Directed by Charles Siebert
Written by Paul Robert Boyle
Xena remains trapped in Callisto's body, and now Ares has been deposed as the God Of War and left powerless. Without his guidance, those without a warrior's heart have grown vicious. Together, the two seek to restore his godhood.
Tropes
- Actually Pretty Funny: Though wanting his godhood back, Ares laughs over those not used to violence losing control over themselves.
- Beware the Nice Ones: Hades is typically a nice enough guy who keeps to himself, but he orchestrated Ares losing his godhood after the previous episode's events.
- Brought Down to Badass: While he lost his godhood, Ares is still capable fighter. He just needed some motivation to lift his spirits.
- Call-Back: Sisyphus briefly alludes to having died and ended up in the Underworld since Xena saw him last, which viewers saw in "Highway to Hades" on Hercules: The Legendary Journeys.
- Enemy Mine: Xena and Ares work together to make him the God of War again.
- Everybody Hates Hades: Hades is responsible for stripping Ares of his power and giving Sisyphus the opportunity to take it himself. Still, given what Ares did in the previous episode, it's not like he didn't completely deserve that.
- Grand Theft Me: A rare heroic example, although it is against Xena's will. She pretends to be Callisto in order to be keep up appearances with the other lords.
- I Gave My Word: Subverted: At first, it appears that Ares would not keep his word to change Xena back to her original body, laughing as he disappeared. But by the end of the episode, Xena is back to her old body.
- Irony: Without a sitting god of war, normally peace-minded people like Gabrielle become violent savages, while warlords are polite as can be.
- Real Life Writes the Plot: Hudson Leick was asked to continue playing the role because Lucy Lawless fractured her pelvis on a set of The Tonight Show with Jay Leno
- The Reveal: The invitations were sent out by Sisyphus. The climax then reveals that Hades had a hand in all this, as well.
- Rock Bottom: As a mortal, Ares is a pathetic drunk barely eking out a living.
- "Scooby-Doo" Hoax: The monster Baracus the warlords are supposed to fight might be very noisy, but in the end it's revealed to be a not so Deadly Rotary Fan. The fact that, off all people, Joxer can Curb-Stomp Battle it, says everything about its dangerousness. (Rather irrelevant for the action as Sisyphos' ploy was Let's You and Him Fight anyway.)
- Spotting the Thread: Xena immediately knows Ares didn't send those invitations since he knows about the continued body swap and what became of the real Callisto.
- Ten Little Murder Victims: The main plot of the story. The main difference is that most of the victims are actively trying to kill each other.
- Unstoppable Rage: What everyone without a warrior's heart is suffering from, including Gabrielle and Joxer.
- Villain Has a Point: Ares gets Xena's help by reminding her that he does help maintain balance in the world and that things are much worse without him.
