Plot summary
Masked raiders lead Xena back to Cortese, the warlord whose attack on her childhood village helped set her on a violent path. Among his men she finds her estranged brother Toris. He has joined the raiders only to get close enough to kill their leader.
The siblings investigate together. Messages carried by birds with the royal crest suggest that Cortese has an accomplice at court. When they enter the castle, they discover the greater deception: the king himself is Cortese. He raids his own subjects, then taxes them to fund their supposed protection.
Toris is consumed by guilt over leaving home during the attack that killed their brother Lyceus. He admits that he fled from fear and now sees vengeance as his only purpose. Acting alone, he is captured. Xena allows herself to be taken as well to stop the raiders from burning him alive.
They escape the dungeon despite the disbelief of the king's commander, Aescalus. Xena then arranges for Cortese's raiders to attack the castle and forces the king to order them to stop in front of his own troops. His double identity is exposed.
Xena gives Toris the chance to kill Cortese, but he finds that he cannot murder a helpless man. Walking away releases him from the revenge he thought he needed. He thanks Xena for helping him confront his guilt and leaves to visit their mother, while Cortese's scheme stands revealed.
Credits
Adapted from Legendary Journeys Wiki contributors, Death Mask. Complete episode narrative, rewritten and condensed for clarity; causal developments and the episode's ending retained. Illustrations, dialogue quotations and non-story metadata omitted.