And so we come to the end of season four. I started posting about it back in... holy shit, July 2022! I didn’t think it was that long ago.
These final three episodes provide a pretty decent wrap-up for the themes and storylines of the season – not only returning to Rome and the Ides of March (and fulfilling Xena’s season-long vision of herself and Gabrielle getting crucified) but also touching on reincarnation and bringing Gabrielle’s pacifist arc to a thankful conclusion. Ephiny and the Amazons return, as do Caesar, Pompey, Brutus and Eli, and we’re introduced to Amarice, a character who will continue on into season five.
Endgame
The opening skirmish between Romans and Amazons ends with Ephiny dying at Brutus’s hands. Her last act was protecting another young Amazon warrior called Amarice, and with her death the right of caste once again passes to Gabrielle, making her the next Amazon Queen.
Amarice brings the news to Gabrielle and the three women return to the Amazons to learn that Pompey has captured many of their number to sell as slaves. It turns out that Brutus was actually after Pompey the whole time, and his run-in with the Amazons an unfortunate accident.
Xena takes some Amazons out into the field, and they successfully capture Brutus, planning to get information from him about Pompey’s next move. The other Amazons – especially Amarice – want to kill him instantly, but Xena can see his usefulness as a hostage (and Gabrielle flat-out doesn’t want to murder anyone in cold blood).
Another ambush successfully ends in the capture of more Romans, with Amarice providing a necessarily (but possibly accidental?) diversion. On hearing this, Pompey orders his remaining soldiers to march against the Amazons.
Meanwhile, Gabrielle and Brutus have established a rapport, though the latter is under the impression that Caesar is an honourable, righteous man. He accepts Gabrielle’s terms for a peace treaty, and offers himself as a hostage to prevent Pompey’s attack upon the Amazon village.
However, garrisons loyal to Caesar arrive and Xena releases Brutus to them, knowing he’ll drive away Pompey for her, with the Amazons providing added reinforcements when they attack in Ephiny’s name.
Xena finds Pompey on the battlefield, who gloats that she can’t kill him because she needs him to keep Caesar in check. She turns away, but lops his head off when he advances on her with a knife. She deposits the head at Brutus’s feet, advising him not to tell Caesar of her role in this particular battle.
Brutus delivers the peace treaty to Caesar, and is shocked when he promptly burns it. Meanwhile the Amazons give Ephiny a grand funeral, and Amarice decides to travel with Xena and Gabrielle for a while longer.
An aptly named episode, since we are in fact heading towards endgame.
First of all: EPHINY! NOOOOO!
I’m torn on the issue of her death. On the one hand she was a favourite of mine, and surely deserved better than this: a relatively brief death scene that took place before the credits had even rolled. On the other, they treated it with a fair amount of respect, she went down fighting, and worse deaths have been afforded to equally popular characters across the years. People got the chance to mourn, and I guess it was an effective way of raising the stakes.
But where on earth was her son, Xenan? That poor kid never even got mentioned! I know they’ve forgotten about ostensibly important characters before (remember when Xena had an older brother?) but this seems a pretty serious oversight.
I’ll admit I’m not always good at keeping track of the politics in the Roman-centric episodes, but it would appear everything is being set up for the Ides of March. Pompey is capturing Amazons to sell as slaves so he can march on Caesar, while Brutus is convinced that Caesar is working for the good of Rome and the Republic. There was some nice character nuance here, what with Pompey pointing out that Xena needs him to keep Caesar in check, and Brutus being conscious of his own value, as well also showing respect towards Ephiny and her fighting prowess.
So Pompey is down for the count thanks to his inability to just walk away, and though this works in Caesar’s favour, Xena has also managed to plant the seeds of doubt in Brutus’s mind. I liked her little speech about Caesar’s former friends and how “maybe you’re special.”
Brutus was a good character as well; he reminded me of Crassus in that the writing managed to make him three-dimensional in a very short amount of time, though he was much more of an Anti-Villain than Crassus. Knowing what I do about Roman history, it was interesting that Xena referred to him as “the chink in Caesar’s armour,” and the actor played his scenes well – constantly aware of his own waxing/waning power; demonstrating with just his expression what he thought of Caesar burning the peace treaty.
But the story itself was a bit messy, and Gabrielle remains pretty useless. Worse than that, the sight of her encouraging the Amazons to fight on behalf of Ephiny while she stayed behind the line made her look like a hypocrite. I’m not sure how the writers thought they could get away with this, but she’s making herself a self-righteous burden to those around her. Even conscientious objectors during the World Wars could contribute by being medics, but Gabrielle just stands there and yells.
A more interesting moral conundrum was Xena tying the Romans to the barricades and planning to light them on fire when their comrades came to untie them. Being outnumbered meant the Amazons had to take every advantage, but did they really have to sink to those depths? Xena decides no, but it’s a pity they didn’t explore this a little more, as ultimately they just relied on Xena being super-woman.
Amarice (I guess she’s sticking around for at least one more episode?) at first seemed like an unholy mix of Tara and Kate from the BBC’s Robin Hood, what with her impetuousness and obnoxiousness (played by an actress who wasn’t that good) but I wanted to like her and they managed to bounce back from bad first impressions. It helped that she admitted her mistakes, was treated as rather annoying by everyone around her, and that the “Amarice screws up again” scene was subverted by making it all part of Xena’s plan. Somehow. To get the Amazons closer to the weapons that had been pre-emptively buried in the ground?
Tara was universally hated, but at least Amarice actually saved Gabrielle’s life instead of clawing off half her face. And her hat was cute.
All things considered it was a solid episode, and a nice kick-starter for the final three.
Miscellaneous Observations:
Ephiny looked over a body and said: “Solari” sadly. Wasn’t she a recurring Amazon as well? Man, they’re really mowing them down.
How come Amarice recognized Gabrielle but not Xena?
Was that one Amazon really called Shalapa? Her mother must have really hated her.
Would the Amazons really embrace a near-perfect stranger as their Queen? Especially one that’s given up the title three times already? Why not just have Gabrielle hand over that right permanently?
Had to roll my eyes at the gyrating bikini-clad Amazons. Apparently a funeral and pre-battle preparations are the best time to let loose on the dance-floor. That said, it was a rather nice visual to see Gabrielle/Xena mourning for Ephiny in the midst of all the dancing.
The Ides of March
Callisto is suffering in the depths of hell, taunted by visions of Xena and Gabrielle. She’s approached by another inmate who has a deal for her, offered by the off-screen lord of this place. In exchange for an end to her torment, she has to corrupt Xena and assist in Julius Caesar’s rise to power. But she cannot harm Xena physically – she has to coax her off the redemptive path she’s on.
Caesar wakes up from a nightmare to find Callisto in his bedroom, who advises him that he can become Emperor of Rome if he gets rid of Xena. In response, he places a huge bounty upon her head.
Xena, Gabrielle and Amarice are attempting to find passage back to Athens so Gabrielle can find Eli, only for them to get attacked by Roman soldiers. On hearing about the massive reward for her capture/death, Xena decides to go to Rome to settle things personally with Caesar, while Gabrielle and Amarice continue on to Greece in a bid to avoid the vision of her being crucified in Rome.
Once there, Gabrielle finds Eli and a group of his followers, though Amarice is much more skeptical about some of his teachings. They’re meditating and healing peacefully when they’re arrested by a garrison of Romans, led by a semi-apologetic Brutus. He tells Gabrielle that no harm will come to her; she’s a hostage to ensure Xena won’t harm Caesar.
Xena nearly successfully assassinates Caesar with her chakram, only for Callisto to catch it at the last second. Xena manages to escape, but is approached by an angelic-looking Callisto who cannot be harmed by physical weapons, and knows everything that has happened to Xena and Gabrielle since their last meeting. Xena isn’t interested in anything she has to say.
Gabrielle and her allies are placed in a prison cell near the mountains, noting that crosses are being constructed outside. Amarice tries to escape with force, but Gabrielle deescalates the situation by reminding Brutus of Ephiny’s death and the mercy that was afforded to him.
Xena crosses paths with Brutus and warns him about the Ides of March, in which Caesar will declare himself Emperor and destroy any possibility of a democracy – furthermore, that Brutus will be next on his hit-list: he’ll send him to Gaul and then have him discreetly assassinated. Brutus doesn’t believe her, but tells her where she can find Gabrielle – which is exactly what Xena has been seeing in her visions.
As Xena tries to reach Gabrielle, Callisto reappears and tries again: this time telling Xena that she can grant her peace and serenity, not to mention Gabrielle’s life, if she gives up “the way of the warrior” and devotes her life to peace. Knowing all about the vision of the joint-crucifixions, Callisto says she can stop it from coming true, but Xena again rejects her offer.
Brutus shares his misgivings with Caesar about Gabrielle’s impending execution, and Caesar brushes him off with a promise that he’ll be given control of Gaul... just as Xena predicted.
Xena successfully busts Gabrielle, Eli, Amarice and the rest of Eli’s followers out of prison, but her spine is shattered when Callisto throws her own chakram at her. She falls to the ground, and Gabrielle doubles back to help her, breaking her commitment to pacifism as she fights off the attacking Romans. Stunned by the violence she’s just done, Gabrielle is soon overpowered.
Locked in a cell together, Xena and Gabrielle make their peace with each other, intercut with scenes of Brutus talking the other senators into taking action against Caesar. As the women are crucified, and Callisto gloats about how Caesar is currently becoming Emperor of Rome, Brutus and the senate take turns in stabbing Caesar to death.
Having failed in her mission, Callisto is summoned back to hell. Xena and Gabrielle die on the crosses, and their spirits ascend together in a heavenly light.
As far as season finales go, this was pretty good (yes, I know there’s still one more to come, but I get the feeling it won’t exactly be a “proper” episode). I was a little hesitant at the thought of bringing Callisto back again (there’s such a thing as too much of a good thing) but they utilized her really well as a quasi “evil guardian angel” sent by the devil to try and coax Xena from her redemptive path.
Only on this show could an entirely off-screen Satan arrange for Xena to be tempted by Callisto so that Caesar becomes Emperor.
I liked that she was made to appear as an angel, what with the white flowing robes and the short hair that now looks like Gabrielle’s (and Najara’s, for that matter) and her new role as a nasty little “shoulder devil” to Xena was played with Hudson Leick’s usual panache.
Her personal hell said volumes about her: not only that she would be haunted by visions of Xena and Gabrielle, but that she’s well-aware of the inherent unfairness (in her opinion) of her situation. Still full of bitterness and still hung-up over Xena killing her family, I can understand why she would be furious at the idea that Xena will find redemption, and leap at the chance to try and disrupt that.
The plot hung together reasonably well: from what I could infer from the dialogue, the devil wanted Caesar to become Emperor of Rome, presumably because of the harm he could do in that position. This was his main objective, and so Xena had to be distracted by sending her after Gabrielle. By putting a bounty on her head she goes to Rome, but by kidnapping Gabrielle, she goes to the mountains instead – the place of her vision where the two of them are destined to be crucified.
This leaves Caesar free to declare himself Emperor, but unfortunately, Xena has already sown the seeds of doubt in Brutus’s mind. It’s a pity this wasn’t explored a little bit further – like say, in another full episode – just to make his ascension and fall all the more striking, but it still played out pretty well.
Callisto’s role was part-and-parcel of this elaborate distraction, culminating in offering Xena a deal: peace of mind from her guilt-ridden conscience in exchange for leaving Caesar alone. This was a bit dodgy on two accounts: firstly, that Xena was already far away from Caesar (perhaps it was meant to be a long-term deal to stay permanently out of Rome?) and secondly, that Xena is smart enough to know that her guilt is her own responsibility and can’t be taken away from her.
By the time it looked as though Xena and Gabrielle were going to escape, Callisto took matters into her own hands by using the chakram against her. I’m not sure whether her new boss will approve of that or not, as I got the impression that the devil wanted Xena off the path of redemption, and flat-out killing her just puts her in paradise (which is apparent from that final shot of her spirit ascending into the sky).
Gabrielle’s pacificism is still rather awful, either standing around uselessly or using “non-violent” means to stop people (like tying that soldier’s legs together and throwing him into the sea – seriously, is there a reason she couldn’t just use her staff to achieve that?) But now at least I understand why the writers put such an emphasis onto the life-altering choice she’s made: to make it all the more heartrending when she starts killing people in order to save Xena’s life.
It makes for a dark inversion of the question: “what would you do for a loved one?” as though I suspect it’s easy to sacrifice yourself for someone you love, Gabrielle is made to give up her ideals. It was shocking, but also very effective.
Amarice was less annoying this time around, and she had a point when she asked Eli: “if your mother was attacked, would you defend her?” I notice that he didn’t actually have an answer for her.
Still, I liked his platonic bond with Gabrielle and his pride when she manages to avoid a beatdown in the cells by reminding Brutus of how Xena showed him mercy. He veers between being a genuinely interesting character and a sort of useless hippy depending on the scene. I don’t think I’ve ever been this on-the-fence about a character before! I just think it would help if his healing powers were used in the story to actually achieve something beside helping random extras.
It was perhaps a little anti-climactic that Xena was only tangentially connected to Caesar’s death, but I suppose even this show didn’t want to diverge too far away from historical accuracy. And it was a great idea to have Brutus’s respect for Xena and regard for Gabrielle putting him on the path to assassinating Caesar. The quick cuts between the crucifixion and the assassination was really well done.
And given past experiences when it comes to Xena’s priorities concerning Caesar and Gabrielle in episodes like “The Deliverer” (when she endangers Gabrielle by taking her to Britannia to deal with him) and “When in Rome” (in which their friendship is again strained because of Xena’s near-obsession with beating him) I thought it was a wonderfully understated moment to see Xena drop him instantly when she learns Gabrielle is in danger.
Miscellaneous Observations:
I was surprised that Xena so quickly decided to head to Rome and assassinate Caesar: it almost seemed like a retread of her decision to murder Ming T’ien, only this time Gabrielle put up much less fuss. I guess the idea was that by having Caesar put a price on her head, it was meant to be a form of long-distance self-defense? But I’m glad they did the smart thing and split up over this issue in an attempt to stop the vision from coming true (and that Gabrielle didn’t follow of her own volition, but was dragged there).
I did enjoy the irony that Xena managed to eliminate Caesar without laying a finger on him, while Gabrielle has to give up her hard-won commitment to pacifism in order to try and save her friend’s life. Likewise, after Callisto offers Xena “serenity,” it’s ironic that it’s actually Gabrielle who gives up hers in order to save Xena.
Callisto catching snow on her tongue while Xena and Gabrielle are taken to their crucifixion was so totally Callisto. It’s probably my favourite scene of her ever. So twistedly childlike – I loved it!
The melting pot of religions and afterlives is certainly a bit eye-crossing, but I’m trying to just go with the flow. The general idea seems to be “everything exists,” and though I’m not entirely sure why Xena has a reincarnation cycle or Satan is deeply invested in Roman politics, I guess it’s all part of this grab-bag of a show.
Deja Vu All Over Again
In the present day (or at least the nineties) a woman called Annie Day, who looks exactly like Xena, believes she’s the reincarnation of the warrior princess. Her boyfriend Harry O’Casey (who looks just like Joxer) takes her to see psychologist Mattie Merrill, who specializes in past lives. She’s the splitting image of – you guessed it – Gabrielle.
Both Annie and Harry are put under hypnosis by Mattie, and realize through a series of clips that Harry is the reincarnation of Xena and Annie is that of Joxer. Once the truth is revealed, Mattie’s secretary Marco bursts in and reveals his true self as Ares, God of War. He wants to take over the world at the turn of the millennium, and still wants Xena by his side.
Xena/Harry refuses and fights off Ares successfully, now that his/her memories of all their past lives have been returned. Ares flees and Annie/Joxer realizes that since Mattie must be Gabrielle, she and Xena/Harry are soulmates. She departs, singing a rendition of “Annie the Mighty” to cheer herself up.
As strange as it was, I suppose this was a fitting conclusion to the season in its entirety. Set in the present day, someone who looks exactly like Xena is having visions of herself as the famous warrior princess. The whole thing (in regards to the time and place) initially comes across as completely out of leftfield, but it fits in quite well with the recurring use of reincarnation that was strewn across this season.
It was fun seeing Salmonius again (though I have to admit it was a little random seeing Robert Trebor – it was almost like they used him just for the sake of it) as well as Kevin Smith’s big reveal as Ares (isn’t this the first time we’ve seen him all season?) It reminded me a lot of “The Xena Scrolls” in the sense it was a continuation of Xena/Gabrielle being reincarnated into future lives and finding each other again... complete with Joxer.
I guess it was a funny twist that Lucy Lawless ended up playing Joxer while Ted Raimi was Xena – though I suspect that didn’t go down particularly well with the fanbase. On the one hand, Xena and Gabrielle were definitely kissing when Joxer left the room, but on the other, I’m not sure if it really counts if Xena now inhabits a male body. And he/she was married to Joxer-in-Xena’s body. That’s getting into really weird territory.
But it was a fun little capper, especially after the darkness of “The Ides of March.”
For the most part, I enjoyed season four. Some of the comedy episodes were hit-and-miss and Gabrielle’s stint as a pacifist didn’t really work (even if the pay-off was solid) but I get the feeling I liked Alti as a villain and the three-part India arc more than fandom did back in the day... even if season three's Hope storyline was overall better than the Alti one. The recurring use of Xena's visions strewn throughout the season made for a nice narrative thoroughfare, and my only big disappointments were the demise of Hope and the Destroyer (way too anticlimactic and silly) and the fate of Najara (such a cop-out).
I’ll have a bit of a break before heading into season five, but when I return, I’ll be reinvigorated and eager to see how Xena and Gabrielle cheat death this time around.
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