Episode 109 season 5 # 19
"Looking Death in the Eye"
Promo:
Teaser opens with an auction in a tavern. Next item up for bid? The last known scroll from the Bard Of Potadiea. Then the big reveal, the man sitting at the bar with his back to us is Joxer, the older less mighty version. He examines the scroll, recognizes the handwriting, and spends his wife's nest egg, all 65 dinars to possess it.
Needless to say, MEG isn't pleased and he runs out to the barn to read the scroll in peace. There he's followed by his young son and daughter (Congrats Meg & Joxer! You see, Meg, Xena was right!) and they curl up against him to hear him read the final story of a "
beautiful Warrior Princess".
OldJoxer: `Her, uh... her celebrations... at Thebes... in Egypt... were cut short... because Xena... the mighty... warrior princess... fought... both night and day, for the life of her newborn child... as she continued to sing the rage... of her Olympian foes. Their ceaseless battles finally drove her to the
FATES... in search... of answers.'"
Xena walks alone into the Temple of the FATES, with Eve on her hip.
Clotho: "You wish us to speak for your child. Your child, Xena... "
Atropos: "... will bring forth the twilight... and usher in a new beginning."
Xena: "Yes, I heard. I was hoping you could humor me with a date."
Clotho: "The twilight will occur in time."
Xena: "That's not very specific."
Lachesis: "The time depends on you, Xena."
Xena: "What do you mean? It's me that determines when the twilight begins? How?"
(Gabrielle arrives, by the way we can tell from her face she's been in a recent battle)
Atropos: "You must
die, Xena."
Clotho: "Only in the
essence of death, will the child find salvation and the twilight be set in motion. Until then, a storm without end lies upon your path, and hers."
Gabrielle: "You're saying that, the sooner Xena dies, the faster Eve brings about the fall of the gods?
[Whispers] No [Normal Voice] Xena, let's go.
(Xena doesn't move) Hey what are you doing? You're
not listening to them? Xena, you have said we always determine our own fate. It's not written for us.
You've always believed that."
Xena: (Keeping her eyes on the FATES) "I still believe that, Gabrielle. So do they. It's the
only way. I have to die, Gabrielle."
Now
THAT was a
TEASER! 
As Joxer reads on, Xena and Gabrielle have yet another encounter with the gods... and although they come out on top yet again, Athena succeeds in cutting Xena up a fair bit and sows a little doubt in Gabrielle's minds re: Xena's trust in the Battling Bard's abilities.
OldJoxer's Voice: "`After narrowly escaping with our lives, we took shelter for the night in the company of Octavius... the new leader of the Roman army... and a new ally... unknown to the gods."
Octavius: (They are in his tent, and he's squatting down to tease baby Eve) "Can I get you two anything else?"
Xena: (Shaking a medicine bottle in her hand) "No, Octavius... thank you."
Octavius: "You never have to thank me, Xena. I owe my life to you and Gabrielle."
(He leaves the three of them alone)
Xena: (Motions to the wounded Bard) "All right. Come here."
(Begins to dab the medicine on Gabrielle's facial laceration)
Gabrielle: (The Warrior Bard jumps) "Ow! Ow. What
is that?"
Xena: (Smiles in her usual torture way) "It's poison."
(Gabby grabs Xena's hand to stop her) "Only if you drink it. A little dab'll stop the spread of infection."
Gabrielle: "Where did you get that?"
Xena: (Applies it to her own wounds, recieved at the end of Athena's blade) "Mom's medicine cabinet. Hs-s-s-s-s-s-s! Ah-h-h-h-h-h-h."
Gabrielle: "Xena, what Athena said about, um... your not trusting me with Eve... "
Xena: "Hey, it's not a matter of trust where Athena's concerned. Giving Eve to you would have bought her a few more seconds, but we both know they would have killed her if they could have regardless of whose arms she was in. We got lucky. She's just a baby."
The gods get together to talk strategy but come up with nothing beyond the obvious. Xena and Eve must die. Xena, on the other hand, comes up with a bonafide plan that initially looks completely nonsensical. She goes to fight Hephastus in his forge, and she nearly loses! He's really hurt her and she's down waiting for the killing blow when who should appear but Celesta, (Death herself) ready to escort her to the underworld.
I love it when its GABRIELLE that comes to the rescue! As she distracts Hephastus, Xena uses his chains to bind Celesta before helping Gabrielle toss that other pesky god into the lava pit.
Gabrielle: "That was close."
Celesta: "Xena... what are you doing?"
Xena: "Check her hands."
Gabrielle: "It worked. She can't touch us."
Xena: "Good."
Celesta: "Your confrontation with Hephaestus... that's exactly what you wanted... how you lured me to you."
Xena: "Believe me, lady, if there was a better way for us to hook up, I'd have done it."
Celesta: "Xena, how could you?"
Xena: "Gabrielle, get her outta here."
I love the way Xena looks to be in so much pain as she bends to pick up Celesta's candle and follows Gabrielle out of the forge. For once it looks like she really DID just fight with a god instead of a human sparring partner.
Five years ago Xena and Gabrielle freed Celesta from King Sissyphus's clutches when he tried to "kill death" to grant himself and the rest of human kind immortatlity. But it would be immortality without health, and so mankind would ultimately suffer more. Celesta is shocked that these two women would have changed their minds on such a fundamental topic, and begs them to release her.
Xena: "Lady, since we last met, I've decided you cause a lot more suffering than you end."
Celesta: "Death is nothing to fear, Xena... for I only visit those whose rightful time is... "
Xena: "Rightful time?! Who decides when it's the rightful time? You are at the beck and call of every warlord and murderer. Solon, my only son, his rightful time came when someone else decided it should and you came running, no questions asked. You didn't end the suffering of my little boy, Celesta. You stole his life, and Marcus and Lyceus."
Celesta: "Your brother."
Gabrielle: "Xena... "
Xena: [Interrupts Gabrielle with a wave of her impatient hand] "Lyceus, Lyceus, he wasn't just a brother, he
was my best friend. You know, growing up, he was everything to me. He accepted me for who and what I was. And if you hadn't taken him, he would have grown up to be something... "
Gabrielle [Interrupts] "Xena, don't do this."
Xena: [Whispers as the tears run down her face] "What?"
Gabrielle: "She's immortal. She'll never understand the pain of losing someone."
Xena: "Yes, she will. Yes, she will... 'cause you have a brother, too."
Celesta: "Yes Hades, he's my only family, the first to accept me for who and what I am. I may not agree with his recent actions, Xena, but... I believe he thinks he's doing what is right. He's always been true to his convictions, and... sometimes that makes him a little stubborn... but I believe it is his noblest quality. To lose him is... unthinkable."
Xena: "And what
if he lost you? What would he say about that?"
Celesta: "I may never know." (And she starts to cry. Xena reaches up and wipes away a tear from each cheek)
Xena: "Death
can end suffering, Celesta. Suffering
just begins for those
left behind. I won't allow it any longer.
(She walks over to Gabrielle, who's still cradling Eve) I can't lose what's left of my family and I won't lose another child."
For reasons not immediately clear, we next see Gabrielle in a tavern, looking for Joxer. She's trying to get him to leave with her, but he's distracted by the silver clad archer babes from Athena's private guard. They are here to arrest him and use him as leverage with Xena. They are smart enough, believe it or not, to realize GABRIELLE is an even better hostage.
Xena: (She's securing the wagon with Celesta and Eve in it.) "Athena we were just going on a joy ride to celebrate being immortal. Oh, Celesta, well, it's too late for her, I'm afraid."
Athena: "I hope that's not true, Xena, for Gabrielle's sake."
Xena: "What have you done with her?"
Gabrielle: (The archers bring her forward) "Xena I'm sorry, I had no choice."
Athena: "It's very simple, Xena-- Gabrielle-- for Celesta."
Gabrielle: "Let the candle burn, Xena."
Athena: "Do that, Xena and your little girl will still be hunted for eternity. She may never know death, but I promise you she will never know peace."
Xena: "All
right." (Goes to release Celesta)
Gabrielle: "No, Xena."
Xena: "Gabrielle, come on. It's all right."
Gabrielle: [Whispers] "All right."
Athena: "I'll be needing you, Celesta."
Celesta: "My presence is required elsewhere, Athena."
(She splits as Ares appears, sitting on Xena's wagon seat, taking the reins of the horses in hand)
Ares: "Come on... give us a head start. I don't think that's too much to ask, do you, Sis?"
Athena: "I think it is."
(Xena vaults into the wagon seat and takes the reins from Ares to urge the horses forward. Gabrielle is sitting in the back of the wagon, one hand on the baby's basket, the other hand on the last scroll she was writing on. Athena speaks to her archers and fellow gods) You know what to do. Let them clear the forest, first, then drive them to us."
Ares offers yet again to save Xena, the price is the same.. a child of his own. He gets the same answer and disappears. As they flee across the field towards a waiting Hades, Gabrielle loses the scroll over the edge of the bouncing wagon... and
Old Joxer's story seems to end.
Girl: "What happened, Daddy?"
Old Joxer: "Uh-h-h-h-h-- well, it's the end of the scroll, Pumpkin, but it's not the end of the story."
Boy: "How do you know?"
Joxer: (Looking on from the edge of the forest at the wagon careening towards the edge of a cliff) "'Cause I was there."
The wagon is stopped at the edge of the precipice, and the gods are sending their firebolts at it. Gabrielle is still in the back, and seems to have fainted. Xena is bending backwards from the seat, calling/reaching for her, which the
first time around I thought was
VERY strange. The next bolt hits the wagon squarely and topples it over the cliff. The gods AND Joxer come running to look over the edge, and they see the burning wagon, and two bodies on the beach. One is stirring. First she looks to her right, where Gabrielle lies unmoving, then to her left where the wagon burns.
Xena: "Gabrielle? "
(Gets up and runs towards the hopelessly burning wagon) Eve? Eve?! Eve? [Whispers] Eve. [Normal Voice] Eve? Oh-- oh. Oh!"
Then back to the unmoving body of Gabrielle. She stands up from Gabrielle's body and looks up the cliff to the three gods responsible and shouts defiantly as she draws her sword and tries to kill herself.
Ares: (He appears and grabs the sword away) "No, Xena...
don't."
But she won't be denied. She takes the medicine bottle, the one from her mother's cupboard, and swallows it's contents whole before
dying in his arms.
WHOA!
By the time Joxer can get down to them on the beach, they are gone. Ares has taking both bodies and disappeared. Octavius and his guard ride up to find Joxer alone.
Octavius: "The tears, Joxer... did you see her drink the tears?"
Joxer: "She drank poison, Octavius."
Octavius [and Old Joxer's Voice]: "But it
wasn't poison."
Old Joxer's Voice: "You see, Xena
never intended to kill death at all. It was Celesta's tears she really needed the essence of death, the only thing, Xena realized, that could simulate the appearance of their deaths to the gods... but only after convincing the gods that Eve had also been killed."
Loved the way Joxer explained the con, how Octavius spirited the babe
from the wagon in the night, after Xena harvested Celesta's tears, how Gabrielle let herself be captured to give a credible reason for Xena releasing Celesta, and how Gabrielle drank the tears first in the wagon, before it went over the edge.
NOW we understand why Xena was calling for/reaching for Gabrielle before the wagon toppled. She was protecting her in the fall so IT wouldn't break Gabrielle's neck.
It was an inspired plan, typical of Xena... but there was one little glitch.
ARES... GOD of
WAR... is a
hopeless ROMANTIC.
Hold me now:
Final scene... we see him pick up Xena and disappear. He carries her into an ice cave, where there are two ice coffins. Gabrielle is already in one. He lays Xena in the second, and before closing the lid, he says...
Ares: "You're with her now. I handled you all wrong. I know that.
She knew what you needed, unconditional and unselfish love and I
couldn't give that to you. But I appreciated you in ways she never could, your rage, your violence, your beauty. When you sacrificed yourself for others, you
were hers but when you kicked ass,
you were mine. I love you, Xena."
ETA:
We Belong:
When I do these recap/reviews, I often check out Whoosh.org for things I've missed. Well, tonight whoosh has proved to me that I'm not "looking" at my actresses close enough since I missed Gabrielle's areola in Eli's death scene earlier this season AND I missed the fact the Xena/Cleopatra was "cold" in this ep 
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Got to go, will continue in the morning. 
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, but right music! 
