Although mentioned several times, Hercules does not appear at all, due to Kevin Sorbo's health issues. The episode was originally written for the Hercules character but was rewritten for his sidekick Iolaus. Michael Hurst said you can tell because some of the dialogue sounds "Herculean" rather than "Iolausian."
In his book "True Strength: My Journey from Hercules to Mere Mortal and How Nearly Dying Saved My Life" Kevin Sorbo (Hercules) describes his three strokes which resulted in a number of episodes with Michael Hurst (Iolaus) starring alone without Sorbo.
This is the fourth Iolaus-centric episode with little or no appearance by Hercules.
The substitution of Iolaus for Hercules allows Iolaus and Salmoneus to appear together for the final time in the series. However, it is not the final in-series interaction between their actors Michael Hurst and Robert Trebor.