After discovering Salmoneus trying to hide as a woman, and letting him live because he amuses her, Xena runs into trouble when her her new second-in-command, Darphus, decides she's too soft, especially concerning her standing command forbidding attacking women and children. Defying her, he leads a party that destroys an entire village, and the warrior princess rescues the only survivor, a baby, which only leads to more conflict between her and her men.
Meanwhile, a man of the village, who was sent before the slaughter happened to get help, finds Hercules, and convinces him to return and offer assistance. What they find upon returning isn't exactly the black and white situation Hercules expects, though, and he and Xena must join forces to stop Darphus's violent rampage.
While Hercules is present, of course, this episode is mostly set up to show the beginning of Xena's change in character, which will, of course, lead into her attempts to atone in her own series, with him really only having a supporting role to the main conflict. Salmoneus is thrown in to offer his typical comic relief, although he does do some important things as well, managing, in his own bumbling way, to aid in Xena's beginning transformation, and convincing Hercules to trust Xena, which he does rather quickly, considering the events at their last meeting.
Some of the plot is a bit unbelievable if you think about it too much, such as the supposedly deadly 'Gauntlet', and, as mentioned, the rather quick buddying-up of Hercules and Xena, but that's pretty much par for the course with this pair, and while the CGI is terrible by modern standards, it was in its infancy back then, and Ares is still much more of a generic background villain than the colourful and generally beloved God of War he will become, but all in all, it's not a bad episode, just the typical 'don't think about it too much' romp through the countryside that both shows are famous for.
