Seeds of Faith

This episode, of course, establishes the parentage of Xena's character. It also brings another character to his death.

It starts out with Xena interrupting a town meeting. "All right, ease off. You'll all be much more comfortable walking without a limp."

After Gabs jumps the gun, Xena gets a little sarcastic. "What's the matter? Was he gonna hit you with his hankie?"

Ares makes an appearance, saying to Xena, "You, on the other hand, have been keeping yourself busy. I wish I had known you were looking for a father.
Xena: I'm not.
Ares: Well, somebody clearly got the job.
Xena: Yeah, Gabrielle. (And the minds of Xena are staggered. Check out Gabrielle's smirk after this.)
Ares: I would have paid to see that. (So would I, come to think of it!)

Gabs' hair looks even more shaggy than usual in this one.

Xena says, "Then we have a problem, because these people have the right to believe whatever they want."

Ares has to get in his shots, "The decisions you make don't just affect you anymore…MOM…They affect your child. I'd really hate to have to kill you both."

Xena looks as though somehow, she believes what he's saying.

Let's see, I guess they don't know exactly how the Twilight is ushered in. Xena's really the one to be afraid of, rather than Eve.

Here's a switch; Xena's getting on Gabs for being too quick to fight.

Xena was defending those people's right to worship, without even knowing whom they wanted to worship.

Eli: You're with child.
Xena: Yup.
Eli: You look beautiful.
Xena: Thank you.

Short and sweet and to the point…I like that!

That guy who is spying on Eli is ugly!

Eli wants to know why Gabs is being so quiet.

She answers with, "I feel like I've disappointed you. You're walking through life preaching peace, and Xena and I have swords in our hands."

Xena is afraid Gabs is becoming numb to the violence.

Gabs doesn't think that she is.

Ares laugh great…very wicked.

Ares flashes the whites of his eyes so he can "see all the angles".

The old Callisto is dead, but she's alive in Xena's memory. "Don't expect too much from me."

Callisto says Eli has brought hope to the world. Do you think that was an intended pun?

Xena watched the approaching bad guys and asks herself…"Am I getting too old for this? Nahh…"

Callisto tells Eli she's been sent in answer to his prayers.

Hudson is really beautiful in this episodes.

Eli is in some INTENSE prayer.

Callisto gives him a kiss on the cheek. Is it a Judas kiss?

It makes Eli cry.

Xena seems to be leading Eli on a suicide mission.

"Gabrielle, I need you to stay here. Make sure nothing happens to Eli before I come back."

Gabrielle nods soberly.

Xena heads off all alone against a whole bunch of soldiers.

The men are so cooperative as they come out on the bridge one by one, so Xena can slice, dice, and throw them in the ravine.

She seems to be really enjoying it too.

But as many have pointed out, why didn't she just cut the bridge to begin with? It would have saved her a lot of time, and she could have gotten back in time to save Eli.

Eli is pretty brave with Ares.

Gabs is really stuck in the middle. She wants so badly to defend Eli, as Xena has told her, but Eli really doesn't want her to do that.

Ares even gives Eli time to hug Gabs.

And then he escapes after he kills Eli.

He ALMOST looks regretful.

Gabrielle takes a minute, then gives out a great scream.

I have heard that during this scene, you can see errr…more of Renee's breast than she ever intended. I can't seem to spot it though.

I really hated to see Eli go…I liked him.

Callisto watched Eli die.

Xena walks into town and sees something is wrong right away.

I despise the old woman who says Gabbers betrayed them! Boo!

Xena asks, "You defended him, didn't you." You can tell she thinks it's a rhetorical question and never dreams there might be a negative response.

She repeats the question, then Gabs goes off on her yelling, "Don't you dare blame me!"

The thing is, Gabs DID defend him, until HE finally convinced her to stop.

Gabs yells at Xena long before Xena starts yelling back.

"Xena, you were gone…I did what he asked me to do!"
Xena: What about what I asked you to do?

Gabs takes off running.

Xena is understandably furious and shocked, but she shoulda gotten the whole story.

Gabs goes off to throw her sais at a poor innocent tree in the desert.

Ares is impressed by her skills.

And attributes them to Xena.

Why is Gabs even listening to him?

He shows Gabs what it feels like to be a god.

Xena sings the dirge for Eli.

She lights the torch for his pyre.

She is actually lip synching the dirge.

Her eyes are tear filled.

Gabs watches with a cloth pulled over her head, and then walks off.

Callisto says Eli will be reincarnated into a new body.

Xena: I liked him just fine in the old one!

She sounds so young when she says it.

Xena says Gabs is suffering cause she's caught up in the middle of the game.

She gets a little freaked out when Callisto keeps popping up.

Xena guilts Callisto into taking her to the Dagger of Helios.

Gabs goes to have a long talk with Eli.

The Dagger of Helios looks different than it did last time.

Xena says to Callisto, "The last person I need a morality lesson from is you."

Xena is determined that she's going to kill Ares.

Gabs decides on her own to go after Ares.

Gabs and Ares spar for quite a while.

Gabs throws BOTH of her sais, and misses.

Ares: You'll always be a goodie two-shoes.

Somehow, I don't think that's an ancient Greek expression.

But Gabs has a great comeback, "Yeah, but with a really big sword."

Xena pleads with Ares, "Make a move on me…please!"

But then she sees Eli's face in the blade of the dagger.

So now Ares decides he's going to kill her.

Ares holds the knife to her throat.

Xena does a great job fighting him…she's kicking his butt.

Xena and Gabs share not one, but two great hugs.

Then they both try to apologize.

Xena now knows that Callisto's spirit resides in her baby.

That's gotta be a real shocker!

I still don't know exactly how Xena conceived.

Callisto touches Xena's stomach. Didn't she already do that in Fallen Angel? What happened? It didn't take?

Tears are just running down Xena's cheeks.

This ending is absolutely bizarre. I would have preferred for the baby to be conceived under more conventional means.

Next up is an episode that a lot of people hate, but I happen to love. Be warned! Heh heh.


SEEDS OF FAITH:

Let’s see what Gary thinks of this one:

 

Okay…WHAT faith? A new religion? There is a group of Eli followers, The

Funny Hat sect, I think, who are saying it’s time to dump the Greek gods and

follow Eli. When a guy argues and raises a weapon, Xena’s Chakram cuts it in

half. Gabby then punches a guy whom she believes had a weapon…it was a

handkerchief. This is like in LEGACY where Gabby makes the same mistake,

only Desert Boy died in that one.

Again, meddling Xena interrupts people who are not bothering her at all.

 

Ares appears and says Xena spoiled his good time by ending the fight. He

sees that Xena is pregnant, and Xena says Gabby “did the job” to which Ares

says he would have paid to see that.

There is a movement to spurn the gods…Xena calls it the “Twilight”,

something the Fates have spoken of when men would no longer need the Greek

gods. Then, the gods would lose their power by not being worshipped.

 

Callisto shows up as an angel and warns Xena not to get in the way. Eli is

going to have to die in the Master Plan. Ares will kill him, and if Xena

gets in the way, she and her child will die, too.

 

Funny how Xena tells Gabby not to “butt in” the argument when they came in.

Xena does this all the time.

Funny Hat leader says to burn the weapons and that Eli is their leader. Xena

says “what can an immortal possibly know about loss?” Good question.

Eli continues to say love is the way: War---BAD!

 

A woman calls Eli “teacher”, as Christ was called. Gee, Eli was a con man,

magician, hypnotist, Devi, leader of a cult, and now is a teacher. Nice

resume.

 

A guy with a Joxer-hat with skulls on it goes to see Ares. Ares tells the

guy, Milos (like the two other “Milo” guys we saw recently) that he wants

Eli dead.

In town, Eli and Gabby talk. He is not disappointed that Gabby fights, and

Gabby fears she will become numb to the violence.

 

Ares appears and threatened Eli, telling to leave before he kills him. Eli

says no.

 

Xena sees an army coming…she happened to miss one right outside the door in

PURITY.

Callisto appears. Xena is still mad at Cal…why? She says “don’t expect too

much from me.” Cal says for Xena not to interfere. Xena will handle Ares on

her own terms.

 

Eli has a destiny to fulfill…he must face it alone.

Xena stops a scouting party and puts the Pinch on one guy to find which

direction the main force is coming from.

 

Eli prays with Cal…he calls her “angel” which she is NOT. She will be

reborn. Angels are created, not born, as she was.

Like Christ in the Bible, Eli asks if there is another way other than having

to die. Cal tells him not to be afraid and kisses his cheek. He was “chosen”

she says and must be the sacrifice. It sounds like he is going to die for

our sins, huh?

 

In town, Xena and Gabby see Eli. The army is coming, and Eli won’t go, so

Xena leaves to go to the inevitable rope bridge. Gabby is to stay and

protect Eli from Ares.

NOTE: Gabby is nowhere the warrior Xena is and even Xena barely won in

FURIES.

 

Like Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, we see Xena, like Indy, holding

the rope bridge against the bad guys. She fights a few one at a time, then

cuts the ropes.

WHY? Why does she not cut the ropes at once, or send Gabby or anyone else to

do it in advance? Why this stupid demonstration that Lucy can still get it

all done herself with a bun in the oven?

 

While Xena is showing off, Ares appears and tries to kill Elli, only to be

stopped twice by Gabby. Eli tells her to back off because it is for the

greater good.

Ares: “warriors have always shaped the world”…(onward Christian soldiers).

He then stabs Eli to death with his sword,. Gabby holds the dead Eli while

she shows off a LOT of cleavage (hey! Something good had to come from this

episode).

 

Xena comes back to see the dead Eli and starts to blame Gabby., who yells

three times, “Don’t you DARE blame me!” She runs off after asking if Ares

was right…that warriors who fight will be in the right?

 

Alone, Gabby throws her sais into a tree. She is good at this as Ares

appears. She tries to hit him, but misses. He would not be hurt, anyway.

Ares says he did what he had to do.  Gabby blames herself as Ares says that

might is right, even when it’s wrong. He lets Gabby feel how it is to be a

god…she looks ecstatic. With that “power” feeling, she could change the

world. Isn’t it what she always wanted? Ares leaves her confused.

 

Xena sings the funeral song, and Gabby and she turn from each other as they

did in MATERNAL INSTINCTS.

 

Xena sees Callisto, who has no wings now. Cal is beautiful and Xena says she

wants her help to locate the Dagger of Helios. Nobody on earth knows where

it is…it is now revealed it can kill Gods.

 

Note: Velasca is the last one to have it and we never knew where it went

after QUEST. It now looks weird…all curved and about three times the length

of the original one. Cal agrees  and takes her to the dagger. How does Cal

know where this is? Xena still hates Cal and says peace is leading the

people like sheep to a slaughter.

 

In town at sunrise, Ares appears and says Eli is dead and so is his crusade.

The people deny this. They say his spirit lives on.

Gabby fights Ares, and the sword is knocked into Milos, killing him.

Gabby manages to flip Ares’ sword to the ground, and as he tries to raise it

to kill Gabby, the Chakram cuts the sword in half. How can a god-item like

that be destroyed?

 

Xena now holds the Dagger to his throat, telling him what it is. He tells

her to kill him, but she tosses it on the ground. Why go to the trouble of

getting it and then tossing it away….anybody could have picked it up!

Xena didn’t kill Ares because she saw Eli’s reflection on the blade.

 

Ares grabs the Dagger and holds it to Xena’s throat. She tells him to kill

her and he will make her a martyr too. Ares throws the Dagger away and it

explodes. How and WHY?

Why doesn’t he keep such a powerful weapon?

 

Xena and Gabby make up. Eli is an angel now with Cal and he thanks them.

 

Cal says it is time for herself to be reincarnated in the body in which her

spirit has been ordained---XENA!

Wait! There is already a spirit in Xena’s child, which Alti tried to steal.

Cal can’t think of a better mother than Xena….Gawd! Each destroyed the

other’s life, so THEY make up and Cal’s ‘spirit” enters Xena in a beam of

light. Now…..Callisto IS HER OWN FATHER!

 

End of another confusing and unnecessary episode.

 

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Season 5
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