A young woman finds Xena in the forest and begs her to save Lord Seltzer from the warlord Talmadeus. As she arrives in the village, Xena hears a familiar voice call out to her. Lord Seltzer is actually Salmoneus. While Xena fights off Talmadeus’s men, she is hit in the neck by a dart. She checks the dart and finds that it has been dipped in Talmec poison. The stoic warrior keeps this information to herself. Salmoneus tells Xena that Talmadeus is after him because he sold the warlord weapons and armor made from Talgamite. Talagmite dissolves in water, and it rained on Talmadeus’s army during a big battle. Xena decides to go find Talmadeus, and Gabrielle goes with her. The warlord and his lieutenant are out with a patrol looking for her. Xena fights the men, while Gabrielle watches from a distance. But when the warrior reaches Talmadeus, the poison begins to affect her. The warlord presses his advantage and is about to kill Xena when Gabrielle throws her staff at him and knocks his sword away. Xena recovers enough to kick Talmadeus in the stomach and whistles for Argo. She and Gabrielle retreat back to the village.
Gabrielle is angry that Xena kept the fact that she had been poisoned hidden from her. Xena isn’t sure how much worse she will get, but she knows that she is in no shape to take on Talmadeus. It’s decided that Gabrielle will dress as Xena and act as a decoy. They hope it will be enough to fool Talmadeus into thinking that Xena is well. Talmadeus is confident that he’s sent Xena on the run. He sends his lieutenant out on another patrol to find her. They encounter “Xena” and chase her back to the village. But the real Xena has rallied the villagers. Armed with seltzer bottles that have spikes in the corks, the villagers chase the warriors away. Xena tells Gabrielle that she needs to attack Talmadeus’s camp. She has had the villagers prepare incendiary devices to use in the attack. But Gabrielle is concerned about her friend. Xena tells her she needs to do this for these villagers in spite of her ill health.
Talmadeus is readying his army for an attack on the village, when he hears a familiar war cry. A ball of flame flies through the air and lands on a tent. Several more land on other tents and around the camp. He looks up to see “Xena” charging into the camp on her horse. He quickly grabs a staff and blocks the horse’s path. When the horse jumps over the staff, “Xena” is thrown into a horse’s trough. The warlord is surprised to see that the rider wasn’t Xena after all. In the warehouse at the village, Xena has managed to get out of her bed and has headed for her weapons. Two of Talmadeus’s warriors try to sneak up on her, but she manages to take care of them before collapsing to the ground.
written by Steven L. Sears
directed by Gary Jones
music by Joseph LoDucaGuest Cast: Robert Trebor (Salmoneus), Peter McCauley (Talmadeus), Timothy James Adam (Kalus), Jonathon Hendry (Ness), Natalya Humphrey (Photis), David Mitchell (Gorney), Kenneth Prebble (Old Man)
LogBook entry by Mary Terrell