• IN A STRANGE NEW WORLD--
  (Hercules throws a torch, and leaps after it.)
  BATTLING A NEW BREED OF EVIL.
  (Gilgamesh drinks from a chalice, and nectar spills onto his face.)
  (Imuru stikes down a soldier and steals his sword.)
  Gilgamesh: The arrival of Dahak.
  HERCULES FACES HIS DARK SIDE--
  (Hercules faces off against his dark side, a Hercules dressed in a white robe.)
  (Hercules' dark side holds up a dagger, and Hercules places his hand on the blade.)
  (The dagger is pulled down against Hercules' palm by his dark side.)
  Hercules: No more Mr. Nice Guy!
  (Flames leap up from behind Gilgamesh.)
  IOLAUS MEETS HIS DESTINY.
  (Iolaus kisses Nebula's hand.)
  Nebula: I love you.
  (A dagger flies through the air.)
  NOTHING WILL BE THE SAME--
  Hercules: Nebula!
  (Iolaus jumps up in front of Nebula.)
  ON THE NEXT HERCULES!
• LAST SEASON HERCULES TOOK ON OLYMPUS AND DESTROYED HERA.
  (The infamous eyes-only image of Hera explodes into dust.)
  NEXT WEEK HIS ADVENTURE IS JUST BEGINNING.
  (A fireball engulfs a building.)
  Nebula: People are dying, and they refuse to take my help!
  Iolaus: You mean there are other gods out there?
  IN A STRANGE NEW WORLD--
  (Hercules throws a torch, and leaps after it.)
  BATTLING A NEW BREED OF EVIL.
  (Gilgamesh drinks from a chalice, and nectar spills onto his face.)
  (Imuru stikes down a soldier and steals his sword.)
  Gilgamesh: The arrival of Dahak.
  HERCULES FACES HIS DARK SIDE--
  (Hercules faces off against his dark side, a Hercules dressed in a white robe.)
  (Hercules' dark side holds up a dagger, and Hercules places his hand on the blade.)
  (The dagger is pulled down against Hercules' palm by his dark side.)
  Hercules: No more Mr. Nice Guy!
  (Flames leap up from behind Gilgamesh.)
  IOLAUS MEETS HIS DESTINY.
  (Iolaus kisses Nebula's hand.)
  Nebula: I love you.
  (A dagger flies through the air.)
  AN ALL NEW SEASON--
  Hercules: Nebula!
  (Iolaus jumps up in front of Nebula.)
  AN ALL NEW HERCULES!

Credit goes to Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci for a fine script here. Sort of what Steven L. Sears did with "The Deliverer": go down one path from a fork in the road, then suddenly skip to the other path. Gilgamesh's struggle with the gods is the main focus for about 60% of the story, until he conks Hercules on the head with his crown and drinks the nectar from the chalice. After Gilgamesh mentions Dahak, the episode storyline changes full circle. And Iolaus' death created another storyline: what would Hercules do without him? We know that answer now.

Hercules: As I said, he changed radically here. After Gilgamesh kills Iolaus, Hercules displays a level of anger rarely seen on the series. It sort of ranks with the cold fury and disgust Hercules had for the old, evil Xena, when he called her a "murdering b*tch." Hercules only does things like these when someone really gets him angry.

Iolaus: Cupid strikes Iolaus and Nebula, and they both see each other. The love bug was definintely in play here. Out of love, Iolaus made the ultimate sacrifice, saving Nebula's life, but doesn't know the consequences which will occur in "Darkness Rising".

Nebula: Fun episode for the new Sumerian Queen-- at first. She tells off Imuru, the royal emissary, when he sees her arm-wrestling, and then she had to get serious. Nebula ticked off Imuru well when she broke tradition, and led men to rebuild a broken aqueduct. And after Iolaus dies, she's depressed, but takes it much better than Hercules.

Gilgamesh: Tony Todd does it again. He made a powerful appearance as Cecrops the Lost Mariner, and another one as King Gilgamesh. He's also a lot like Hercules-- prefering thinking to brute strength, as he keeps the real reason why he wants the nectar of the Sumerian gods a secret from Hercules.