Xena is back, and her men are losing faith in her after she spares the life of a child when they slaughter a village. Her lieutenant, Darphus, convinces the men to turn on her, and Xena is forced to face the gauntlet, an ancient ritual in which a member of an army is forced to walk through a line of all the men, and if she survives the beating, she is allowed to go. In order to get her men back she decides to kill Hercules and regain their respect but fails and joins Hercules in fighting her men and takes her revenge on Darphus.
