Season 5, episode 7
GUEST STARS
CAST
CREDITS
Gabrielle appears before Xena, with a dead rabbit in hand. Xena focuses on the rabbit, trying to cook it, maybe, and she turns it to stone. Joxer arrives with a squirrel and fusses about the stone rabbit. Gab and him are staving. He reaches in his pocket for some money, to buy food at the market, and brings out some black powder. Xena grabs the black powder and has a vision. She sees lots of explosions, and Gabrielle fighting with a staff, and men with swords, and a young man gets blown up by a rocket bomb. Gabrielle fights some more, and Joxer yells for Gabrielle. Then a bomb blows Joxer's head off. Then a bomb blows up Gabrielle. Xena comes back to the present. Says she saw a vision of death, and she has to go back to Chin.
A warlord chants and prays to the Green Dragon. Ming Tien appears. He says hi to Khan. Ming Tien turns his head around and his sister Pao Su is on his backside, and he says that he is a stronger ghost now because Pau Su has joined him. Both of them want Xena dead. Pau Su gives Khan the secret formula for the black powder. Xena, Gabrielle and Joxer walk through fields. They meet refugees from Lao Ma's land and find Kao Sing among the refugees. She tells them that Khan the warlord has come from the mountains with black powder and a big army. Xena decides all the little villagers need to hide out in caves under Lao Ma's palace, she sends Gabrielle ahead to the palace to check things out. Xena tells Kao Sing that Pao Su must be responsible for telling Khan the recipe for black powder.
Gabrielle rides to the palace where some fellows are making sandbags. She meets Lien Chi, the leader of the men, who is guarding the palace and making a stand here or something. Suddenly some guys burst in to the palace and there is fight. Gabrielle fights with her sais and also Lien Chi fights. This is an advance guard of Khan's. Lien Chi turns to Gabrielle, and gives her permission to hid the refugees under the palace.
Men Khan's army line up to get green dragon tattoos branded on their bodies. Very painful. The village people walk into tunnels under the palace. Xena and Kao Sing discuss Xena's vision, because Kao Sing saw it too. Xena says she can channel the powers but she's not controlling them very well. There is the sound of a blast.
Xena goes out and finds Joxer in a mine field. Some guy in front of him stepped on a mine and blew up. Xena walks out across the mine field and gets to Joxer. She leaves footprints for everyone to follow back. But, a big wind comes up and blows the footprints away. Khan and his army appears. Ming Tien's ghost appears, too. He says he is trapped between worlds with his sister because Xena isn't dead yet, and his hatred of her won’t let him cross over until she is dead. Xena creates a shield around herself with the power. Xena pulls out the super chakram and it skids across the mine field, setting off explosions, and Xena and Joxer and the village people make a run for it. Gabrielle shows up with Lien Chi and they fight off a few of Khan's men before following Xena to safety. Xena remembers her vision and recognizes Lien Chi from her vision. Everybody makes it safely back to the palace and tunnels.
Xena studies Lao Ma's book and focuses on a vase. The vase finally falls off the table and breaks. Kao Sing comes in, and she and Xena talk. Kao Sing says that Lao Ma said that the more a sibling uses the power, the more power the other siblings get, so Kao Sing is suppressing her power so her brother and sister will be weaker. Gabrielle and Lien Chi work together stuffing bags. They discuss the gift of the bard and telling stories. Joxer interrupts on purpose. He doesn’t want them getting too close. He tells her that Xena wants her. Xena says Khan has a big load of black powder down the road aways, and she's going to go blow it up. Gabrielle says nope, she and Lien Chi will do it, because Xena is pregnant. Gabrielle and Lien Chi go to do the exploding. They sneak into the army camp. They take out a couple of men in the tent. A net falls on top of Lien Chi and Gabrielle. Khan comes in and one of his men lays out a line of powder, which Khan lights, and then he goes away.
Xena senses Gabrielle's fear. Gabrielle struggles with the net. Xena concentrates and creates a wind. Then she sucks all the air out of the tent Gabrielle and Lien Chi are trapped in, and the fire goes out. Gabrielle knew what was happenoing, and she and Lien Chi were holding their breath at the time so this did not kill them. Gabrielle and Lien Chi get out of the net and blow up the tent. Ming Tien isn't very happy with this development.
Gabrielle and Lien Chi arrive back at the palace. Gabrielle is impressed that Xena saved her from so far away. Xena says the power uses her but she can't seem to use it, but it saves the people Xena loves. Kao Sing says the army must be defeated through the power of love and good, and through the power of Xena's love, but even Gabrielle says that ain't gonna work this time. Kao Sing says Xena always succeeds where others have failed. Gabrielle and Lien Chi talk. Lien Chi asks Gabrielle if she thinks about settling down. Gabrielle says something like, "Sometimes people think a home is a place, but it can be a person." And Lien Chi says something like, hey, you are settled then, because you've got Xena.
Joxer runs in and says Khan's army is over the south ridge and he has villagers as hostages and human shields. Xena goes and has a look. The people are shields, yep. Xena says she is going to destroy 100,000 men because she doesn't have any choice. It's a very big army. Xena tells Gabrielle to get everyone out of the way. She has to have complete focus and can't be worrying about anyone else, she says. Kao Sing tells Xena that while she has always walked the path of the warrior and always will, not every war is won with a sword.
Xena faces the army of men and concentrates. The rockets red glare goes off all around Xena, and she stands firm. More rockets burst in the air, and she stands firm. The people cower in the caves. More rockets. Xena deflects some of the rockets back at Khan's army. Gabrielle appears and starts rescuing the trapped human hostage shields. Joxer and Lien Chi come and do this too. Then Gabrielle fights a lot. Xena blocks rockets. Gabrielle fights some more. Now she has a staff like in Xena's vision. Kao Sing cowers with the people in the caves. The bombs go off all over the place as Xena reflects them back to the army. Gabrielle fights. Xena reflects bombs. Lien Chi fights. Xena reflects bombs. Gabrielle fights. Lien Chi fights. Xena looks really tired. Lien Chi fights. Gabrielle fights. Xena stops reflecting rocket bombs and they explode all around her. Xena falls to the ground. Horseman from Khan's troops head toward Xena. Xena sees Gabrielle fighting. The horseman gallop toward Xena. Xena gets up and tosses a bolt at the horsemen. Xena mutters some cosmic truths and makes the green dragon symbol on all of Khan's men start to glow and burn them. The men stop fighting and start yelling. The men turn to stone. Khan turns to stone. Ming Tien and Pao Su look like they might turn to stone, too, but they explode instead. Now it's a big army of stone men. Xena and Gabrielle sort of look at each other.
Gabrielle goes to Lien Chi. Lien Chi and Gabrielle kiss on the cheek and say goodbye. Kao Sing and Xena talk. Xena says she doesn't feel the power any more. She says she was thinking about the people being hurt, not the army, when she turned all the men to stone. She says it was indeed love that won that war.
Things to look out for:
From Eric C.. Though the episode takes place in the middle of China, where the main dialect would be Mandarin, the words Khan speaks are in Cantonese, a dialect native to south China. Special thanks goes to my father for translations.
During his incantation to summon Ming T'ien he says the words 'T'ien Leng Leng, Te Leng Leng' pronounced (Teen layng layng, Tay layng layng). This is a traditional Chinese prayer/command for a wish to come true, and it loosely translates to 'Let Heaven and Earth come together'.
When Khan launches the rocket attack on Xena, he orders his men 'Ja Sei Koi!' pronounced (Jah Say Koy). These three words are 'Explode, Kill, Her' basically saying "Blow her up!"
The transformation of the soldiers into stone resembles an actual truth. Qin Shi Huangdi (prononced Chin Shee Hwongdee, from where we get China), the first Emperor of China, built a large tomb housing thousands of life-size terra-cotta warriors, in the belief that he would remain a powerful man in the afterlife. No two soldiers have the same face - each is an individual portrait of a warrior from the Qin army.
Khan also intones 'Luk Long San, Fai Yin Yeng'. Loosely translated, it means 'Green Dragon Spirit/God, Take real shape/Show your true form.'
These things are by Beth Gaynor:
I MUST know if anyone else has this on their tape, or if it's only on mine (or was just my affiliate)! When Xena hugs Kao Hsin hello, listen closely when they part. I swear to God it sounds like the cameraman belched. Whatever it is, it may be the funniest blooper I've ever seen/heard in my life. [Post-note: it's been confirmed, that was NOT just me, that's some rogue sound running around in the episode. Oh, my aching sides.]
Khan puts his hand out for a torch, and his henchmen leave him hanging for three seconds. Watch the guy on the left look confused and glance offscreen for a split-second before he grabs the torch. I was laughing myself sick. Fire those flunkies, Khan!
From Nusi Dekker. I was watching a PBS show last night called "Nova" and it was about explosions. I was just about to switch channels again when they started talking about the origin of "black powder". Seems it was invented in the 9th century by a couple of Chinese alchemists who were trying to make a potion for people to ingest to make them live longer. It exploded while they were cooking it. This, according to an ancient Chinese book containing various "recipes", dated from the 9th cent. The ingredients were: sulfur, saltpeter, and honey. The Xenaverse timeline has just been stretched a little longer, eh?
Disclaimer:Pao Ssu's split personality was not harmed during the production of this motion picture.
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My Disclaimer, things were taken from Whoosh, whole paragraphs even.
