Any Xena:WP fans on the boards?

JanewayRulz! · Mar 30, 2011

saturn5 said:
Motherhood;
Byebye Discord too which is a shame as I liked her and her decapitation is so damn graphic (but again, these are the people who gave us the Evil Dead)

Possibly my favourite scene in the whole of the Xenaverse is a desperate, crying Xena dragging a dying Gabby and Eve through the rain and pleading and begging with Aphrodite to take them to Olympus. And when she does she thanks her heartfeltly and earnestly warns her to get clear so she won't be hurt (subtext; Xena still believes in love).

she's gone to get over her grief by visiting family in Athens, we know Meg's an orphan so I take it this means Jace. once.

10/10 just stunning
(boy, once i started writing about this ep I just couldn't stop!)

One question, with Hades gone where do gods go when they die?

These are also the guys that beheaded a "god" in season 4 of Xena AND beheaded "someone else who shall remain nameless!" in season 6 of Xena. :eek:

I LOVE that scene where she's got Eve on one hip and dragging Gabby with the other arm. I even loved listening to the two actresses joke about it during the commentary. Nice visual.

Liked your comment that Xena still believes in love... but I also liked the idea that Xena WASN'T trying to kill olympian gods just because Michael told her to. She was killing to protect herself.

(Although I also loved the episode commentary re: all the crap TPTB caught for Xena trying to kill Gabby for kniving Eve, but only cutting Ares for threatening Eve. :rofl:

)

I never thought of "who" Meg was visiting in Athens. Jace is a good guess.

I too wondered what happened to Tarturas and the Elysian fields after Hades dies. And more importantly, what happened to Marcus and Solon after he died. We know what happened to Cyrene before Hades dies.. but after?

What did the con do the first time Xena whacked poor Gabrielel? Was there a riot?

JanewayRulz! · Mar 30, 2011

Episode 116 season 6 #4 "Who's Gurkhan?"

Previously on X:WP....
(In Potadiea)
Gabrielle: "I want VENGENCE!" (And the heavens open as the rain just POURS DOWN on the two women)
Xena: "It will have blood, Gabrielle. Blood will have blood."
Gabrielle: "Don't talk to me about consequences, Xena! That man murdered my mother and father! Now I kill him!"

(In Mogador, within Gurkhan's palace)
Yo: (An established "wife", to Xena) "Please-- Gurkhan will punish us if we break the rules."
Newbie: "Will he spank us?"
Yo: "You'll be beaten, manacled, thrown in a dark dungeon and left to die."

(In Gurkhan's palace, Xena has just tackled Gabrielle before she can draw her dagger and assassinate her parent's killer)
Gabrielle: [whispers over her shoulder to the woman holding her face down] "Xena!"
Xena: [Whispers to the wannabe assassin] "I have this under control-- trust me." [Then Xena KNOCKS Gabrielle out as she straddles her while the guards run up.]
Gabrielle: "Uh!"

ACT III:

I REALLY liked the dvd interviews with Rob Tapert and Director Michael ("cup of blood") Hurst, and the Editor (name???) discussing the start of act III.

Michael "forgot" the power of the medium and just went to town on Xena's torture sequence thinking "oh gee, this will be cool... that will be cool" until the end of the day when he sat down to watch the dailies and saw how "hideously violent" it all was, and even HE admitted... "we can't DO that!"

Tapert and the Editor both spoke on this point, and described how the use of overlapping images/moons etc made it less brutal by making things less clear/obvious and yet in the end made it even MORE sinister.

I agree. :weep:

The moons rising, then the suns rising followed by another moon made the torture seem to stretch on for DAYS... and interweaving shots of Gabrielle just sitting in the harem room, alone, looking at the floor... thinking, thinking thinking of everything her friend was going through BECAUSE of her, FOR her... you can almost hear her rerun that scene from Potadiea in her head... "Don't talk to me about consequences, Xena!"

It was brutal. She was manacled, she was beaten, she was hung from on high, and she refused to die. Michael Hurst talked about the hallucinations Xena was having, of Gabrielle coming to her in the cell, as "the light of Gabrielle" reaching for her to sustain her. If you thought Xena looked bad during the first hallucination... it was nothing compared to the second when Gurkhan himself came to Xena' cell to discover why she had not died, to interogate her himself re: her intentions.

And this is what amazed me the most about this 3rd act. Despite all she's been through, she HAS a plan (Very cylonesque, if you ask me. )... and she sticks to it. She's bleeding, her eye is swollen shut, she's COVERED in bruises, she's hanging upside down, and she sees a hallucination of Gabrielle slowly sashay into the cell and still its XENA who's playing HIM!

Gurkhan: "Tell me, Sophia-- why did you have a knife?"
Xena as"Sophia": "To make sure none of the other wives got a jump on me."
Gurkhan: "Are you here simply because you were taken as a slave?" (As he walks around her, we see a hallucination of Gabrielle enter the cell behind him, slowly dancing in place)
Xena as"Sophia": "I want to be here."
Gurkhan: "Really? And why is that?"
Hallucination/Gabrielle: (Prompts the Warrior Princess) "Sarah."
Xena as"Sophia": "I want to give myself to the great Gurkhan."
Gurkhan: "Are you sure? No other agenda?"
Xena as"Sophia": "Yes, one."
Gurkhan: "I'm listening."
Xena as"Sophia": "I want to be number-one wife."
Gurkhan: [Chuckles] "Let's just start by calling you Fatima."

Gurkhan walks away, leaving her hanging upside down, and the hallucination turns and walks away through the cell wall as Xena does something I've never seen before in a TV or movie.

She cries... itself not an unusual feat.

But as she's hanging upside down, the tear from her left uninjured eye, rolls "up" her face. :wah:

The next thing we see... is Gabrielle in the harem common room surrounded by the other newbie wives, when suddenly she looks up to see Xena stagger unaided into the entrance, stopping to lean against a pillar as two guards stand behind her.

Xena can see only with her left eye, but she knows not only are the guards watching, but so is Gabrielle and we see her straighten up and slowly shuffle herself forward. The facade of strength is JUST a facade and as soon as the guards turn to leave we see our Princess collapse onto the satin pillows at her feet while Gabrielle literally flies to her side to lift her into her arms.

I can only think of one thing when I see them at that moment and I'm not suggesting Xena is Messianic, just that the "scene" is remniscent of "The Pity": http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Michelangelo's_Pieta_5450_cropncleaned_edit.jpg

Gabrielle doesn't say a word in this scene... but our courageous Princess, too weak to even stand, can still smile and crack a joke.

Newbie Wife: (To Gabrielle, holding Xena) "How is she?"
Xena as "Sophia": (Smiles up at the woman who isn't a hallucination) "Peachy."

I know Xena heals quickly, but what amazed me about the next scene was HOW BRUISED she still was, even though enough time has now passed that the swelling has gone down around the eye. The two women are having a tete e tete at the side of the indoor bath, sitting on a bench. Xena's left arm is being attended by another slave who's dealing with her wounds. Since she's only half dressed, we can see her entire back is still covered in bruises, as is the right side of her face. She winces as she draws her arm away from the slave and sits her hand between she and Gabrielle. Xena is speaking directly to Gabrielle, while Gabrielle can just look down at the bruised arm, which she gently touches. Those consequences she refused to consider, continue to haunt her everytime she sees her friend.

Xena: "Thinking about Sarah?"
Gabrielle: "Yes, and Mother and Father. Didn't get a chance to say goodbye to them, Xena. I don't think that Sarah's here. I-I've asked-- "
Xena: "She's here." (To the slave as she pulls her arm away) " Now leave it."
Gabrielle: "Do you think she's in another cell?"
Xena: "Don't know, but I've got an idea how to flush her out. Gabrielle, you can do it. You can kill Gurkhan."
Gabrielle: [Whispers] "Thank you."
Xena: (Xena gets up to leave, and stops behind Gabrielle to whisper) "Don't thank me. Just be ready."

Gurkhan comes to the common room to choose the nights entertainment. He picks "Fatima" formerly known as Sophia AKA Xena to dance. Loved the look that passes between Gabrielle and Xena, as Gabrielle applies the intricate eyemakeup.

As for the dance that "Fatima" does for Gurkhan... well... what can I say. It certainly catches one's attention! I loved the geography of the scene... where the director places Gabrielle where she really can't see the dance without turning completely around, but she can see the effect its having on one of the other newbie wives sitting with her. The dance ends with Xena's face in a subservient posture, and she's got an evil smile.

"Fatima": "I have a request."
Gurkhan: "Yes?"
"Fatima": "Sarah's head on a plate." (Gabrielle's head snaps around to look at Xena!)
Gurkhan: "Where did you hear that name? [Xena snickers] Very well. I'll give you Sarah's head."
The First Wife: "Gurkhan! How can you do this?!"

ACT III ENDS

saturn5 · Mar 31, 2011

So here we go, season 6, times almost caught us my friends, 22 more eps to go and that's it

Coming Home;

Interesting ep, we see Eve save an Amazon just as Gabby did all those years ago. We think Ares is up to his old tricks but he's really in the thrall of the Furies. Hard to watch the way the Amazons treat Eve but you can't blame them when you've witnessed what Livia got up to. And yes the most amazing chakram throw ever, even better than 'Been there, done that'.

JanewayRulz! · Mar 31, 2011

Episode 116 season 6 #4 "Who's Gurkhan?"

Who's Gurkhan: Warrior Princess:
Xena & Gabrielle Dance in front of Gurkhan:
Conclusion:

As a reward for dancing and for chutzpah, Fatima AKA Sophis AKA Xena gets her first 1 on 1 session with Gurkhan without having to hang upside down from a meat hook.
"Fatime" plans to make the most of their first night...

"Fatima": "I have an idea."
Gurkhan: "What?"
"Fatima": [Wanders around him then whispers in his ear as he starts to smile]

"Enter Gabrielle from stage left of Gurkhan's bedroom to discover Xena straddling the warlord as he stretches a hand out to the young blonde."

Gurkhan: "Join us, little one." [He chuckles as he lays back to enjoy his evening.]
Xena as Sophia as Fatima: (She gets a definate feral smile as she raises her hand and hits him with a new set of pressure points) "Take that, ya dirty bastard. (Gurkhan IS awake, but he can't move and he can't talk. Xena hops off him and the bed, and picks up a dagger from a nearby table. She walks behind Gabrielle and offers the dagger over her shoulder with this advice.) If you're going to do it, do
it now."

(Gabrielle takes the dagger and crawls up on the bed until she brings it up to his neck. For his part, Gurkhan looks concerned. Then she starts talking, and he looks downright nervous.)

Gabrielle: "Are you afraid? Afraid like my mother? My father? Like my sister's husband? Right before you cut off their heads. (And Xena's wish comes true, as Gabrielle learns to put wrath behind her) "If I kill you, you win. I become like you. I hate you."

Gabrielle turns to leave... but she can't "just" leave. As Malcolm Reynolds would say a few years later in "Firefly"...

"Mercy is the mark of a great man (Hits his opponent with his sword)... Guess I'm just a good man (Hits his opponent AGAIN with his sword)... "Well, I'm 'alright' "

Translation... our bard Gabrielle is "alright"

But wait, there's someone else Gabrielle needs to find.

The once haughty #1 wife is slumped against the wall of her cell as the door opens to reveal two of Gurkhan's newest wives. "Sarah" assumes the worst.

Gabrielle: "Sarah."
Sarah: "What do you want? Is this the ultimate humiliation? Gurkhan's gonna let you two sever my head yourselves."
Gabrielle: (She steps into the cell, slowly) "Sarah, I'm Gabrielle. This is Xena."
Sarah: (Looks up to see a woman her age if not younger, and she scoffs) "Gabrielle and Xena? Well, that's not possible."
Gabrielle: (Continues to come closer to the broken woman, speaking softly) "Your mother, Lila, my sister, she told us everything that happened. We've come to take you home."
Sarah: (Starts to believe the impossible, which makes her life even HARDER to take) "Then you're-- "
Gabrielle: [Whispers as she kneels in front of Sarah] "It's OK."
Sarah: (The child before her refuses to believe that!) "No."
Gabrielle [Whispers as she reaches for Sarah] "I'm your family."
Sarah: (The SHAME! Her Family now knows what she's become!) "Don't touch me. Get away from me! No!"

The thing I found the most riveting in this scene... was watching Xena's face as Gabrielle tried to reach out and comfort Sarah, as she tried to soothe the "child" who was taken, to reassure her that she was forgiven and that she was loved.

Gabrielle: "No."
Sarah: "No!"
Gabrielle: "Sh-h-h-h-h."
Sarah: "Get away from me! Just get away! Get off of me! Get
away! Get away! Get away! Get a-- " [Sobs]
Gabrielle: "Nobody blames you, nobody! Everyone understands you were
just a child! [Whispers as Sarah falls into her embrace] It's OK. It's OK. It's OK. It's OK."
Sarah: "I'm so ashamed. He killed Father, and Grandma, a-and Grandpa."
Gabrielle: [Whispers] "That must have been so terrible for you."
Sarah: "I didn't know how to handle it. Life just seemed so-- brutal. I thought the only way to-- survive was to be more vicious than my competition. [Whispers] I'm so sorry."
Gabrielle: [Whispers the Aunt who slept in an ice cave for 25 years] "So am I, Sarah."

Xena leaves Gurkhan in Sarah's cell, still immobilized, with Sarah's shawl covering his head/torso. Then the trio head for the common room to liberate all wives who want their freedom. The next thing we see is three guards enter the cell to behead "Sarah"... and unfortunately for them they do NOT check identities before lopping off the offending head.

The end is sweet and quiet as Sarah walks up to Gabrielle and Eve who are standing at the ship's railing.

Gabrielle: "Your mother will be so happy to see you."
Sarah: (Looks over the water, but can only see the sins she's committed in the last 8 years) "How could she ever love me again, after what I've become?"
Eve: (The voice of experience) "You don't know mothers very well, do you?"
Sarah: (She obviously never heard of Livia, the Bitch of Rome or her "other" mother Callisto) "You don't understand. I've done terrible things. How can I ever be forgiven?
Gabrielle: (Gabrielle, the Killer of Meridian, the Killer of her daughter Hope, the betrayer of Xena in China and of Solon, the would be murderer of Eve, and the wannabe assassin who's refusal to consider consequences lead to the brutal beating and near death of her best friend, looks back at Eve and then at Sarah...) "Are you ever in the right company." (Then she looks up at her best friend, the former Destroyer of Nations... who simply smiles.)

Ave Mary A:

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Well, I liked the ep, because I thought it served the development of the two characters/overall story quite well and not just because of the titillation factor that the spoiler junkies feared back in 9/2000.

Although I did not find the dvd interviews online, I did find a great 6 part behind the scene series based on this ep... from the folks at Creationent.

1/6

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2/6

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3/6 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HBE_TGQNfu0&feature=related

4/6 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VOPsQ5t1WsI&feature=related

5/6 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CSnEQdRDBTI&feature=related A word... many of the scenes in the series don't play the same on the show, due to multiple takes and the power of editing. The start of this section is a great example, as they cut the Gabby fight scene because they were trying to keep all of her violence for Gurkhan himself at the end of the ep (or at least that's what Rob and Michael suggested on the dvd interview)

6/6 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eCcCoo1RYlY&feature=related

saturn5 · Mar 31, 2011

The Haunting of Amphipilous;

Oh my god, Cyrene BURNED AT THE STAKE! :wtf:

Gabby TBW strikes again!

Okay, the whole things is hugely Evil Dead. More naked Gabby which is always a good thing and Eve with the creepy crawlies again. I'm a little vague on the who theological angle of it all, I mean Mistopheles? Dahak? who is the devil? Xena seems to defeat him awfully easily. A very nice final scene between Eve and Cyrene though, makes it all worthwhile
Here's a thought, if Amphipilous has now been cleansed of evil and Xena has inherited her mother's taven why not get Meg to run it in order to replace the one she trashed?

JanewayRulz! · Mar 31, 2011

saturn5 said:
The Haunting of Amphipilous;

Oh my god, Cyrene BURNED AT THE STAKE! Gabby TBW strikes again!

Okay, the whole things is hugely Evil Dead. More naked Gabby which is always a good thing and Eve with the creepy crawlies again. I'm a little vague on the who theological angle of it all, I mean Mistopheles? Dahak? who is the devil? Xena seems to defeat him awfully easily. A very nice final scene between Eve and Cyrene though, makes it all worthwhile
Here's a thought, if Amphipilous has now been cleansed of evil and Xena has inherited her mother's taven why not get Meg to run it in order to replace the one she trashed?

Awesome idea re: Meg and the tavern, especially since she no longer "looks" like Xena.

There are lots of devils and :evil:

lots of hells... and as long as Eve lives AND Xena doesn't try to drown Michael, Xena will have the power to kill gods :angel:

and devils :devil:

.

Its those pesky warlords and cannibals she keeps having trouble with! :rolleyes:

saturn5 · Apr 1, 2011

Heart of Darkness;

Don't worry, it has no relation to the novella which has more in common with AITST and The Horde.

Well, Xena throws an orgy and once again proves itself to be the kinkiest show in history rivalled only by Buffy/Angel and possibly season 4 of Weeds (Nancy currently dating the IMPOSSIBLY handsome Mexican drug lord who gave her a thorough spanking on their second meeting, her little half smile as she inspects her scarlet red backside in the mirror saying it all). Possibly a little darker is the portrayal of the angels themselves, very much of the old testament rather than the new but in the throes of reform.

No riots at the con when Xena cracks Gabby, just plenty of hearts in mouths (after all we'd been through the Gabdrag together). Once again though, what about Xena's OTHER brother whom we meet in season 1? Doesn't he get a look in or even a mention?

JanewayRulz! · Apr 1, 2011

saturn5 said:
Heart of Darkness;

Don't worry, it has no relation to the novella which has more in common with AITST and The Horde.

Well, Xena throws an orgy and once again proves itself to be the kinkiest show in history rivalled only by Buffy/Angel and possibly season 4 of Weeds (Nancy currently dating the IMPOSSIBLY handsome Mexican drug lord who gave her a thorough spanking on their second meeting, her little half smile as she inspects her scarlet red backside in the mirror saying it all). Possibly a little darker is the portrayal of the angels themselves, very much of the old testament rather than the new but in the throes of reform.

No riots at the con when Xena cracks Gabby, just plenty of hearts in mouths (after all we'd been through the Gabdrag together). Once again though, what about Xena's OTHER brother whom we meet in season 1? Doesn't he get a look in or even a mention?

So, if no riots, did we at least get a collective "Ahhhhhh" whan Xena told Eve, she was Xena's great hope... and the comatose, rain drenched, muddy Gabrielle that she was the most pure thing in her life? :rolleyes:

saturn5 · Apr 1, 2011

Who's Ghurkan?

As if the orgy in the previous ep wasn't enough here we have our heroines as slavegirls in a sultan's harem. Inset your historical romance sex fantasy HERE! (although maybe the idea of the kinky Newbie's slap down was to shatter that illusion?) Although ultimately much like the gladiators area I think we all knew they'd end up there someday.
Must say I always had a fondness for Lila, unfortunately this is her last appearance on the show. It's great how she goes from the depths of despair (father, mother, husband, sister all dead and daughter kidnapped) to opening the door one day and finding her beautiful sister has returned to her not a day older and then rescues her beloved daughter and brings her home. I always figured after the end of the series Gabby adventures for a while then goes home to live out her days with her sister and niece (and produce the kids we know she must have)
Lovely scenes on the boat between the our three girls, no surprise that Livia was into white slavery in her day. Doesn't Gabby remember Xena's seasickness cure from the Cecrops episode?
I forgot that Virgil calls himself Supercillious, nice touch very Asterix. :lol:

Despite being much more handsome and a better fighter etc it's interesting that Virgil has many of his dad's qualities, clumsy, singing silly sings and getting intimidated by Xena.
Xena's torture (rape?) hard to watch but at least she doesn't have her legs broken. Either they're in the palace for longer than we think we Xena heals incredibly quickly, either she's a demigod or a Slayer?
One thing I dislike is how they dispose of Ghurkan. It's like the old cliche of the hero having the villain at his mercy and deciding to do the right thing and let him live but then the bad guy pulls a hidden gun and justifies him being killed (Bad Boys/Miami Vice I'm talking to you). A little too much having your cake and eating it.
Very nice coda scene at the end, the show is all about forgiveness at it's heart
Finally caught up!

JanewayRulz! · Apr 1, 2011

Finally caught up!

Hurrah!

Did you check out the "behind the scenes" series on Gurkhan?

JanewayRulz! · Apr 3, 2011

As I said back in the "Heart of Darkness" review/recap...

This sixth season seems to be about getting in touch with love...

I even had the temerity to suggest the orgy filled story Xena and Gabrielle participated in was more than just 42 minutes of titillation.

The third ep IS about love, which by the end of the episode is deemed to be superior to the lust which was showcased throughout (Heart of Darkness).

And I quoted the final scene of Heart of Darkness as a wonderful foreshadowing of the torture induced "Gabrielle" hallucinations Xena experienced in "Who's Gurkhan".

Xena: "Gabrielle, every time I felt myself start to lose control, um, just thought of you... led me back home."
Gabrielle: "Really?"
Xena: "Sure."
Gabrielle: "Don't go getting all emotional on me, Xena."

This next ep is for people who didn't pick up on the foreshadowing, or the hallucinations, and prefer things in plain English.

Or plain Portuguese. :lol:

Episode 117 season 6 #5 "Legacy"

Portuguese trailer
(I loved the dvd interviews for this one, especially how they achieved the sand storm effects.)

The last time we saw our two friends, they were dressed in simple white gowns on board a ship sailing for Greece with Gabrielle's niece and Xena's daughter. Which means we're really within our rights to be surprised to find them leading two horses as they struggle through a sandstorm. (I LOVE their turbans! :bolian:

)

Gabrielle: (Being buffeted severely by the storm as she walks side by side with Xena) "What was wrong with staying on the coast? There was sun, surf, sand."
Xena: "You got two out of the three."
Gabrielle: "We were supposed to relax, remember?"
Xena: "We had bad luck. Goin' inland didn't have to be this way."
Gabrielle: "No, deserts don't have to be dry, windy, and desolate, Xena. It's optional. I can't see anything."
Xena: "Here, take my hand."
Gabrielle: "Do you even know where we're going?"
Xena: "Do we ever know where we're going?" ( :guffaw:

I love that line! :guffaw:

)

And I suspect there are more than a few who love the next scene where Xena and Gabrielle "wash off the sand" at a local deserted watering hole. :rolleyes:

I'll concentrate on the Bard's impressions of her surroundings as they dress. ( I really like their costumes in this ep... from the white embroidered suits they're pulling on "now" :drool:

to the overlying multilayers of robes/turbans they ride in, to the Roman noblewoman and slave girl outfits we'll see later. :bolian:

)

Gabrielle: "Strange beauty to the desert."
Xena: (Smiles) "You do look for the good in everything, don'tcha?"
Gabrielle: (Smiles back) "Why does it sound like an insult when you say it?"
Xena: (Smirks) "Well, maybe not everything."
Gabrielle: "Yeah, well... sand up my wazoo gets me a little edgy."
Xena: (Eyes twinkle) "Mm-m... hate it when that happens." (Suddenly they hear the sounds of men shouting, swords clanging in the distance) "What's that? Let's go check it out."

They find five people on foot, surrounded by 13 or so mounted horsemen, swords are drawn. Using the universal reasoning that the good guys are the ones outnumbered, Gabrielle suggests she and Xena "even the odds"... which they do in spectacular fashion, ultimately driving off the horsemen.

If our friends thought their assistance would be met with gratitude, they were sadly mistaken.

Kahina: (Female leader of the group) "Who do you think you are? Who asked you to interfere?"
Gabrielle: "You were being attacked."
Kahina: "Well, in the desert we learn young to mind our own business; otherwise, you don't become old."
Xena: "Growing old is overrated. I never pass up a good fight."
Kahina: "You should pick your fights more wisely, then."
Gabrielle: "We don't pick them, they pick us. Come on, Xena."
Kahina: (The nomads all draw their swords as the friends try to walk away) "Who are you to take that name? Xena, the legendary warrior princess is long dead."
Xena: "No, she's not."
Gabrielle: "This is Xena."
Kahina: "Impossible."
Gabrielle: "No, it's just hard to explain."
Kahina: "Oh, and I suppose you're Gabrielle, the battling bard of Poteidaia."
Gabrielle: "I've never heard it used like that, but yeah, I'm Gabrielle."
Kahina: "You're both lying. I guess that's supposed to be thelegend'ry chakram."
Xena: (Arms crossed, not amused) "Supposed to be."
Kahina: "So, you have a chakram. That means nothing. You didn't use it in the battle."
Xena: "It wasn't necessary."
Kahina: "You are a coward and a fraud! Only the real Xena knows how to use a chakram."
Gabrielle: "Show her."
(Xena throws the chakram, it riccochets off a rock and spins back towards the two rows of nomads before her, it splits itself in two and cuts the swords in half in both rows of nomads before rejoining itself and boomeranging back to Xena. She catches it with aplomb, tosses it up into the air, lets it fall behind her where she kicks it hackysack style up again before tilting her hip sideways so it comes down and hooks itself onto the chakram clip on her belt.)
Nomad's Voice: "Xena."
(And suddenly all 5 nomads fall prostrate before her as Xena looks bemused.)

TEASER ENDS:

JanewayRulz! · Apr 3, 2011

Episode 117 season 6 #5 "Legacy"

ACT 1:

Gratitude doesn't BEGIN to explain what the nomads are now feeling towards their would be rescuers, and our two friends are now seated in the main tent of Kahina the female Nomadic Warrior who challenged Xena over "that" name. Various offerings are being laid at the feet of our two heroines as they await Kahina's return.

Gabrielle: (Sitting on a low slung chair, her sais resting on the back of the chair) "So this is the desert hospitality that I've heard so much about."
Xena: (Her chakram is resting on the back of her chair) "That's right, though the fact they worship us could be influencing the welcome a bit. Don't refuse anything. You'll insult them. [Whispers to the women laying gifts at her feet] Thank you."
Gabrielle: (Servants bring in two bowls of "food") "What is this?"
Xena: "Something yummy....(Looks at the bowl filled with giant beetles, eyeballs and some very large hollow tube like structure that I REALLY don't want explained to me. She looks up as her host has finally arrived!) Kahina."
Kahina: "Xena, I sent word that you will lead us against our enemy."
Gabrielle: "Is it the people who attacked you today?"
Kahina: "Oh, no, no, that's Tazir. We're rivals, yes but the enemy we both face comes from across the seas. They've invaded our lands and killed many of our people. You know them, Xena."
Xena: (Sounding surprised) "Romans?"
Kah: "Yes."
Gabrielle: "Some things never change."
Kahina: "Every time our tribes try to join together and fight, ancient feuds drive us apart. There's been so much bloodshed, sometimes I think uniting is an impossibility. But with you to lead us, Xena, I have renewed hope."
Xena: "Thanks for the compliment, but... "
Kahina: "Xena, we've grown up on the stories of your victories. There's nothing you can't do, no place we wouldn't follow you."
Gabrielle: (The bard is intrigued) "Stories?"
Kahina: "Oh, of course, your scrolls." (Written 25-30 years ago in Kahina's reckoning) "We were brought up listening to them. Well, surely you knew, Gabrielle."
Gabrielle: "I had no idea they'd come this far. I'm pleased."
Xena: "All right. We'll do what we can to help you defeat the Romans."
Kahina: "Bring us wine. We shall honor our guests. Of course, our tradition is one of hospitality. My cousins will be honored to take you both to bed."
Cousins: [2 of the ugliest and dentally challenged members of Kahina's family kneel before the honored guests and giggle]
Gabrielle: (Evil Gabrielle whispers behind her hand to her friend) "What was that you said about not refusing anything?" (As Xena's face tells us everthing she's feeling! :ack:

)

I love the next scene where Xena and Gabrielle retire to their own sleeping tent laughing about the quick thinking Gabrielle's excuse for not bringing the men "home" with them. The "Amazon Chastity oath". (For the trekkies among us, its on par with the "Vulcan death grip"!

i.e. There IS no oath! :lol:

) I also love the fact that it DOESN"T matter whether they are lying next to a campfire under the stars or on a mountain of satin pillows under a tent, they still "go to bed fully clothed AND with their boots on. Fully clothed isn't enough for Gabby, she also uses a blanket to cover up in this desert climate. :rolleyes:

(I know, it gets COLD at night in the desert, but still!)

The other thing I love about this scene is how each is teasing the other about how time has turned them into legends... "the battling bard" and "the legendary warrior princess" when they both know they are just two friends who work for the greater good. And I think its sweet how Gabrielle still looks to her mentor Xena after this morning's battle, to discuss the finer points of being a warrior.

Gabrielle: (Lying on a large golden pillow, she rolls away from Xena to stare across the tent and sighs) Xena? Do you ever have those moments in battle where you have to decide whether to disable someone or to kill them?"
Xena: (Raises herself off a large blue pillow to look over at her friend) "What?"
Gabrielle: (I never thought it could happen again...) "Don't you ever think about it?"
Xena: "You just have to trust your instincts, that's all."
Gabrielle: (...Gabrielle who always looks so mature in short hair, for once looks young and vulnerable like she did 4 years ago.) "Well... what if your instincts are wrong?"
Xena: (Looking fearfully at the student who won't look at her) "If you're gonna stop and debate that, you're gonna get hurt."

Kahina brings her guests and her best fighters with her to Tazir's camp to broker a deal. Tazir's son and a group of their horsemen are the ones Xena and Gabby defeated "yesterday". Daddy isn't pleased at first, but his son Korah is effusive in his praise of the women.

Daddy Tazir and Kahina sit with Xena, giving her the lowdown on the dirty rotten Romans, while Korah plies Gabrielle with questions about her weapons, her fighting style, and the scrolls she wrote so many years ago about her adventures with Xena. Oh... and by the way, Gabrielle seems to have forgotten any "Amazon Oaths" when Korah insists upon washing her feet as part of desert hospitality. The BEST part of the scene, however, is when Xena "looks over" and sees what's happening.

http://images.wikia.com/hercxena/images/d/d3/Legacy_mq_122sd.jpg

Xena: (Tired of listening to the Nomadic leaders and what they don't know about the Roman forces arrayed agaisnt them,) "Gabrielle..." (Sees Korah sponging down Gabrielle's bare right foot and QUICKLY grabs her sword/chakram and stands up which FINALLY gets Gabrielle AND Korah's attention as they too stand up and come to her side) "... let's go check out the town and find out what the Romans are up to."
[All at once] Kahina: "Its too-- !" Tazir: "It's too-- " Korah: "No!"
Xena: [Interrupts the trio] "Hold it! Gabrielle and I can handle this. Everyone else stay here."

Once Gabby gets her boot back on and they get their desert traveling cloaks in place, they ride off to the local Roman town/garrison. http://images.wikia.com/hercxena/images/7/7e/Xena_Gab_Legacy.jpg

Xena takes advantage of the privacy to ask a few questions, and manages to keep everything civil.

Xena: (Fishing in the desert?) "What's with the desert boy?"
Gabrielle: (Clueless AND Guileless) "He wants me to teach him how to use the sais."
Xena: (Smiles) "He's picked a great teacher."
Gabrielle: (Says the Amazon Queen) "It's kind of strange being thought of as a warrior more than a bard. Guess I've come a long way."
Xena: (Wonders) "Is that a good thing?"
Gabrielle: (Pauses as she seriously considers her answer) "Yeah, it is."

The next thing we know, our girls have traded their desert garb for something more befitting a Roman town... and my fav line of the ep occurs.

Gabrielle: "For once, Xena, I'd like to be Roman noble and you be the slave."

http://media.photobucket.com/image/xena and gabrielle roman noble and slave/DarkMoroseXena/slave.jpg

Xena and Gabby as a newly arrived Roman noblewoman and her slave intent on investments are pumping the local governor and his garrison commander for information of troop strength and tactics which they can use to the Nomads benefit.

Oh... and if you ever wonder what someone has to say to be marked for death LATER in the ep... this is a PRIME example. :klingon:

Govenor: "Scattered savages, I assure you. The tribes fight more amongst themselves than with us."
Xena as"Fasima": "And what if they were to unite? They'd be dangerous, wouldn't they?"
Commander: "There is no chance of that. They spout old stories of Xena, Caesar's Thracian whore and wait for a legendary warrior to rise out of the sand and lead them."
Gabby as "Slave": "Are you concerned?"
Commander: "Concerned? About a long-crucified annoyance? Hardly."

You got to hand it to Xena... she didn't bat an eye at this characterization of herself, AND she now knows there are 3 legions about to march on the nomads... once they can find them. :bolian:

Of course, this being a desert, NOTHING is easy and so our duo get caught in yet ANOTHER sandstorm as they try to make it back to the Nomad's camp. This time, however, Gabby and Xena get separated, and quickly lose one another. Suddenly Gabrielle sees a gray figure staggering in the storm. She realizes this figure is heading for Xena (from behind) and his right arm is raised up on high with what appears to be a knife.

Instinct takes over, and Gabrielle rushes forward to save her unwitting friend who can't hear a warning shouted over these harsh winds. She spins him around and stabs him in the gut with her sai before he can bring the dagger into play. As he falls at her feet, she realizes she's made a terrible mistake.

Korah: "Gabrielle-- " (He looks at her in great pain, and dies quickly at her feet. His right hand opens, and the rolled parchment falls from his grasp)
Gabrielle: (looks at the dead man, and then at Xena who has bent over to get the parchment)"What?"
Xena: "It's a scroll."
Gabrielle: "What have I done?"

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://pericat.ca/llr/images/legacy103.jpg&imgrefurl=http://pericat.ca/llr/legacy.html&usg=__vXgSvE8dMVSLsXpy4wyXKlfV6Dg=&h=156&w=220&sz=6&hl=en&start=0&zoom=0&tbnid=5nNm64NDgiOA-M:&tbnh=76&tbnw=107&ei=WviYTdysJ8O40QH0pIjlCw&prev=/images?q=xena+and+gabrielle+and+korah&um=1&hl=en&rlz=1R2ADBF_en&biw=1003&bih=592&tbs=isch:1&um=1&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=382&vpy=151&dur=78&hovh=76&hovw=107&tx=78&ty=47&oei=WviYTdysJ8O40QH0pIjlCw&page=1&ndsp=12&ved=1t:429,r:1,s:0

ACT 1 ENDS

Multiple deleted scenes

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JanewayRulz! · Apr 4, 2011

Episode 117 season 6 #5 "Legacy"

ACT II:

Have I mentioned that this is the 2nd ep penned by fanfic writer Melissa Good? Giving hope to millions of we wannabes. (Clarification... haven't done a Xena fanfic yet, nor do I plan to anytime in the future. Afterall... "Janeway" DOES rule!

)

The act opens with our two friends back at that deserted watering hole from the teaser. The storm is over, Korah's corpse is draped over his horse, and Xena is silently washing the blood from Gabrielle's hands... a sight Gabby admits she never thought she'd see.

Not to be disagreeable to reviewers at whoosh, but to be fair to the writer I agree with her take on this point. Although Gabrielle HAS killed in the last 3 + years, this is the first time she's killed "an innocent". My amazing Warrior Princess continues to surprise us with her "many skills" as she reads to Gabrielle the scroll Korah was carrying, announcing in Persian (?) the peace treaty just signed between Kahina and Tazir.

Xena is no dummy. She sends Gabrielle back to Kahina's camp as she brings the dead son back to Tazir. Needless to say, Tazir DOESN'T take it well, first accusing Kahina of treachery.

Then Xena does something that surprised me. She lied.

Tazir: "You've been trying to weaken my position for years. Now you take my son?!"
Xena: "Tazir, wait! I saw tracks where he was killed, tracks of a thousand men a mile wide."
Tazir: "Tracks?"
Kahina: "My people wouldn't leave a grain of sand out of place. My people had nothing to do with it!"
Nomad's Voice: "True."
Tazir: "Only the cursed Romans would, Romans... Xena, did you see them?"
Xena: "No, there was a storm."

Oh Xena.

I have a "lot" of fav Xena & Gabrielle scenes... and one of them is coming up. Xena goes back to Kahina's camp where Gabrielle has been sitting alone in their tent, waiting. She's morose as she "plays" with one of her sais until our WP appears, then she hops up and asks...

Gabrielle: "How'd it go?"
Xena: "Not good."
Gabrielle: [Sighs] "I should have gone with you. I'll talk to him, Xena."
Xena: "No, it's more complicated than you think."
Gabrielle: "Xena, it's not complicated. It is simple, I killed Korah."
Xena: "Out here, the penalty for that is death."
Gabrielle: (Our strong young bard simply nods) "I accept that."
Xena: "Well, I don't."

And that's when you realize that the shoe is finally on the other foot. Except that in "Locked up/Tied down" Xena was allowing herself to be judged for the life she thought she took willfully if not just through neglect and for all those other deaths she was responsible for in her past. Back THEN Gabby argued "The Greater Good" to try and keep Xena free... but here... here our young Bard turned Warrior could NOT see the argument applied equally well to herself.

Gabrielle: [Whispers] "Xena."
Xena: (Xena is becoming frantic as she pleads) "What purpose would it serve? It can't bring Korah back now, can it"
Gabrielle: "Xena, that man out there deserves to know the truth."
Xena: "He thinks he does. He thinks the Romans did it."
Gabrielle: (Shocked!) "Did you tell them that?"
Xena: "It was an accident. Let him believes the Romans did it. They have to fight them anyway."
Gabrielle: (Her voice is rising) "I can't lie about this."
Xena: (Desperation on Xena's horizon!) "You don't have to lie."
Kahina's Voice: (From outside the tent) "Xena!"
Xena: [Whispers] "Please, please... (Drops her voice as she BEGS her friend) ...don't say anything." (Gabby turns from her as Kahina enters the tent and Xena turns to face the Nomadic Leader.)
Kahina: "We've spotted Romans in the desert. We sent a patrol out."
Xena: "What we have to do is find out where they are now and lure them into a trap."
Kahina: "There's a valley just north of here. We could lead them there."
Xena: (Xena looks uncharactistically distracted throughout this conversation) "That's perfect."
Kahina: "They cannot come soon enough. I hunger for this fight to begin, Xena, and for you to lead us to victory."
Kahina's Man: (Enters the tent, throwing a Roman soldier at Kahina's feet) "Kahina-- we found him."
Kahina: "He's the killer?"
Kahina's Man: "Of course, we caught him near the water hole. He tried to escape. See? (shows a spear) Korah's blood is still on it."
Kahina: "Let's take him to Tazir. Let him make an example of him."
Xena: "Just because he's a Roman doesn't mean he's the killer, Kahina." (Gabrielle is pacing in the background, saying nothing as Xena had pleaded)
Kahina: "I have all the proof I need right here. Tie him! We'll
drag him into Tazir's camp!"
Xena: (Even Xena has morals that can't be ignored) "Hold it. To kill a man in a fight to protect your homeland is one thing, but to pick out a Roman at random and execute him for a crime he may not have committed, that is something else."
Kahina: "If he didn't do it, someone just like him did. Come with us, Xena, you're one of us, now."
Gabrielle: (Our innocent can't stand it any longer, and she shouts) ."Wait! (And the courageous woman looks up into the blue eyes of the only one who will be hurt more than even Gabrielle by the next words she utters.) "He isn't the killer." (Xena looks crushed as she looks into those green eyes and hears the words.) "I am."

:wah:

ACT ENDS

JanewayRulz! · Apr 5, 2011

Episode 117 season 6 #5 "Legacy"

ACT III:

Gabrielle has been taken away to Tazir's camp by Kahina's men while Kahina has a tete e tete with the Warrior Princess. Neither woman is happy, but Kahina more so because she's been betrayed by her childhood hero. Kahina's just now discovering what Malcolm told Jayne in Firefly's "Jaynestown"... "It's my estimation that...every man ever got a statue made of him, was one kind of sumbitch or another. Ain't about you, Jayne. About what they need."

Gabrielle is kneeling in a tent, mindlessly twisting her wrists within the manacles that have cuffed her to the bier supporting Korah's body. Tazir walks in and kneels on one knee before his son and next to his son's killer. He has questions.

Tazir: "How does it feel?"
Gabrielle: "How does what feel?"
Tazir: "Killing an innocent?"
Gabrielle: "It's unbearable"
Tazir: "He admired you and you slaughtered him."
Gabrielle: "No-- "
Tazir: "Silence!" (He strikes her, knocking Gabby's head back with a quick backhand.) " If I had known what a snake you were... I'd have struck your head off and my son would still be alive... murderer.

He stalks off to leave her alone with the dead... and Gabrielle mind winds through all the steps she took from simple village girl to Bard to Amazon princess and Queen, to loss of blood innocence to peacenick, back to Warrior and finally ending with her attempt to kill Gurkhan "last" week.
(Not the right selection, but you get the idea )

After remembering all these transitions, all these milestones... Gabrielle looks up to the "heavens" and says...

Gabrielle: (Heartsick for so many reasons) "Xena, you once prayed never to see the light go out in me. I just don't think there's much of that left in here. This is best for everyone." (I love it when they remind us of previous eps! )

And the shot goes from Gabrielle, praying over the candles surrounding Korah's body in Tazir's camp, to the candles in Xena's tent in the Kahina camp. Xena's wide awake, and she's thinking, presumably, about her best friend's execution tomorrow.

(The part which mostly deals with this ep is 1:39 to 3:30 Painted desert: )

I'm not usually good at picking up subtle details as my fellow posters on the Voy board would be willing to verify..., but I must point out something about this part of the above transition scene. "Last night" when the two laid down to sleep, Xena took the larger blue pillow and Gabrielle the smaller gold one. "Tonight, Xena is sleeping on the gold one. Oh, and the blanket Gabrielle used "last night"...? "Tonight" Xena is simply holding that same blanket in her left hand. (Makes me recall the Pretender ep where Miss Parker slept with her fiance's flannel shirt after his death) Can we guess what scenes are replaying in HER mind from the last 5 years?

MY guess = The Reason:
Morning discovers Xena riding "hell bent for leather" somewhere... as Tazir's men bring Gabrielle out to the desert to drop her into a hole which they proceed to fill till she's buried to her neck.

Nomad 1: "The end will come too quickly for what you deserve. Pray the vultures don't get to you before we do."
Nomad 2: "Bury the murderer."

Xena, AKA Fasmia, wife of Cipios Afrikannis the 5th arrives in full regalia (minus one troublesome slave) to present a gift to the Roman Govenor. "Intell" not only on the fact that the Nomadic tribes are joining together to oppose Rome, but MORE importantly WHERE they could be found TODAY!

Nomad 1: "Kill the murderer! A life for a life!"
Nomad 2: "Justice for Korah!"
Tazir: "Avenge my son! Avenge Korah!"
Nomad 3: "She must die!"

Gabrielle is at the end of a long "runway", buried to her neck in sand. At the other end are 4 horsemen with their polo sticks. Oh, I forgot to tell you, this tribe decorates with human skulls. They are lying about everwhere, including near Gabrielle's impromptu prison.

As Gabrielle bravely stares at the horsemen galloping towards her, the ground SHAKES with the power of their 16 legs. She doesn't flinch, she doesn't even close her eyes.

ACT III ENDS:

ACT IV BEGINS:

Deleted scenes:
It's good Gabrielle doesn't close her eyes, because she can see the chakram as it spins through the air and splits the ends of the polo mallets off, shocking the horsemen into actually stopping. A scout shouts out that "The ROMANS are coming!" (Where was he when "XENA" was coming???) and the men and women of Tazir's and Kahina's tribe quickly disperse as Xena digs Gabrielle up and the two gallop off in a separate direction.

As the Romans tear through Tazir's camp looking for the Nomads, Xena and Gabrielle watch from afar.

Gabrielle: "Saved by the Romans. I would have bet against that."
Xena: (The Warrior is not the least bit surprised) "It sure took 'em long enough."
Gabrielle: "Xena?"
Xena: (Matter of fact) "I needed a diversion."
Gabrielle: (Still stuck in another mindset) "Last night, I thought letting them kill me was the best thing for everyone."
Xena: (The mentor takes over) "Gabrielle, you may never forgive yourself for what happened to Korah, but you'll be a stronger person for it."
Gabrielle: "I don't know."
Xena: (Now its the friend's turn) "I felt that way once. I felt there was nothing left to live for. I was tired of hurting and I just wanted it to end."
Gabrielle: "What changed it for you?"
Xena: "You did."
Gabrielle: "I guess we've come full circle, huh?"
Xena: (look close people, Xena's eyes are "full" of tears) "Come on."

Now our two friends could have just ridden off into the sunset, but then they wouldn't be the HEROES that we watch each "week" or on disc after disc after disc. The Nomads have retreated to a "valley", and thats where Xena and Gabrielle catch up to them.

Xena: (Confronts Tazir & Kahina from horseback) "You're out of time and you're out of options. Now they know that you're here, they'll hunt you down unless you stop them."
Kahina: [Scoffs at her fallen hero] "You expect us to trust you now? Why should we?"
Xena: "You have no choice."
Gabrielle: "We could have ridden in the opposite direction."
Tazir: (Defiant) "Why didn't you?"
Gabrielle: "Tazir, your son's blood is on my hands, and it will be for as I walk this Earth. I can't change that, but I can help his people win their freedom. Maybe his death'll have some meaning then."
Xena: (To her wayward worshipper) "And I promised you that I'd help you defeat the Romans... I keep my promises."
Nomad sentry: "The Romans are coming! They found our trail!"
Kahina: (To her fellow nomad) "She's right. We have no choice."
Tazir: "All right."

Kahina the former local president of the Xenite fanclub is still pretty pissed off as they ready themselves for the Romans...

Kahina: "We don't have enough people, even with the surprise."
Gabrielle: "You have Xena. What more do you want?"
Kahina: "Funny how the Romans showed up just in time to save your friend, almost like it was planned."
Xena: "You got the fight you wanted. Stop complaining."
Kahina: (To Gabrielle as she walks by) "Left a few details out of those stories, didn't you?" (She sounds like Minya from "Day in the Life"!)

The Nomads and the girls bury themselves in the sand, waiting for the Romans AND for ANOTHER damned sandstorm that seems MUCH too convienent if you ask me.. but I digress. As the Roman soldiers march through the valley the sand storm hits from above and the Nomads/ Xena/ Gabrielle hit from below.

A massive fight breaks out (Hey, this is XENA:WARRIOR PRINCESS! What ELSE did you expect to break out, a song and dance number???) and during it Tazir goes down. Yup, you guessed it, Gabrielle saves his life with her trusty staff. (I suspect the sais are still at Tazir's camp) . What you maybe DIDN'T guess is WHO is leading the Roman Legions. Here's a hint... "They spout old stories of Xena, Caesar's Thracian whore and wait for a legendary warrior to rise out of the sand and lead them."

Well, I'm pleased to report that Xena put a sword through his worthless hide, and just before he died she said...

Xena: (Smiling through clenched teeth ) "Tell Caesar, Xena sends her regards."
Roman Commander: "Xena?"

Yeah, baby.... XENA! that "long crucified annoyance".

Its nightfall, back at Tazir's camp. Xena and Gabrielle have just left Kahina's side to have a final talk.

Gabrielle: "For a while there, I didn't think the day would end so well."
Xena: "Neither did I." (They both sit down)
Gabrielle: "Hm-m-m... you saved me today, Xena, against the greater good. Why? Isn't that what we've been fighting for?"
(I'm not sure why Gabrielle is so dense here... maybe because she really did become distanced from Xena during that 5th season pregnancy, or maybe because she just really needs to be reassured about her place in the Xenaverse. Whatever the reason, Xena tries to explain, yet again)
Xena: "Gabrielle, in everyone's life, there's something that goes beyond the greater good. That's what you are in my life. I wasn't about to let you die out there if there was something I could do about it." http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uqP_PP31T3c&feature=related
Gabrielle: "What if it was my choice?"
Xena: "Especially if it was your choice."
(Tazir walks up to the two women)
Tazir: "It seems I've traded Korah's life for my own, thanks to you. That evens the scales between us."
Gabrielle: (She smiles up at the old man, knowing the truth) "It doesn't really, does it?"
Tazir: (Sighs) "No. He could have become a great warrior, just like you." (He walks away)
Gabrielle: (Such a heavy load to carry, one a simple village girl 5 years ago could have never guessed at, much less managed once upon a time) "Just like me." (And Xena reaches out to grasp Gabrielle's shoulder)

**

Yes, sweetpea.

Just like you.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0e4EV3G9fmw&feature=related

JanewayRulz! · Apr 5, 2011

And now a "commercial break" to sing the glories of Gabrielle, and that lady who likes to hang with her.

It surprises me HOW MUCH I love this character, and yet it shouldn't. Gabby represents "us". The everywoman or everyman who given the right circumstances shows us what "we're" capable of.

No-one argues whether Gabrielle is a demigod or pure human, like we do with Xena. Gabrielle "is" one of us, which means "we" can be as amazing as she is given half the chance.

Gabrielle~ Troublemaker? Bard? WARRIOR! FIGHT!

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Gabrielle Tribute: "I like the way you move":

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The Story of a Girl:

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Lost in the "were they" or "weren't they" arguments swirling about this "couple" is the fact that just as Gabrielle was the light that kept Xena on the path to redemption, Xena was the inspiration for Gabrielle to believe she could be something more than the simple village girl her family wished her to be.

Xena: A Thousand Years:
Xena: Season 1's many skills:
Xena: Addicted to chaos: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GNmsyv6jSTU

Xena: Explosive: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nVslEF3woM0&feature=fvwrel

Xena & Gabrielle: Everything: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=avVhOkBZKr4

I think I'm GLAD I didn't watch this show in its first run. Its allowed me to enjoy it during a dry spell in TV entertainment when I have to look far and wide to find a strong female character who isn't just another policewoman or lawyer.

saturn5 · Apr 6, 2011

Just working my way through the Behind the Scenes for Who's Ghurkan? and it makes me incredibly nostalgic for when the show was on. Also some nice technical details you don't think about, more than one Argo and Renee doing her speech on the boat direct to camera whilst Adriene is off to the side giving her responses (I know they built upon the old Xena sets but whatever happened to the Xena/Hercules boat?) Nice that Rob Tapert admits what we were all thinking too, The Haunting of Amphipilous is Xena vs The Evil Dead
Legacy is ok, Xena vs the Romans get's a little boring. Still mad at Gabby for not being more sympathetic towards Joxer for his accidental killing especially after her experience with Dahak and what happens here.

JanewayRulz! · Apr 6, 2011

RE: Behind the scenes... It is incredible to think of all the things that go into making a TV show. What I was amazed at were the scenes we "saw" mostly didn't go into the show. The lines were different in 1 way or the other... and I usually preferred the ones TPTB stuck with. (Example, what Xena says to Gabby before she knocks her out!)

I wish you could have listened to the audio commentaries... Lucy has spoken of the different Argos often. IIRC, Barbie is the one they have to "color up" so she matches Tilly's shade.

Legacy is "only" okay??? Oh, I get it... those desert robes cover too much of those cute warriors. :rommie:

Re: Joxer's angst... give our Gabby a break. :mallory:

She was tricked into killing Merdian so an evil could be unleashed upon the earth, and then "not raped per the author" so she could herself bear the evil :evil:

upon the earth.

Joxer just held a knife that a crummy warlord impaled himself upon, and then died. Nothing unleashed and no "nonrape" to worry about.

Even in this ep, their circumstances are different. Gabby wasn't tricked, she wasn't an accidental killer, she purposefully knifed the person who was (supposedly) threatening a loved one.

Only, he wasn't threatening her,

and he wasn't evil,

or even "crummy".

Bummer.

I like how this gets "resolved" in the next ep... "Abyss". :techman:

JanewayRulz! · Apr 7, 2011

As I said several eps back, "this sixth season seems to be about getting in touch with love... " and although the first few eps seemed to dwell on Xena's love for her Mother and her daughter, someone else definately played a prominent role in that emotional exploration. In the last two eps and the next ep, the prominence of Gabrielle in the "Xenaverse" continues to grow as if "catching up" after a season of (appropriate) distraction by Xena's pregnancy and birth and battle against the gods and the fates for the life of her child.

Xena: (Heart of Darkness) "Gabrielle, every time I felt myself start to lose control, um just thought of you, led me back home."

Xena: (Legacy) "Gabrielle, in everyone's life, there's something that goes beyond the greater good. That's what you are in my life. I wasn't about to let you die out there if there was something I could do about it."

Although the "trilogy" of "Who's Gurkhan", "Legacy", "Abyss" is touted as Gabrielle's exploration of violence, I dispute that to a degree.

"W'sG" wasn't about violence or even killing, it was about revenge. Gabrielle took the murder of her folks personally and she was going to take a life for that reason only. In the end, it wasn't about violence... hell she unleashed a load of it upon his paralyzed body. Instead it was about simply taking a life for a life. By that reckoning, the woman she's traveled with for the last 5 years should have been killed thousands of times over by the families of her victims.

"Legacy" was the reverse of the argument. She was willing to sacrifice herself for the life she took, convienently forgetting the argument she tried to make to Xena 2 years before, when she was imprisoned on Shark Island.

Xena: "There's no defense for what I did, Gabrielle."
Gabrielle: "Xena, you could have argued the greater good. Come on! Surely, what you can do outside prison will outweigh..."

And then there's "Abyss". Yes, it continues to build upon the events of the mistake in the desert, and how it weighs upon Gabrielle and how that weight puts the people she loves in danger. But its much more.

JanewayRulz! · Apr 7, 2011

Episode 118 season 6 #6 "Abyss"

TEASER BEGINS:

Virgil is in trouble. He and his friend Hosef are running for their lives through the forest. Hosef falls, Virgil stops to help him up and they continue to run. Then Hosef steps into a trap, and can go no further. He cries out to his friend, who stands uncertain and frightened as the men chasing them collect Hosef from their trap and carry him off. The audience isn't the only one haunted by the terrified man's screams as he's carried away.

Hosef: [Screams] "Help! No! Virgil! No! Ah-h-h-h! Help! Help me! Help me! Ah-h-h-h-h-h-h! Virgil! Virgi-i-i-i-i-i-i-il! Ah-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-h! Help me, Virgil! Help me! Ah-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-h!"

Remember the good old days (The Price), when TPTB would give us 2 minutes of fun before they hit us with 40 minutes of terror? Well, they inserted it 2 minutes INTO the teaser... and its hardly "fun" when we see that Gabrielle still hasn't recovered the joie de vivre she lost in that desert sandstorm.

Gabrielle is dressed in a rust colored hide cloak, and she's pulling a bowstring back on a deer in the forest. THWACK! Uh oh... she's back to pulling her aim, as the arrow goes wide hitting a nearby tree and the deer bounds away.

Xena: (Comes up behind Gabrielle wearing her own dark brown hide coat, and smiles as she calmly says) "Nice shot. Just don't know what kind of wine goes with bark."
Gabrielle: (Shrugs as she smiles and quietly replies) "So we'll have fish. That's what people do when they're on a river."
Xena: (Rolls her eyes) "Fish is all right with me. You're the one who said she wanted venison."
Gabrielle: [Sighs] "I'm having a bad day."
Xena: (Uncharacteristically being supportive when in the past a zinger would have spun past the bard's psyche by now) "Nah, he's havin' a good one. It's all in how you look at it."
Gabrielle: "I think I'll get the boat ready. Virgil and Hosef will be waiting."

The two women are now in a canoe paddling down the river in search of Virgil and friend. They still are speaking softly, as if in church.

Gabrielle: "This river's so calm."
Xena: (Smiles as Gabrielle looks back) "I was hoping it would have an effect on you. [Chuckles as she looks up the river bank at a smoking campfire] Up there on the right, looks like their campsite."
Gabrielle: "Finally."

What they find is not so calm. Xena is picking through the smoldering fire as Gabrielle picks up bloody cloths and walks over a discarded sword.

Xena: (At the remains of the campfire) "Four hours old."
Gabrielle: (Walking up to Xena) "There's blood on this. There's blood everywhere. Thieves?"
Xena: (Xena notices nearby a skull pieced with a sword) "No, they escaped in their canoe. They were running for their lives."

Virgil has followed the tribesmen back to their camp, where he sees they have already spitted his friend and are turning him on the rotisierre. He cries silently in his anger and his fear.

Virgil: "Hosef."

TEASER ENDS:

Portuegese trailer:

saturn5 · Apr 7, 2011

I think Legacy had my favourite Xena nickname, 'Ceaser's Thracian whore'? :lol:

As for Abyss, well, we'll talk more about it as you go through your summary but once again, how did anyone ever think this was a kids show?

Any Xena:WP fans on the boards?

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