A Friend in Need Part 2
I am absolutely numb right now. Up until five minutes fromt the very
ending, I was taking everything in stride, but the last five minutes
knocked me for a loop. It was a beautiful ending, and so poignant it took
my breath away. But was it a happy one? I think it will be up to the
viewer, but this viewer ain't very happy.
The episode starts with clips from last week, and then the first surprise
of the episode. Instead of a teaser leading into opening credits, the
regular opening was sacrificed, I'd assume to give us more actual episode
time. Xena:Warrior Princess was superimposed over a foggy landscape. The
first real shot of the episode grounded me pretty quickly. Xena's
breastplate armor was being laid in the earth, on top of her leathers.
"Starring Lucy Lawless" comes up on the screen, and we see Xena is burying
her armor, bringing the scene from Sins of the Past full circle. She is on
her knees, and her sword has been plunged into the earth by the hole she
has made. Xena is dressed in that gorgeous golden armor she wore at the
ending of last week. She pulls the sword from the ground, looks at it
reverently, and places it on top of the armor. Then she pulls the chakram
from her belt, and notices the ground is shaking. Rather than bury the
chakram, she uses it to help pull some dirt over to cover the armor and
sword. The whole time, she is reacting to the booming sounds and ground
shaking around her.
There is an eerie stillness in the air around her...save the rhythmic
pounding sound. Xena stands and peers into the forest around her. Her
face changes from confusion to determination. We see that the noise is the
pounding of some men on big drums. Xena seems to identify the sound, and
closes her eyes slowly.
Cut to some men marching, with Kenji at the lead. Renee O'Connor's name
comes up, and there's Gabrielle, still in her awesome armor, also from the
end of last week. "It's too quiet here," she intones, studying the scenery
around her. She is in a different part of the forest.
Suddenly, Gabrielle gets a headache with Excedrin written all over it as
Xena's words replay in her mind..."Gabrielle, what would you do? Listen
not to the sounds, but to what's behind the sounds. Always remember, I
love you." It suddenly occurs to Gabrielle what I've been praying all week
would occur to her. She has put two and two together, and suddenly
realizes why Xena has sent her in a different direction. Screaming out
Xena's name, Gabrielle takes off in a dead run.
Xena reacts as if she's heard Gabrielle, but in reality, she is hearing
something else. As the drumming continues, the camera focuses in on her
eyes, ever alert, and assessing the approach of many soldiers, dressed as
samurai. Many are on horses, and there is at least one wagon. When the
time is right, Xena throws her chakram at a payload she has apparently
gathered together. Casks and pottery jars roll from their rope restraints
and hit the ground. Liquid splashes. The chakram continues on its flight
and hits a torch one of the soldiers is holding. The torch is severed in
two, and when the head of it hits the ground, a flame quickly rises up. In
no time at all, there are some roaring explosions.
I'm kind of surprised the censors let the show get by with the upcoming
footage. An overhead shot shows the flame quickly radiating out of
control...then the ground shots show the massive flaming wind a nuclear
explosion creates. Soldiers and horses are instantly vaporized as the wind
sweeps over them...Xena hits the dirt as the wave hits her, but somehow,
the flames don't come near her. The same thing happens for Gabrielle, who
must have moved a lot closer by now. She feels the pulling strength of the
wind, but is unharmed. And then in the distance, she sees it...a mushroom
cloud. Xena has somehow created the first atomic bomb, and used it in
Japan. I'm still pretty shocked by that one!
Gabrielle regains her footing, and takes off running again. Meanwhile,
Xena is on her feet again, and literally runs up a tree. From her high
vantage point, she begins shooting arrows, one after the other, each one
finding its mark in an enemy soldier. She does great, taking out all the
close enemies, but pauses, when she hears the sound of many, many bows
being drawn back. There are many, many more soldiers further back, and
when they fire their arrows, the sky becomes black with the projectiles.
They hit the ground in a wave, and Xena takes a step back as she realizes
she is in deep trouble. She catches a couple of the arrows, and stands
between the shelter of two trees as she deflects more and more arrows. But
they keep coming.
The first one hits in the front of the left shoulder. Xena breaks off the
shaft, and moves to get away, only to take one in the left knee. This one
too, she breaks off, and now is hobbling in an effort to move to safety.
The arrows are coming from all directions now, and one hits her right
shoulder. She falls to her knees, her back against some wooden structure,
and even as she is breaking this one off, another arrow gets her in the
right forearm, and pins it to the wooden piece behind her. She is in
substantial pain by now, as can be imagined, but she can hear the army
closing in on her, and she stands haltingly, her face revealing she is
ready for what is about to come. "All right," she wheezes, drawing the
katana, which is at her side. "Now you're askin for it."
Blood is already pouring down her body, but as she staggers
forward...another arrow hits her at close range, this time in the stomach.
She yanks it out, and continues forward, taking out soldiers right and
left. She looks like she's chopping down weeds the way her path is cleared
before her. As she continues to battle, she screams out Gabrielle's
name...the only thought on her mind. She begins seeing some of their
sadder moments together...feverish Gabrielle in One Against An Army, and
Gabrielle in Fallen Angel telling her "We're going to be together." We
hear Xena's voice from last week..."If I only had thirty seconds to
live...", then see Gabrielle from Ides of March, "You brought out the best
in me." Then Xena completes the statement, "This is how I'd want to live
them, looking into your eyes." Xena's movements are gettting a little less
controlled, her vision is blurry, yet still she continues to kill soldier
after soldier. Finally she stops, and looks into the eyes of the leader of
the troops, a man I didn't recognize from last week, but quickly learned to
despise. Xena's face is covered in blood, but her eyes are still defiant.
He swings his sword, and there is a horrible splash of blood as the scene
fades to the first break.
Xena is dead. There was no doubt in my mind that this was what she had
gone off alone to accomplish...her own death. The only thing that
sustained me during those moments between segments was the knowledge that I
had fifty minutes to go in which to bring her back. The death I witnessed
was valiant, no doubt about it, and Xena died the way she wanted to, as a
warrior with a sword in her hand, but so soon into the episode?
As the next scene opens, Gabrielle is still running, calling out Xena's
name. She stops still in her tracks, when she sees Xena's chakram, laying
alone on a patch of open ground. It is covered in blood and gore.
Gabrielle just stares at it.
We move to the teahouse, and Akemi is kneeling in the center of it. She
looks to the side, and sees the sacred katana materialize on a display
beside her. Slowly she folds her hand, and lowers her head.
Before her, a door opens, and Xena comes into view. She looks beautiful,
and she is naked. Akemi is playing the stringed instrument of last week,
as a hand takes Xena's and leads her into the room. Xena is being clad in
a gorgeous red robe, as Akemi speaks. "You came to me in my dreams, and I
thought it was reality...then you come to me in reality...and it feels like
it's a dream...and I am filled with joy." Xena slowly and purposefully
walks toward Akemi, the robe flowing around her.
Gabrielle and Kenji are watching the Ghost Killer of last week. Gabrielle
wants to know what the Killer is doing, and Kenji explains he is spearing
souls before Yodoshi can devour them. We see Ghost Killer do that,
apparently releasing a soul to its true afterlife. Kenji tells Gabrielle,
"Perhaps he sees Xena," and Gabrielle whirls on him. "Xena is alive! Do
you understand? She is alive." Gabrielle has the chakram in her hand as
she walks away, and I thought back to The Ring, when Gabrielle says the
same thing confidently, and is correct. But this time...
Back at the teahouse, Akemi is telling Xena she is going to write a verse
to express what she's feeling. In a wonderful contrast to Evil Xena's
reactions to Akemi's writings of last week, this Xena just smiles sweetly,
as if she understand and expects it. One of the other women in the
teahouse is eyeing Xena, looking very angered by the sudden appearance of
the woman in red.
Xena isn't paying attention to her, however. She is telling Akemi she has
been in the underworld before, but it never felt like this. Akemi looks at
the angry woman, who is flexing her calf to show that she is wearing the
anklet that summoned Yodoshi on the previous week. Akemi looks back to
Xena as Xena asks, "What's going on?" The news is not good. Their bodies
are illusions, created by Yodoshi. They are under his power and must obey
his will. The angry woman lifts her foot as Xena tells Akemi with a smile,
"Funny, you're just the way I remembered you." She doesn't seem concerned
by the news.
The woman drops her foot, and the bells sound. Something is moving very
quickly toward the teahouse, and the women in the teahouse drop to their
faces, one by one. Xena stands instead, as something that looks like a
walking swarm of furiously moving locusts bursts through the side of the
teahouse. Xena faces Yodoshi for the first time. He laughs at her, then
with a strong exhaled breath, knocks Xena backward onto the floor. One of
his arms becomes a whip of fire, and he flicks it at Xena's back. Her
cries of pain reveal that even as a spiritual illusion, she can feel hurt.
Yodoshi flings her against a wall, and then sends her spiraling across the
room, her robe in flames. She hits the ground again. Yodoshis' flaming
whip strikes over and over again, stripping Xena's clothes from her piece
by piece, until she's lying facedown, naked before him. He growls and
reaches down, jerking her up by the hair. She lets him. He lowers her
head until her nose is at his boot tips, and I swear I thought she was
going to lick them. But no, she just keeps her head lowered and tells him,
"I am at your service, Lord Yodoshi."
"You most certainly are", he snarls back, looking pleased, "An eternity of
playing the whore to service my appetite for souls." He releases her, and
leaves the teahouse in the same manner he entered it, as a whirling swarm.
Xena and Akemi are sitting back to back on the little bridge outside the
teahouse. Akemi tells Xena she is glad she was able to show Yodoshi
respect, or he would have killed Xena. Xena's response is she wasn't
showing Yodoshi respect. "I'm going to destroy Yodoshi." She is dressed
in the red robe again. Akemi tells her that the angry woman is going to
continue watching her. "She'll try to follow me," Xena replies, Warrior
Princess veneer in place. "Let her."
Gabrielle is still searching, alone now. She is halfway across the
stepping stones of a pool, when she looks around, catching a glimpse of
something in red moving very quickly around her. She makes her way across
the puddle, and slowly walks, moving her body in circles as she watches her
surroundings. As she faces forward, we hear two gasps of breath. It is
Xena, standing before her, and apparently, neither expected to see the
other. "Xena", Gabrielle manages, and Xena responds in kind with a
Gabrielle, a genuine smile, and the two embrace. Gabrielle's face reveals
profound relief, but over her shoulder, Xena's is a mask of concern. "What
are you doing here?" Xena asks, pulling back.
"I was so worried about you," Gabrielle answers. She reaches to her belt.
"I found your chakram...there was so much blood." "I'm all right," Xena
replies, and I couldn't believe my ears at first. Was Xena really not
going to tell Gabrielle the truth, that she was now a ghost? Gabrielle
checks out her partner. "What's with the robes?" Xena's expression changes
to stoicness. "Gabrielle, I am going to kill the Lord of the Darklands."
Gabrielle doesn't seem surprised by this. "You'll need this," she says,
holding out the chakram. Xena looks at it, hesitating for a second, then
reaches out to take it. Her hand passes right through it. Gabrielle looks
into Xena's eyes in horror, as Xena's expression changes again to one of
discomfort. "I can't take that..." she says, then, "It's difficult to
explain." But Gabrielle has figured it out, as she continues to stare,
tears glistening on her cheeks. She shakes her head slightly, finally
saying, "You're dead."
This is so hard to write about! I've got a lump in my chest that just will
not go away. Anyway, after the commercials, Gabrielle makes the
realization away again, "You're dead...how could you let yourself be
killed?" The bard's tones are accusatory. "I'm sorry, Gabrielle, I
couldn't tell you. You would have tried to stop me, and then we'd both be
dead." Xena's words are harsh, but Gabrielle's expression has already
softened again as more tears begin to flow. "That's supposed to make me
feel better?" she asks. Xena is confident as she tells Gabrielle, "We've
overcome death before." A faint glimmer of hope began to appear in me as
Xena continues, "We will find a way to bring me back. Only by becoming a
spirit can I kill Yodoshi and free those souls that I condemned to torment.
Don't you see that?" Gabrielle's anger is gone now, and she steps forward
for another heartfelt embrace.
Gabrielle is hanging on tightly. "You're my whole life, Xena," she
whispers, and Xena's eyes close slowly as she feels Gabrielle's words. "I
won't lose you," Gabrielle adds, and Xena echoes it, "You won't lose me."
Gabrielle just continues to hold her, until she hears a sound behind her
and turns, drawing her sword. It is the Ghost Killer, and Gabrielle warns,
"Harukata, don't you come near her!" But Xena is calm, and she places a
hand on the blonde's shoulder. Her expression says she is pleased with
Gabrielle's courage. "Put down your weapons, Gabrielle. He's working with
me," she says. Gabrielle slowly lowers the sword as Xena gives Ghost
Killer a subtle head movement which points out there is someone else
closeby. With a battle cry, Xena leaps to the bushes and grabs the bell-wearing
woman who is spying, and Xena chucks her toward Ghost Killer who
catches her neatly on the end of his sword. The woman vaporizes in a
bright light, causing Gabrielle to shade her eyes. As the woman
disappears, the bells start to fall to earth, but with a cry of "The
anklet!" Xena dives an impossible distance forward, and catches the
jewelry before it can sound against the ground. With a relieved breath,
she gets back to her feet.
Xena is approaching Akemi and another woman outside the teahouse. She
holds out her hand toward Akemi, and opens it, telling Akemi with the
anklet, they can bring Yodoshi to them when the time is ready. Akemi looks
up at her in wonderment, until the sound of footsteps can be heard. It is
Gabrielle, walking across the bridge, and her eyes are on Akemi. She has
to be thinking about all Xena told her last week, and what this young woman
had meant to Xena in the past. Xena's eyes are on Gabrielle, with a
wonderfully adoring smile. "This is my soulmate...She's a poet like you,
Akemi." With these few words, Xena revealed a whole lot. What an
introduction! There is no doubt in Akemi or Gabrielle's mind who Xena
chooses to be with.
As Gabrielle continues to look at the women before her, the Ghost Killer
approaches behind her and claps a hand on her shoulder. Gabrielle turns to
face him. "I have one question," he says soberly. "Would you risk your
life, for the return of hers?" Without hesitation, Gabrielle replies,
"Without hesitation." Kenji is there too, and as he begins to speak,
Gabrielle turns her big, teary eyes to him. He tells her there is a way.
She must find Xena's body, burn it, then sprinkle the ashes in the Fountain
of Strength at the foot of Mt. Fuji. She has to do it before the second
sunset after death. Sunset...of course... "That's tomorrow," Gabrielle
returns, and Kenji continues that Harukata will say the incantations to
make the sacred katana powerful against evil spirits. Gabrielle takes all
this in, and nods, as Xena calls her name. Xena and Akemi walk out to meet
the bard, and Xena introduces finally, "This is Akemi." Gabrielle and
Akemi exchange smiles, and Akemi bows. "I'm honored to meet you at last,"
and Gabrielle answers, "And you, Akemi." Everyone else pronounces Akemi
like "akimmy", but not Gabrielle. It is "akeymy" for her. Behind
Gabrielle, Kenji speaks, saying that Gabrielle can't help with the work in
the teahouse. She knows what she should do and must leave soon. Gabrielle
sniffs, and then nods confidently at Xena. "Thank you," Xena husks
sincerely, but as Gabrielle turns to go, Akemi tells her to wait. She has
a gift she wants to give Gabrielle. It will protect her in her journey.
Gabrielle sniffs again, and smiles.
Inside the teahouse, Gabrielle is laying on a blue sheet on the floor, and
she is bared from the waist down. A pronged tool pierces her back, as the
beginning of an intricate tattoo is formed. Gabrielle clutches at the
sheet in pain, and Xena lays down beside her, placing a hand on Gabrielle's
arm, to comfort her. There is something very sensual about this scene.
Xena watches both Gabrielle and Akemi, as the elaborate artwork continues.
By the time it's over, and Xena and Akemi are draping Gabrielle in some new
duds, the back of Gabrielle's body is covered in symbols, the most
prominent one being a large snake on her back. Someone hands Xena the
katana, and Xena solemnly hands the katana to Gabrielle. Gabrielle takes
it with pain-filled eyes. "Good luck, Old Friend," Xena says, her hands
folded. Gabrielle slowly nods, and with one last look, turns to move on to
her mission. Very little dialogue has been spoken the last few minutes,
but still, I feel as if I have learned even more about these two than I
already knew. Just the looks, the subtle nuances both Lucy and Renee add
to the scene are so incredible!
Gabrielle suddenly turns back, a bit of fire in her eyes. Xena reacts as
if she's been taken by surprise. "I will get your body back, Xena," she
says with dogged determination. "No matter where they've hidden it.
Before sunset tomorrow, we will meet again by the side of Mt. Fuji." A
smile flirts with Xena's face as she slowly lowers her eyes in a head bow.
She looks as confident as Gabrielle that the mission will be successful.
Gabrielle takes a couple steps away and turns again. Oh gods, the chakram
is at her waist! It's disconcerting in a way, but at the same time, very,
very touching. Gabrielle is now acting as a warrior...as her mentor. "See
you there," Xena says softly, and this time, Gabrielle leaves.
It is storming...thunder is cracking through the night sky as lightning
hisses to the earth. We are at the enemy's camp, and the only thing
Gabrielle is missing is a warcry as she darts forward with a whip and takes
out some marching soldiers before her. The lightning reveals the most
feral expression I've ever seen on Gabrielle's face. Gabrielle is soaked
to the bone as she moves through the camp, but her steps begin to falter as
she sees the sight before her.
This is one of the images of the episode that will not go away for me.
There are still arrows piercing Xena's body. It has been strung up, naked,
outside, and as Gabrielle takes it all in, she sinks to her knees. She
suddenly looks very young as she begins to retch, becoming ill at the
desecration of her beloved friend's body. The shots of Xena's body are
concentrated, not showing the whole thing at once, but the arrow wounds are
very prominent in all of them. The most horrid sight of all, the one that
is burned into my brain, is the sight of the headless shoulders, for
indeed, Xena has been decapitated. It's shudderingly realistic.
Still on her knees, Gabrielle begins to regroup. She looks at the body,
one more time, then stands and draws her katana. "Give me her head!" she
demands to the air around her. She cuts down Xena's body, and begins to
wrap it in a blanket, her expression full of purpose. Someone steps up
behind her, and just as Xena would react, Gabrielle straightens in
increments, aware of the presence behind her. She rises to her feet, and a
sneer appears on her features, a sneer we've seen on the Warrior Princess
so many times. Gabrielle turns and faces the man who killed Xena. "I've
been expecting you," he says. He's a Japanese man with a Kiwi accent. It
could be charming, but its not. "Your friend was a fine opponent. She
provided me with one of the greatest trophies an honorable samurai could
ever claim." "You call yourself honorable?" Gabrielle counters. "You
outnumbered her a thousand to one. You're not a samurai...you're a fraud.
You couldn't have killed Xena unless she wanted you to."
I have to stop and think about that for a moment. Is that true? After
watching Xena dispose of the Persians in One Against an Army, I'm tempted
to agree, but there were so many hidden opponents in the battle she
encountered, I don't honestly know if she could have fought her way out of
the situation. She may have been able to escape death by running from the
soldiers, but they had her surrounded. At this point in time, I honestly
don't know if Gabrielle's beliefs were true or not
The man is angry now. "I think it's you with the death wish!" he shouts,
but Gabrielle remains calm. "I accept your challenge," she replies, as the
scene fades.
The rain is still pouring as the two warriors hold their swords pressed
together. Xena's words float through Gabrielle's brains..."Listen not just
to the sounds...but to what's behind the sounds...behind the sounds."
Gabrielle's eyes grow even larger as she does just that. There is a fire
in the doorway of the one the structures, but its crackling grows silent.
The rain hitting the ground bcomes mute. Even the sound of the gathering
men around Gabrielle have disappeared. All Gabrielle is focused on now is
the opponent before her...the man who killed Xena. His sword is raised,
but Gabrielle suddenly looks far more confident than he is. The sound of
his foot moving in the muck warns her of his attack, and she sidesteps his
sword strike, her own sword falling to the back of his neck as he falls to
his hands and knees beside her. With one movement, he has been defeated.
He tells Gabrielle, "It has been the greatest honor of my life to send Xena
to an early grave. If I cannot do the same to you, then I ask you, to
grant me a noble defeat. Please remove my head in one stroke."
I'll be honest here...I really wanted to see her do it. But this is
Gabrielle we're talking about, and angered and incensed as she is, rather
than avenging Xena, she chooses to humiliate the man by not killing him.
She clouts him with the hilt of her sword, and he collapses.
The remaining soldiers bow their heads, and part, and Xena's head is shown
on a low table. Her eyes are closed, and her mouth is drawn down in a
frown. The face is mottled with bruises. Yet another image that won't be
going away.
Gabrielle continues on her mission, securing Xena's body on a horse. She
rides away, Xena's body before her, as the soldiers all bow again.
Back at the teahouse, the Ghost Killer is fervently chanting, as Xena moves
to put the anklet on. She is now disguised as the woman who previously
wore the anklet. She is dressed in a white kimono, her hair piled on her
head, and she makes a remarkable Oriental... The anklet is now in place,
and with a nod from Kenji, Xena strikes the ground with her foot.
Yodoshi bursts into the house, this time as a rush of hot air, and smiles
down at his bowed accomplice, who is looking at a man laid out flat on a
mat. The smile fades though, when the woman turns, and he sees it is
actually Xena. Ghost Killer finally gets his chance, and strikes a sword
into Yodoshi's back, but the blow doesn't go in very far, and Yodoshi with
a scream of anger, flips Ghost Killer onto the floor. The sword flies to
land beside Xena, who immediately picks it up, and gives a mighty kick into
Yodoshi's chest, sending him backward into the tub of water. The water
begins to boil and churn, as Xena stabs at it, crying out "Where is he?"
Apparently Yodoshi ISN'T the Wicked Witch, as instead of melting, he
changes to steam, and Xena looks up to the ceiling ominously as the water
droplets rise and begin to collect there. Some of the water pools and
drips back to the floor, and in flawless special effects worthy of
Terminator 2, Yodoshi reforms moving from a liquid to a solid. Xena hears
it behind her, turns and tries to strike him by the sword, which he grabs
with his hands. As he inhales deeply, smart Xena turns to the
others..."Duck!!" He breathes out fire this time, and Akemi's robe goes up
in flames. Even as Xena continues to wrestle for the sword, she kicks
backward at Akemi, and sends her flying backward into the tub, putting out
the fire.
The struggle for the sword continues, and with a swing of his body, Yodoshi
beheads Kenji. It is so abrupt, but is shown in grisly detail. Yodoshi
turns his head again, and breathes out frigid breath this time, freezing
the surface of the tub and trapping Akemi beneath the ice. Meanwhile, Xena
finally wrestles the sword free, but is unable to land a blow on Yodoshi.
At one point, he grabs her arm which bursts into flames. He sends her
soaring across the room, the sword now in his hand, and he immediately
turns and plunges it straight through the Ghost Killer. Yodoshi tells GK
they've finally met, and then kicks the dying man off his sword. Xena
meanwhile, has recovered, and she kicks the sword from Yodoshi's hand to
her own. She chops off Yodoshi's right arm at the shoulder, and flames
shoot out of his body. Then she stabs him through the abdomen, and
releases the sword, stepping back to watch Yodoshi shiver and quake and
turn into a column of flame that rushes through the roof of the teahouse
and through the night sky. Is he dead?
There is a full moon, naturally. Gabrielle starts a pyre, then stares into
the flames...remembering. It's the same sad images we've seen before, with
Xena's voice over of looking into her eyes for her last thirty seconds of
life, then promising she will never leave Gabrielle, even in death. The
most haunting image for me from this, is of Xena's pain-filled eyes
staring up at Gabrielle, in Ides of March, even as the bard cradles her in
her arms. There is the shot of the silhouetted friends, Xena's arm around
Gabrielle's in Return of Callisto, then the camera focuses on Gabrielle's
face. "You will return to me, my friend," she says, through her tears. In
her hands, she holds a black urn. She puts a lid on it, closing it tightly.
At the teahouse, Xena is still in the white robe, but now her hair is loose
again. She is holding Ghost Killer in her lap, asking him what went wrong.
Though gasping, GK manages to tell Xena that Yodoshi is drinking from the
Fountain of Strength near Mt. Fuji. If Xena drinks from the fountain, and
uses the katana, she will be able to finally destroy Yodoshi. Xena reacts
with the realization that the fountain is the very spot Gabrielle is on her
way too. I have to ask why all this didn't come out earlier in the
episode. Ghost Killer should have told Xena all this a long time ago, but
now he is telling her she has to finish the job he started. He dies in
Xena's arms, and Xena proclaims, "I will not rest until it is done."
A Friend in Need Part 2 (B)
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