Plot summary
Palaemon kidnaps Gabrielle and challenges Xena, hoping to build his reputation by killing her in a fair fight. During their battle, oil containing sumac splashes into Xena's eyes. She defeats him but begins losing her sight. When he admits Gabrielle is alive, Xena forces him to guide her toward the castle where he delivered her.
Gabrielle is told that King Solus has chosen her as his bride. The attendant Vidalus prepares her for court, while the minister Apex conceals the real purpose of the marriage. Solus has already drowned. Under the kingdom's laws, a married king's death transfers power to the ministry, and his wife must accompany him into death. Apex intends to marry Gabrielle to the corpse and have her cremated.
Xena learns that Egyptian senna could save her sight, but refuses to delay the rescue to obtain it. Her commitment impresses Palaemon. During a fall from a cliff, she releases his manacle rather than drag him down with her; he then pulls her to safety.
At the castle, Gabrielle wins Vidalus' confidence and discovers the dead king. The guards capture them before she can escape. The false wedding proceeds behind a screen, and Gabrielle is sealed in a coffin.
Xena and Palaemon fight their way inside. Vidalus directs them to the crematorium, where Xena pulls Gabrielle's coffin out before it burns. Palaemon abandons his ambition to kill the woman whose courage has changed his understanding of heroism.
Vidalus also grows Egyptian senna in his garden. With Gabrielle safe, Xena receives the treatment in time and regains her sight.
Credits
Adapted from Legendary Journeys Wiki contributors, Blind Faith. Complete episode narrative, rewritten and condensed for clarity; causal developments and the episode's ending retained. Illustrations, dialogue quotations and non-story metadata omitted.