To Helicon and Back Part 2

Gabrielle is more than a little miffed as she moves back to the safety at the bottom of the sand cliff, with Xena at her heels. "You!" she accuses Varia, "You tried to kill me." She grabs Varia's shoulders, but Xena puts a hand on Gabs' shoulder to calm her. There's a switch! "Let me handle this," she tells Gabs, who backs off, still seething. Xena takes a breath to calm herself, and then glancing at the regret filled face of Varia, tells the Amazons "Bellerephon promised to spare you all if Varia killed Gabrielle." I KNEW that Xena knew what Belle was up to when he returned Varia. Xena turns on Varia then, snarling, "Oh, that's it, isn't it? Your tribe for my suffering?" She softens a little, and says, "He wouldn't have made good on his promises, Varia." "He swore on Artemis's grave," Varia pleads to Xena, and Gabrielle turns with a hand in the air and stalks off. Amazing! She walks a few feet away, and then turns again, saying angrily, "The Amazons are a sisterhood, Varia...you broke those sacred bonds!" Brown haired Amazon and Cyane move to draw their swords, saying Varia is a traitor and should be killed for her treason. But Gabs turns on them and tells them she won't have this kind of justice. She may be angry, but she's still thinking clearly. She tells Varia she can't come with them...because she can't worry about the enemy and Varia. Varia, very repentent, says as an Amazon queen she gives Gabs her word that she won't harm her. Gabrielle gives her a head shake and an "I don't care" expression that is so reminescent of Xena it made me laugh out loud. Gabs acts like Xena more in this episode than any other I can recall. What a reversal of roles we're getting here, because Xena, who has been standing slightly in front of Varia, obviously to protect her, tells Gabs softly, "We can't leave her here, Gabrielle."

Gabrielle looks at Xena, then steps forward, telling Varia she'll take her word. She reaches up and yanks Varia's queen pendant from her neck, and tells her, "But you are no longer queen" before stalking off again. Xena watches her retreat, her eyes revealing how shocked she is by Gabrielle, and Varia looks to Xena, looking lost.

I was feeling very uneasy at this point, especially with Gabrielle, and when the next shot shows Gabrielle walking alone along the sand dune, I thought she should have talked to Xena about all this. Then when I saw Gabrielle was walking to Xena, who was sitting alone on the dune, I realized the writing in this episode was pretty on-the-mark. They sit in silence for a moment, then Gabrielle says, "You're thinking of giving yourself up to Bellerephon, aren't you?" Xena tells her it would settle things, but Gabs says only for a moment...he'd be after them again. Xena knows this...that's the thing about vengeance, you can never be satisfied. She glances at Gabrielle and tells her she did the right thing about Varia. "She doesn't deserve to be condemned." Apparently, Gabs has calmed because she agrees, knowing Varia was desperate to save the tribe. Xena says it made her do things she never thought she'd do. Xena tells Gabs she has to rally the troops to fight...maybe even die. Gabs nods. "If that's what I have to do," she concurs. There's a long pause while Xena just stares at Gabrielle. Gabs returns the gaze and says, "Why are you looking at me like that?" Xena looks away and says, "Just doesn't seem like the Gabrielle I know." She doesn't sound too happy about it. Gabrielle responds, "It's not me, Xena...but it is the queen of the Amazons. That's who I am whether I like it or not." The camera slowly closes in on her resigned face.

It is nighttime, and the surviving Amazons and Xena are in the water, with the injured Amazons floating on rafts. One of the Amazons says she saw a shark, and another one says she felt somehing brush her leg. Xena tells them all to keep still...sharks are drawn to movements. Xena is looking to Gabrielle, who is struggling with something, and then Gabs turns to Gwyn-Teir who is on the raft. She whispers to her "Travel safely, Sister," and pulls the lifeless body from the raft and sends it floating off. A few seconds later, the body is pulled under the water.

Gabrielle immediately turns to Xena. There is pain in both sets of eyes. "Is that honorable?" Gabrielle asks. "I don't think so." But Xena puts a hand on the side of Gabs face. "Would you have given yourself for her?" she asked. Gabrielle nods definitely. "You sent her spirit in peace, Gabrielle," Xena says gently, before removing her hand and telling them "forward". They continue to move through the water. That brief scene is very tragic, and very sweet.

It is daytime again, and they have made their way to a clearing in the woods. Gabrielle has the remaining Amazons around her, and she names off some of the Amazons who have already died. Xena is crouched by a tree, her face frozen in its stoic expression. Gabrielle tells them that their deaths is not an end...it's a pathway. And she wants to know when she dies, she can grasp them by the hand and she can look them in the eye and tell them their blood wasn't spilled without purpose. In her heartfelt speech, Gabs tell them they'll finish what the dead Amazons began. "More of us may die today, but the Amazon nation...it will live on forever. That is the duty that we carry, and the everlasting honor we will hold." The Amazons listen somberly, their spirits being revived as Xena looks down, obviously touched by the power of Gabrielle's words. Gabrielle has tears in her eyes as the scene fades.

After the speech, Xena approaches Gabs, who has her back to her. Gabs is holding the sword which has been strapped to her back during the entire episode. "You okay?" Xena asks quietly. Gabs nods, "Yeah...yeah, I did what I had to do. I rallied the troops." Her voice breaks a little. Xena tells her, "Gabrielle, I can see that you're in pain," and Gabs whirls on her, whispering savagely, "Xena, don't! Don't! Don't try to make me feel better about this." The camera is on Xena who gives Gabs a tiny smile with a patient nod, as if she was expecting this. Gabrielle continues, "Half of my tribe lies dead on the beach...now I have to be as cold and ruthless (I thought she was going to say "as you are", but instead...) as I can be. I'll do whatever I have to to keep these women alive." Xena looks at her for long seconds, then says "Let's end this now, then." There's respect in her eyes. Gabrielle nods. Xena tells her "You know what you have to do," and then she walks off. Varia watches Gabrielle as Xena leaves, still looking genuninely repentent over her actions. Gabrielle stares off camera, struggling with the weight on her shoulder, her head slightly shaking no.

Apparently, Argo II has been roaming around in the forest, because Xena is riding her up to...uh...the back door of the fortress. The layout of the land is never clearly shown, but if it was so easy to approach from this angle, why didn't they just do it to begin with? Maybe I'm not supposed to question those things. Xena stops a short distance from the door and bellows, "Bellerephon!" The camera closes in on her scowl, and then she dismounts Argo by swinging both feet free of the saddle. She draws her sword. The door opens, and no one appears. Xena growls, not caring for the theatrics. Belle peeks out the door, and Xena holds her sword point up, letting him know why she's there. "Xena," he purrs, "when will you learn?" Two guards follow him out. "I've already beaten you twice." "Once," Xena smiles, "but who's counting?" She rushes forward. They clang swords a few times, and Belle gets in two good kicks which knocks Xena to her knees. He leans in..."Is that fear in your eyes I see, Warrior Princess?" Xena is immediately on her feet again, and he gives her a barrage of punches. Now, I know I often write that I think Xena is toying with her opponents, not giving them full-thottle and as one of his punches sends her head turning, the look on her face shows she's relishing this skirmish, but is almost bored. She's just buying time. She turns back and his sword flies and cuts her...say it with me now...on the upper left arm. Xena smiles at him. He strikes again, and this time cuts her upper right arm. Another kick from Belle, and she flips over backward. As she slowly pulls herself off the ground, she holds her sword hand funny, and for a moment, I thought her wrist was broken. But no, she resheaths her sword, making some little exagerrated "this guy's too much for me" sounds, and remounts Argo II. "So disappointing when a warrior falls short of your expectations," Belle pouts, but he should be looking at Xena who is eying him from her horse. He calls for a horse, as Xena takes off down the mountain. "A horse!" Belle hollars again, and one is finally brought out, and the chase is on. Xena hightails it back to the forest with Belle and his men in hot pursuit. Amazingly enough, the soldiers on foot are just a few paces behind the ones that are riding. Xena comes to a stop in a clearing that looks awfully familiar, and turns to watch the approach.

"Xena," Belle says haughtily,"What's the matter...confronting your reputation?" Xena has her own haughty glare going, "No, confronting yours. And that wasn't fear you saw in my eyes before...it was disgust!" She puts her fingers to her lips and lip synchs...badly, I might add...a whistle, and the Amazons move on a little ambush of their own. They attack from everywhere...some of them swinging down from trees, some of them buried under brush on the ground....we've seen it before. A closeup of Belle, then Xena's eyes show these two are going to square off as the rest of the Amazons fight Belle's men. Xena and Belle play joust for a little while, then still seated on their mounts, proceed to pair off in some noisy swordplay. Then the film annoying speeds up as Gabs starts taking out bad guys with her sais and Varia uses her sword to do the same.

The action moves so dizzyingly fast that's it's hard to tell what's happening, but the Amazons are obviously winning. Belle jumps from his horse, knocking Xena off in the process and she lays on her back for what seems like the hundredth time this episode. Gabrielle plunges her sais into a couple of goons and looks for someone else to fight. Xena continues to spar with Belle as Cyane skewers some of the bad guys with her bow and arrow. Gabrielle draws her sword, which is more like a long dagger, and continues with the fight. The body count rises as the victorious "Xena: Warrior Lumberjack" music from The Abyss plays. Belle finds Xena isn't as easy as she seemed as she gives all that she gets from him. (Gee, two cliches in one sentence!) Finally she throws him to the ground, and points her sword toward him, victorious. Xena summarizes the whole plot for him..."I killed your mother to save my daughter...and you killed the Amazons to avenge Mother...so the Amazons killed your soldiers. Why add one more name to the ranks of the dead? End it here, Bellerephon. Make the decision to walk away from the cycle of killing." Why does that sound like something Gabrielle would say? Is the reversal of roles still evident? Just to prove my point, there's more shots of Gabrielle kicking butt. "Or?" Belle asks, a half smile on his face. "Or I'll make the decision for ya'" Xena replies. She lowers her sword and turns her back on him. He draws a dagger from his boot, telling her she made a mistake forgetting he's a half-god. Xena whirls on him and her sword cuts open his belly. "You forget," she sneers..."You're half-mortal too." He looks down in horror at his wound, and Xena, on one knee, says very sincerely..."It didn't have to end this way." "Oh yes," he answers, blood showing in his mouth..."It did." He collapses backward, leaving Xena to stare into his open, lifeless eyes.

She responds immediately though, when she hears Gabrielle shout,"Come on, get up!" and then watches, with great sorrow in her eyes, as Gabrielle gives chase to a retreating soldier. Last week, I made a comment about Gabrielle being Xena's conscience, and this is truely reversed this week, because as the soldier falls, and Gabrielle raises her sword with a yell to kill him, Xena screams, "Gabrielle," and Gabs stops, sword in the air. She looks around and sees Jiminy Xena, who tells her "It's over." Gabs looks at the soldier, and what she almost did, and stands up and staggers back toward Xena, her eyes full of regret. Xena's sad expression doesn't change as she watches Gabrielle, who is splattered with blood of slain men, appraoch. "You won," Xena tells her, but Gabs shakes her head. "I don't think I did," she says. "With each battle, I lose more of myself." Xena's eyes have filled with tears. "War's tough on the soul, Gabrielle," she tells her. Cyane approaches from behind Xena, saying simply, "Queen Gabrielle." Xena responds to that, and steels herself, telling Gabs, "Your people need you." Gabrielle slowly walks past her, understanding what Xena is saying, while Xena keeps her back turned for one more second, composing herself. These last two episodes have really tugged at my hearstrings!

Gabrielle slowly walks toward Varia, who is looking a little gunshy, but Gabs offers her forearm, and Varia crosses it with her own. Gabrielle gives her a forgiving smile, then turns and looks directly into the camera. "To a strong Amazon nation," she says. The Amazons around her whisper the pledge. Xena, facing the group, whispers it..."To a strong Amazon nation." And just as the scene fades, Varia, standing behind Gabrielle, repeats it..."To a strong Amazon nation."

For the record, the disclaimer is "No shark bait was harmed during the making of this motion picture."

And thus ends another powerful episode of Xena. This was a tour de force for Renee O'Connor, and she rose to the ocassion with gusto. Watching Gabrielle go through the same struggles that Xena has battled was an interesting twist. Neither acted out of character during this episode, instead, what was portrayed is how Gabrielle's character has gradually been changing over the years with Xena. Xena has changed too, and this hour reflected that as well, but it was more evident in the bard. If this is the last appearance of the Amazons, they went out on a strong note, hurting yes, but victorious none-the-less! !

And now for Gary's view of this episode:

This is yet another episode devoted to my favorite gruop, the Amazons. It opens with Gabby and Varia in a clenched-fist salute against each other's wrists, saying "To a strong Amazon nation." This is said at the end too, totalling seven times, with Xena and the Amazons saying it as well. The tribe is a collection of the Amazons that are left, remember, and Varia is made their queen, officially. There is an eclipse...remember how Gabby became a queen by howling naked at the moon?

What happens next is strange. A group of bad guys under command of a walord named Baleraphon, "B" for short, attacks the Amazons. The Amazons number about 80 I estimate, and the bad guys were a lot fewer, but manage to leave a lot of Amazon dead, and end up kidnapping Varia. The bad guys have white-painted faces or wear masks, like the episode where the Amazon nation starts...the cavemen-cannibals had white faces, too. Xena and Gab fight back-to-back, which we don't see much. When Xena fights B, she really takes her lumps...litlle does she know that his is Aretmis' son, so he is a demi-god.

Xena vows to get the bad warlord while the Amazons attack by sea. No mention of where they get the ships. The Amazons say that they need someone who knows the terrain of Greece, so we have to assume they are not in Greece now. Gab seems to know where this fortress is...we never have heard of this place, but she and Xena have. What happened to the usual Amazon cunning and sentries in the trees as in Hooves and Harlots? They sure were caught flat-footed.

Next, we see a D-Day type invasion force that is going to attack the beach while Xena will get the bad guy on land, taking off with Argo.

At the fort, Varia declares herself the leader of ALL the Amazons. She is loosely chained, and can move her arms, but doesn't attack this guy even when he hits her...she is just submissive, saying that the Amazons will clean his clock for him if he doesn't let her go. B is the same guy who was the king in Key to the Kingdom a couple of seasons ago.

He tells Varia he intended to kill her, but his plans changed...probably because he saw Xena at the camp and wants revenge for Xena killing his mom. Before the Amazons leave, they burn the bodies...os they must be running out of firewood by now, so many have died. Aboard ship, we hear about the differences in the Amazons' tribes... different money, too. There is a mention of being as scared as "Joxer facing the Dryads". This must be in their folklore or something, unless Gab told them a story on the way.

Xena suprises B at the fort, then fights him...he tells her who his is,a nd gets the drop on her, with a dagger at her throat. He oculd have killed her right then, as Callisto could have in Return of Callsito. Instead, he calls for the guards...THEN Xena breaks free and jumps out the window to the water. He then calls for the catapults to fire away, and they nail the ship with the first shot. The Amazons are in the water, and Gab shouts they will "take the beach".

Something B said...he said he hated the Amazons because they abandoned Artemis...she needed their worship. He blamed Xena for that. How did she influence all the Amazon tribes to abandon Artemis? Remember in The Quest that it was Velasca who destroyed Artemis' temple because A. DESERTED THE AMAZONS!

At the beach scene, like the invasion of Normandy in World War 2, the troops are trying to get ashore with explosions and really accurate archers..we see only ofur of these archers, but they take a huge toll on the dwindling Amazon nation. There was the haunting music from Locked Up and Tied Down, which was really moving. Gab says, "We are NOT dying here!"...jeeze...she had better look around...they are getting slaughtered!

Gabs says they need a diversion so that the remaining troops can run for cover. She is now making life and death decisions. One Amazon says that she will do it, and the catapults zero in on her, killing her. Gab and the others get under cover. The next few minutes is napalm and arrows, killing more Amazons.

Xnea comes out of the water. Too bad her power to turn an army to stone is gone. GAb wants Xena to take command, but Xena says the Amaxons won't follow her. Wait a minute! What about in Hooves when Xena beats Queen Melosa in the fight...she took command then and led the Amazons against the bad guys. She said to Gab..."you're it."

Meanwhile, B. gets Varia to agree to kill Gab and will save the rest of her tribe. We see this later.

There is the typical war-movie scene where someone is safe under cover, but gets up and stands there getting nailed with arrows, a-la Callisto in Maternal Instinct, and then gets a napalm bomb too.

Then, Xena stands up, and finally uses her chakram to knock out one catapult to give the troops time to run for cover...she is not shot at by the archers, either...why not?

The set for the show was mostly on the beach, so they sure did cut down on expensive sets this time.

Varia comes from the fort chained and blindfolded. Why didn't she raise her arms and take off the blindfold, unless she was told not to or she would be killed.

Varia wants to retreat and get whoever was left to safety. Gab and Xena say B will always chase them for his revenge, so they should stay and fight. Varia says that there is a path and Gab says she will find it herself. Varia plans to shoot Gab with an arrow, but Xena stops her. More catapult action with Gab running away. Gab rips the medallion from Varia and is really ticked off, saying that Varia is no longer queen----Gab is. Hey! What about the right to challenge when someone wants to be queen?...we saw that a couple times in the past. So much for the Amazon rules.

Xena says to Varia taht killing Gab would make her (Xena) suffer...B's intent. Boy, how Varia has changed in three episodes!

Gab says "I am the queen of the Amazons"..how many are left? :"It's who I am". Rmember earlier Xena's reference that "your people need you"?

There is a scene where they have rafts to attack and dump a dead Amazon (Is this honorable?)...into the water to divert a shark.

There are only a few Amazons left...antoher reference to "this land"...Greece. Gab wants to join the Amazons after death...what about Perdicus...didn't she want to be with her dead hubby? Is she going to the Elysian Fields or Heaven...or hell or Tartarus? Maybe the Amazons' "resting place".

Gab says the Amazon nation will live forever, they should finish the job and have everlasting honor...this was a speech to rally the few troops left. Gab does not want Xena's comfort...she says she must be "cold and ruthless" to win.

Xnea goes on Argo to the fort to challenge B...no archers or guards in sight. The gate opens and B and Xena fight...he cuts her twice and really nails her a lot. She smiles, then runs away on Argo. Now the stupid part...he has the Amazons agains the rope and is safe in the fort. He, of course, rides after her with his men to the woods...a mistake. It is where the Amazons are most at home.. in the trees for an ambush. About twenty bad guys are with him, and they fight the Amazons...these same guys attacked the Amazons and were outnumbered in the beginning of the show, but can't beat fewer of them. The only bodies we see are bad guys this time...no Amazons.

Big scene: Xena tells B that it doesn't have to end this way...he says he is a god, but Xena kills him because he is a half-god..he FORGOT that. It is like the scene where Xena turns her back on Pompey in another Amzon episode, and he attacks...she turns fast and kills him.

The ending is where Gabby is killing and chasing one survivor..Xena yells for her to let him go. Gab does and comes back to about twelve Amazons left OUT OF THE WHOLE AMAZON NATION! Gab says that in each battle, she loses more of herself. Xena says that war is tough on the soul. The "our people need you" reference seems to indicate that Gab will stay this time? Who knows? She has left before, giving someone else the rite of caste.

Gab and Varia make up and say again "To a strong Amazon nation"..echoed by Xena and the few Amazons left... a pitiful sight. WHAT Amazon nation?

This episode gets a "B" because of the action and an attempt to give a history to the tribe. The recent episodes have been long on action/explosions and have been lax in any signifcant dialogue.

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