Ikus was being sacrificed to his father's God, as a sanction for his father favoring Ikus over him. It was later revealed that his older brother Mael had drugged their father and tricked him into thinking it was his God that asked him to sacrifice his son, when it was in fact Mael who was jealous of Anteus favoring Ikus over him. Xena and Gabrielle foiled the plot to have Ikus sacrificed.