5. Them Bones, Them Bones

Xena experiences terrifying visions that suggest her unborn child is under attack. She seeks Yakut among the Northern Amazons, who identifies Alti as the source. The dead shamaness is draining the baby's life in the spirit world.

Gabrielle volunteers to confront Alti because Xena's pregnancy makes the journey dangerous. Alti overwhelms her and forces her toward self-destruction. Xena sees the injuries appearing on Gabrielle's body and manages to revive her after the spiritual attack stops her heart.

Gabrielle's report reveals Alti's real plan: she wants to replace the child's soul with her own and return to life through its birth. Xena prepares a burial ritual using special amber that can imprison a restless spirit. While recovering Alti's remains, Yakut admits that she took the skull in the hope of using its power for good, inadvertently enabling Alti's return.

Gabrielle and Amarice retrieve the amber from a guarded cavern. The guardian exposes that Amarice has been falsely claiming to be an Amazon, but her willingness to help remains real. Meanwhile Alti takes the baby's soul and demands physical resurrection in exchange for it.

Xena appears to agree but instead moves Alti into another dreamscape, weakening her control. Their confrontation takes the form of a fight between skeletons. Gabrielle pours amber over Alti's bones in the physical world, immobilizing her spiritual form long enough for Xena to destroy it and recover the child.

After the victory, Gabrielle formally makes Amarice an Amazon in recognition of her courage. Amarice stays with the Northern Amazons. Xena and Yakut part as friends, and Xena heads east, increasingly accepting the child and the responsibilities ahead.