Written by Robert Bielak
Directed by Gary Jones
Hercules strives to reunite a boy with his sister residing with some renegade Amazons.
Tropes
- Armor-Piercing Response: As Siri insists her parents abandoned her, Ruun says she's in denial and that an Amazon killed them. What he says rattles her enough to go confront Mayem.Siri: No more lies! [slaps him]
Ruun: Go on, kill me. You will eventually, but you can't kill the truth. You know what you saw. - Dark and Troubled Past: Ruun witnessed his parents' deaths at Mayem's hands and was blinded soon afterwards. At some point over the years, he ended up a slave that was regularly beaten for defying authority.
- Died in Your Arms Tonight: Siri cradles Lucenne before the latter dies.
- Disappointed in You: Ruun says their parents wouldn't want to see how cold-blooded Siri has become.
- Distant Prologue: The episode opens 13 years in the past when Ruun and Siri were just kids. After Ruun is blinded, it cuts to Herc's present.
- Distinguishing Mark: Ahead of an Amazon attack, the kids' parents gave them each a tattoo on a hand so that they could be identified in the event of being separated. Hercules is later able to identify Siri as Ruun's sister, after seeing the bird tattoo on her hand.
- Does Not Like Men: Mayem and her band of evil Amazons to the point that no other Amazon tribe would team with them.
- Dramatic Irony: Viewers know the full extent of Mayem's actions because she was unmasked while fighting Ruun and Siri's father.
- Foil: Ephiny's appearance serves to contrast Mayem, demonstrating how most Amazons simply want to live their lives in peace and can be trustworthy allies to the heroes instead of a belligerent force attacking harmless villagers.
- Freudian Excuse: Watching Mayem murder his parents and then being blinded by her left Ruun with a bitter hatred of Amazons. He's also driven to find his sister because he promised their father shortly before the old man's death.
- Hidden Heart of Gold: Siri openly dismisses Lucenne as completely ineffective and someone who has no place on the battlefield. When Mayem asks if she's worried about Lucenne's well-being, Siri insists she's worried about the tribe as a whole and not anyone in particular. In private, though, Siri gives Lucenne a pep talk about being an Amazon and later comforts her in her last moments.
- Hope Crusher: Upon realizing Hercules has intervened, Mayem wants him dead. She's certain his death will break everyone else's resolve to oppose the tribe.
- In the Back: Lucenne suffers this when hesitating from striking down a father and son.
- Last Request: In the event of things going wrong, the kids' father made Ruun promise to take care of Siri.
- Meaningful Echo: "Die like the dog you are!" Mayem shouted this before killing the kids' parents, and her reusing the phrase while fighting Hercules is how Ruun is able to identify her.
- Noodle Incident: Mayem at the very least has seen Hercules before, as she can immediately identify him from a distance.
- Please, Don't Leave Me: Lucenne to Siri right before dying.
- Red Herring: Lucenne is made to look like she'll be Ruun's sister, due to having the same hair color as the kid in the flashback, being hopelessly outclassed as an Amazon, and wondering about her birth family. She's not Ruun's sister, though; Siri is.
- Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right!: Though slavery is illegal in the featured region, the slave ring technically had permission to travel through to a place where it was legal. Given his distaste for slavery and the brutality he saw the ringleader about to inflict on a blind guy, Hercules has no problem dismantling this operation.
- Slavery Is a Special Kind of Evil: Ruun ended up a slave and was regularly beaten, with no sympathy shown to him for being blind. Hercules busts up this slave ring, saying he doesn't care if they're simply going to region where it is legal.Hercules: It's still a problem. You see, I don't believe in slavery anywhere.
- Special Guest: Ephiny makes her first appearance in the show
- Straw Feminist: Mayem
- Wham Shot: Siri having the bird tattoo on her hand.
- Would Hurt a Child: Mayem blinded Ruun as a child.
