he's just a kid that got manipulated by someone he had trusted.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Adamis truly loved Cynea, so he's devastated when he accidentally kills her while fighting Iolaus. Downplayed with Braxis, who he did develop some fondness for but will kill begrudgingly just to remove a possible threat.
- The Farmer and the Viper: Dragons typically won't attack someone unless provoked first. Adamis managed just fine on the island for ten years by peacefully interacting with the dragons there. Once he was ready to begin his plan, he murdered Braxis's mother once she had only just realized he was not to be trusted.
- Heartbroken Badass: Iolaus was genuinely falling for Cynea and wanted to avenge his fallen friend, Zachariah. He's crushed to learn Cynea's helping Adamis and manipulated Zachariah and others into dying.
- I Just Want to Have Friends: Despite his size, Braxis is just a child like young Gyger is. When the kid was sneaking around and almost took a fall, Braxis saved him for this reason. In the end, he's quite delighted when Hercules and Iolaus tell him he's got two friends now.
- Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: During the big cave fight, Iolaus was facing Adamis one-on-one, unaware Cynea was approaching from behind with a dagger. In all the confusion, Adamis lunged forward, and an unaware Iolaus dodged, leading to Cynea taking a sword in the gut.
- Karmic Death: Adamis murdered a dragon in cold blood and manipulated her offspring into killing his enemies. In the end, he gets roasted alive by said offspring.
- Luckily, My Shield Will Protect Me: When Braxis uses fire breath on him, Iolaus hides behind a discarded shield. It works, though he notices how hot the metal shield gets as a result.
- Massive Numbered Siblings: Marcius has ten children. For that reason, Hercules tells him to hang back rather than risk endangering himself.Hercules: Nights must get really cold here.
Marcius: Yeah, well... - Motive Rant: Adamis does this when explaining how he knows Hercules will inevitably arrive.Adamis: Ten years I spent on that island with nothing but dragons for company. Ten long years to plan my revenge. And now, I'll destroy Hercules in the very place he once defeated me: Laurentia.
- My God, What Have I Done?: Adamis, after accidentally mortally wounding Cynea.
- Noodle Incident:
- Ten years earlier, Hercules, Iolaus, and a group of other warriors took down Adamis and exiled him to an island full of dragons.
- Zachariah had saved Iolaus at the Battle of Thespis.
- Not Quite Dead: Adamis and his group are absolutely positive that both heroes have been killed by Braxis. They are quite surprised to see the two standing over a chained up Braxis.
- Pre-Mortem One-Liner: Cornered by Hercules, Adamis threatened to kill a restrained Braxis (calling the kid a traitor). Hercules responds by cutting the chains restraining Braxis.Braxis: [to Adamis] You're the traitor! [burns him alive]
- Revenge: Adamis spent ten years in exile on an island full of dragons. He says he spent that time formulating a plan to get revenge on Hercules and the others who exiled him.
- Roaring Rampage of Revenge:
- Vedris, Meandra, and Zachariah were among the warriors that helped Hercules and Iolaus take down Adamis. They all die as part of Adamis's revenge plot.
- After learning what really happened to his mother, Braxis kills Adamis.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: During the cave fight, Adamis's remaining men end up fleeing the scene rather than try to keep fighting it out.
- Sympathy for the Devil: In the immediate aftermath of Cynea's death, neither Hercules nor Iolaus react with joy. Both instead look sympathetic over both her final moments and Adamis's grief over accidentally killing her.
- Virtue Is Weakness: Adamis manipulates Braxis this way, saying that sparing Gyger's life will cause the villagers to stop being afraid of him and to thus attack his cave more regularly.
- Vocal Dissonance: Justified. Braxis looks like a fairly large and imposing dragon, but he sounds like a child because he is a child.
- Wham Line: After Cynea tells Hercules that Iolaus went to face Braxis alone, we suddenly hear some clapping and then learn her true role in the story.Adamis: Another great performance, my love.
- Wham Shot: Iolaus looks in the dragon's pit to see several swords, all bearing Cynea's "one of a kind" scarf.
- Wins by Doing Absolutely Nothing: Adamis tries to feed his spy to Braxis. However, because the guy just hid away rather than attack him, Braxis didn't see him as a threat. He uses his survival to prove to Hercules and Ioalus that the dragon only attacks those who attack first.
- Would Hurt a Child: Adamis is prepared to kill Braxis once he's no longer useful.
- Wouldn't Hurt a Child: In the middle of the night, Gyger took a sword and went to face Braxis. Unlike with the full-grown warriors, Braxis recognized the kid was no threat and did nothing more than growl. He even saves Gyger from a fatal fall. Learning this convinces Hercules that Braxis is not the monster everyone thinks he is.
- You Are Not Alone: In the end, Braxis is left reeling from how Adamis murdered his mother and never really cared about him.Braxis: Now, I don't have any friends.
Iolaus: Yeah, you do. You have Hercules and me. - You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Once Hercules is out of the way, Adamis intends to kill Braxis. He feels he won't need such a powerful creature once there's no super-strong half-god to contend with. He also suspects that Braxis will become a lot more difficult to control after growing up.
- You Killed My Father: Adamis convinces Braxis that Hercules and Iolaus killed his mother. He is horrified to learn that it was Adamis all along, shouting this shortly before killing him.
- Younger Than They Look: Braxis is a fairly big dragon compared to full-grown humans, but he's actually younger than Gyger is. According to Adamis, dragons get much, much bigger than this.
