Directed by TJ Scott
Written by Adam Armus, Nora Kay Foster, Roy Thomas, & Janis Hendler
Xena is summoned by the beautiful Helen of Troy to help end the bitter ten-year-long war between the Greeks and the Trojans.
Tropes:
- Adaptational Badass: Downplayed. Paris doesn't get into much of the action, but he's constantly brave, directly involved in leading the struggle, and actively involved in any planning. He's not the simpering Dirty Coward hiding behind others seen in the myths.
- Age Lift: Some sources say Menelaus was thirty at the beginning of the Trojan War, meaning he would have been forty by the time it ended. In this episode, he is portrayed as an older man, his actor Ken Blackburn having been sixty-one, but it could be said that the stress of war has prematurely aged him.
- Cain and Abel: Paris realizes too late that he's the Abel to Deiphobus's Cain.
- Cruel Mercy: Xena defeats Deiphobus, but she doesn't kill him. Instead, she advises the group to simply leave him where he is.Xena: When Menelaus comes out of Troy empty-handed, I want Deiphobus to be the first thing he sees.
- I Just Want to Be Normal: Helen can't stand being the sought after prize in a bloody war. In the end, she gets her wish to just be a normal person.
- It's All My Fault: Since the war is at least technically being fought over her, Helen feels a great deal of guilt over the casualties on both sides. Xena tries to reassure her by saying the war stopped being about her a long time ago.
- The Mole: Deiphobus is secretly helping the Greeks.
- Motive Decay: The war originally started as a result of Helen leaving with Paris. However, over time, Paris and Menelaus became more interested in winning the war and barely even seem aware that Helen exists. Xena questions if Menelaus even knew Helen long enough to have any affection for her in the first place.
- Noodle Incident: Xena and Helen's first meeting years ago.
- Take a Third Option: Helen doesn't want to stay in Troy with Paris, but Xena convinces her that going back to Menelaus won't end the war or make her feel any better. In the end, Helen simply departs with Perdicas to travel the land anonymously.
- Title Drop: "Beware Greeks bearing gifts, Paris."
