1.17 - Winner Take All

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Title Winner Take All Episode # Season 1, Episode 17 First aired October 24, 1998 Directed by Andrew Merrifield Written by Michael Edens Summary Our heroes compete in the Corinthian Games. Pollux and Jason fight.

FoxKids Spoilers

• Forsaking his friends, Hercules teams with his newfound half-brothers Pollux and Castor to compete against Jason, Iolaus, and Lilith in the last gymkhana relay race that Jason will ever run. The race is very important to Jason, so when Pollux cheats to win, Jason hastily agrees to settle the dispute in the deadly Pancration competition. With broken ribs and a half-god opponent, odds are against Jason's victory.
• Hercules dumps his friends to team up with his mortal brothers, Pollux and Castor (Jeremy Callaghan, Grae Burton), in a competition that turns dangerous when Pollux cheats and Jason ends up injured.

TV Guide Promo

• Hercules alienates his friends when he abandons them during a competition called The Games to team up with his two new brothers, Pollux and Castor, who are the mortal sons of Zeus. Things get worse for Hercules when Pollux cheats and injures Jason in the process causing the two to fight out their differences.

Synopsis

Title card - End credits can be found here.

Jason, Hercules, Iolaus, and Lilith go to Corinth for the games. They are competing. Jason comments to Hercules that this is the last year he will be partaking in the games because next year he will be king.

Hercules tries to stop a bully fellow competitor, Pollux, from picking on someone and discovers that Pollux and his brother Castor are also his half-brothers since they share the same father, Zeus. Hercules tries to bond with his new brothers and in the process alienates his friends.

Castor and Pollux ask Hercules to join them in the upcoming race. Hercules says he is running with Jason and Iolaus. Pollux gives Hercules a line about how if the sons of Zeus join together they will be unstoppable. Hercules buys in and ditches his friends.

But, when Pollux cheats by injuring Jason during the race, Hercules must decide whose side he is on. Hercules sides with Jason and decides to teach Pollux a lesson.

In the end our guys are friends again and Castor and Pollux leave.

Characters (in order of appearance)

• Iolaus
• Hercules
• Jason
• Lilith
• Official Headband Guy
• Vendor Sean
• Pollux
• Castor

Characters (mention only)

• Zeus
• Niopus

Places

• Corinth
• Corinth Inn 02
• Sparta - (mention only)
• Amphipolis - (mention only)

Items

• Corinthian Games Headband
  • More items from this episode...

Plot Arcs

• AKAs
• Herc's Obsession With Zeus
• Holidays, Celebrations, and Events
• Property Damage
• Remember that time when...

Other Pages

• Corinthian Games

Television Tropes

• Plot Tropes:
  • Duels Decide Everything

Quotes

Jason: Is this where we sign up for the competition?
Official: No. I just sit here in the hot sun, handing out headbands for my health.

Jason: What's the matter with you, man? I don't wanna share a meal with those guys.

Hercules: Hey, this is very important to me, okay?

Iolaus: Okay, but, we better start meeting some of your sisters.

Hercules: Listen. Jason, wait... listen. This has nothing to do with being afraid, okay? You're hurt. He's the son of a god.
Jason: That's enough! I'm sick of all this 'Sons of Zeus' stuff! It's garbage! My father may not be a god, but that doesn't make Pollux, or Castor, or you any better than me! Now, I'm gonna face this guy! If you don't like it... you stay here!

Pollux: Watch your mouth, kid. I'll show you what it means to be a son of Zeus.
Hercules: One of these days, you'll learn, Pollux. It's not who your father is. It's who you are.

Jason: Well, I guess that we were just afraid that new brothers would take the place of old friends.

Hercules: Aw. Hey, you guys are my brothers.
Lilith: Hey, what about me?

Hercules: Well, you're a brother, too, you know? Just, uh, well... kind of.

Trivia & References

New Guy - This episode is the first time Castor and Pollux appear.

Pop Culture References and Greekisms - Iolaus's line "Eye of the tiger, baby, eye of the tiger." is an allusion to the Survivor song Eye of the Tiger which was the theme song for the boxing movie Rocky III.

Pop Culture References and Greekisms - Iolaus's line "Okay Jason, I want you to float like a butterfly, sting like a wasp." is a paraphrase of the famous Muhammad Ali quote, "I float like a butterfly, and I sting like a bee!"

Continuity Warning - Pollux calls himself the Olympic champion. But it wasn't until HtLJ - "2.16 - Let the Games Begin" that Salmoneus, Hercules, and Atalanta put together the first Olympic Games.

Guides, Scripts, Transcripts, & Reviews

• Winner Take All Transcript (Dialogue Only)
• Whoosh.org's transcript.
• Whoosh.org's Episode Guide
• IMDB's Episode Guide
• TV.com's Episode Guide
• ShareTV's Episode Guide
• Watch the full episode online at Hulu.com.
• Ty's Reviews: 1.17- Winner Take All

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