Directed by TJ Scott
Written by RJ Stewart
When the fierce woman warrior Callisto escapes from prison, Xena must face her in battle once again.
Tropes
- Back for the Dead: Perdicus.
- Batman Gambit: Restrained in her cell, Callisto openly threatens and insults a prison guard. The guy responds by clubbing her, but he gets close enough that she's able to lift a knife that she can use to break her arm restraints. Once out of the chair, she uses the knife to pick the cell door's lock.
- Break the Cutie: Gabrielle.
- Crowd Chant: Hearing Callisto taking out the guards, the other prisoners begin chanting her name.
- Despair Event Horizon: Gabrielle not only renounces her beliefs and wants to break her no kill rule, but she doesn't even care if she dies so long as Callisto does."My ideals were a lie. I thought love was the strongest power on Earth. What a fool. Love is helpless in the face of cruelty."
- Dude, Where's My Respect?: Joxer says he knows Xena doesn't think much of him, but that that doesn't mean he wouldn't sacrifice himself for Gabrielle.
- Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: In response to Gabrielle passing up the chance to kill her, Callisto is genuinely confused.
- Forced to Watch: Once Xena is restrained, Callisto orders her men to burn Gabrielle alive.
- Foreshadowing: Xena looks quite guilty when Callisto sinks to her death. This guilt would factor into a later plot.
- I Just Want to Be You: Before trying to burn her, Callisto admits she's somewhat jealous of Gabrielle—able to leave the world so pure."I wonder if I could have been her."
- Like You Would Really Do It: Callisto openly doubts that Xena would leave her to die. It turns out she would.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Xena is so disturbed by Gabrielle's darker turn that she prays to the gods to help her friend.
- Pet the Dog: In response to his talk about respect, Xena tells Joxer he has a good heart. She advises him to stay away from Callisto for his own safety more than anything else.
- The Power of Love: Zigzagged. In her grief, Gabrielle says everything she believed was a lie and that love is useless, but just as she's about to kill, thinking of Xena and Perdicus causes her to hesitate.
- Pre-Mortem One-Liner: Callisto promised to make one guard squeal like a pig before killing him. Once the other guards are dead:Callisto: Here piggy, piggy, piggy, piggy.
- Quicksand Sucks: Xena and Callisto's chariot fight ends with them tumbling right into quicksand. Xena is able to escape by using her whip and chakram. She then watches Callisto sink to her death.
- Revenge: Gabrielle is filled with a thirst for vengeance for Perdicus' death.Gabrielle:I have the rest of my life to mourn. I want to see her dead.
- Say My Name: Pleading, Callisto screams Xena's name before being completely submerged in quicksand.
- Scream Discretion Shot: After disposing of the other guards, Callisto eyes the one she promised to make squeal like a pig before killing. We then hear his scream from the other side of the door.
- Shell-Shocked Veteran: Perdicus's experiences during the Trojan War have left him incapable of fighting anymore.
- Spanner in the Works: Just when Callisto is about to achieve victory, Joxer comes charging in. He proves quite hapless to pull off a Big Damn Heroes moment, but because Callisto was distracted by dealing with him, Xena was able to get her chakram back and free herself.
- Tailor-Made Prison: Callisto is the only person in the prison with her own cell. She is also chained down at all times and has to frequently watched periodically. She still manages to get out.
- Thou Shalt Not Kill: Xena strives to convince Gabrielle not to sacrifice what she believes in by killing Callisto. Ultimately, Gabrielle can't bring herself to do it.
- Tranquil Fury: When Gabrielle convinces Xena to teach her how to use a sword for the first time, she mutters just how much she wants to kill Callisto in an unsettling way.
- Villain Ball: Callisto has Xena dead to rights in the first act, but she passes up the chance to try to kill her on the grounds Revenge by Proxy will only be fun if her foe is still alive to see it.
- Villains Want Mercy: Sinking in the quicksand, Callisto begs Xena for help. She doesn't get it.
- Virtue Is Weakness: Callisto is able to get a sword to Xena's neck by throwing a dagger at a nearby child. She mocks Xena for having "a sentimental side" that she feels placed her in a rather nasty situation and at an overall disadvantage in their fights.
- We Meet Again: During Callisto's attack on the village.Callisto: I've missed you, Xena.
Xena: You never wrote. - Why Don't You Just Shoot Him?: Callisto doesn't take the opportunity to kill Gabrielle and later Xena when the opportunities are most fitting. She wants to make Xena suffer by forcing her to watch as Gabrielle is killed. This, of course, buys the time needed to escape.
- Worthy Opponent: Callisto can't help but praise Xena for finding a way to escape the quicksand.
- You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: After freeing Theodorus from his cell, Callisto tells him to recruit the strongest prisoners for their new army and to kill the weakest ones.
