Legacy
As I watched this episode, and am rewatching it, I find myself thinking
what others will focus on when they discuss it after they see it. This is
one of those episodes that I will be thinking about for quite a while, and
despite the fact that Gabrielle is the focus of the episode, it's Xena's
character that I'm the most intrigued by. I will be interested to see if
others react in the same way I have.
I'm not going to give a point by point account, because in all honesty, I
think the plot has been done many times before, and not just on XWP. To
summarize, Xena and Gab end up wandering in a sand storm in the desert,
and come across a group of Nomads being attacked. Of course, they come to
their aid, and after the fight, the leader, who is the same actress who
played Melosa in Hooves and Harlots and whats-her-face in Animal Attraction
(I'm not the best with names), starts yelling at Xena and Gabs, saying
something to the effect they shouldn't have butted in and their help wasn't
welcome. Gabrielle calls Xena by name and this really sets Kahina (Melosa)
off, she calls Xena a "coward and a fraud" for impersonating the dead
"legendary warrior princess" . Xena reacts with her usual calm self, and
Gabrielle informs her that she is indeed Xena. Kahina then says "And I
suppose you're the battling bard from Potodeia". Hee hee....Xena and Gab's
both liked that moniker (and it along with legendary warrior princess
become a small running joke), but Kahina isn't amused. She sees Xena's
chakram and says "I suppose that's supposed to be the legendary chakram."
"Supposed to be," is Xena's terse reply. Kahina asks why she didn't use
it. Xena tells her she didn't need to use it, but Kahina makes it clear
she won't believe the duo's claims until she sees it in action. Xena
proceeds to demonstrate, and at the end does a cool kick it off her foot
and onto its hook move. I love it when she shows off!
Kahina and her people accept the truth, and fall to their faces as
apparently, Xena and Gab's are objects of worship to them. I was surprised
by how easily Xena and Gab's accept this, but I think it's because they
truly wanted to help the people. Especially when they find out the Nomads
are under attack by the Romans. There are problems though, because
Kahina's people can't get along with the other groups of Nomads, so Xena
and Gabrielle become the trump card, so to speak. As far as I can tell, we
only see one other group of Nomad's, but luckily, the leader of that group
has a son who witnessed Xena and Gabrielle's fighting, and enthusiastically
told of their exploits. He speaks of Xena's strength, but is more
impressed with Gabrielle's tact and non-killing techniques, and convinces
his father Tazir that they should join forces with Kahina's people.
Xena and Gabs go undercover to the Roman Governor, and find out how many
soldiers they are up against. It's kind of cool to see Xena pose as the
wife of a Roman Nobleman while Gab poses as her servant. On the way back
though, they get caught in another sandstorm, and this is where the trouble
begins. Gabrielle gets separated from Xena, and while they are trying to
find each other, Gabrielle sees a man with is sword raised, getting ready
to kill Xena. She strikes with her sais and kills the man.
But uh oh....it wasn't a sword afterall, it was a scroll. And the man
holding it was the "Desert Boy" as Xena called him. SUBTEXT ALERT: Xena to
Gab's after seeing the boy who admired her fighting so much washing Gab's
feet: "What is it with desert boy?" There were definite notes of jealousy
in her tones. The young man...Korah, I think... is now dead, and the
father demands justice for his son's death. Remember he is the leader of
the OTHER Nomad tribe. And here's where the interesting parts start for
me. Xena tells Gabrielle to stay behind, while she goes and talks to the
father. She then goes and tells the father that the Romans killed his
son. It was a bold faced lie, and she didn't even hesitate to do it. For
some reason, I had a real problem with that. I've seen Xena embellish or
understate, but the second she told the lie, the first thought in my head
was the rift saga. Maybe I overreacted, but I was shocked. The father
believes her, then Xena returns to Gabrielle. I was even more shocked when
Xena tells Gabrielle that the father thought it was the Romans that
murdered his son "by accident". Now Xena has out-and-out lied to
Gabrielle, and wow, that didn't set well with me at all! I love it!!
Kahina is there, and Gabrielle says she cannot live this lie, she has to
tell the truth. And she does, which pisses Xena off, and condemns
Gabrielle to death by croquet mallet. (Okay not exactly, but if you've
seen the preview, you know the way she's going to die.)
Kahina is no dummy, and figures out exactly what she has done, and no
longer trusts Xena. I can't say that I blame her. She'll later give a
scathing remark to Gabrielle..."You left a lot of details out of your
scrolls, didn't you?" Indeed! Xena's response to Kahina's accusations was
"That's right, I lied,", and I fully expected her to burst into "Thought I
could protect you from the truth, Deliver you from evil, spare your
innocence and youth" but she didn't. I didn't think this one was a musical.
This episode could have been named Deceptions, because Xena is just not
above board this episode. There's a great scene where Gab's is manacled
next to the dead man the night before she dies, and she remembers through
some well-chosen flashbacks all her adventures with Xena and her past
struggles with killing. Cut to Xena lying on her back, staring at the
ceiling (sky?), trying to figure out how to save Gabrielle, who has made it
clear that she wants to die as punishment. While Gab's is being buried to
her neck in the sand, Xena goes to the Roman leader again, and TELLS them
exactly where the Nomads can be found. I know she loves Gabrielle, but
that action shocked me yet again. She basically turned her back on the
Nomad's justice code and Gabrielle's wishes, and brought an attack on as a
diversion to rescue Gabrielle, which of course she does.
There's a scene with Gabrielle, Xena, and the father, in which Gab's tells
him when Xena and Gabrielle lead them against the Roman's (Yes, they end up
fighting them afterall), maybe Korah's death will mean something. That
makes no sense to me, how could an innocent's death at the hand of what is
basically another innocent have anything to do with defeating the Romans?
Then Xena tells them she will help because she "keeps her promises". Huh?
I guess she does, but she has to betray them first. Maybe I'm reading to
much into this episode!
Well, to make a long story short, the Romans are defeated, and during the
course of it, which includes another sand storm and some sneaky Xena
tactics, Gabrielle saves Korah's fathers life, which balances the scale and
makes them even. Again...huh? A brief chat between Xena and Gabrielle and
we fade to commercial leaving me most confused about how I feel about
Xena's actions. She tells Gab's for everyone, there is something that goes
beyond, the greater good, and in her case, that is, of course, Gabrielle.
She was going to save her at all costs. Let the discussion begin!
There is a good bit of humor in this episode, but it is all in the first
few minutes, and the angst that develops overshadows it so much, I kind of
forgot about it. The first two scenes are all light and funny, Xena and
Gab's comments about how they end up in the desert in the first place and
how lousy it is. Gab's asks"Do you know where we're going?" Xena answers,
"Do we ever know where we're going?" Cut to an outdoor bath, and more
banter....Xena teases Gabrielle, then Gab's splashes Xena, to which Xena
responds "That wasn't necessary. That was uncalled for. I'm out of
here...I'm prunin'" Gabrielle is much amused, and follows her out of the
tub, and there's a suprisingly long shot of their naked behinds, before
they share more friendly banter. I do believe the subtexters won't be
disappointed and I know the guys won't. I already mentioned the "desert
boy" comment, but what I didn't mention was Xena's reaction to seeing Korah
washing Gabrielle's feet, standing up and picking up her sword and
chakram, and how Desert Boy backed down immediately. LOL! And when Xena
and Gab's show up in the Roman tent, Gab's claims she wants to be the
noblewoman while Xena plays the slave. A small smile sneaks to Xena's
face, but Gab doesn't have any such luck. And their expression when the
Roman refers to the warrior princess as "Caesar's Thracian whore" is very
interesting too. Add to that a hysterical scene where Xena and Gab's are
being presented with tributes from the Nomad's, and Xena tells Gab not to
refuse anything. In marches Kahina's cousins, two not-very-attractive
gentlemen who are to share beds with Xena and Gabrielle, and Gabrielle, who
is much amused, leans toward Xena and says "We're not supposed to refuse
anything?" They got out of it by claiming something about "Amazon
chastity", and it makes for a funny moment.
Interspersed with this wonderful humor, though, are some very prophetic and
profound thoughts...a long shot of Gabrielle turning around her sais in the
early battle, so she DOESN'T kill, and Korah's statement about Gab's never
killing in battle, plus Gab's musing to Xena as they lay on their sleeping
rolls, about killing in battle, all add up to a remarkable conversation
where Gabrielle tells Xena they've come full circle in their relationship.
Very well done, and very heartwrenching.
The previews for next week look great...with the "warlord" at the beginning
of the new credits making his appearance...looks like he's got a taste for
human flesh, plus a shot of Gabrielle who already has me wondering if it
might be Hope. Plus Xena and Gab's are back in their regular leathers,
which I am ready for. Xena looked like an Indian nurse throughout most of
this episode, and I swear Gabrielle wore the pajamas I had when I was eight
during the whole thing.
And here are Gary's thoughts on this one:
This episode was the best one so far this season,but still not as good
as any of the others in the past.
The good parts:
The desert outfits were really decent...Xena and Gab looked great in
them.
The scene where refusing hospitality would be an insult was really
well-done....the girls were offered the two cousins of the top woman in
the camp.These ugly guys were grinning and leering,and Gab's line about
refusing an offer was just right.
Gab's hair is getting longer...it is about time....looked good.
Gab also was looking like her old self when Desert Boy (as Xena called
him) wanted to wash Gab's feet. Gab says "You really don't want to do
that." I had visions of the foot-rot scene in In Sickness and in Hell
from season 4. She seemed to enjoy the attention ,too.
Gab complains that for once,she would like to be the royalty instead of
the slave when she and Xena pretend to be Romans.
The flashbacks to Sins of the Past were a good reminder of how well the
show was done way back then.They were more human,I believe. Gab wanted
to be a warrior.
Questions:
What happened to Virgil and Eve....there is no mention of them at all.
What is the Legacy? It is usually something left as a reminder or
directive for the ages. Are Gab's scrolls the Legacy? The Battling Bard
of Potadiea?
Why does Xena use a throw-away line at the end when she fights the Roman
commander? She says "Tell Caesar that Xena sends her regards."....this
is as she kills him. How is he supposed to do that then? A better way
would be to spare his life so he CAN tell....it would have made the
Romans more wary of attacking the nomads.
The inevitable tub scene...it went okay as they usually do,but it was
just plain stupid to "see" them emerge from the tub from an overhead
view with a blurry dot obscuring the view.That was just foolish,because
the usual towel or any other prop would have been okay to hide their
nakedness.What was RenPics doing this for? We know there will not be
real nude shots.
In the beginning,Xena has Gab take her hand in the sandstorm,but in the
storm where Gab kills Desert Boy,they do not hold hands to keep from
being separated.We need consistency here.
As Xena says earlier,"Do we ever know where we are going?".....no
kidding.
Gab learned to jump from her horse,knocking off a bad guy...remember in
Chariots of War,she took a frantic leap into Xena's chariot?
During the battle in the beginning,Gab used her sais,and pauses and does
not kill the bad guy,just knocks him out. In fact,nobody dies in that
battle...they all run away.But,at the big battle with the Romans,why
does she use her staff against the Romans,who were the ones who killed
her and Xena in Ides of March? She had every reason to kill a proven
enemy.
In the beginning,Gab liked being the warrior-type...said it added
character,but why at the end does she doubt she is a great warrior,as
the desert chief called her? Isn't that what she always wanted? Was this
the Legacy....be careful what you ask for....you might just get it?
Why is The Greater Good in question? Xena says that there is something
beyond the greater good,which is Gabrielle."That's what you are in my
life",says Xena.
Gab is buried in the sand up to her neck,like she and Tara were in
Forgiven. She thinks that she deserves death even though she
accidentally killed desert boy. How can there be guilt ? When she killed
Meridian in The Deliverer,she was broken up over that,even though it was
in self-defense.
What did Gab mean when she said "we have come full circle"? Xena said
that when she (Xena) came home in Sins of the Past,she didn't want to
live anymore,and that Gab gave her a reason. Gab just decided to die
instead of letting the nomads believe the Romans killed the boy,even
though she had her soul-mate and HER reason to live....Xena.
I give the episode a letter "C" grade
Main Page