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scifi_rewatchI meant to get to recapping this back in 2019…woops. Oy.
Also: welcome to my favorite two episodes of the series! :D Though technically, I’m kinda hoping that the season finale will hold up a little better. :/ Or add a little more context. Or make me forget the awful ‘90s CGI (though Hudson Leick’s acting helped in that regard! :D Why get bent out of shape about a spiral wheel and large hands coming out of it when Callisto’s smirk follows, hee?)
It’s been several years since I’ve watched this, but I do think Beth Gaynor on whoosh.org has a bit of a point—part one is largely filler. A pretext for the big showdown that will be part two. And it moved kind of fast, too! Maybe it should have explained more, like what was up with Ares’s shift of allegiance? I have my theories, given the arc of the second episode, but it’s a little more wishy washy here.
But I do still love this episode. It’s the beginning of the culmination of The Rift, so of course we have to bring back the major players from earlier in the season—namely Gabrielle’s daughter, Hope! :o Yeah, I spoiled it. :P But the important thing to show in this iteration of the Hope conflict is that Xena and Gabrielle are largely on the same page again. And perhaps a little more, according to Steven L. Sears’s commentary!
You might also wonder what Callisto is doing in here (and Ares! Plus a lot of extras.) Apparently, Callisto, Ares and Hope all played guest roles in a recent episode of Hercules, which advanced their plotlines a bit. Xena apparently knew all of this through the grapevine because she’s Xena, so she’s basically all knowing. :P But seriously, I think they did their best to do a mini recap for those of us who didn’t watch the other show. There’s no getting around the clunkiness. But luckily, even in this set up episode, there is enough action and gravitas that recounting all of the backstory doesn’t necessarily matter. Just give everyone a quest (and from the title, you might guess what Hope’s ends up being :/) and let’s go! Season finale, part one, whooooo!!! :D
Summary is here, courtesy of whoosh.org.
Xena and Gabrielle are tracking Gab’s childhood friend, Seraphin, who has joined a sort of death cult! She is about to be sacrificed, but of course our heroes can’t have that. They save her, but ultimately realize she’s been brainwashed into thinking she has to welcome a goddess back to Earth. Xena and Gabs think this must be Callisto, who recently returned via a vortex. (Quick Hercules recap: in the two-parter “Armageddon Now,” Hope released Callisto from the mine that Xena trapped her in at the end of the episode “Maternal Instincts.” The gals want to kill some gods that, a la established lore, requires Hind blood, which Ares has in a pendant. Hercules ends up throwing Callisto into a portal, which, yanno, can only hold her until this episode, cos we need to see her again! ;P Meanwhile, Hope just keeps getting bailed out by Daddy, I suppose—he saves her after Gabrielle poisoned her, again in “Maternal Instincts,” then he saved her after Hercules foiled her plan in “Armageddon Now.” Guess she’s proven she’s following in his footsteps, heh.) But no—if my rambly backstory didn’t give it away, I’ll speak more plainly—Callisto is working for Hope! Hope is currently a succubus in an egg thing, feeding off of the sacrifices of villagers who believe she will bring goodness to the world. Ares, pissed off that Hope killed his pal, Strife, over on Hercules, vows to destroy the gals…but then he changes his mind. So Xena has a lot of people working against her this time. Someone who isn’t is Gabrielle, despite the fact that Seraphin tries to guilt her about being a bad mother to Hope. Yeah, Gabs went through all of that before, again during the episode “Maternal Instincts,” and now she respects that Hope cannot be saved. Just one tiiiiny problem, other than Xena having to fight off gods, mortals, the usual. Ares calls in his favor from “The Debt,” when he got Gabrielle to Chin before Xena arrived. Now he’s convinced the Fates to kill Xena if she kills Hope—and it’s up to Gabs to make sure that doesn’t happen! Which, at the end of this episode means that Xena doesn’t succeed in killing the succubus in time. It hatches, and Hope emerges in human form…looking like none other than her own mother. :0 Hey, weird rhyme there. :P
Not sure how much I can truly say about Hope’s followers but I still figure I should try. There is a hint of something in here about the human condition, about how easy it is for communities to fall under the sway of autocrats. Xena sees it, of course, when she explains to Gabrielle why villagers are joining up as Hope’s “disciples;” “they’re poor and they’re disillusioned.” Anyone with a message of massive change sounds good to the downtrodden. But that’s about as deep as the insight goes; I don’t want to pretend that we are getting a lot of philosophical commentary in this episode. What we are getting are “disciples” dressed up in leftover Amazon costumes. Seriously, Xena, talk about bewildering your audience in the beginning! I mean, here Xena and Gabs were watching women dressed as and dancing like Amazons, and Gabrielle, an Amazon queen, didn’t pick up on it? Because technically there was nothing to pick up on, because technically these “disciples” are a different group of people? Couldn’t they have different costumes then? :P Oy. Well, anyway…of course we the audience had never heard of Seraphin before, either, even though she and Gabs were old chums back in the day. This is pretty par for the course, and it still worked in context because it gave Gabby something more personal to talk about with this “disciple.” Seraphin is the living, breathing embodiment of the naïve young girl getting swept up in something she doesn’t understand. In a strange way, she kind of mirrors Gabrielle, who was pretty naïve when she let herself get swept up in Xena’s life. The difference is that Gabs kept her eyes open, and kept growing as a person. (But, sidenote about the Seraphin actress, Jodie Rimmer, she later appeared as Lilith in the spinoff, Young Hercules!) (And another aside—the man who played “The Priest of the Flesh,” was apparently such a heavy smoker that Hudson Leick remembered the smell, years later, when recording the commentary! Hee.) But to get kind of back on track here, I’ll end by mentioning the most important human priest, Werfner. Played by the actor Stephen Ure, according to Leick and Sears, their ambition was to base him off of Smeagol in The Lord of the Rings! That’s why he was so squirrely and he spoke in “the royal we,” which annoyed Beth Graynor on whoosh.org. :P Funny to think that a little while after shooting this episode in 1998, New Zealand would then be home to the Lord of the Rings adaptation production! But of course, the original books preceded the movies by decades, so maybe that’s where the inspiration came from. :P
I’ve danced around the issue for too long, but now there’s no stopping it—we have to talk about Xena and Gabrielle. :P This is kind of their show, after all. As Sears said in an interview about these two episodes: “We wanted to solidify the relationship between Xena and Gabrielle at that point. We wanted to show that they had a great purpose. We wanted to show that they were keystones in fate—in the history of humanity. And we wanted to set up what could be the battle for the dominion of the earth and we wanted to do it in about 90 minutes.” :P I mean WOW. Maybe most of that is remembering the hyperbole of being at the end of one season and trying to set up an amazing next one, heh. But to be fair, for most of the rest of the show, Xena and Gabrielle do rub shoulders against increasingly powerful beings. They have already criss crossed time and space in order to take part in a lot of important world events (that sometimes actually took place in vastly different locations and time periods, but yanno. :P) And the Dahak religion kind of fits the bill, too. Like Beth Gaynor said on whoosh.org, there are some Christian elements at play here: people are “washed of their sins,” which I should have stated in the paragraph above is a major belief of the disciples. But to dial it back down here—Sears started the quote by referencing the individual couple (and teasing us with verbiage that quite obviously made them soulmates! The subtext is real!!!! Er, anyway.) The “Rift,” which ostensibly started with the birth of Hope and how Gabrielle secretly kept her alive, is officially over now. You know, we had that musical episode and everything. :P And this was a time where it was very tempting to re-open that can of worms. In fact, Xena kind of sort of did when she found out about Hope, and then couldn’t stop talking about the death of her son. It was Ares, of all people, who encouraged her to dial it back and not respond to this crisis from an angry place. But Gabby…she was hit hard with what could be feelings of guilt. I mean, I think, and Sears thinks, and maybe a lot of people think, that Seraphin brought up good arguments about why Hope turned out the way she did. How she needed a mother. I remember Amy Boatman talking about this on the Xena Cast podcast. Some folks disagree with how the Hope/Gabrielle storyline went. But in terms of this episode…I think the writers wanted to make sure that Gabrielle wasn’t waffling on her allegiance to Xena. Because she had already done that plenty of times, earlier in the season, and now she was supposed to be beyond that. So basically, most of the feelings Gabrielle projected to Seraphin were a ploy, to use her friend for their greater goal of tracking down Hope. Near the end of the episode, Gabs stopped Xena from killing the succubus, but that was for entirely different reasons than maternal affection.
And with that, maybe I’ll jump straight into Ares! :P And even Ares with Gabrielle, which is an unusual place to start, though the two of them are slowly getting more screen time together. They had their little mini-arc this season as well, which particularly revolved around the debt Gabby owed Ares for getting her to Chin in, er, “The Debt.” :P Coming full circle, Ares calls in that favor now. He takes Gabs to see the Fates, who promise to cut Xena’s life line if she kills Hope! :o Looks like Gabby didn’t have the time to explain all of this to Xena before diving in to stop her from killing Hope. Need to set up some bad blood between them in the season finale, heh. We will have to wait and see! But back to Ares proper…he did a bit of a 180 this episode! What was that channel of fire that appeared behind him that made him switch from “Team Anti-Hope” to “Team Hope”? He was more or less cavalier when he explained to the succubus that he forgave her, heh. But here’s another question—whatever happened to that army he was supposed to be forming? Did someone give them the new orders that they had switched sides?? Will we even see these people? I get that the Xena production has budget constraints, but…that one, lone warlord running desperately through the sand dunes was pretty weak sauce. Oy…the god of war deserves better! Here he is, wanting to make sure that Dahak and Hope don’t obliterate him, or maybe even mess with the status quo for humans that he seems to like. The Olympian gods are supposed to be in charge here! Sears explained Ares’s switcheroo choice on the wikia as “Ares was pragmatic. Given enough time, he was convinced he could find the flaw in Dahak that would allow him to regain power. He wasn’t foolish enough to challenge Dahak when the odds were so stacked against him.” Er, ok. Just sayin, this could have been more strongly expressed within the episode, rather than after it. Anywho. The other mission that is always on Ares’s plate is trying to get Xena to come back to him. This was a pretty lackluster episode for that because Xena was not tempted, not even once. The whole “be the leader of my army” thing was basically a distraction from the bigger, Hope-related obsession on Xena’s mind. Ares tends to have increased sway with her when he himself is her more direct adversary.
And as crazy as it is to admit, Ares wasn’t the most dynamic villain in the room during this ep! Nor was Hope, even when we saw who was playing her. :P This honor, as always, goes to Hudson Leick’s Callisto! The Xena crew always seems so impressed by her and honestly, why shouldn’t they be? She enlivens every scene that she is in. We are always desperate to see her…even if her narrative maaaaybe got a little stale. Leick herself seemed most frustrated with this during the video interviews; that Callisto is goddess now, but she keeps on getting bested by this human. It’s a bit of a one trick pony show after awhile to see Xena keep stopping her by throwing nature at her (lava, rocks. Not even her first time trapping Callisto in rocks!) Also—and maye Leick has a point here—but why can’t Callisto do anything against the rocks? She can flick Xena with a finger, but not rocks? Alas, sometimes the show embraces shoddy worldbuilding for the sake of Xena coming up on top. But in terms of Callisto’s personality, she is always one of the best parts of the show. It was interesting to watch Sears, in his video interview, talk about how they worked hard to give Callisto a reason to want to help Hope—and they settled on Callisto wanting oblivion. Leick posited that maybe her character wanted it because she was such a shitty goddess. :P But for me…I think Callisto has been heading here her whole life. Ever since Xena torched her village and she was filled with such grief and rage, at least part of Callisto wanted oblivion. Her life is burning too fast for her to handle. Look at how gushy she is over that damn succubus! (And sidenote—was interesting to watch Leick’s video commentary, where she reveled in all of the gross parts of filming! Also in Callisto’s flirtation with Xena, hee. Not so much her bad tussled “rabbit” hairdos, heh.) I gotta love all of the Auntie Callisto language, almost as though the character was competing with Gabrielle for Hope’s affections. Elsewhere she is tiffing with Ares, who basically dismisses her as a “new money” sort of goddess; will be interesting to see them in the next episode when they are on the same side! I guess, for me, it comes down to this. I realize we are reaching the end of usefulness for this character, but damn I just never grew tired of her! Whether laughing manically, throwing a tantrum, or teasing Xena with her endgame, she is always the most charismatic person in the room. Oh, to be a charismatic, probably insane warlord goddess. :P Maybe I need help.
And finally, your random odds and ends! I feel like I have to return to Beth Gaynor’s whoosh.org commentary where she calls Xena out for not being sensitive enough to Gabrielle’s needs. I guess we are all supposed to pat the warrior princess on the back for functioning at all against the goddess child who killed her son. But…isn’t Hope still Gab’s daughter? Doesn’t that mean anything, beyond the wool they pull over Seraphin (and the audience’s) eyes? I keep coming back to the scene where they’re ostensibly talking about Seraphin, and Xena says “That’s the funny thing about people. Just when you think you’ve got them figured out, they show a completely different side to their character.” It almost seemed like Xena was accusing Gabrielle, was keeping the wound open. And maybe it was all for Seraphin’s benefit, but damn, Lucy Lawless’s delivery! Anywho. Another nitpicky element—how did Xena get herself out of the sacrificial scaffolding that pinned down her arms? (Short answer—because she’s Xena. :P) Why did Xena send Gabrielle and Seraphin to the hut, when the “zombie villagers” (whoosh.org’s words for the villagers under Hope’s control) would just come surround the place anyway? I guess we needed an extra scene to build up tension about whether or not Gabs would come to Seraphin’s side. Returning to Callisto, she does promise that Xena will love half of her plan, and Beth Gaynor posits on whoosh.org that it’s true: Xena would love to see Callisto’s obliteration. Yeah, probably. :P By this point, whatever guilt she feels about contributing to Callisto’s condition is probably outdone by how powerfully evil her former protégé has gotten. (What I call my three favorite Xena villains…Ares is the mentor, Callisto is the protégé. And then there’s Caesar as her peer; guess he’s off campaigning in Gaul or something right now. :P) OK, back to the episode—whoosh.org referenced Night of the Living Dead, but I think I’ll choose The Evil Dead because it was a Ted Raimi production (starring none other than Autolycus actor, Bruce Campbell!) But yeah, a lot of body horror here. From the vague, zombified peasants to Renee O’Connor as Hope popping out of a gooey cocoon. :P Hope she had fun making all of those crazy facial expressions, hee. And finally, I thought I’d end with a shoutout—to whoosh.org’s own Bret Rudnick, who played an extra in this episode! It’s always fun when we fans can get involved in the big show. :D
Disclaimer No Pulsing Cocoons were harmed during the production of this motion picture. What was witnessed was purely a re-enactment.
Favorite Quotes:
*intro to Gabby’s “old friend,” and of course Xena sees the flaws in the Callisto worship thing*
GGabrielle: We have to find her, Xena. I’ve known Seraphin since she was-- she was five. I can’t believe that she would be a worshipper of Callisto’s.
Xena: More than that-- she was a sacrifice. When we stepped in, Callisto decided to take one of the other priests.
Gabrielle: Do you think it’s possible that Callisto could end up like the other gods? With temples, and followers?”
Xena: It’s not like her-- there has to be something else.
*Auntie Callisto!!*
Callisto: Hi, Honey, I’m home. Ah-- well-- there you are. Hello, Pumpkin. Your Auntie Callisto’s brought you a little treat. It is what you wanted, isn’t it? They called him the, the--‘priest to the flesh.’ Now-- shall I carve, or will you?
*Ares doesn’t like “new money” gods. Xena couldn’t care less*
Ares: Callisto didn’t come back for a few temples. She wants it all. Now, Xena-- you’re gonna need an ally. Maybe we can-- come up with some arrangement.
Xena: Forget it. I’m not in this for your petty revenge.
Ares: Callisto is not a true god. She was mortal. She’s got no control-- no respect for any of us. All she can bring is destruction. And when she gets an army of worshippers--conquers the world-- what then?
Xena: Then she’s comin’ after you.
*are they flirting or are they advancing plot? :P*
Callisto: Hmm, not happy to see me, are you? Neither am I, really. But I’ve got a plan to solve both of our problems.
Xena: Why don’t you let me in on it?
Callisto: Oh-- Xena-- tsk-tsk-tsk-tsk. I tell you about it, and the first thing you know-- you’ll be trying to stop me. You just trust me. You’re gonna love it. Well-- ’least half of it.
Xena: Oh, goody.
Callisto: You know, it’s funny that I keep this thing around. I don’t really need it. It’s just for decoration-- and for fun. *they fight* I don’t know if I’m toying with you-- or you’re toying with me. Oh-- you can’t beat me, Xena. You can only-- you can only delay me. Uh-- sorry, Xena, but I’m on a schedule. Oh, yes.
*dun dun DUUUUN*
Gabrielle: I know-- you wanna be sacrificed to the temple of Callisto. Well, it’s not going to happen.
Seraphin: Who’s Callisto?
Gabrielle: Who’s-- ? You mean, you aren’t being sacrificed to Callisto?
Seraphin: I’m chosen-- for the priestess of the blood-- for the rebirth of the goddess?
Xena: This isn’t about Callisto. It’s about something else—the goddess of Dahak. It’s about Hope.
*Seraphin, Xena and Ares are on completely different pages when it comes to the question of humanity*
Seraphin: Why shouldn’t we worship her? I mean, we’re not fools. We look at how the world is today. Where is the happiness? Where is the peace?
Gabrielle: Seraphin-- you have no idea what you’re talking about. Hope is bringing Dahak’s destruction.
Seraphin: The goddess, Hope, is the savior of this world. I must get back to Werfner. The high priest needs me-- needs _me_--for the goddess.
Xena: Your goddess killed my child.
Gabrielle: It’s OK. Come along. I’ll explain to you. *exit Gabs and Seraphin. Enter Ares*
Ares: Hope is building an army of the ignorant. Incredible--are mortals so stupid as to believe Dahak will actually bring them peace? They all deserve what they get. I really don’t know why you continue to protect them.
Xena: Shut up, Ares. Hope must die.
Ares: Oh, my thoughts, exactly-- but my way. I got a lotta options, here. I can raise a combined army of all my warriors. Hope wants to fight? I’ll be there-- but on my terms. Not to--press a point, but-- I could really use an overall commander.
Xena: Your army means nothing to me.
Ares: Takin’ this all a little-- personally-- aren’t we? OK. When you realize you’re wrong, call me-- if you survive.
*Ares and his army of one :P*
Ares: No, you aren’t listening! I said _everybody_! I want every warlord-- every soldier who ever professed an allegiance to me-- all of them. This is gonna be the largest army ever assembled.
Warlord: But this is Dahak and his daughter.
Ares: And I am Ares, god of war! I will _not_ end up some footnote in the annals of history! Dahak wants a battle for dominion-- all right. I’ll give him one he’ll never forget. But we strike now! So, do as I tell you-- and go.
*on this episode of “Days of Our Lives”…*
Gabrielle: This rebirth-- what is that? Can-- can you explain it to me, ‘cause I don’t know what it means.
Seraphin: It’s the time when she becomes her destiny, and she emerges stronger and more powerful. Let the goddess, Hope, touch your soul.
Gabrielle: She already has. Hope is my daughter.
*understanding Callisto’s angle*
Callisto: Ask her if she understands what I’m doing-- and exactly_why_ I’m protecting her.
Werfner: *communes with succubus, talks to Callisto* You wanna die?
Callisto: More than that. I want oblivion. I want my life to end. I want it it all to stop. No nothing! No memories, no Tartarus, nothing! And I know-- I know she can do it. Now, does she agree?
Werfner: The goddess understands, and-- she agrees.
*Xena understands people…does she understand Gabrielle?*
Xena: Hey. Every village has got the same story-- people leaving home to join Dahak’s followers. ‘Disciples,’ they’re calling themselves now.
Gabrielle: Are they under a spell or something?
Xena: No, they’re simple people. They’re-- they’re poor and they’re-- they’re disillusioned. That’s all she needs to draw them in. *about Seraphin* What’s wrong with her?
Gabrielle: I told her about Hope-- about me and Hope.
Xena: And?
Gabrielle: I don’t know. When she looks at me, it’s like there’s somebody else in there. How could this happen? I mean, if I were to bet what she’d be doing right now--
Xena: That’s the funny thing about people. Just when you think you’ve got them figured out, they show a completely different side to their character.
*Werfner as Smeagol*
Werfner: *to succubus* You should have told us you didn’t eat. We wouldn’t have brought back so much. If we were immortal, we would still like to eat all _kinds_--
Callisto: “Quiet! We’ve got a visitor. *supernaturally tracking Xena* Oh, she’s so good. I’ll be right back.
Werfner: Visitor-- we don’t like visitors.
*exposition before the “rocks fall” part*
Callisto: Oh, Xena, come on. I know you’re here. Still trying to stop me, even though I’m doing you a favor.
Xena: You can do me a favor by handing over Hope.
Callisto: Oh, you figured it out, did you? Well, no can do. She’s not quite up to snuff at the moment. She’s cocooned-- helpless. She needs her Auntie Callisto. And you would just run her through.
Xena: That’s the idea.
Callisto: Yeah, well, I can’t let it happen. See, I have plans for her-- big plans.
Xena: Well, forget about them-- and hand over that monster!
*side switcheroo!*
Xena: Stay back, Ares. I’m the one who gets to kill her.
Ares: Then I guess we got a problem-- ‘cause I just can’t let that happen.
*Does Seraphin have a point???*
Seraphin: We had heard about the mother of the goddess, Hope. She’s known as the betrayer-- the one who selfishly killed her own daughter.
Gabrielle: That’s not how it was.
Seraphin: We were never told her name, because it was said that to speak it was obscene blasphemy. I didn’t know it was you—but I guess it makes sense.
Gabrielle: How does it make sense?
Seraphin: She’s your daughter. She’s a balance of Dahak’s power. The goddess, Hope, is a balance of good and evil. But born as a mortal-- she is one of us.
Gabrielle: She’s evil. That’s what she is. She’s like her father.
Seraphin: She has a harsh father, yes. That’s why Hope was born of a good person-- of you. She can stand as a champion for mortals-- a leader for us all.
Gabrielle: She is a murderer. She doesn’t care about any of us. Even as a child--
Seraphn: Can you blame a child for not understanding a power that was given it? A child, without guidance-- without her mother? After the rebirth, the goddess, Hope, will have the wisdom to know what’s best. She’s your daughter, Gabrielle. How could your daughter be evil?
*not much insight into why Ares switched sides, but he does speak a bit about mentoring Xena as he talks to the succubus*
Ares: Can you hear me? Can you? You and Callisto killed Strife. You tried to kill me. But as you’ve probably figured out-- I forgive you. Xena’s not finished, you know. When she puts her mind to killing someone, they generally get killed. I know. I gave her that focus. I suggest-- that you do something to discourage her.
*the “gotcha” moment!*
Gabrielle: Xena-- about this rebirth of Hope. What if it changes her?
Xena: It won’t change her-- except to make her more powerful and more evil.
Gabrielle: I just can’t help thinking that-- that she was a child when she did all those things.
Xena: And my son was only a child when she killed him. Don’t you dare defend Hope to me. I’m gonna head south and see if I can find anything. You stay here and don’t let her outta your sight. *about Seraphin, then Xena “leaves”*
Seraphin: You can sense her, can’t you? She’s your daughter, Gabrielle. She loves you. Don’t you know that? She needs you.
Gabrielle: Don’t you think I know that? I have thought of that every minute-- but I can’t play ‘What if?’
Seraphin: But it doesn’t have to be like that. She knows. The goddess, Hope, knows. I can feel it. And if Xena kills her, I--
Gabrielle: Go to her. Find her. Warn her.
Seraphin: I will. I’ll tell her that her mother loves her. Oh, you are the savior of the world, Gabrielle. *Serapin exits for real*
Xena: That was good. With the connection Hope has to her followers, Seraphin should lead me right to her. You almost convinced me.
*Ares calls in his favor with Gabrielle*
Gabrielle: Where are we? What-what is this place? Who are they?
Clotho: “We--
Lachesis: -- are--
Atropos: -- the Fates.
Ares: Yes, the Fates. They spin the thread of life for all you mortals.
Gabrielle: What am I doing here?
Ares: Oh, I don’t know-- old time’s sake? To call in a debt, remember? You still owe me for gettin’ you to Ch’in ahead of Xena. Now, I’m callin’ that favor in. If Xena kills Hope--this thread is cut.
Gabrielle: If I have to die to keep Dahak’s evil from the world, then I will. *feels the thread* That-that’s-that’s Xena. This is Xena’s life thread.
Ares: That’s right. And if she kills Hope-- chk-chk-chk. The Fates agree-- I have the right to ask this?
Clotho: The debt is binding.
Lachesis: The burden is--
Atropos: -- on Gabrielle.
Clotho: If Xena kills Hope--
Lachesis: Xena--
Atropos: -- will die.
*Guess who’s hatching!!!*
Seraphin: My goddess-- I’m here. I bring you my life’s blood. I bring you freedom.
Werfner: The offering of the priestess of the blood-- the rebirth of the goddess. With this offering-- the goddess awakens—the daughter of Dahak-- the bringer of-- the destroyer.
Also: welcome to my favorite two episodes of the series! :D Though technically, I’m kinda hoping that the season finale will hold up a little better. :/ Or add a little more context. Or make me forget the awful ‘90s CGI (though Hudson Leick’s acting helped in that regard! :D Why get bent out of shape about a spiral wheel and large hands coming out of it when Callisto’s smirk follows, hee?)
It’s been several years since I’ve watched this, but I do think Beth Gaynor on whoosh.org has a bit of a point—part one is largely filler. A pretext for the big showdown that will be part two. And it moved kind of fast, too! Maybe it should have explained more, like what was up with Ares’s shift of allegiance? I have my theories, given the arc of the second episode, but it’s a little more wishy washy here.
But I do still love this episode. It’s the beginning of the culmination of The Rift, so of course we have to bring back the major players from earlier in the season—namely Gabrielle’s daughter, Hope! :o Yeah, I spoiled it. :P But the important thing to show in this iteration of the Hope conflict is that Xena and Gabrielle are largely on the same page again. And perhaps a little more, according to Steven L. Sears’s commentary!
You might also wonder what Callisto is doing in here (and Ares! Plus a lot of extras.) Apparently, Callisto, Ares and Hope all played guest roles in a recent episode of Hercules, which advanced their plotlines a bit. Xena apparently knew all of this through the grapevine because she’s Xena, so she’s basically all knowing. :P But seriously, I think they did their best to do a mini recap for those of us who didn’t watch the other show. There’s no getting around the clunkiness. But luckily, even in this set up episode, there is enough action and gravitas that recounting all of the backstory doesn’t necessarily matter. Just give everyone a quest (and from the title, you might guess what Hope’s ends up being :/) and let’s go! Season finale, part one, whooooo!!! :D
Summary is here, courtesy of whoosh.org.
Xena and Gabrielle are tracking Gab’s childhood friend, Seraphin, who has joined a sort of death cult! She is about to be sacrificed, but of course our heroes can’t have that. They save her, but ultimately realize she’s been brainwashed into thinking she has to welcome a goddess back to Earth. Xena and Gabs think this must be Callisto, who recently returned via a vortex. (Quick Hercules recap: in the two-parter “Armageddon Now,” Hope released Callisto from the mine that Xena trapped her in at the end of the episode “Maternal Instincts.” The gals want to kill some gods that, a la established lore, requires Hind blood, which Ares has in a pendant. Hercules ends up throwing Callisto into a portal, which, yanno, can only hold her until this episode, cos we need to see her again! ;P Meanwhile, Hope just keeps getting bailed out by Daddy, I suppose—he saves her after Gabrielle poisoned her, again in “Maternal Instincts,” then he saved her after Hercules foiled her plan in “Armageddon Now.” Guess she’s proven she’s following in his footsteps, heh.) But no—if my rambly backstory didn’t give it away, I’ll speak more plainly—Callisto is working for Hope! Hope is currently a succubus in an egg thing, feeding off of the sacrifices of villagers who believe she will bring goodness to the world. Ares, pissed off that Hope killed his pal, Strife, over on Hercules, vows to destroy the gals…but then he changes his mind. So Xena has a lot of people working against her this time. Someone who isn’t is Gabrielle, despite the fact that Seraphin tries to guilt her about being a bad mother to Hope. Yeah, Gabs went through all of that before, again during the episode “Maternal Instincts,” and now she respects that Hope cannot be saved. Just one tiiiiny problem, other than Xena having to fight off gods, mortals, the usual. Ares calls in his favor from “The Debt,” when he got Gabrielle to Chin before Xena arrived. Now he’s convinced the Fates to kill Xena if she kills Hope—and it’s up to Gabs to make sure that doesn’t happen! Which, at the end of this episode means that Xena doesn’t succeed in killing the succubus in time. It hatches, and Hope emerges in human form…looking like none other than her own mother. :0 Hey, weird rhyme there. :P
Not sure how much I can truly say about Hope’s followers but I still figure I should try. There is a hint of something in here about the human condition, about how easy it is for communities to fall under the sway of autocrats. Xena sees it, of course, when she explains to Gabrielle why villagers are joining up as Hope’s “disciples;” “they’re poor and they’re disillusioned.” Anyone with a message of massive change sounds good to the downtrodden. But that’s about as deep as the insight goes; I don’t want to pretend that we are getting a lot of philosophical commentary in this episode. What we are getting are “disciples” dressed up in leftover Amazon costumes. Seriously, Xena, talk about bewildering your audience in the beginning! I mean, here Xena and Gabs were watching women dressed as and dancing like Amazons, and Gabrielle, an Amazon queen, didn’t pick up on it? Because technically there was nothing to pick up on, because technically these “disciples” are a different group of people? Couldn’t they have different costumes then? :P Oy. Well, anyway…of course we the audience had never heard of Seraphin before, either, even though she and Gabs were old chums back in the day. This is pretty par for the course, and it still worked in context because it gave Gabby something more personal to talk about with this “disciple.” Seraphin is the living, breathing embodiment of the naïve young girl getting swept up in something she doesn’t understand. In a strange way, she kind of mirrors Gabrielle, who was pretty naïve when she let herself get swept up in Xena’s life. The difference is that Gabs kept her eyes open, and kept growing as a person. (But, sidenote about the Seraphin actress, Jodie Rimmer, she later appeared as Lilith in the spinoff, Young Hercules!) (And another aside—the man who played “The Priest of the Flesh,” was apparently such a heavy smoker that Hudson Leick remembered the smell, years later, when recording the commentary! Hee.) But to get kind of back on track here, I’ll end by mentioning the most important human priest, Werfner. Played by the actor Stephen Ure, according to Leick and Sears, their ambition was to base him off of Smeagol in The Lord of the Rings! That’s why he was so squirrely and he spoke in “the royal we,” which annoyed Beth Graynor on whoosh.org. :P Funny to think that a little while after shooting this episode in 1998, New Zealand would then be home to the Lord of the Rings adaptation production! But of course, the original books preceded the movies by decades, so maybe that’s where the inspiration came from. :P
I’ve danced around the issue for too long, but now there’s no stopping it—we have to talk about Xena and Gabrielle. :P This is kind of their show, after all. As Sears said in an interview about these two episodes: “We wanted to solidify the relationship between Xena and Gabrielle at that point. We wanted to show that they had a great purpose. We wanted to show that they were keystones in fate—in the history of humanity. And we wanted to set up what could be the battle for the dominion of the earth and we wanted to do it in about 90 minutes.” :P I mean WOW. Maybe most of that is remembering the hyperbole of being at the end of one season and trying to set up an amazing next one, heh. But to be fair, for most of the rest of the show, Xena and Gabrielle do rub shoulders against increasingly powerful beings. They have already criss crossed time and space in order to take part in a lot of important world events (that sometimes actually took place in vastly different locations and time periods, but yanno. :P) And the Dahak religion kind of fits the bill, too. Like Beth Gaynor said on whoosh.org, there are some Christian elements at play here: people are “washed of their sins,” which I should have stated in the paragraph above is a major belief of the disciples. But to dial it back down here—Sears started the quote by referencing the individual couple (and teasing us with verbiage that quite obviously made them soulmates! The subtext is real!!!! Er, anyway.) The “Rift,” which ostensibly started with the birth of Hope and how Gabrielle secretly kept her alive, is officially over now. You know, we had that musical episode and everything. :P And this was a time where it was very tempting to re-open that can of worms. In fact, Xena kind of sort of did when she found out about Hope, and then couldn’t stop talking about the death of her son. It was Ares, of all people, who encouraged her to dial it back and not respond to this crisis from an angry place. But Gabby…she was hit hard with what could be feelings of guilt. I mean, I think, and Sears thinks, and maybe a lot of people think, that Seraphin brought up good arguments about why Hope turned out the way she did. How she needed a mother. I remember Amy Boatman talking about this on the Xena Cast podcast. Some folks disagree with how the Hope/Gabrielle storyline went. But in terms of this episode…I think the writers wanted to make sure that Gabrielle wasn’t waffling on her allegiance to Xena. Because she had already done that plenty of times, earlier in the season, and now she was supposed to be beyond that. So basically, most of the feelings Gabrielle projected to Seraphin were a ploy, to use her friend for their greater goal of tracking down Hope. Near the end of the episode, Gabs stopped Xena from killing the succubus, but that was for entirely different reasons than maternal affection.
And with that, maybe I’ll jump straight into Ares! :P And even Ares with Gabrielle, which is an unusual place to start, though the two of them are slowly getting more screen time together. They had their little mini-arc this season as well, which particularly revolved around the debt Gabby owed Ares for getting her to Chin in, er, “The Debt.” :P Coming full circle, Ares calls in that favor now. He takes Gabs to see the Fates, who promise to cut Xena’s life line if she kills Hope! :o Looks like Gabby didn’t have the time to explain all of this to Xena before diving in to stop her from killing Hope. Need to set up some bad blood between them in the season finale, heh. We will have to wait and see! But back to Ares proper…he did a bit of a 180 this episode! What was that channel of fire that appeared behind him that made him switch from “Team Anti-Hope” to “Team Hope”? He was more or less cavalier when he explained to the succubus that he forgave her, heh. But here’s another question—whatever happened to that army he was supposed to be forming? Did someone give them the new orders that they had switched sides?? Will we even see these people? I get that the Xena production has budget constraints, but…that one, lone warlord running desperately through the sand dunes was pretty weak sauce. Oy…the god of war deserves better! Here he is, wanting to make sure that Dahak and Hope don’t obliterate him, or maybe even mess with the status quo for humans that he seems to like. The Olympian gods are supposed to be in charge here! Sears explained Ares’s switcheroo choice on the wikia as “Ares was pragmatic. Given enough time, he was convinced he could find the flaw in Dahak that would allow him to regain power. He wasn’t foolish enough to challenge Dahak when the odds were so stacked against him.” Er, ok. Just sayin, this could have been more strongly expressed within the episode, rather than after it. Anywho. The other mission that is always on Ares’s plate is trying to get Xena to come back to him. This was a pretty lackluster episode for that because Xena was not tempted, not even once. The whole “be the leader of my army” thing was basically a distraction from the bigger, Hope-related obsession on Xena’s mind. Ares tends to have increased sway with her when he himself is her more direct adversary.
And as crazy as it is to admit, Ares wasn’t the most dynamic villain in the room during this ep! Nor was Hope, even when we saw who was playing her. :P This honor, as always, goes to Hudson Leick’s Callisto! The Xena crew always seems so impressed by her and honestly, why shouldn’t they be? She enlivens every scene that she is in. We are always desperate to see her…even if her narrative maaaaybe got a little stale. Leick herself seemed most frustrated with this during the video interviews; that Callisto is goddess now, but she keeps on getting bested by this human. It’s a bit of a one trick pony show after awhile to see Xena keep stopping her by throwing nature at her (lava, rocks. Not even her first time trapping Callisto in rocks!) Also—and maye Leick has a point here—but why can’t Callisto do anything against the rocks? She can flick Xena with a finger, but not rocks? Alas, sometimes the show embraces shoddy worldbuilding for the sake of Xena coming up on top. But in terms of Callisto’s personality, she is always one of the best parts of the show. It was interesting to watch Sears, in his video interview, talk about how they worked hard to give Callisto a reason to want to help Hope—and they settled on Callisto wanting oblivion. Leick posited that maybe her character wanted it because she was such a shitty goddess. :P But for me…I think Callisto has been heading here her whole life. Ever since Xena torched her village and she was filled with such grief and rage, at least part of Callisto wanted oblivion. Her life is burning too fast for her to handle. Look at how gushy she is over that damn succubus! (And sidenote—was interesting to watch Leick’s video commentary, where she reveled in all of the gross parts of filming! Also in Callisto’s flirtation with Xena, hee. Not so much her bad tussled “rabbit” hairdos, heh.) I gotta love all of the Auntie Callisto language, almost as though the character was competing with Gabrielle for Hope’s affections. Elsewhere she is tiffing with Ares, who basically dismisses her as a “new money” sort of goddess; will be interesting to see them in the next episode when they are on the same side! I guess, for me, it comes down to this. I realize we are reaching the end of usefulness for this character, but damn I just never grew tired of her! Whether laughing manically, throwing a tantrum, or teasing Xena with her endgame, she is always the most charismatic person in the room. Oh, to be a charismatic, probably insane warlord goddess. :P Maybe I need help.
And finally, your random odds and ends! I feel like I have to return to Beth Gaynor’s whoosh.org commentary where she calls Xena out for not being sensitive enough to Gabrielle’s needs. I guess we are all supposed to pat the warrior princess on the back for functioning at all against the goddess child who killed her son. But…isn’t Hope still Gab’s daughter? Doesn’t that mean anything, beyond the wool they pull over Seraphin (and the audience’s) eyes? I keep coming back to the scene where they’re ostensibly talking about Seraphin, and Xena says “That’s the funny thing about people. Just when you think you’ve got them figured out, they show a completely different side to their character.” It almost seemed like Xena was accusing Gabrielle, was keeping the wound open. And maybe it was all for Seraphin’s benefit, but damn, Lucy Lawless’s delivery! Anywho. Another nitpicky element—how did Xena get herself out of the sacrificial scaffolding that pinned down her arms? (Short answer—because she’s Xena. :P) Why did Xena send Gabrielle and Seraphin to the hut, when the “zombie villagers” (whoosh.org’s words for the villagers under Hope’s control) would just come surround the place anyway? I guess we needed an extra scene to build up tension about whether or not Gabs would come to Seraphin’s side. Returning to Callisto, she does promise that Xena will love half of her plan, and Beth Gaynor posits on whoosh.org that it’s true: Xena would love to see Callisto’s obliteration. Yeah, probably. :P By this point, whatever guilt she feels about contributing to Callisto’s condition is probably outdone by how powerfully evil her former protégé has gotten. (What I call my three favorite Xena villains…Ares is the mentor, Callisto is the protégé. And then there’s Caesar as her peer; guess he’s off campaigning in Gaul or something right now. :P) OK, back to the episode—whoosh.org referenced Night of the Living Dead, but I think I’ll choose The Evil Dead because it was a Ted Raimi production (starring none other than Autolycus actor, Bruce Campbell!) But yeah, a lot of body horror here. From the vague, zombified peasants to Renee O’Connor as Hope popping out of a gooey cocoon. :P Hope she had fun making all of those crazy facial expressions, hee. And finally, I thought I’d end with a shoutout—to whoosh.org’s own Bret Rudnick, who played an extra in this episode! It’s always fun when we fans can get involved in the big show. :D
Disclaimer No Pulsing Cocoons were harmed during the production of this motion picture. What was witnessed was purely a re-enactment.
Favorite Quotes:
*intro to Gabby’s “old friend,” and of course Xena sees the flaws in the Callisto worship thing*
GGabrielle: We have to find her, Xena. I’ve known Seraphin since she was-- she was five. I can’t believe that she would be a worshipper of Callisto’s.
Xena: More than that-- she was a sacrifice. When we stepped in, Callisto decided to take one of the other priests.
Gabrielle: Do you think it’s possible that Callisto could end up like the other gods? With temples, and followers?”
Xena: It’s not like her-- there has to be something else.
*Auntie Callisto!!*
Callisto: Hi, Honey, I’m home. Ah-- well-- there you are. Hello, Pumpkin. Your Auntie Callisto’s brought you a little treat. It is what you wanted, isn’t it? They called him the, the--‘priest to the flesh.’ Now-- shall I carve, or will you?
*Ares doesn’t like “new money” gods. Xena couldn’t care less*
Ares: Callisto didn’t come back for a few temples. She wants it all. Now, Xena-- you’re gonna need an ally. Maybe we can-- come up with some arrangement.
Xena: Forget it. I’m not in this for your petty revenge.
Ares: Callisto is not a true god. She was mortal. She’s got no control-- no respect for any of us. All she can bring is destruction. And when she gets an army of worshippers--conquers the world-- what then?
Xena: Then she’s comin’ after you.
*are they flirting or are they advancing plot? :P*
Callisto: Hmm, not happy to see me, are you? Neither am I, really. But I’ve got a plan to solve both of our problems.
Xena: Why don’t you let me in on it?
Callisto: Oh-- Xena-- tsk-tsk-tsk-tsk. I tell you about it, and the first thing you know-- you’ll be trying to stop me. You just trust me. You’re gonna love it. Well-- ’least half of it.
Xena: Oh, goody.
Callisto: You know, it’s funny that I keep this thing around. I don’t really need it. It’s just for decoration-- and for fun. *they fight* I don’t know if I’m toying with you-- or you’re toying with me. Oh-- you can’t beat me, Xena. You can only-- you can only delay me. Uh-- sorry, Xena, but I’m on a schedule. Oh, yes.
*dun dun DUUUUN*
Gabrielle: I know-- you wanna be sacrificed to the temple of Callisto. Well, it’s not going to happen.
Seraphin: Who’s Callisto?
Gabrielle: Who’s-- ? You mean, you aren’t being sacrificed to Callisto?
Seraphin: I’m chosen-- for the priestess of the blood-- for the rebirth of the goddess?
Xena: This isn’t about Callisto. It’s about something else—the goddess of Dahak. It’s about Hope.
*Seraphin, Xena and Ares are on completely different pages when it comes to the question of humanity*
Seraphin: Why shouldn’t we worship her? I mean, we’re not fools. We look at how the world is today. Where is the happiness? Where is the peace?
Gabrielle: Seraphin-- you have no idea what you’re talking about. Hope is bringing Dahak’s destruction.
Seraphin: The goddess, Hope, is the savior of this world. I must get back to Werfner. The high priest needs me-- needs _me_--for the goddess.
Xena: Your goddess killed my child.
Gabrielle: It’s OK. Come along. I’ll explain to you. *exit Gabs and Seraphin. Enter Ares*
Ares: Hope is building an army of the ignorant. Incredible--are mortals so stupid as to believe Dahak will actually bring them peace? They all deserve what they get. I really don’t know why you continue to protect them.
Xena: Shut up, Ares. Hope must die.
Ares: Oh, my thoughts, exactly-- but my way. I got a lotta options, here. I can raise a combined army of all my warriors. Hope wants to fight? I’ll be there-- but on my terms. Not to--press a point, but-- I could really use an overall commander.
Xena: Your army means nothing to me.
Ares: Takin’ this all a little-- personally-- aren’t we? OK. When you realize you’re wrong, call me-- if you survive.
*Ares and his army of one :P*
Ares: No, you aren’t listening! I said _everybody_! I want every warlord-- every soldier who ever professed an allegiance to me-- all of them. This is gonna be the largest army ever assembled.
Warlord: But this is Dahak and his daughter.
Ares: And I am Ares, god of war! I will _not_ end up some footnote in the annals of history! Dahak wants a battle for dominion-- all right. I’ll give him one he’ll never forget. But we strike now! So, do as I tell you-- and go.
*on this episode of “Days of Our Lives”…*
Gabrielle: This rebirth-- what is that? Can-- can you explain it to me, ‘cause I don’t know what it means.
Seraphin: It’s the time when she becomes her destiny, and she emerges stronger and more powerful. Let the goddess, Hope, touch your soul.
Gabrielle: She already has. Hope is my daughter.
*understanding Callisto’s angle*
Callisto: Ask her if she understands what I’m doing-- and exactly_why_ I’m protecting her.
Werfner: *communes with succubus, talks to Callisto* You wanna die?
Callisto: More than that. I want oblivion. I want my life to end. I want it it all to stop. No nothing! No memories, no Tartarus, nothing! And I know-- I know she can do it. Now, does she agree?
Werfner: The goddess understands, and-- she agrees.
*Xena understands people…does she understand Gabrielle?*
Xena: Hey. Every village has got the same story-- people leaving home to join Dahak’s followers. ‘Disciples,’ they’re calling themselves now.
Gabrielle: Are they under a spell or something?
Xena: No, they’re simple people. They’re-- they’re poor and they’re-- they’re disillusioned. That’s all she needs to draw them in. *about Seraphin* What’s wrong with her?
Gabrielle: I told her about Hope-- about me and Hope.
Xena: And?
Gabrielle: I don’t know. When she looks at me, it’s like there’s somebody else in there. How could this happen? I mean, if I were to bet what she’d be doing right now--
Xena: That’s the funny thing about people. Just when you think you’ve got them figured out, they show a completely different side to their character.
*Werfner as Smeagol*
Werfner: *to succubus* You should have told us you didn’t eat. We wouldn’t have brought back so much. If we were immortal, we would still like to eat all _kinds_--
Callisto: “Quiet! We’ve got a visitor. *supernaturally tracking Xena* Oh, she’s so good. I’ll be right back.
Werfner: Visitor-- we don’t like visitors.
*exposition before the “rocks fall” part*
Callisto: Oh, Xena, come on. I know you’re here. Still trying to stop me, even though I’m doing you a favor.
Xena: You can do me a favor by handing over Hope.
Callisto: Oh, you figured it out, did you? Well, no can do. She’s not quite up to snuff at the moment. She’s cocooned-- helpless. She needs her Auntie Callisto. And you would just run her through.
Xena: That’s the idea.
Callisto: Yeah, well, I can’t let it happen. See, I have plans for her-- big plans.
Xena: Well, forget about them-- and hand over that monster!
*side switcheroo!*
Xena: Stay back, Ares. I’m the one who gets to kill her.
Ares: Then I guess we got a problem-- ‘cause I just can’t let that happen.
*Does Seraphin have a point???*
Seraphin: We had heard about the mother of the goddess, Hope. She’s known as the betrayer-- the one who selfishly killed her own daughter.
Gabrielle: That’s not how it was.
Seraphin: We were never told her name, because it was said that to speak it was obscene blasphemy. I didn’t know it was you—but I guess it makes sense.
Gabrielle: How does it make sense?
Seraphin: She’s your daughter. She’s a balance of Dahak’s power. The goddess, Hope, is a balance of good and evil. But born as a mortal-- she is one of us.
Gabrielle: She’s evil. That’s what she is. She’s like her father.
Seraphin: She has a harsh father, yes. That’s why Hope was born of a good person-- of you. She can stand as a champion for mortals-- a leader for us all.
Gabrielle: She is a murderer. She doesn’t care about any of us. Even as a child--
Seraphn: Can you blame a child for not understanding a power that was given it? A child, without guidance-- without her mother? After the rebirth, the goddess, Hope, will have the wisdom to know what’s best. She’s your daughter, Gabrielle. How could your daughter be evil?
*not much insight into why Ares switched sides, but he does speak a bit about mentoring Xena as he talks to the succubus*
Ares: Can you hear me? Can you? You and Callisto killed Strife. You tried to kill me. But as you’ve probably figured out-- I forgive you. Xena’s not finished, you know. When she puts her mind to killing someone, they generally get killed. I know. I gave her that focus. I suggest-- that you do something to discourage her.
*the “gotcha” moment!*
Gabrielle: Xena-- about this rebirth of Hope. What if it changes her?
Xena: It won’t change her-- except to make her more powerful and more evil.
Gabrielle: I just can’t help thinking that-- that she was a child when she did all those things.
Xena: And my son was only a child when she killed him. Don’t you dare defend Hope to me. I’m gonna head south and see if I can find anything. You stay here and don’t let her outta your sight. *about Seraphin, then Xena “leaves”*
Seraphin: You can sense her, can’t you? She’s your daughter, Gabrielle. She loves you. Don’t you know that? She needs you.
Gabrielle: Don’t you think I know that? I have thought of that every minute-- but I can’t play ‘What if?’
Seraphin: But it doesn’t have to be like that. She knows. The goddess, Hope, knows. I can feel it. And if Xena kills her, I--
Gabrielle: Go to her. Find her. Warn her.
Seraphin: I will. I’ll tell her that her mother loves her. Oh, you are the savior of the world, Gabrielle. *Serapin exits for real*
Xena: That was good. With the connection Hope has to her followers, Seraphin should lead me right to her. You almost convinced me.
*Ares calls in his favor with Gabrielle*
Gabrielle: Where are we? What-what is this place? Who are they?
Clotho: “We--
Lachesis: -- are--
Atropos: -- the Fates.
Ares: Yes, the Fates. They spin the thread of life for all you mortals.
Gabrielle: What am I doing here?
Ares: Oh, I don’t know-- old time’s sake? To call in a debt, remember? You still owe me for gettin’ you to Ch’in ahead of Xena. Now, I’m callin’ that favor in. If Xena kills Hope--this thread is cut.
Gabrielle: If I have to die to keep Dahak’s evil from the world, then I will. *feels the thread* That-that’s-that’s Xena. This is Xena’s life thread.
Ares: That’s right. And if she kills Hope-- chk-chk-chk. The Fates agree-- I have the right to ask this?
Clotho: The debt is binding.
Lachesis: The burden is--
Atropos: -- on Gabrielle.
Clotho: If Xena kills Hope--
Lachesis: Xena--
Atropos: -- will die.
*Guess who’s hatching!!!*
Seraphin: My goddess-- I’m here. I bring you my life’s blood. I bring you freedom.
Werfner: The offering of the priestess of the blood-- the rebirth of the goddess. With this offering-- the goddess awakens—the daughter of Dahak-- the bringer of-- the destroyer.
