Hercules comes upon a battlefield in time to grant the wish of a dying soldier. The man asks Hercules to deliver his sword and a letter to his wife, Janista, and 13-year-old son Titus. Before Hercules reaches the village of the fallen soldier, Titus goes hunting in the forest with his friend Ximenos. While daydreaming about becoming future warriors, the two boys are surprised by Aurelius, a tough young man dressed as a soldier, who challenges them to fight each other to prove their warrior spirit. The weapons he gives them are clubs possessed by Ares, the evil god of war, and the friends begin a fight to the death. Only when Ximenos knocks the club from Titus' hand is the spell broken, and Titus manages to escape. Ximenos, on the other hand, is caught up in the excitement and agrees to be inducted into Aurelius' army of teenage and pre-teen soldiers in the service of the bloodthirsty Ares.
When Hercules finally arrives to tell Janista of her husband's death, Titus rushes in, frantic to tell his story. But Janista interrupts him, and he quickly takes off again. Meanwhile, Hercules learns that the men of the village are all away fighting wars, and offers to give the widow a hand in making repairs to her home. When he goes to the local smithy to get nails, he is surprised to find that the blacksmith is a powerful woman of uncompromising strength and beauty named Atalanta. Immediately attracted to him, Atalanta challenges Hercules to an arm-wrestling match, which she wins by clever use of her feminine charms. During the night, Ares possesses Atalanta by magically branding a symbolic crossing of swords on her arm - forcing her to create an army-sized portion of swords for Aurelius' gang.
When Hercules goes in search of Titus to tell the boy his father is dead, he becomes embroiled in a struggle to keep Titus from joining Aurelius' band of roving hoodlums. In the process, he is ambushed by the teenage soldiers and left for dead under a huge pile of rocks. When Ares learns that Hercules is still alive, he angrily orders Aurelius, his general in arms, to kill him. Determined to use Titus to deliver the fatal blow, Aurelius manipulates the boy into believing that Hercules killed his father.
Finally, Hercules, Janista and Atalanta join forces to try to free Titus and Ximenos from the evil clutches of Aurelius. But first Hercules must battle the possessed Atalanta, who he returns to normal by throwing her in a stream to wash the "branding" off. When the three finally come upon the band of boys, the earth begins to rumble, the wind whips through the trees, and thick roots spring from the ground imprisoning them. Subdued by Ares' power, Hercules and the women attempt to make Titus see that he and the other boys are being used to feed Ares' personal blood lust. At first unable to listen, Titus edges toward them, his sword wet with the blood of Ares - which can kill Hercules - but Hercules and Janista talk to Titus and he realizes that it isn't in his heart to commit murder. He turns to oppose his brothers-in-arms, now fighting alongside Hercules, Atalanta and Janista, who have managed to break free from the roots which have bound them.
Hercules resolves to confront Ares and goes to his cave. There he sees one of the many incarnations of his wicked half-brother rising from behind a pool of blood. Ares kills Aurelius, who brags that Ares himself has come to stand beside him so together they can kill Hercules. A fierce battle ensues; Hercules musters all his will and strength and defeats Ares, using Titus' father's sword. Later, Hercules explains to Titus that just before his father died, he asked that he deliver a message to his son. He tells the boy that his father's message was "the way of the true warrior is not to kill...but to destroy the forces of evil." Hercules promises Titus that if he heeds his father's words, he will grow up to be the kind of man that would have made his father very proud. Before Hercules can depart, Atalanta gives him a goodbye present in the form of a passionate kiss.
Starring: Kevin Sorbo (Hercules)
Guest Starring: Cory Everson (Atalanta), Marise Wipani (Janista), Peter Malloch (Titus), Callum Stembridge (Aurelius), Taungaroa Emile (Ximenos), Peter Muller (Fallen Soldier), Mark Newnham (Ares), Al Chalk (Voice of Ares), Kelson Henderson (Kid #1), Nick Clark (Kid #2), Rebecca Hobbs (Woman #1), Rebekah Mercer (Woman #2)
Written by Steve Roberts
Directed by Harley Cokeliss