1.9 Death in Chains.

Oddly this is almost exactly the same story as the previous episode, except that it’s the goddess of Death in chains instead of Prometheus, and instead of healing being offline it’s the opposite – thanks to greedy King Sisyphus, no one is dying, even the old and mortally injured. As with other fairly average episodes of this season, this one is mitigated by Xena showing off her heroic chops. Also there is a gang of bikie undead warlords led by the amusingly named ‘Toxeus’. Less awesomely, this introduces the ongoing trope of a dull Gabrielle love interest dying tragically. Well, tragicallyish.

Continuity issues: Gabrielle is wearing a tight little Amazon-style number instead of her usual more modest get up, which she will be back in next episode before Amazoning it up.

1.10 Hooves and Harlots

I love the development of the Amazons as characters and a culture in Xena, combining Maori tribal elements with traditions from Greek myth to create something that feels modern and historical at the same time – and this episode which introduces them is particularly good, featuring some interesting female characters and some kick-ass dance & fight sequences. The editing and filmwork is also excellent, which is saying something for a story with CGI centaurs (the ones in Hercules always looked pretty bodgy). The plot itself is another repetition on a theme, this time the “two families/nations on the verge of war – twist ending, it’s a third party causing the trouble because war is profitable for them” that we last saw in The Path Not Taken.

Angela Bruce is marvellous as Queen Melosa, but the episode is all about Ephiny for me. One of the most longstanding continuing characters in Xena, this cranky Amazon warrior portrayed by the awesome Danielle Cormack (if you never saw her opposite Richard Roxburgh in the dark outback rom com Siam Sunset, you seriously missed out) is to develop into a mature leader and a good friend. Here she is very much a junior member of the Amazon nation but she has some fantastic scenes with both Xena and Gabrielle individually. I watched this episode long after the later one in this season which takes place after her marriage (and subsequent widowhood) to a centaur and the first time I saw this one, I expected her relationship with Phantes to actually be key to this episode. To my initial surprise, there isn’t even a hint of romance between the two here, though they do transition from hated enemies to respected comrades which is a far more interesting thing to watch on screen.

Also, this is the episode in which Gabrielle acquires her little stick. Okay, her fighting staff. And she learns to use it! This whole episode represents a key development point for Gabrielle, and her relationship with the Amazon nation will be a continuing theme. The importance of it eventually eclipses her barding skills as the thing she has that is entirely distinct from Xena. In this story, she helps a wounded Amazon and is gifted with her right of caste. This makes Gabrielle an Amazon princess, a mixed honour which will come back to bite her as well as giving her a home of her own to run to at various stages in the future. But it also marks a clear difference between herself and Xena, who has always been sympathetic to the Amazons but never actually one of them. The staff not only gives Gabrielle a non-lethal weapon with which to fight, but is and important part of her iconic visual identity for the next 2-3 years.

1.11 The Black Wolf
In another nod toward the odd warrior princess attitude to economics, Xena offers herself as a double agent for 10 thousand dinars in this episode, but never plans to collect – can’t be earning any of that dirty, dirty money. Meanwhile, Gabrielle picks up the tab for shoeing Xena’s horse.

This story involves Xena and Gabrielle both getting themselves locked up in prison to rescue a young woman, Flora, whom Xena knew years ago. One of the things I really like about this show, that comes up over and over, is the way that its stories so often involve other active female characters, and a diverse range of female strength. In this case, Flora turns out to be the leader of the gang, instead of the leader’s girlfriend as the plot leads you to suspect, and we see the way that she quietly leads her followers and uses other people’s assumptions about her to disguise her true power.

Too often when we see stories with powerful female protagonists, especially in SF or fantasy media, they are the only woman in the story, surrounded by male characters whose approval is used as a shorthand to make them seem impressive. Xena not only has Gabrielle at her side, but a whole history of being friends, allies and comrades with women, even going back to her years as a ruthless warlord.

1.12: Beware Greeks Bearing Gifts

Speaking of Xena’s history of friendship with women! This episode brings Xena to Troy, at the end of the ten year war. Helen, troubled by dreams about how it’s all going to end, sends a message to old friend Xena to come and help her. (really, it took her ten years to figure out that the war was a bad thing?) Meanwhile, Gabrielle discovers that Perdicas, the fiance back home whom she abandoned to run off with Xena, has turned himself into a soldier and is defending the walls of Troy.

This is the Trojan War on a budget, but done very cleverly. It looks brilliant despite its small scale, up to and including the Trojan Horse, and the story works oddly well with only four of the famous players: Paris and Helen, Deiphobous (the last surviving brother of Paris) and Menelaus. Take that, Achilles and Agammemnon, your services are not required!

There’s a strong feminist angle to this story, with Helen coming to realise that the relationship she chose with Paris is as unsatisfying as the one she was forced into with Menelaus. Neither man respects her or is remotely interested in listening to her opinion, and it is only Xena who asks her what she wants for herself, rather than trying to control or possess her. Deiphobos betrays his brother, also in the hopes of possessing Helen, and as Troy falls, Helen finally gets the opportunity to make a choice for herself. Helen is quite subtly played by Galyn Gorg, one of the many POC actors who are included in Xena’s enjoyably diverse world.

Also, I’m a sucker for Trojan Cycle stories that portray Paris as a dick.

CHAKRAM STATISTICS:
Boys who want romance with Xena: 4
Boys Xena allows to romance her: 2
Xena dead boyfriends: 1
Gabrielle dead boyfriends: 1/5
“Adorable” children: 13
Babies: 1
Babies tossed humorously in the air during fight scenes: 1
Xena sings at a funeral: 1
Characters brought back from the dead: 5 (everyone else in Death in Chains just fails to die)
Xena or Gabrielle earns money: 0
Xena or Gabrielle spends money: 2
Out of the Pantheon: Morpheus, Ares, Hera, the Titans, Hades, Celesta
The Celebrity Red Carpet of the Ancient World: Pandora, Prometheus, Hercules, Iolaus, Sisyphus, Helen of Troy, Paris, Deiphobus, Menelaus

Previous Xena Rewatch Posts:
Warlord is a Lady Tonight
I Don’t Work For Money

Tags: watching, xena, xena rewatch