Xena Warrior Princess

Season Three Episode List

1997/8



The Furies

TV Guide Listing:
Syndication's top-rated heroine returns for her third season---and promptly loses her mind. Xena's immortal enemy Ares (Kevin Smith), enlists the aid of the Furies for his latest assault. The three curse-enforcing goddesses declare that the Warrior Princess (Lucy Lawless) has committed "a terrible crime. She will be punished by persecution and madness." Just what is the "terrible crime"? Gabrielle (Renee O'Connor) investigates and discovers that Xena had failed to avenge the murder of her father. That's certainly news to Xena: she didn't know that her father had been murdered, much less the identity of the killer.
Cyrene: Darien Takle. Alecto: Asa Lindh.
Ares pursuades The Furies to lay the twin penalties of insanity and persecution on Xena for falling to avenge the murder of a member of her family. As The Furies' curse takes effect, Xena starts acting very strangely and almost at once Gabrielle releases and pursuades Xena to investigate. Discovering the penalty is for failing to avenge the murder of her father, Xena sets off for home to find out more from her mother. Once there they learn that it is Xena's mother who killed her father and Xena decides to kill herself rather than her mother - meanwhile Gabrielle follows up on a lead on a very similar case only to discover that obeying The Furies' instructions is no remedy. Taunted by Ares, Xena manages to trick him into making The Furies actually appear in the temple to witness her carrying out their sentance, and proceeds to head there with her mother. Once there Xena uses Gabrielle and her mother's testimony to prove to The Furies that there is a real chance that Ares is in fact her father, and then issues a challenge to Ares to fight her.
Episode: 3.1, US airdate: 29 Sep 97.
Guest Stars: Kevin Smith (Ares), Darien Takle (Cyrene).
A more detailed summary of this episode is also available.
A full cast and edit decision list is available for this episode.
Xena's sanity was not harmed during the production of this motion picture. The Furies, however, will be openning their own lap-dancing variety show off-off-off-Broadway soon.

Been There, Done That

TV Guide Listing:
Shades of Bill Murray in "Groundhog Day": Xena, Gabrielle and Joxer (Ted Raimi) get mixed up with two feuding families on a day that repeats itself over and over again.
Tybelus: Deverick Williams. Neron: Joseph Murray. Hermia: Rebakah Davies. Xena: Lucy Lawless.
Xena wakes up to the sound of a rooster crowing, and sits up as Joxer enters carrying some goose eggs in his helmet. Gabrielle surfaces from under a pile of straw. Then a horseshoe falls from above Joxer, falling into his hat, cracking all the eggs and splashing the yolks all over his face. The three of them rise and go off in search of new horseshoes for Argo, and come across a feud in the market square. Joxer tries to intervene and gets killed by one of the swordsmen. Come evening Xena and Gabrielle hold a funeral pyre for him, and rather shocked and clinging to each other for comfort, they go to sleep. The rooster crows and once again Joxer enters the stable carrying goose eggs in his hat. Xena has a serious case of Deja Vu, but is overjoyed to see that Joxer is still alive, and pushes him back before the horseshoe can fall on him. She tries to explain to both Gabrielle and Joxer that she's seen this day before and tries to change things. This time she stops Joxer from getting involved in the feud in the marketplace, only to find that he gets involved in a seperate feud in an alleyway.

Once again the day repeats itself, and this time Xena stops the cause of the original duel by ensuring that an old deaf man is not knocked down by a passing chariot. Despite her efforts, the same two men still pick a fight over a different, even more trival dispute, and this time Gabrielle tries to stop the alley fight and is killed by one of the two swordsmen. The next time round, Xena ties up Joxer and Gabrielle and attempts to stop the fighting herself. This effort too fails. Xena then decides to learn more about the feud between the main two families to see if she can resolve the feud through knowledge rather than direct intervention. This time she manages to stop the feud and pursuade the leaders of both feuding families to put asside their differences; this still fails to break the cycle. Xena then discovers that a phial of poison is missing from the local potion maker, and discovers that the daughter of one of the feuding houses has taken it because she is in love with a young man from the other house and knows it can never be while the families are feuding. The next day she endeavours to reach the woman before she takes the poison but arrives a moment too late; finding the man he confides in her that Cupid has set the town to repeat the day of the woman's death time and time again until a hero comes to release them. But he says there is no way that Xena can reach the woman after the rooster calls but before she takes the poison. The rest of the day, a somewhat distracted Xena is measuring up the town. The following morning Xena unleashes her Chakram along it's carefully planned trajectory, saves the deaf old man and shatters the phial of poison just before the woman drinks it. The day starts one final time, but this time Joxer brings turnips rather than goose eggs... they're free at last.
Episode: 3.2, US airdate: 6 Oct 97.
Guest Stars: Ted Raimi (Joxer), Deverick Williams (Tybelus), Joseph Murray (Neron), Rebekah Davies (Hermia)

The rooster was not harmed during the production of this motion picture, although his feathers were severly ruffled. However, a little gel and mouse straighted out the mess.

The Dirty Half Dozen

TV Guide Listing:
Xena rounds up a gang of cutthroats to battle the warlord Agathon (Jonathon Roberts), a protege of Ares who possesses weapons made of a super-hard metal.
Walsim: Jon Brazier. Monlik: Stephen Ure. Glaphyra: Katrina Hobbs. Darnelle: Charles Mesure. Ares: Kevin Smith.
Ares decides to equip the army of a young warlord, Agathon, with armour made from the steel of Ephestos thus making them all but invincible. On hearing of this, Xena proceeds to rescue various of her proteges from her warlord period from prisons or execution and tries to pursuade them to join her in a mission against Agathon. She picks each of them for skills she believes will help with the battle with Agathons soldiers; their first encounter is less than successful although they do avoid getting slaughtered by using hand to hand combat techiniques. They travel in somewhat uneasy alliance to Agathon's castle, where Xena manages to break in with their assistance but she is soon captured and she, Glaphyra and Gabrielle are soon imprisoned in Agathon's castle.
Episode: 3.3, US airdate: 13 Oct 97.
Guest Stars: Kevin Smith (Ares), Jon Brazier (Walsim), Stephen Ure (Monlik), Katrina Hobbs (Glaphyra), Charles Meisure (Darnelle).
No convicts were reformed during the production of this motion picture. Can't we all just get along?

The Deliverer

TV Guide Listing:
Xena, Gabrielle and the first priest (Marton Csokas) of a monotheistic cult head for Britannia to battle their common enemy Julius Caesar--- who promptly captures Gabrielle.
Boadicea: Jennifer Ward-Lealand. Caesar: Karl Urban. Meridian: Catherine Boniface. Ares: Kevin Smith.
While travelling Xena and Gabrielle come across a slave train and decide to free the slaves. When one of the now-free slaves tells them that he was seeking help in a battle against Julius Caesar who has invaded Britainnia, Xena insists on returning with him to help. Soon after their arrival, Gabrielle and the former slave are captured and Xena meets up with Boadicea, a former foe who is now battling Caesar. Xena rescues Gabrielle and prepares to stand against his army with Boadicea, while Gabrielle takes shelter with the priest in his temple. Soon she discovers that he is part of a satanic cult trying to bring the evil god Dahak into the world. In trying to stop a ceremony, Gabrielle unwittingly stabs the priestess of the cult and the evil is released. Xena is distracted from the battle with Caesar by the gathering of storm clouds over the temple and races to rescue Gabrielle. She finds Gabrielle suspended in the air by talons of fire but does manage to free her and they escape. An ensuing explosion knocks out all of the walls of the temple leaving a very familar framework standing - Stonehenge.
Episode: 3.4, US airdate: 20 Oct 97.
Guest Stars: Jennifer Ward Leyland (Boadicea), Karl Urban (Caesar), Cathering Boniface (Meridien), Kevin Smith (Ares).
Gabrielle was slightly well-done during the production of this motion picture.
However, the producers would like to recommend a zesty barbecue sauce to bring out the full flavour of the episode.

Gabrielle's Hope

TV Guide Listing:
Gabrielle (Renee O'Connor) gives birth to the "Daughter of Darkness." The warrior's fiery encounter with Dahak, the "Force of Darkness," left her more than shaken---it left her nauseated. Before long, three evil Banshees materialize, worshipping Gabrielle and calling her "The Source." Both she and Xena (Lucy Lawless) suspect that something strange is going on, and sure enough, Gabrielle's belly begins to grow at a rapid rate. The birth of a beautiful baby girl soon follows, and Gabrielle names her Hope, hoping for the best. But when Xena looks at the child, all she sees is despair---which doesn't bode well for the friendship of the two warriors.
Caswallawn: Peter Feeney. Eochaid: Mark Clare. Goewin: Robert Harte.
Gabrielle is still tortured about the moment she killed the priestess and is unable to sleep. As she and Xena head towards the coast in order to leave Britainnia, they are greeted by three banshees. Making their escape Xena and Gabrielle reach the port, where Gabrielle waits in an inn while Xena looks for passage back to Greece. In the inn, Gabrielle suddenly has craving for lots of strange and bizzare foods, which she proceeds to eat. In the middle of her meal, a mob of villagers start to attack the inn and try to kill Gabrielle; at the same time Xena is attacked by a group of religious knights. Making a break for the mob, Xena and Gabrielle head for the cover of the wooded hills, where Gabrielle realises she's pregnant, and a fairly long way through the pregnancy at that. Searching for answers as to what is going on, Xena takes her to the castle from which the religious knights operate where she tries to find out what is going on by eavesdropping on their conversations. She discovers that Gabrielle is carrying the child of Dahak, and goes back in just enough time to help Gabrielle give birth to a daughter. Xena is very concerned about the child, but Gabrielle pursuades her that the child can be taught not to be evil, and that it should be given a chance at life. Gabrielle names her child "Hope" to reflect her belief that she can be a force for good despite being the offspring of Dahak. Xena agrees to give her a chance and is distracted by a battle outside. When she returns, she finds Gabrielle sleeping and one of the knights brutally murdered in a locked stronghold that only contained the knight, Gabrielle and Hope. Xena is now convinced that Gabrielle is terribly wrong about Hope and that she is already evil. Gabrielle takes hope and runs with Xena in hot pursuit. When Gabrielle realises that Xena means to kill her daughter and will not listen to "reason", she decides to abandon her daughter and then tell Xena that Hope turned on her and was killed. Xena isn't completely convinced but reluctantly takes Gabrielle's word for it.
Episode: 3.5, US airdate: 27 Oct 97.
A full cast and edit decision list is available for this episode.
Despite witnessing the bizarre and somewhat disturbing birth of Gabrielle's Hope, no farm animals were harmed or traumatized during the production of this motion picture.

The Debt, Part I

TV Guide Listing:
As Xena and Gabrielle travel toward the Eastern kingdom of Chin, Xena recalls a kidnapping episode from her dark past involving two rival Chin clans. Part 1 of two.
Borias: Marton Csokas. Lao Ma: Jacqueline Kim. Ming Tzu: Grant McFarland. Ming T'ien: Daniel Lim.
Xena and Gabrielle are ambushed in their sleep by a group of Ninja warriors who are in pursuit of a messanger who is looking for Xena. Having defeated the Ninja Warriors, Xena is unable to help the messanger who has been fatally injured in the fight, but listens to his message which says "The little green dragon has become too big and must be made small again". At this Xena starts to set off for the Kingdom of Chin, where she tells Gabrielle that she must repay an old debt. Gabrielle asks if this means that she must kill somebody, and Xena answers that it does. Xena starts to explain how after her encounter with Caesar, she and Barias journeyed to the east in search of riches and hatched a plan to set the royal families of the kingdom of Chin to fight each other. Reaching the port where Xena must board a boat to Chin, Gabrielle decides that she can play no part in this and tells Xena that she will not come on a mission of murder; she asks Xena not to throw away all the changes for good that Xena's made in the last two years but Xena insists she has no choice but to go. We learn that Xena tried to kidnap the son of one of the kings of Chin and became an embarassment to Barias who arranged to let her be captured by the King. Once captured she was hunted down like an animal but at the last moment was given the chance to escape by a mysterious woman, Lao Ma, who ran one of the other kingdoms in the name of her sick husband, their King. Sensing a kindred spirit in Xena, Lao Ma, starts to show her some of the ancient chinese magic which gives Xena the ability to defy gravity! Back in the present, Xena reaches the Kingdom of Chin, and makes her way into the castle to find and kill Ming T'ien, the son who Xena kidnapped many years ago. Raising a dagger high above her head, she's about to strike at what she believes is the sleeping prince, only to find Gabrielle lying there instead.
Episode: 3.6, US airdate: 3 Nov 97.
Guest Stars: Marton Csokas (Borias), Jacqueline Kim (Lao Ma), Grant McFarland (Ming T'su).
A full cast and edit decision list is available for this episode.
No Frock Tarts were killed during the production of this motion picture although they wish they had been.

The Debt, Part II

TV Guide Listing:
Conclusion. Flashbacks recall Xena's transformation from evil to good. But in the present, the "Green Dragon" (Daniel Sing) has captured Xena, and is breathing fire at her.
Lao Ma: Jacqueline Kim. Ming Tzu: Grant McFarland. Borias: Marton Csokas. Xena: Lucy Lawless.
Captured by the Palace Guards, Xena is thrown into the dungeon. Meanwhile Gabrielle asks Ming T'ien to let her see Xena, a request that he denies saying that she is awaiting trial on charges of treason and cannot be seen by anyone. When Xena is found guilty of treason, and is sentanced to death, Gabrielle is finally allowed to see her. In the meantime, we learn more about Xena's time with Lao Ma and that Ming T'ien is in fact her son. Gabrielle is distraught that she has caused Xena to be imprisoned and begins to realise that Ming T'ien is a cruel and evil despot, and that maybe she should have trusted Xena more. Learning from a fellow prisoner that Lao Ma was recently killed by her own son, Ming T'ien, Xena resolves to kill him. Xena is taken from the dunegeon to be executed and just before the executioneer moves forward to carry out his job, Ming T'ien gives Xena a gift his mother asked him too just before he killed her. It is a small hairclip which Xena knows contains a sharp metal spike that was Lao Ma's favourite weapon - to her this is the sign that Ming T'ien must be killed. As she lies strapped to the executioneers table, Xena summons up the ancient magic taught to her by Lao Ma and breaks free and destroys the palace. In a face down with Ming T'ien in front of Gabrielle, Xena says that by defeating him and demolishing the palace she has made him small again. Believing the work done, Gabrielle turns to leave just as Xena launches the hairclip at Ming T'ien quietly killing him as he sits on his throne. When Gabrielle compilments Xena on doing the job without killing Ming T'ien, Xena chooses not to reveal to her the truth that she did kill him at the end.
Episode: 3.7, US airdate: 10 Nov 97.
Xena and Gabrielle's relationship suffered another blow (although Gabrielle doesn't know it yet) during the production of this motion picture.

King of Assassins

TV Guide Listing:
Gabrielle, Joxer and Autolycus sneak into a palace to thwart an assassination attempt by Joxer's evil lookalike brother, Jett. The intended victim: Cleopatra (Gina Torres).
Joxer/Jett: Ted Raimi. Autolycus: Bruce Campbell. Pontius: Jonathon Hendry. Gabrielle: Renee O'Connor.
Autolycus is involved in the theft of a precious sword which goes wrong when he and his acomplace are disturbed by the warlord who owns it. When his acomplace kills the warlord, Autolycus is rather scared and tries to backout of the rest of the plan, but the threats of his acomplace pursuade him to stick to it. Later on in a market square, Autolycus meets up with a man who he mistakes for his acomplace, but upon also meeting up with Gabrielle comes to realise that this man is Joxer, not his evil brother Jett - his acomplace. They soon realise that Jett plans an assasination of a visiting dignatory staying in the castle. Autolycus proceeds with Jett's plan for now, while Joxer and Gabrielle try to break into the castle but end up getting captured. While Autolycus discovers that Jett's intended victim is Cleopatra, Gabrielle singularly fails to escape from her cell in the dungeon when she tries copying Xena's technique. Soon Joxer and Jett are both on the run around the castle, while Autolycus makes an approach to Cleopatra on the pretext of acting as an agent for Xena's services. When Joxer and Gabrielle are released by a guard after being mistaken for Jett, they are taken before the captain of the guards and explain the consipiracy - not realising that he is behind it. Fortunately he mistakes Joxer for Jett and lets him go - before long they are all converging on Cleopatra's room at which point Xena appears just in time at which point a big fight ensues. Jett is eventually arrested and after a talk with Joxer is taken away.
Episode: 3.8, US airdate: 17 Nov 97.
Directed by: Bruce Campbell
Guest Stars: Gina Torres (Cleopatra), Ted Raimi (Joxer/Jett), Bruce Campbell (Autolycus), Jonathon Hendry (Pontius).
Due to the inflicition of a severe wedgie, Joxer was slightly uncomfortable but not seriously harmed during the production of this motion picture.

Warrior... Priestess... Tramp

TV Guide Listing:
Lucy Lawless isn't exactly suffering from a lack of exposure. People named her one of their 25 Most Intriguing People and TV GUIDE listed her among the Performers of the Year. What's more the producers of Xena are making sure she gets even more exposure with this week's show, the first of several new episodes. Lawless is starring as the Warrior Princess and playing two Xena look-alikes. First, there's Leah, a pious priestess of the virgin goddess Hestia. Leah's in trouble with bad guys at Hestia's temple, and Xena and Gabrielle (Renee O'Connor) want to help her. Complicating matters: a less-than-pious look-alike named Meg, the operator of a bordello.
A warlord is somewhat surprised when Xena appears before him talking about love and disarms herself; not believing his luck he has her captured and tied to a stake. Gabrielle arrives and thinks that Xena must be testing her, and true to form she comes through and they both escape, except that it turns out not to be Xena after all, but Leah. Leah is the high priestess of the local temple of Hestian Virgins. Finding the real Xena, Gabrielle introduces Leah and they set off to find out why Leah was tricked into a suicide and by who. Back at the temple they find that Meg has been pursuaded to stand in for the "missing" Leah by one of the priests, Bailey. In order to find out more about him and his motives, Xena goes undercover pretending to be Meg, while Meg hides and with Gabrielle's help Leah pretends to be Meg -- the only problem is that Meg runs the local brothel. Meanwhile, Meg accidentally lets slip to Bailey that Xena is there and he dispatches the guards to kill Leah at the Brothel. It basically goes on like this for most of the episode...
Episode: 3.9, US airdate: 12 Jan 98.

The Quill Is Mightier Than The Sword

TV Guide Listing:
Aphrodite (Alexandra Tydings) casts an odd spell on Gabrielle: everything she writes on her scroll comes to pass. Of course, what Gabrielle writes isn't always precisely what she means.
Minya: Alison Wall. Thelonius: Stephen Hall. Munk: Ranald Hendricks. Gabrielle: Renee O'Connor.
Aphrodite is more than a little miffed when some kids scrawl pro-Xena slogans all over her temple, and then has a go at Ares. Ares points out that although Xena is the hero of the piece, it is Gabrielle who is building her up with all her stories. As a result, Aphrodite decides to enchant one of Gabrielle's scroll as Xena pursuades Gabrielle to try writting fiction. Gabrielle awakes the following morning to find that her story is coming true, and having defeated a horde of barbarians single handed, comes to realise that the scroll is enchanted. Heading for a local town, Gabrielle decides to use the power of the scroll to do good, but soon realises that she's got to be very careful in the phrasing of what she writes. Deciding to go for the large goals, she decides to write that War lost it's power, and Ares appears before her as a mortal. Trying to rectify that, she manages to make Aphrodite a mortal too. Trying to summon Xena back, she manages instead to bring Minya into their group, and while trying to work out a limerk to cheer up the now rather desperate Gabrielle, Joxer manages to conjour up three naked dancing Gabrielle's - much to the real Gabrielle's annoyance. After several other unsuccessful attempts to resolve the mess, they settle down to sleep where upon Joxer resolves to sell his scabbard to get Gabrielle a gift to say sorry for the events of the day. Unfortunately this leads to the enchanted scroll falling into the hands of a merchant as unbeknowst to Joxer, Gabrielle had hidden the scroll is his scabbard. When the resulting chase ends in the caves to which Gabrielle has sent the various "mistakes", Gabrielle regains possession of the scroll just long enough to write that the scroll finds Xena. The assembled party of oddities then runs off after the scroll, leaving Gabrielle, Joxer, Ares and Aphrodite behind. Soon Xena arrives pulling a massive cart of fish, holding the scroll and explains how Gabrielle's wording had sent her on a wild goose chase. Working out how to end the enchantment, Xena proceeds to deal with an army poised to attack the valley in a very unique way - by pelting them with fish - while Gabrielle tries to record the events truthfully without embellishment. Soon Ares and Aphrodite are back to normal, and the army is defeated.
Episode: 3.10, US airdate: 19 Jan 98.
Guest Stars: Kevin Smith (Ares), Alexandra Tydings (Aphrodite), Alison Wall (Minya).

Maternal Instincts

TV Guide Listing:
Xena and Gabrielle meet up with their respective offspring, Solan (David Taylor) and Hope (Amy Morrison). But the reunions are hardly happy, thanks to Callisto (Hudson Leick).
Ephiny: Danielle Cormack. Kaleipus: Jeff Boyd. Xenan: Reece Rodewyk.
Xena and Gabrielle return to the Centaur village at the invitation of Kaleipus, Solan's foster father as guests at a ceremony to sign a treaty of peace. Meanwhile a young girl frees Callisto from the lava pit - determined to get her revenge, Callisto burns the tottems of peace at the entry to the Centaur village. Back in the village, Gabrielle is overjoyed to meet up with Ephiny and her centaur son, Xenan and tells her of the events in Britainnia and of Hope (supposed) death. The young girl who released Callisto then sneaks into Gabrielle's hut and starts telling her of threats from the "monster woman" and of a message for Xena. In front of Xena, the girl who calls herself Fayla, reports Callisto as saying "She knows your little secret and will take it to the grave". Desperate to save Solan, Kaleipus and Xena arrange to hide him in the ixion caverns nearby while Xena distracts Callisto. Preparing for her part in the plan, Gabrielle bumps into Fayla in the shop and discovers that she is in fact her daughter - Hope. After tricking Callisto, Xena and Gabrielle return towards the village to find Kaleipus mortally wounded. Gabrielle talks with Hope and tells her why she had to abandon her in Britainnia and is taken in and sends Hope to the same safe place as Solan is. When Xena hears what has happened she is livid and goes to the safe place only to find Solan dead and Hope gone. The heart-broken Xena is finally pursuaded to fight it out with Callisto by Xenan's scared expression and a major battle ensues, from which Xena bearly escapes with her life. Following the children to their hiding place in the caverns, Callisto walks into Xena's trap - where after a heart-to-heart Xena manages to trap Callisto in the falling ruins of a temple. Meanwhile Gabrielle realises how Hope had tricked her, and poisons Hope and contemplates killing herself too. Later that evening Xena and Gabrielle stand at the funeral pyres for their respective offspring, and Gabrielle desperately tries to make contact with Xena but fails and they each walk off alone.
Episode: 3.11, US airdate: 26 Jan 98.
Guest Stars: Hudson Leick (Callisto), Amy Morrison (Hope), Danielle Cormack (Ephiny).
Xena and Gabrielle's relationship was harmed during the production of this motion picture

The Bitter Suite

TV Guide Listing:
The conflict between Xena (Lucy Lawless, pictured) and Gabrielle comes to a head in this lavish musical-fantasy episode set in a tarot-card dreamworld called Illusia. Why a musical? "It allowed us to express emotions that were best said in this way," co-executive producer Rob Tapert says. And those emotions are raw: in last week's episode, Gabrielle's evil daughter Hope killed Xena's son Solon, and Xena blames Gabrielle (Renee O'Connor). "Xena really wants to kill Gabrielle," Tapert notes. Their parallel, phantasmagorical journeys dominate the storyline, which won't die completely as long as Hope is alive. (She'll turn up soon on Hercules: The Legendary Journeys.)
Joxer arrives at the Amazon village and talks with Ephiny about Gabrielle who is undergoing an Amazon purification ritual. Ephiny tries to explain to Joxer how desolute Gabrielle was and how she has to get through it, but Joxer will have none of it. Xena is mourning her own way on the top of a snow capped mountain where she is visited by Ares who pursuades her to go on a rampage of vengenance. Xena arrives in the Amazon village and captures Gabrielle despite the efforts of their friends to stop her; dragging her behind a horse, Xena takes her to a cliff where she tries to throw her over the edge. Awakening at the final moment, Gabrielle attacks Xena and they both fall over the cliff and into the water far below. In a surreal world, Xena is fished out of a river by Callisto dressed as a court jester, who proceeds to sing to her with the aid of a bizzare chorus of an eagle, a bull, a snake, a terrier, and a Sphinx. Gabrielle is fished out of the river by Joxer and is somewhat embarrased to find herself naked. Xena, guided by Callisto, is taken to a castle where an army of soldiers sing her praises and Ares sings of his enfatuation with her. Meanwhile Gabrielle, guided by Joxer, returns to a vision of her home village Poteadia. Each encouraged by their people, Xena and Gabrielle head towards a door where they confront each other, and Xena kills Gabrielle. After Joxer pronounces Gabrielle dead, Ares sings of how he can help Xena as her consort. At the end of his song, he and all the others disappear leaving Xena cradling Gabrielle's dead body - until an accusing Gabrielle appears behind her. Together they are transported to derelict temple where their accusations against each other build to a deafening crescendo. They sing of their pain and for a while seem to be building bridges, but then the accusations start again until Gabrielle is grabbed by the firey talons of Dahak and they find themselves back in his temple - Xena tied to a cross, Gabrielle strapped as a sacrifical victim on the altar. A spirit appears from a coffin and awakens six figures - all of them tied together by hate - Ceasar, Callisto, Ares and Kraftstar plus alter-egos of Xena and Gabrielle. As Xena's alter-ego prepares to kill Gabrielle, and Gabrielle's prepares to break Xena's legs with a hammer, Xena and Gabrielle sing a duet about love overcoming hate and the figures one by one explode and disappear. Making their escape Xena and Gabrielle find a waterfall with Solan waiting on the other side; Gabrielle goes through but Xena is burned when she tries and is then tormented by the one remaining evil spirit - Ming T'ien. Singing a plea to Gabrielle and Solan to forgive her, Xena finally manages to pass through the waterfall and the final spirit disappears. After a moment with Gabrielle, Xena goes to Solan and as she hugs him finds herself back in the real world with Gabrielle in her arms, their love for each other restored.
Episode: 3.12, US airdate: 31 Jan 98.
Guest Stars: Hudson Leick (Callisto), Kevin Smith (Ares), Ted Raimi (Joxer), Danielle Cormack (Ephiny), Willa O'Neil (Lila).
The musical genre was not harmed during the production of this motion picture. In fact, the producers sincerely hope you were A-MUSE-D by this episode.

One Against An Army

TV Guide Listing:
Xena must hold off an entire Persian army single-handed---and also tend to Gabrielle, who's been struck by a poison arrow.
Dorian: Douglas Kamo. Phiddipides: Nick Kemplen.
Gabrielle is determined to learn for herself the secret of Xena's amazing flips and sets out to practice them. When she decides to attempt it without a bar for the first time, she falls ackwardly and sprains her ankle. As Xena is bathing it at a nearby well, a frightened man runs past and tells them of an approaching army. Realising that this is a serious invasion Xena sets out to do her best to stop it; while heading towards the advancing forces Xena and Gabrielle meet a man who claims to be a fleeing Spartan. While Xena secretly suspects that he is a spy, Gabrielle takes him at face value and when they meet the advancing forces tries to "save" him, only to get hit by a poison arrow. When Xena's attempts to find the antidote to the poison fail, she must choose between saving Gabrielle's life or stopping an invasion of Greece by a marauding army from the East. Holed up in a barn where Xena once kept a cache of weapons, she prepares for battle with the army while Gabrielle's health deteriorates rapidly.
Episode: 3.13, US airdate: 7 Feb 98.
A full cast and edit decision list is available for this episode.
Gabrielle's ankle was harmed during the production of this motion picture.

Forgiven

TV Guide Listing:
A teen (Shiri Appleby) with a bad attitude picks a fight with Gabrielle, then tells Xena that she wants to be her new partner. Gabrielle's incensed, but Xena sees something in her. And as it happens, she can be helpful: she knows who stole a missing urn that Xena and Gabrielle are after.
Dorus: Mervyn Smith.
When an obnoxious young teenage girl with a lot of attitude picks a fight with Gabrielle, she finds herself taking a severe beating until Xena comes back and breaks it up. When the girl, Tara, explains that she intends to replace Gabrielle as Xena's sidekick, neither of them are particularly impressed. Despite Xena's saying no, Tara follows them and eventually Xena takes pity on her, much to Gabrielle's chagrin. It turns out that Tara knows something about a gang that has kidnapped an important relic from a local temple, and as a result Xena decides that she may be some help in their mission of recovering the relic. As time progresses however Tara's impetulance lands both her and Gabrielle in deadly trouble at the hands of the gang. When she once again starts a catfight with Gabrielle, Gabrielle gets sufficently angry to really fight back against her natural better nature. After Tara recieves a bad beating at Gabrielle's hands, the tension between them deminishes and they continue on their mission to recover the artifact. However Tara suddenly seems to switch sides and soon Xena and Gabrielle find themselves in a trap carefully set by the gang.
Episode: 3.14, US airdate: 14 Feb 98.
Guest Star: Shiri Appleby (Tara)
A full cast and edit decision list is available for this episode.
No street-talking, cat-fighting, barroom brawling juvenile delinquents were harmed during the production of this motion picture.

King Con

TV Guide Listing:
Poor Joxer is conned out of gambling winnings, then is almost killed by the gambling-den owner's henchmen. So Xena decides it's payback time.
Rafe: Patrick Fabian. Eldon: Cameron Rhodes. Titus: Stig Eldred. Leo: Justin Curry. Joxer: Ted Raimi. Gabrielle: Renee O'Connor. Xena: Lucy Lawless.
When Joxer wins a large amount of money in a casino, he is conned out of his winnings by a pair of con men. Things get worse when the henchmen of the casino catch up with him and attempt to get back his winnings - only to start beating him senseless when he says he doesn't have it any more. Fortunately for Joxer, Xena is nearby and hears the disturbance and manages to drive off the henchmen. Having taken Joxer to a nearby temple where he can receive care and attention, Xena goes into the town. Spotting one of the con men carrying Joxer's sword, she forces them to tell her what happened and on hearing the story decides to enlist their help (under some duress) in bringing down the owner of the casino who's henchmen beat up Joxer. As Xena puts her plans into place to bring down the casino owner, things go a little awry and one of the con men betrays them... When the other is killed, Xena has to rely on her skills with playing cards to avenge both Joxer's beating and the murder of the con man who was helping her.
Episode: 3.15, US airdate: 21 Feb 98.
No conmen were conned during the making of this motion picture.

When In Rome...

TV Guide Listing:
When Caesar (Karl Urban) captures Xena's comrade in arms Vercinix (Tamati Rice), the Warrior Princess captures Caesar's colleague Crassus and proposes a swap. But she also assumes treachery on Caesar's part, and plans accordingly.
Crassus: Matthew Chamberlain.
When Julias Caesar captures Vercinix, a freedom fighter from Gaul, Xena receives a plea from his wife to rescue him from Rome. Xena in turn captures one of Caesar's leading lieutants, Crassus, and makes her way to Rome in a bid to trade his life for Vercinix's. After arriving in Rome and discovering more about the power struggle within the triumbrivate, Xena comes to realise that Caesar needs the public relations coup of capturing Vercinix and excuting him in public to further his political ambitions within Rome. Realising that Caesar will not make a deal, she and Gabrielle proceed to plan a bate and switch of Vercinix and Crassus within the prison cells in Rome. Along the way Gabrielle has to decide whether Crassus should be given the chance to escape or if he must be lead out to almost certain slaughter at Caesars hands. While Xena is captured and forced to battle two Gladiators in the ring, Gabrielle carries out the bate and switch in the prison cells.
Episode: 3.16, US airdate: 1 Mar 98.

Forget Me Not

TV Guide Listing:
Gabrielle is troubled but doesn't know why, so she visits the temple of the goddess of memory, who sets her off on a journey through her past (as seen in clips from previous episodes).
Ares: Kevin Smith. Joxer: Ted Raimi. Priestess: Jan Hellriegel. Gabrielle: Renee O'Connor.
Something is troubling Gabrielle very deeply and as she and Joxer wait to meet up with Xena, Gabrielle decides to visit the temple of the goddess of memory, Nemisine, to see if they can help her find the truth she cannot face. The priestess starts Gabrielle on a dreamscape journey, while Joxer who has become very worried attempts to get Gabrielle out of the temple. When Joxer finally gets in he "rescues" Gabrielle only to find that she has no idea who she is, and has lost all her memories. As her spirit continues on it's journey, Joxer tries to teach her memoryless self of who she is. As he reads to her from her scrolls, he starts to alter the stories to avoid the bad and unpleasant things that have happened to her. As time progresses he gets a little carried away and ends up convincing the naiive and innocent Gabrielle that she loves him. Meanwhile in the dreamscape, Gabrielle's spirit encounters the figure of Ares and works her way through three rivers each of which torments her with visions of her past actions. Soon she comes to realise that Ares is the key to her nightmares, but when she discovers the terrible secret at the end she must decide whether to keep her memories or to dispose of them and remain the innocent, clueless girl listening to Joxer's stories outside the temple.
Episode: 3.17, US airdate: 8 Mar 98.

Fins, Femmes and Gems

TV Guide Listing:
Aphrodite (Alexandra Tydings) steals the "mystic diamond" that keeps the North Star lit, then casts spells on Xena, Gabrielle and Joxer to keep them from retrieving it.
Maecenus: Lawrence Makoare. Young Xena: Renee Schuda.
Aphrodite arranges for some thugs to steal a valuable and precious diamond from a temple, which is in reality the power behind the North Star, so that she can start her own new constellation in the night sky. Xena and her posse (well, Gabrielle and Joxer) are close on the tails of her gang and determined to return the diamond to it's rightful place. In order to stop them, Aphrodite uses a magic potion to make the three of them obessed by whatever they were looking at at the time. For Joxer, it is the story of Apis the ape man; for Gabrielle it is her own reflection in a mirror and for Xena it is a fish she was holding at the time. Xena then leads them down to the shore of a lake (actually filmed at Lake Wainamu in Bethells Valley) where she proceeds to go fishing while Gabrielle preens herself incessantly and Joxer acts like an overgrown monkey (ok, so this is an improvement for Joxer... :-)). Despite her obsession with fishing, Xena manages to convince Gabrielle that she should own the beautiful diamond - which leads Gabrielle to go off and grab it from Aphrodite's thugs. However they pursue her and end up loosing Xena her prized catch - something that makes her very angry indeed.
Episode: 3.18, US airdate: 12 Apr 98.
Guest Stars: Ted Raimi (Joxer), Alexandra Tydings (Aphrodite).
An AVI movie (indeo 3.2, 4.8MB) of the 30 second trailer to this episode is available.

Tsunami

TV Guide Listing:
Xena, Gabrielle and Autolycus find themselves aboard a ship capsized by a tidal wave. They do find an air pocket, but so does a cutthroat (Todd Rippon), who thwarts them at every turn.
Thadeus: Stephen Tozer. Petrodes: Toby Fisher. Soraya: Angela Dotchin. Captain: Stephen Hall.
Gabrielle visits a fortune teller who tells her that is about to go on a long voyage with a tall dark hansome man - Xena pours scorn on the idea since they were only visiting the fishing village for supplies. However when Gabrielle suddenly spots that Autolycus is part of a chain gang of slave being dragged onto a ship in the dock, she tries to talk to him. When the slave drivers attempt to stop her, a fight ensues on the deck of the ship and it starts to set sail. As she's about to get caught, she manages to attract Xena's attention who soon joins Gabrielle on the deck of the departing ship. As they try to find out what is going on, they discover that the slaves are bound for a diamond mine on an island and that Autolycus had meant to get captured. Things take an unexpected turn when Xena notices that Mount Etna has erupted and realises that a tidal wave is about to strike them. The ships captain attempts to change direction but it is too late and the ship is caught in the wave and is capsized. When they come too, they realise that the ship is upside down and sinking fast and Xena has to try and come up with a plan to escape before it becomes their watery tomb.
Episode: 3.19, US airdate: 19 Apr 98.
An AVI movie (indeo 3.2, 4.3MB) of the 30 second trailer to this episode is available.

Vanishing Act

TV Guide Listing:
Autolycus's reputation as "king of thieves" is at stake when a 20-foot statue turns up missing---and he didn't steal it. So he vows to steal it back.
Autolycus: Bruce Campbell. Xena: Lucy Lawless. Gabrielle: Renee O'Connor.
Gabrielle travels on ahead to attend the opening of an annual celebration of peace at a small coastal village. The following morning the villagers are shocked to discover that their precious statue of Pax, the god of peace has been stolen. Surveying the situation Xena spots a shifty figure by the dock and reveals it to be none other than Autolycus, The King of Thieves. However Autolycus swears blind that he didn't steal the statue and enlists Xena and Gabrielle's help in finding out who did steal it with the aim of stealing it back. The only problem is that Autolycus insists on doing it his way, which involves endless disguises and silly voices. Along the way they discover who is responsible - the man who killed Autolycus' brother and soon the mission takes on a different complexion as Autolycus continues his quest for revenge. Xena is desperate to stop Autolycus from killing him because she fears for what Autolycus will become a deadly but soulless assasin if he manages to carry out his plans. There is also the small problem of returning the massive statue to the villagers.
Episode: 3.20, US airdate: 26 Apr 98.
An AVI movie (indeo 3.2, 4.5MB) of the 30 second trailer to this episode is available.

Sacrifice, Part 1

TV Guide Listing:
Xena saves Gabrielle's friend Seraphin (Jodie Rimmer) from being sacrificed, then learns that she's willing to die---so that Gabrielle's evil daughter Hope can be reborn. Part 1 of two.
Werfner: Stephen Ure. Callisto: Hudson Leick. Ares: Kevin Smith. Lachesis: Micaela Daniel.
Callisto emerges through a hole she has created from the vortex where she was trapped with the Sovreign. Meanwhile, Xena and Gabrielle watch a demonic cult prepare for a human sacrifice - Gabrielle's childhood friend Seraphin. True to form Xena uses her Chakram to halt the proceedings and managed to get Seraphin only to discover she was a very willing participant. Callisto kidnaps one of the priests and takes him to a cave where Hope is growing in a cocoon and is about to hatch. When Seraphin tells them of the Godess, Xena and Gabrielle assume it's Callisto, but as Xena tries to stop yet another human sacrifice, she suddenly realises that it is Hope rather than Callisto that they are up against. Ares further muddies the waters by calling in his debt and telling Gabrielle that if Xena kills Hope, then Gabrielle must cut Xena's life thread kept by the Fates, killing Xena. Gabrielle tries to talk to Seraphin, only to disclose to her that she is Hope's mother - the Betrayer as Seraphin calls her. Xena then decides to let Seraphin go and she and Gabrielle follow Seraphin to where Hope's cocoon is now placed. In a struggle, Xena tries to stop Seraphin getting sacrificed again but Seraphin does get a flesh wound in the process; as the fight continues Seraphin crawls towards Hope's cocoon and smeers her own blood onto it, causing Hope to hatch.
Episode: 3.21, US airdate: 3 May 98.
Guest Stars: Hudson Leick (Callisto), Jodie Rimmer (Seraphin), Kevin Smith (Ares).
An AVI movie (indeo 3.2, 3.7MB) of the 30 second trailer to this episode is available.

Sacrifice, Part 2

TV Guide Listing:
The third seasons ends with Xena and Gabrielle in a tense struggle to destroy Hope. Gabrielle had poisoned her evil daughter earlier this season, after Hope murdered Xena's son Solon. But Hope, the result of Gabrielle's unwitting union with the satanic deity Dahak, is as resourceful as she is wicked. In the last episode, Hope emerged from a cocoon---fully grown and looking exactly like her mother (Renee O'Connor plays both roles). Hope's mission: to clear the way for Dahak's dominion over both Olympus and the world. But Xena's on a mission of her own to kill Hope. And this time, Gabrielle has no mixed feelings ---Hope must die.
As Hope hatches, it turns out that she looks exactly like her mother, Gabrielle. Things turn distinctly cold between Xena and Gabrielle because of Gabrielle's intervention which stopped Xena killing Hope - Gabrielle tries to explain but Xena won't listen. Tending to Seraphin's wound, they head off to try to find where Hope now is. Meanwhile Hope insists on Callisto making her look just like her mother and tries to pursuade Callisto to join her army of darkness rather than seek the oblivion she so desperately wants. Hope also talks to Joxer while posing as Gabrielle in order to find out why everyone loves her mother, and why she appears to have no love for her own child. In the meantime, Hope and Ares start getting rather amorous and Hope becomes more dismissive of Callisto's insistance that she fulfill their pact, causing Callisto to turn to Xena for help - offering her assistance in exchange for Xena killing her with the Hind's Blood dagger which they now know Xena knows the whereabouts of. Although Xena is totally dismissive at first, Gabrielle pursuades her to accept Callisto's help. As they continue their quest for Hope, they see more and more innocent villagers being rounded up by the cult as sacrifices. Xena decides to try to save them and starts a fight during which time Gabrielle slips away and Hope tries impersonating her mother. Xena begins to guess what is going on and catches Hope out just as she's rescued by Ares. Ares then explains to Xena that she can't win and what he has forced Gabrielle to agree to to repay her debt. Xena of course continues anyway and the confrontation comes as Hope and Ares start the sacrifice. Thanks to Joxer smuggling in the Hind's blood dagger, Xena is able to come close to killing Hope but at the last minute, Gabrielle decides to save Xena's life by killing herself and Hope with a plunge into the fiery abyss in Hope's temple. Xena is heartbroken, and turns the dagger on Callisto as she laughs about Gabrielle's death. Ares, somewhat stunned, leaves the temple having seen Hope, Gabrielle and Callisto die and fearing he may easily be the next in line.
Episode: 3.22, US airdate: 10 May 98.
Guest Stars: Hudson Leick (Callisto), Jodie Rimmer (Seraphin), Kevin Smith (Ares), Ted Raimi (Joxer).
An AVI movie (indeo 3.2, 4.5MB) of the 30 second trailer to this episode is available.


Season Two Episode Index Season Four

Bevis King <B.King@ee.surrey.ac.uk>
15th July 1998