Written by Adam Armus and Nora Kay Foster
Directed by Garth Maxwell and Josh Becker
Xena is tested by a man named Palaemon. Capturing and selling off Gabrielle, he aims to be Xena's greatest nemesis.
Tropes
- Chained Heat: Xena ties up Palaemon to Gabrielle's staff to keep him from escaping. The trope becomes more apparent when she goes after Gabrielle's captors and especially when she goes blind.
- Every Proper Lady Should Curtsy: While acting as princess, Apex and Largos tries to teach Gabrielle how to curtsy. She fails at every attempt she makes. When she later tells Xena to try and curtsy herself, Xena nails it.Gabrielle: I hate you... in a good way.
- Good Feels Good: Palaemon throughout the course of the story. He ultimately decides to give being a hero a shot.
- Handicapped Badass: The blindness hardly slowed her down.
- Hero Killer: Palaemon wants to be this. He reasons that killing Xena will give him a major reputation among those who look up to her and those who still fear her.
- I'm Your Biggest Fan: Not exactly flattering to Xena as Palaemon is also a fan of her more nefarious works.
- Irony: In the end, Palaemon says he was technically right all along. He did learn something from Xena out of all this, just about what kind of person he should be.
- Lampshade Hanging: Apex says the kingdom traditionally has Queens that are blue-eyed blondes. Gabrielle points out she's more of a redhead.
- Murder by Cremation: Attempted on Gabrielle.
- Of Corpse He's Alive: Apex has been keeping the king's death a secret for some time. Even Gabrielle didn't know when she initially talked to the body.
- The Power of Friendship: Xena risks permanent blindness in order to save Gabrielle now rather than later.
- Pragmatic Villainy: Palaemon immediately refuses to kill a blinded Xena because he wouldn't get any glory that way and says it needs to be a fair fight.
- Princess for a Day: Her captors plan to have her marry the king.
- Properly Paranoid: Gabrielle finds it suspicious that a king would want to marry a commoner off the street.
- Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: Xena has to put up with Palaemon in order to save Gabrielle.
- Temporary Blindness: Xena a third of the way into the episode. She is on the clock to prevent it from going permanent.
