Plot summary
In 1940, archaeologist Janice Covington searches a Macedonian dig for the lost Xena Scrolls. Melinda Pappas arrives with her late father's research and offers help translating the inscriptions. Janice initially doubts her usefulness, but Mel quickly proves that she understands the texts.
They are joined by Jacques S'er, who claims to be a Free French officer concerned about Nazi interest in the scrolls. A rival treasure hunter, John Smythe, obtains the tablet needed to enter the tomb. Janice pretends to cooperate and tries to give him a false translation, but Mel inadvertently opens the entrance. A collapse traps the opposing groups inside.
Mel finds the scrolls and half of Xena's chakram. Smythe has the other half. When the pieces are joined during their confrontation, Ares awakens from the tomb in which he has been imprisoned. He kills Smythe and his men when they attack him.
Ares needs Xena's descendant to release him into the world. The women discover that Mel, rather than Janice, is that descendant. Janice descends from Gabrielle, while their supposed French officer is actually Jack, a New Jersey salesman descended from Joxer.
Xena's spirit takes over Mel and fights Ares. She succeeds in trapping him again, and the chakram separates as Mel returns to herself. The recovered scrolls preserve the adventures their ancestors lived.
The final scene jumps to 1996. Ted Kleinman pitches story ideas to a television executive, then produces some of the ancient scrolls. The discovery becomes the starting point for another telling of Xena's life.
Credits
Adapted from Legendary Journeys Wiki contributors, The Xena Scrolls. Complete episode narrative, rewritten and condensed for clarity; causal developments and the episode's ending retained. Illustrations, dialogue quotations and non-story metadata omitted.