The year is 1940. Dr. Janice Covington (Renee O'Connor), a tough and determined young archeologist, is supervising work on a Macedonian dig. She and her men are searching for the key to unlock a tomb containing the ancient Xena Scrolls, the most important archeological find of the century, when Melinda Pappas (Lucy Lawless), the daughter of a world renowned archeologist and a student in the field herself, arrives unexpectedly. Immediately set upon by armed thugs, Melinda is quickly rescued by Covington, who drives the trespassers off with her gatling gun. Mel explains that while sorting through her deceased father's records, she found a telegram from Janice asking for help in translating ancient writings and has come to offer her services. Sure that the stylish, long-legged Mel will be useless in the trenches, Covington tries to persuade her to leave just as Nikos (Ajay Vasisht), one of the diggers, staggers towards them with a knife in his back and dies. Janice reveals that a ruthless thug, John Smythe (Mark Ferguson), is also determined to find the tablet which is the key to opening the tomb, and that Smythe's men probably attacked Mel thinking the tablet was in her briefcase.
Much to Covington's surprise, Mel begins to prove her usefulness when she corrects Janice's translation of a scroll fragment describing an epic battle between Xena and Callisto. As Janice talks about her own father, an archeologist driven by a life-long quest to find the Xena Scrolls, Jacques S'er (Ted Raimi) arrives on the scene. Introducing himself as a lieutenant in the Free French Army, he offers his protection, explaining that the government cannot allow the Xena Scrolls, which may unlock the secrets to long lost mystical powers, to fall into the hands of the Nazis. They are soon interrupted by the arrival of Smythe and his thugs, who show up with the tablet stolen from the murdered Nikos, which is the key to unlocking the tomb. Smythe offers to pay Janice handsomely for her help in deciphering its text and Janice pretends to accept his proposition, deliberately misreading the words and declaring the tablet a fake. When Mel naively corrects her translation and opens the door of the tomb, a furious Janice and her cohorts are pushed inside by the gleeful Smythe. Their entrance, however, triggers a sudden rock slide, trapping Covington, Pappas and Jacques inside what turns out to be the tomb of Ares, the god of war. Unbeknownst to them, Smythe and his thugs are also trapped.
As they negotiate their way through a series of booby traps, Mel finds the Xena Scrolls and begins to read stories of Xena's adventures. She then pries out a shiny object embedded in stone, which proves to be half of Xena's chakram. When Smythe shows up with the other half, brandishing a gun and demanding her piece of the chakram and the Scrolls, Mel and her companions flee and wind up in Ares' inner sanctum. There, as Mel charges Smythe, the two halves of the chakram are joined. A jolt of energy knocks them off their feet and Ares himself springs to life, stepping out of the sarcophagus which has encased him for centuries. When Smythe tries to kill Ares, the god of war instantly destroys him and his thugs. Ares explains that only a descendant of Xena can release him back into the world to wreak havoc once again. Covington, who assumes that she's that descendant, is surprised when Mel turns out to be Xena's descendant. She discovers that she is descended from Gabrielle and that Jacques is really Jack, a New Jersey brush salesman only posing as a French army lieutenant, who is a descendant of Joxer. In the end, Mel is possessed by the spirit of Xena, who returns to wage a fierce battle against Ares, trapping him back inside the tomb. The chakram breaks in half and Xena turns back into Mel.
The scene changes to an office in 1996, where Ted Kleinman (Ted Raimi) is pitching story ideas to an executive ("Xena" executive producer Rob Tapert). Ted reaches for a bag, takes out a few Xena scrolls and begins a new pitch as an intrigued Tapert begins to listen...
Guest Starring: Ted Raimi (Jack Kleinman/Jacques S'er & Ted Kleinman), Kevin Smith (Ares), Mark Ferguson (John Smythe), Ajay Vasisht (Nikos), Reza Nijad (Local), Campbell Rousselle (Thug #1), Robert Tapert (Himself).
Starring: Lucy Lawless as Mel Pappas, Renee O'Connor as Janice Covington
Teleplay by Adam Armus & Nora Kay Foster
Story by Robert Sidney Mellette
Directed by Charlie Haskell