T1, E23: Xena is reunited with her brother Toris and the two join forces to overthrow Cortese, the raider who destroyed their village many years before. When Xena and Gabrielle turn the tables on two masked assassins who ambush them on a mountain trail, Xena learns their leader is none other than Cortese, the ruthless warlord who set her on the path of war and destruction. Determined to defeat him once and for all, Xena rides into a small town under siege by Cortese’s masked bandits, emits a piercing war cry, and charges into the battle to take on the entire raiding party by herself. But the fighting is soon interrupted by the arrival of a company of king’s soldiers under the command of Aescalus. Cortese’s lieutenant Malik and his raiders beat a hasty retreat into the woods, but not before Xena is recognized by one of Cortese’s men, who turns out to be her estranged older brother Toris.