S1, E2: Xena comes upon a peaceful town that is under attack by the evil Cycnus and his son Sphaerus. In a peaceful valley where settlers have joined together to build a new barn, thugs under the command of the evil Cycnus suddenly swoop down in chariots and destroy the structure. Xena rides up just in time to pull a young boy to safety before he is crushed by the collapsing timbers. For saving the boy's life, Sphaerus, Cycnus' son and the leader of the thugs, strikes her down with an arrow and rides off. Darius, the young boy's father, nurses Xena's wound and insists that she stay with him and his children until it is healed. That night, however, Sphaerus and his men ride out of the darkness to attack again.