Sacrifice Part 2

Hey, Hope looks a lot like her mama!

Callisto- "Ah, a mother-and-child reunion. I'm all misty eyed."

Hope- "Hello, Mother." Her voice drips poison.

Callisto-"Now, that's scary. And you just lost your one chance before she hatched, Xena". Hope went after Xena before she was ready.

Callisto beats the tar out of Xena.

Xena tells her, "Hope is just using you, Callisto. I wouldn't turn my back on her."

Callisto fires back with, "Like you turned your back on your precious little Gabrielle? Yeah, guess you speak from experience, huh?

Xena looks genuinely hurt by this.

Could Callisto be jealous?

Hope turns all the weapons in the room on Xena. She'd do the same thing with Gabrielle's parents in A Family Affair.

You'd think Callisto would get used to all the cave-ins Xena traps her in.

That's interesting. Xena hurts Hope and Saraphin feels it.

Xena couldn't do anything to stop the chakram from hitting her in the stomach.

They use a metal gong like object as cover, a la Indiana Jones.

Xena: Well, you protected your daughter well, didn't you?
Gabs: Xena, you don't understand-
Xena: Why would you release that monster that killed my son on all the children of the world? That I do not understand!

And then Xena says, "Don't you get it? I would gladly die to rid the world of that thing."

Gabrielle said she had to think quickly. "I just couldn't stand the thought of losing you."

That earns a long look from Xena.

Xena puts a warm hand out on Gabs' shoulder as she explains she's willing to die.

Then, "You saw her face, didn't you? It's strange…the one I love most in all the world and the one I hate look exactly the same."

Callisto likes saying "So be it."

Renee has a deep belly button.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Glory hallelujah." Love Callisto's sarcasm.

Callisto is getting an awful lot of the good lines.

It sure is weird to see Ares bend down in submission.

"Your blood will welcome Dahak into the world."

Xena: Welcome this!

When Gabs talks to Ares in the building, her jerks her around a lot.

Hope just winds her fingers through Ares' hair.

Ares (to Hope): You are SO not like your mother.

Xena doesn't even pause to jump off the cliff after Saraphin.

If Gabrielle hadn't yelled when she went after Callisto, she might have made it.

Callisto gleefully says, "Yes, Gabrielle, it seems your daughter is in heat."

Then later to Xena, "So how about it? I scratch your back…you stab mine?"

But Xena has a response, "You helped that demon kill my son; you think I'm going to help you find final peace?

But Xena tells her, "I've beaten you before, and I can beat you again."

Xena to Callisto- May you live forever.

Xena tells Gabs to let Saraphin go because she's already doomed.

Callisto dances around Xena like an overeager puppy.

Xena actually wants Callisto to live.

Gabs tells Xena they should let Callisto help and even though she was obviously feeling otherwise, she agrees.

'Cause what Gabs wants, Gabs gets.

Hope asks Joxer what Gabrielle thinks of Xena. Joxer- Xena? You know! You love her more than anybody in the whole world!

Callisto has a blast zapping bad guys in the village.

Why did Xena order Gabs not to turn around? What difference did it make?

When did Xena realize she was dealing with Hope? It didn't seem to be after Gabs said she deserved to die.

No, Xena got a whoosh after Gabrielle said, "I wouldn't say that," when Xena had said, "Maybe even suffer a little."

Gabs looks could kill! One twist of her head, and Xena flies backward.

Gabrielle's password question, "What is the name of your sister?"

What did you think you were doing? Callisto almost looks embarrassed, "A girl's gotta have some fun."

That had to have hurt when Joxer got knocked off his horse!

I really thought Xena was serious with him at first.

Joxer was genuinely shocked too, "What?"

No one seemed to believe it until Xena started smacking him.

"Now scram, you fool. Moron!"

Xena's on a roll. "Ares, I know you're here cause my skin is crawling."

Xena doesn't know Gabrielle is there as she announces, "Hope is pregnant with your child."

Hope is a wee bit taller than Gabrielle which is both baffling, and very cool.

She seems a wee bit bigger overall as well.

Gabs touches Hope's face, and for a second, it look like Hope is softening.

But Gabrielle gets in a scathing line: Hope, when I gave you that poison…
Hope: I forgive you.
Gabrielle: I'm so sorry it didn't finish you

Gabrielle doesn't look worried or scared.

Xena really plans on dying.

Xena: Gabrielle, stay here.
Gabrielle: No way. After all we've been through. I'm with you to the end.
Xena: Just one thing, when I'm gone, I don't want you to feel any guilt.
Gabs: Xena…
Xena: Listen to me. A lot's happened to us over the past year and there were times when we were very confused. But I want you to know that I still think you're the best thing that ever happened to me. You gave my life meaning and joy. You will be a part of me forever. (Xena smiles warmly while she talks, then they give each other a nice hug. When they separate, Gabs is close to tears."
Xena: Ready?
Gabs: Yeah.

Xena sure waited long enough to see if Joxer got the dagger.

It's kinda creepy watching Xena turn the dagger on herself.

Gabrielle sacrificed herself for Xena.

Callisto presses her luck and Xena finishes her off.

"No more living for you."

There are tears in Xena's eyes.

Callisto strokes Xena's face as she dies.

She looks shocked that she's dying.

This is a very sad ending on more than one level.

It's difficult to imagine having to wait a whole summer to see what happened to Gabrielle. Some, including Gary, feel Gabrielle's fall into the lava pit is one of the great all-time mysteries of the series. This episode certainly says a lot about what lengths Xena and Gabrielle will now go to in order to preserve their relationship.

What did Gary have to say?


Where we left off....Hope emerges from the cocoon, and a laughing Callisto looks at Gabby and Hope, who look alike. Xena was saved from death by Gabby's knocking her over.

Note: Why was Xena's life thread the ONLY ONE the Fates had...what about the rest of the world?

Cal calls it " a mother and child reunion." She loves the irony of it all. Xena, enraged, fights with Cal, and after a few minutes, deflects another fireball Cal throws, causing yet another rockslide, burying Cal for the second time. They must have run out of ideas in this show.

Now Hope enters the act: she uses telekinesis to throw hundreds of weapons at Xena, and Xena dodges and deflects them with the Chakram. She then throws it at Hope, wounding her in the right arm. Now we know Hope can be killed. Note: Xena usually can bounce the Chakram many times without even seeing where it is going, as in Been There-Done That. She cannot kill Hope with a straight-on shot. When Hope is wounded, Seraphin comes to her senses for a few seconds...Hope's influence was interrupted.

Hope is able to force the Chakram at Xena, hitting her in the stomach, but the weapon just knocks her backwards. Compare this to when Cal throws it at Xena in Ides....Xena's back is broken, even tho she wears armor.

Hope continues the barrage, and the Chakram is used to knock down a huge shield, which rolls away as the girls hide behind it.

Cal wants to leave, but Hope says Dahak has more plans for Cal; then she will allow Cal to die. Cal takes the naked Hope away.

Outside, Xena is told by Gabby why she was stopped from killing Hope. Xena does not care about dying, but Gabby couldn't stand the thought of Xena's death. Xena: "The one I love most and the one I hate look exactly the same."

Cal makes Hope look just like Gabby, complete with the staff. Cal wants death...not yet, says Hope. Hope says the faithful will coome by the thousands for the blood sacrifice. Hope has a scary voice.

Ares kneels at the flame of Dahak and says he will serve him if Dahak kills the Olympian gods but spares him.

There are continual fights with the cultists, villagers, and Xena...funny how "the faithful' must be forced to line up for execution.

Ares to Xena: Dahak isn't so bad once you get to know him.

He then is with Hope, and fights with Cal when he arrives in the cave. He is last seen making out as a disgusted Cal leaves....evidently, she doesn't like this arrangement, and wants out of the deal. She wants Xena to kill her for her help in defeating Hope.Ares: You are so NOT like your mother.

Hope: We all want the Hindsblood Dagger.

Seraphin, to escape and make someone else the Priestess of the Blood, jumps off a cliff, with Xena right behind, catching her arm and hanging by a convenient vine. Cal, above, laughs again. Gabby tries to help, but is tossed away. Xena throws Ser onto the top, and then leaps up again to face Cal.

Note: The hanging-from-the-vine scene...the camera is obviously turned sideways so that the "cliff" looks steep. either that, or the ground and trees really ARE 90 degrees form the norm.

Cal now wants to chat.She tells of Ares and Hope as an item..she says to Gabby "your daughter is in heat." Now, Cal wants to switch sides, as Ares did. The deal: Kill Cal for Cal's help. Xena says no at first because she wants Cal to live and suffer for her part in killing Solon.

Hope tries to find the Hindsblood Dagger at the ruins. She blasts the rock away with mind-power and sees the weapon has disappeared. Who could have taken it? Xena was busy fighting, Joxer is too dumb to know how to do it, and Gabby could not remove the knife because it was pounded into the rock by the demi-god, Hercules. The rock was not disturbed, so HOW was this done? We never see how.

Enter Joxer, sounding like John Wayne, as he sees the captives led by the priest. Seraphin knocks him out with a log.
Note: They do not take him with them this time...the next time, they do.

Gabby convinces Xena to let Cal help. Xena agrees that her anger made herself irrational, and the three girls team up to kill Hope.

Joxer, with a bent sword, sees "Gabby", who is really Hope. Hope asks about whom he loves, and a nervous Joxer answers and runs off. Hope is angry that her mother can love and be loved, yet kill her own daughter.

Another fight at a village: Xena runs to "Gabby" to tell her false directions to where the dagger is. Hope thinks it is really there and Xena was fooled. Hope looks amused at the fighting. Xena holds a dagger at Hope's back and asks her "what is the name of your sister?" Hope says "what sister?" and knocks Xena thru the air.

Wait...what about the Sister Peaks? Why doesn't Xena kill Hope at once, since Gabby was off getting the Dagger?

Ares arrives and growls a bit and leaves. Xena asks Cal 'what did you think you were doing?"...Cal was tossing fireballs at everyone, good or bad. Cal:"A girl's gotta have some fun."

Note, In Deliverer, there was a scene where Xena pulls a sword out of a stone. A dagger was pulled out, supposedly by Gabby , in this ep. Both shows involved Hope.

At the temple, Hope says to Ares, "when the blood flows, my father will enter the world." Note: Again, Dahak was outside IN THE WORLD making a deal with Ares.

With Joxer, Xena, Cal, and Gabby ride to the temple for the showdown. Joxer "falls" off, and Xena acts as if she hates him, kicks and punches him, and makes him go away. He is on the errand to go to the temple to bring Xena the Dagger.

Wait! If Xena already had it, why give it to "the idiot" who does get captured later? Why not keep such an important item with herself?

Cal says she suspects that it was Gabby who sneaked off in the last fight to get the dagger. Gabby smiles at her.

Joxer is captured by the priests, but is not searched. He is led to the temple with the other victims.

Campfire scene: Cal says it will probably be the last time they see the night sky.

Xena goes for a walk and Ares appears. Gabby hears that Hope is pregnant. Ares:"You're gonna be a grandmaw." Xena says she guessed that already...the child, the Destroyer, is Ares' kid. Ares gives them one last chance to join...they say no. Xena says Ares sold out his fellow gods. Ares says there will be six Destroyers to come in the future.

Final scene:


This is confusion galore. There is dancing by masked women as the captives are herded in for the bloodletting. Hope is wearing red robes. Cal tries to find the Dagger and fails, goes back to Xena and says okay...she will help for sure, but Xena must kill her or Gabby will die.

Outside, Gabby senses Hope and goes to find her. How does she do this?

Hope...How did she get out of the cave when she needed help from Ares or Cal before?...sees Gabby and gives HER one more chance to join her and Dahak. I think that this was the real Hope who had some love and forgiveness in her...she tells her mother that she forgives her killing her before. Gabby says she is sorry she didn't kill her as a baby.

Note: what did it matter? Hope would be reincarnated, even as in Family Affair and Motherhood.

An angry Hope goes back. She had to walk, and it is a wonder Xena didn't see her and kill her with the Chakram. Remember, the Dagger can kill gods, but Hope is a half-god, and a regular weapon would work.

Xena wants Gabby to stay and let her kill Hope for her...Gabby says she will be with Xena to the end. Xena:"There were times when we were both very confused." No kidding....what about the Gabdrag?

Big Fight Scene: Xena and Gabby enter the temple and we see cultists tossed about as the girls fight. Joxer is knocked out AGAIN for a few seconds. Why isn't Xena using her sword AGAIN? The Chakram cuts the chain above the fire-well, as opposed to the lava-pit.A shiled lands on the opening. This is supposed to contain the all-powerful god, Dahak. Isn't it obvious that he has just to move a few feet over to the other pit?

Joxer, coming to, throws the Dagger to Xena, who advances towards Hope. Hope does nothing with her powers, and Ares stands around, saying "she has to come thru ME." Yawn. Cal hits Ares with a fireball, and he is out of the action for a while. I timed it...4 minutes and 21 seconds of film-time, Ares just lies there watching. This is the same fireball type that hit him earlier and like the one he caught and threw back at Cal.

The Fates see this on their tv-screen and at the end, Hope backs up to the pit as Xena slowly advances. Hope is using her telekinetic powers to turn the Dagger, but Xena goes ahead. Gabby, dropping her staff and leaping onto the altar, yells and it looks as if she will save Hope, but in the next second, leaps, taking Hope with her. I thought it was a slip on the rocks at first, but looking at the title, Sacrifice, I knew she did it to save Xena, the villagers, and the Greek gods, not to mention the world.

Again, I timed it. The fall, which took 15 seconds IN SLOW-MOTION, would have been only a couple seconds. There were two distinct splashes in the lava. I watched it over and over...no doubt there. Xena does not even look...she KNOWS nobody can survive that.

NOTE: Ares, in Soul Possession, comes up with the stupid statement that Gabby had promised him her soul beforehand if he will spare her and Hope's life in Sacrifice. Ares leaves AFTER the girls splash in the lava, so there was no way that could be true. Gawd! As if Gabby would do that to everyone....

Finally, Joxer looks in the pit, and Callisto laughs, saying she now has a purpose to live, knowing Xena is suffering.

Xena uses the Dagger to kill her as promised, saying, "no more living for you!". Cal dies peacefully, and Xena stares at the fire-pit.

Why does some of the temple crumble when the girls die?

End of Season 3.


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