Out in the woods one afternoon, Gabrielle (Renee O'Connor) sprains her ankle while attempting to perfect the "Xena flip." As Xena (Lucy Lawless) prepares to treat the swelling, Phiddipides (Nick Kemplen) rushes up and tells them to run for their lives. He reports that a huge foreign army has come ashore, laid waste to the troops in Marathon and is now heading their way. From his description, Xena deduces that the attackers are Persians. She tells Gabrielle that the Persian army is unparalleled in its ruthlessness and if the soldiers reach Athens, Greece is lost. Phiddipides agrees to run ahead more than 26 miles to warn the Athenians while Xena comes up with a plan to slow down the Persian troops. She decides she'll cause a landslide to seal off the pass at Thermopylae. That way, the Persians will have to make their way around the mountain into Tripolis where Xena has stockpiled a cache of weapons which she and the Tripolis militia can use against the invaders. Suddenly, Dorian (Douglas Kamo), a handsome soldier in a torn and bloody uniform, drops from a tree. Brandishing a sword, he demands that Xena give up her horse but in a split second, she disarms him. Xena quickly sees through his story about being a Spartan soldier who fought at Marathon and pegs him as a deserter. She then convinces him to join forces with her and Gabrielle.
As the three move on, they are confronted by an advance party of Persian scouts. Xena sends the injured Gabrielle and Argo off into the nearby woods and Dorian is left to help her fight off the six Persian soldiers. But as Xena launches into battle, Dorian stands frozen in fear. Observing his reaction from her hiding place, Gabrielle rushes out to try to help him to safety and is shot in the shoulder by a poisonous arrow. After Xena overpowers the remaining attackers, she removes the arrow from Gabrielle's shoulder, but the poison has already begun to move through her friend's body. She reassures Gabrielle that she'll be fine once they reach Tripolis where they'll be able to get the antidote. Meanwhile, through clever questioning, Xena has figured out that Dorian is really a Persian spy, not a Spartan at all. She sends him ahead to Tripolis to ready the militia for her arrival and to tell them there's been a landslide in the Thermopylae pass.
By the time the women arrive in Tripolis, the village has been destroyed by its own militia to prevent anything from being left behind for the Persians, and everyone has fled. Xena finds the physician's hut but the decanter that once held the antidote Gabrielle needs is empty. As Xena prepares to move on to Thessaly to get the medicine, Gabrielle stops her, insisting that they must follow through with Xena's original plan in order to slow down the Persian iadvance. As the Persian cavalry approaches, Xena and Gabrielle hide themselves in the Long House where Xena's weapons have been stashed. Gabrielle takes a turn for the worse and Xena realizes that the poisonous arrow must have nicked her lung. Though time is quickly running out for her, Gabrielle insists that they remain where they are. Despite Xena's protests, she says she must sacrifice her own life for the greater good if necessary. Slipping in and out of a delirious state, Gabrielle dreams about the thunderous charge of the Persian soldiers and observes an enormous soldier with a double-bladed sword dropping down from the ceiling behind Xena and killing her. When she awakens, Xena carries her up to the loft where she will have a better view of the impending battle. Xena places a vat of boiling oil next to her, instructing her to tip it over if the soldiers start to ascend the loft ladder. Gabrielle warns Xena about the soldier in her dream.
The Persian horsemen begin their attack, destroying everything in their path. Xena opens the door to the Long House, lets out a war cry and then slams it shut just in time to block a huge volley of arrows. Soldiers begin charging in through the windows and Xena uses her chakram, battle axes, knives, throwing stars and fire to drive them back. Suddenly, the huge soldier from Gabrielle's dream materializes behind Xena. With a sixth sense, she picks up a warning from Gabrielle, flips backwards over her attacker and ends up killing him. When the soldiers pull Xena down once more, Gabrille tips over the vat of oil with her last ounce of strength, allowing Xena to escape. But the battle is far from over. Dorian climbs up to the loft, wielding a knife. Xena manages to pierce him with a poisonous arrow and moments later, when she sees him crawl over to the body of a downed soldier, take a swig from a particular waterbag and pour the rest of the liquid over his wound, she realizes he has the antidote. Xena grabs the bag and begins fighting off soldiers with renewed frenzy. Once she has defeated them, she brings the antidote to Gabrielle, who drinks it and is saved from death.
Guest Starring: Douglas Kamo (Dorian), Nick Kemplen (Phiddipides)
Starring: Lucy Lawless as Xena, Renee O'Connor as Gabrielle
Written by Gene O'Neill & Noreen Tobin
Directed by Paul Lynch