6. The Reckoning

Xena interrupts an attack on a group of villagers and fights a hooded swordsman, who vanishes before she can defeat him. She is helping the sole wounded survivor when other villagers arrive. Seeing her bloody sword and knowing her reputation, they assume that she committed the murders.

Xena initially escapes, but surrenders when the pursuers capture Gabrielle. In prison she discovers that the mysterious swordsman is Ares. He has engineered the accusation to tempt her back into his service, promising freedom, power and an army if she calls on him. Xena refuses to pay that price.

The villagers nearly drag her to death behind a chariot before Gabrielle intervenes and the elder Benitar insists on a trial. Gabrielle acts as Xena's advocate, but the surviving witness cannot remember the attacker and can only recall seeing Xena with the bloody weapon. Her defense fails.

Ares continues pressing Xena to embrace her violent instincts. During an attempted escape she strikes Gabrielle without realizing who is approaching. Horrified by what she has done, Xena stops fighting and returns to her cell. Gabrielle comes back despite being hurt and offers to help her escape. Instead, Xena devises a way to expose Ares' deception.

She agrees to serve him if convicted, but secures his promise to restore anyone she chooses for her army. When the court finds her guilty, she asks for the three murdered villagers. Ares brings them back, and they identify Xena as the woman who tried to save them. Her name is cleared, and Ares accepts that she has outmaneuvered him.

As the two friends resume their travels, Xena thanks Gabrielle for returning. Gabrielle gives her a punch in the arm as a joking repayment for the earlier blow, hurting her own hand in the process. Their trust survives the ordeal, while Ares makes clear that he has not given up on Xena.