episode 93 season 5 #3
"Succession"
Talk about a
"teaser". This is how the ep begins. Mavican, the warlord wannabe, thinks she's the right woman to replace Xena in Ares' plans for world domination. She doesn't get it, even after Ares blows chakram smoke rings after their roll in the satin sheets. She's pissed at his response. He's
more so as he tells her to be
gone by the time he gets home.
NOT a happy start to the ep.
Switch scenes to outdoors, as bandits go flying through the air, courtesy of one very ticked off Warrior Princess. We don't see the actual battle, we just see one bandit after the other go flying through the air to land in the river or in a field. What we HEAR, however, is a woman
not being taken seriously despite all she's done in the last
2 1/2 eps to prove her fighting mettle to a certain Warrior Princess.
Finally we see the young woman walking into a courtyard to fill her water bags at the fountain of Demeter. She's still grousing
to herself about being shut out of the last fight.
Gabrielle: "I'm not a kid anymore. You think that she would know that."
(Suddenly, Ares appears at her side)
Ares: "Considering all you've been through... "
Gabrielle: "Ares, whatever you're looking for, look somewhere else. Mm-m!"
Ares: "Do I
always have to be after something? You've been away awhile. Maybe I missed you. Maybe I'm trying to help."
Gabrielle: (She sure knows her war god!) "You only help yourself."
Ares: "Aw ultimately, that is true but it doesn't mean I don't understand. Here, let me take a shot at this. Uh Xena has been
overprotective of you. She's been treatin' you like you're still... "
Gabrielle: (Her frustration boils over) "They were
five bandits--
five of them. She could have handled four and I would have been happy with
just one. But, no-no,
she had to take them
all.
Ares: (Who's he talking about?) "It is hard to shed your perceptions of a person."
Gabrielle: "I'm tired of it."
(Obviously, or she wouldn't be confiding in ARES of all gods!)
Ares: (Watches Gabrielle pull her sai from the melon she "killed" earlier and twirl it) "Hey I notice you're gettin'
pretty good with those."
Gabrielle: (Accepts the compliment) "At least, someone noticed. So,
Xena doesn't appreciate that I've been practicing this...
(then Gabby realizes Ares has disappeared as quickly as he came. As she walks away, Mavican vaults into the picture with her spear in one hand, and her attitude turned up to the max. She's thrown two ninja stars through the water bags Gabrielle is carrying.) Who are you?"
Mavican: "The name is Mavican. I'm looking for
Xena."
Gabrielle: (You see Gabby's hackles rise, as her body goes on full alert) "What do you want with her?"
Mavican: "I wanna kill her, and I understand that killing you is the best way to meet her."
TEASER ends.
Okay, I want to stick around after the credits to see what happens!
Act 1 opens with a fight, and NOT the one you'd expect. Mavican has thrown her spear at Gabrielle, but out of NO-WHERE Xena appears, running between Gabby and Mavican in time to CATCH said spear.
Gabrielle: (Very ticked off) "Xena, I
had her."
Xena: "Yeah, yeah." (disbelieving???)
Mavican: "That was incredible. I'd have to say, Xena, you are one person where the
hype isn't enough."
Xena: "You wanted so talk to me so, talk."
Mav: "Talk? No, no, no, I wanted to kill you, still do, actually. Yah-h-h-hah-h-h-h! Yah-h-h-hah-h-h!"
Xena: "Who
are you?"
Mavican: "I'm your successor. I'm taking your place. Ares doesn't believe it, yet, but we're going to convince him. Hah-h-h-h-h-h!"
Act 1 reminds us that Xena has a new chakram, and man is it kewl! It splits itself in half and attacks from 2 different directions. Mavican, for her part, is no slouch and easily flips and vaults her way to safety. She and Xena have such a great fight that one can be forgiven if you don't stop and say... "Doesn't Xena look really pregnant in this ep?" I mean really, we've gone from slight baby bump last week which could be hidden by a longer dress/blouse, to someone who looks to be 5 months pregnant.
(Even more important, neither Xena or Gabrielle, much less Ares and Mavican seem to notice!)
Ares arrives before the two women can destroy Demeter's temple completely and tries to
calm the waters.
Ares: "Oh she's not my idea. She's just some hothead I picked up for a little, uh diversion? Now
she thinks she's
my right hand girl."
Mavican: "You know, Ares, your problem is that
you don't see potential. See, you're still hung up on what
you had and lost, Xena. Well, I'm here to let you know,
there's better.
(She throws her dagger at Xena, but before Xena can react GABRIELLE flings her sai and deflects the dagger away from the Warrior Princess much to Xena AND Mavican's surprise and Ares' delight.) Huh!"
Ares does need a successor to Xena, and he arranges a little competition in another reality. If Mavican kills Xena, she wins and Ares will bring her home. BUT, if Xena kills Mavican, she LOSES and stays where she is for all time.
Gabrielle: "That's not fair!"
Ares: "Oh?! You're going too, Gabrielle! Of course, if anyone wants my help, all she's gotta do is
call!"
Mavican jumps into the vortex, certain she'll win the day. Xena and Gabrielle resist its pull a little longer...
Xena: "Ares, we're not playing your little game."
Ares: "I didn't ask if you wanted a choice. Maybe she's got a point. Is there someone better than you? Don't you think
I've waited long enough to find out?" The speed of the vortex increases, pulling Gabrielle into it first. That's when Xena lets go, following her friend.
The story that follows is reminiscent of Ladyhawk, and even TNG's Masks (?). Our two friends are separated. Gabrielle ends up in a dark prison, and Xena ends up in a meadow, fighting Mavican. When the sun sets, we see Gabby awaken next to a tree stump, and we see Xena in the prison, but with one alteration. Xena can see everything Gabrielle is doing, which includes finding Mavican's camp and subduing her "temporarily" until Mavican knocks her out.
Gabby awakens near dawn, and finds herself in a large cage (think Xena in "The Debt I" just much bigger) and is forced to listen to Mavican prattle on about Xena...
Mavican: "Did you have a nice nap? You know? It's strange. I really thought Xena would have done something during the night under the cover of darkness. At least, that's what I would have done. So,
what's it like? I mean
being with Xena? It's like
a brush with
eternity, isn't it?"
Gabrielle: "What are you talking about?"
Mavican: "Oh, Gabrielle, please you're a part of making the legend true. Those scrolls you write. Yeah, I got ahold of one a while back. You know? You really should write more. I'm gonna need someone to write me into history after I kill her."
Gabrielle: "I hate to tell you this, but
history is fickle."
Mav: "History
will remember me, Gabrielle!"
Gabrielle: "Why? Because you think you might kill someone?"
Mavican: "You don't get it. Ares doesn't get it. People will talk about me for ages, the woman who stood toe-to-toe with Xena and win
or lose?
I'll be remembered."
Gabrielle: "You need help."
As sun rises,
she and we realize why Xena didn't attack at night. Gabrielle, in the cage, morphs into Xena at dawn and Mavican is ecstatic!
Xena: "Ares put me and Gabrielle into
one being."
Mavican: "You get the day shift, she gets the night watch.
[Snickers] Oh, come on, Xena, you've gotta admit, it's pretty funny. He got
her out of the way so you wouldn't get
distracted. Of course, I kill you, I kill her, and I was
just beginning to
like her. Oh, well... "
So, Xena is trapped in a cage, and Mavican just has to use one of her many sharpened spears to skewer her, so
naturally Xena escapes. (I
love this character!) While wandering through the forest, she discovers a porous rock which made me flash onto Kirk and the Gorn in Trek's Arena, but I....
you know. Ares appears and he has a little tete e tete with Xena.
Ares: [Chuckles] "I swear. Hey, Xena I want your honest opinion objectively. I mean, she's better than I thought."
Xena: "I don't get, Ares-- all this just to see your new girlfriend fight?"
Ares: "No-o-o-o-- watch my
old girlfriend fight. I've missed it."
Xena: "Where you been?"
(Yeah, dude, you were AWOL 21 out of 22 eps last year, that's not HER fault!)
Ares: "Oh, yeah.... I just wanna find out if anybody else has got it."
Xena: "And what about Gabrielle? Is she up in the dark little room you set up?"
Ares: "Ya like that, huh? Yeah, I thought it might fire ya up if you could watch the game. And, no Gabrielle is there, but
she can't see us."
Xena: "So, what's the point? Why have ya joined us both together so that we can both fight Mavican individually?"
Ares: "Why not? Besides,
she's gettin' pretty good at it. She's
smart too,
even though
someone doesn't want to admit it. She's already figured out part of the riddle."
Xena: "That
I can't kill Mavican
but Gabrielle can? Well, you'd like that, wouldn'tcha?
(Ares smiles and disappears, making Xena to rethink the problem at hand.) You'd like that, wouldn'tcha?"
Xena works all day setting a trap for Mavican at sundown. She even calls Mavican to her camp, using that porous rock to color her campfire smoke, making it easier to spot. As Mavican arrives, Xena entwines her in a thorn laced woodvine, and the sun sets as she morphs back into Gabrielle.
Remember, Mavican and Xena know whats happening, Gabby doesn't as she suddenly finds herself astride Mavican.
Gabrielle: "Where's Xena?"
Mavican: "You really don't know? Ares has put the two of you in the same body. You get the nights, she gets the day. Problem is you're
stuck with me for the night or at least long enough for me to kill you."
Mavican escaped from the vines only to be felled by another trap released when Gabby picked up the staff Xena left for her.
Xena watches as Gabrielle escapes, then suddenly her prison morphs into the war god's great hall.
Ares: "You have to like her style, the focus, the intensity, the ability to learn and adapt. She is just incredible. I can't believe I took her for granted for so long."
Xena: "You're just using Mavican to get to me, Ares. It won't work. Why don't you
give up on me?"
Ares: "Xena,
I have given up on you. And
what makes you think I was talkin' about Mavican?"
Xena: (realization FINALLY dawns on Xena) "This is about Gabrielle. You're not testing Mavican. You're after
Gabrielle."
Ares: (Callisto isn't the only one in a triangle with X&G!) "You're not
jealous? I mean, despite what Mavican thought, I have been thinking about your heir. And who better than one you trained?"
Xena: (Anger rising to fever pitch!) "You
leave her out of this."
Ares: "Arrogance! There's
the fire, there's
the anger you lost."
Xena: (Spits) "She'll
never follow you."
Ares: "Well, she hasn't heard my offer yet. And, anyway,
how well do you really know her, anymore? Well, I guess we'll find out,
when she kills Mavican."
Gabby flees and regroups inside a cave. Its there that she finds Xena left her more than the staff. She left a note written on the underside of the tree bark Xena used to cover the staff.
What follows is the most unusual X/G campfire scene of the series, with Xena watching silently from her prison, as Gabrielle reads the "letter" from her absent friend.
Xena's Voice: "`If you read this, you'll know that I'm here. Ares has merged us into the same body. But the same way that the world shares day and night, never sees the same two together. Mavican is tough, but
we can defeat her. A lot of it
depends on you, though. You've figured out part of Ares' riddle, but
you can't kill her, Gabrielle. It's something that
Ares wants to see and
I don't know why, yet.
Together, we can get out of this."
Just in time.
(Much of this next seduction scene is intercut with Xena, watching Ares and gabrielle from her prison cell)
Ares: "Hello, Gabrielle."
Gabrielle: (Looks up from the spring where she's bathing her shoulder wound) "What do you want?"
Ares: "I've been watching you. I think you've got potential."
Gabrielle: "Potential for what? N-n-never mind. I really don't want to know."
Ares: "You've also got a slanted opinion of me. OK only somewhat slanted, but I'm serious. You're not quite there yet,but maybe I've been dismissing you too easily over the years. Maybe
the heir to Xena's throne has been right in front of me all along."
Gabrielle: "Are you out of your mind?"
Ares: "How's your wound? OK? Here's the deal. I've learned a few things from Xena, a-a-and, perhaps my way of peace through power isn't quite what I thought it was."
Gabrielle: "You are so full of-- "
Ares [Interrupts]: "No-- now, that is Xena's problem these days. She's so set in her ways. She won't even make an effort to see change. Now, you should know that more than anyone.
It's OK. You don't have to answer.
It's obvious. It's
painfully obvious. So, please,
don't do to me what Xena does to you. Just, just
hear me out, honestly. OK"
Gabrielle: "OK?"
So Ares lays out his plan for Gabby to be the compassionate warlord that Xena could never be. He promises Xena will be safe back home in Amphipois with her Mother. All Gabrielle has to do is one little thing...
Ares: "....Mavican is really intent on killing Xena. Of course
her destiny is in your hands. With this
(He produces one of Gabrielle's sai) you can
kill Mavican. Now, you do that and I'll know you're ready."
(He disappears, leaving Gabby and the sai behind)
Mavican: (Enters the cave) "Nice place, room for one more?"
(From her prison cell, an anguished Princess cries out.)
Xena's Voice: "
No, Gabrielle!" [Then whispers, prays...] "Don't do it.
Don't do it."
Gabrielle faces down Mavican, and refuses to kill her. She tries to reason with the wannabe warlord, but to no avail.
Gabrielle: "Ares wants me to kill you. If I do that, then he wins and we all lose!
I'm not gonna do it.
[Gabrielle throws away the sai, and turns back to the spring where she was bathing her wound as Ares entered. The sun is coming up, and the girl from Potadiea looks into the water and sees Xena looking back.] Xena."
She's backkkkk!!!!!!
Xena knows Mavican's weakness. She WANTS to be remembered. So Xena causes a landslide, buryin gthem both in the cave. She then knocks Mavican into an abbys and both grab the wood vines to keep from falling. Xena taunts her with the idea the upstart will be left forgotten and "tricks" Mavican into calling the god of war for help.
Ares: "Mavican-- are you
asking for my help?"
Mavican: "Yes, I'm asking for your help, god of war."
Xena: (Smiles knowingly at the god of war) "She's asking for your help."
(Ares opens the vortex and sends Xena back before closing it once again)
Mavican: "What are you doing, Ares?! You said I could ask!"
Ares: (Very disappointed) "Yeah-- I said
ya could.
I never said ya should."
And finally we have our two friends back where they started, in the courtyard of Demeter's temple, with a disguntled god of war.
Xena: "Years ago, Ares said to me that anyone who asked for his help doesn't deserve it. So, when Mavican asked... "
Gabrielle: "... she lost."
Ares: "I really gotta be more careful with my riddles.
(To Gabrielle) The offer's still open. Think about it."
(Winks away)
Xena: "You know, I'm surprised that you didn't consider it. What he said..."
(about Xena and Gabrielle)
Gabrielle: "Xena, what he said doesn't matter. I know you.
Sometimes I wonder if you really know me, but
I know what's in your heart."
Xena: "Then you know more than I do. Gabrielle,
I do see you. Sometimes, I have trouble facing it, but I promise, I will."
Gabrielle:[Sighs] "You don't know how much that means. Maybe, Ares did some good after all, huh?"
(Ares, the TRUE god of love???)
Xena: "Tell you what-- "
(As she walks them away, Xena drapes her arm over Gabrielle's shoulders, including the wounded left one)
Gabrielle: "Ow." (And Gabby picks Xena's arm up off her shoulder as they walk away)
Xena: "... the
next bad guy we come across is all yours. The
next seven little bad guys we come across, they're
all yours."
Gabrielle: "`Little?'
Is that a crack about my
height?"
Xena: "No, they're just
harder for me to reach."
[Chuckles]
ahem...
(Its on my list of things to buy!)
