Xena Reviews: Season 1, Episode 10

Xena title cardHooves and Harlots – Director: Jace Alexander/Writer: Steven L. Sears

This one starts with Gabi getting herself a walking stick and Xena showing off some fighting moves with it. They’re passing through Amazon territory and soon run into some Amazons, but Xena is familiar with their ways and asks for safe passage. The leader (Terreis) decides to take them to see the Queen (Melosa). TerreisGabi throws herself over Terreis bonds with Gabi over their mutual love of learning on the way, although Terreis’s friend Ephiny isn’t quite so impressed by Xena. When they’re attacked by unseen enemies, Terreis is wounded and Gabi throws herself over the Amazon’s body to protect her from more arrows. Terreis dies, but not before giving her Right of Caste to Gabi. Ephiny isn’t happy about that and Xena is unaware of it, since she was off looking for the ambushers when Terreis died.

They get back to the Amazon village and meet Queen Melosa, who tells Melosa, Queen of the Amazonsthem the Amazons are very close to open war with the Centaurs. Ephiny comes in with a Centaur they captured (Phantes) near the ambush site. Melosa assumes he (or one of his friends) killed Terreis (who was Melosa’s blood sister and heir), so she sentences Phantes to be executed the next day. Xena has history with the Centaurs and suspects someone might be setting them up. Despite all of Phantes’ bluster, Xena is convinced he’s innocent when she finds out he’s the son of Tyldus, a famous Centaur leader who Xena fought years ago at the Battle of Corinth. Xena tells Gabi her army couldn’t defeat the Centaurs and she doesn’t believe Tyldus would lead his people in a senseless war against thePhantes talks to Xena Amazons. A local warlord named Krykus visits Melosa to assure her he’ll remain neutral in the Amazon/Centaur fight. Xena tries to convince Melosa that Phantes might be innocent, but Melosa’s determined to execute him for killing her sister. Xena goes to see Tyldus and Gabi finds out from Melosa that her Right of Caste means she’s inherited everything of Terreis’s … including her position as an Amazon Princess. On the way to see the Centaurs, Xena is ambushed in the forest.

After pounding one Centaur and a couple of dudes, Xena stops fighting Xena borrows Celanos's dagger for an operationwhen Tyldus shows up. He’s not happy to see her again, but she ends up saving the Centaur she pounded (using a fancy dagger borrowed from Celanos, one of Tyldus’s men), so Tyldus is at least willing to listen to her. Gabi receives Terreis’s Amazon outfit and Ephiny begins training her to fight. Gabi chooses the staff as her weapon, since it’s less lethal than most (although she does manage to whack herself in the head a couple times). Tyldus agrees to hold off for a bit to give Xena time to prove Krykus is manipulating both sides, but Tyldus says he’ll slaughter all the Amazons if his son is executed. At the AmazonXena and Ephiny fight in the trees village, Eponin is teaching Gabi to use a staff and Gabi’s kinda enjoying it. Ephiny puts a damper on her enthusiasm when she shows Gabi how to kill a Centaur with the staff. Later, Ephiny talks to Phantes and he swears he didn’t kill Terreis. Ephiny kinda believes him, since Terreis always told her Centaurs have a strong sense of honour. Ephiny goes back to the ambush site and finds Xena sneaking around. They end up fighting, but Ephiny gets in trouble when a Centaur shows up and prepares to kill her.

Xena saves Ephiny from the Centaur, then saves him from Ephiny, knowing that a death on either side will precipitate a war. Xena and Ephiny retreat into the trees and realize they’re both there for the same Xena admires Krykus's daggerreason … to find evidence that Phantes and the other Centaurs didn’t kill Terreis. At the Amazon village, Gabi does some funky dancing and finds out it’s her responsibility to execute Phantes. She doesn’t want to, but Melosa says refusing would be treason and Gabi would be executed too. Xena goes to Krykus’s camp and asks him if he’s the one pushing for war between the Amazons and Centaurs. Krykus pretends to be a neutral observer, but Xena notices he has a fancy dagger exactly like the one Celanos carries. While Xena’s talking to Krykus, Ephiny snoops around and finds arrows like the ones that killed Terreis. Back at the Amazon village, Gabi is reluctant to execute Phantes, who swears he’s innocent. Before Gabi has to make herXena and Melosa fight fateful decision, Xena and Ephiny show up with the evidence that someone besides a Centaur killed Terreis. (That evidence includes some horseshit, which Gabi isn’t thrilled to find out she’s been examining.) Melosa’s too blinded by hatred to listen, so Gabi challenges her, using Xena as her champion. Melosa accepts, but says if Xena loses, she, Gabi, and Ephiny will all be executed. They fight with Chobos and Xena wins but spares Melosa. The Centaurs show up just as the challenge ends, ready to fight.

Xena and the Amazons throw down their weapons and release Phantes, who tells Tyldus that Xena saved his life. Xena reveals Celanos as Gabi finally gets to fightTerreis’s killer and he takes off to warn Krykus. Tyldus suggests the Amazons and Centaurs team up to attack Krykus and the Amazons agree. (We see Ephiny riding with Phantes, which is the beginning of their romance, although there’s no real indication of that yet.) The Amazons and Centaurs storm Krykus’s camp; Xena kills the traitor Celanos, Gabi gets some good hits in with her staff (even saving Ephiny’s life), and Melosa defeats Krykus but spares him to stand trial. That seems a little strange for someone who was ready to waste Xena, Gabi, and Ephiny just for defyingMelosa pounds Krykus her, but whatever. Later, the Amazons and Centaurs hang out and Ephiny gives Gabi her staff (which we won’t really see again … I think it was a bit too elaborate for day-to-day use). Xena and Gabi head out and Gabi apologizes for not telling Xena about the Right of Caste stuff. Xena says she’s not mad (the unspoken addition being that she’s disappointed that Gabi would keep something like that from her) and Gabi swears never to lie to Xena again … unfortunately for both of them, she won’t keep that vow.

This is a really good episode, one of the best from Season 1 (which is why it’s #33 on my all-time list). Finally, Gabi learns to fight instead of just hiding behind a tree cheering Xena on during the action scenes. I know some fans question how Gabi gets so good with the staff in so short a time,Gabi hits herself in the head with her staff especially in upcoming episodes; after all, she only had a couple of lessons from the Amazons. But I think we can assume that Xena keeps training her (in between episodes) in staff fighting; I think Xena’s demonstration at the beginning of this episode wasn’t just her showing off … it’s proof that she’s qualified to continue Gabi’s training. I have a theory that Xena is constantly training Gabi in between episodes, eventually planning to pass on all of her knowledge. We’ll see more examples of that in future episodes and I’ll expand on it as it comes up, but this is a good example of where it might have started.

Gabi also becomes an Amazon Princess in this episode … in fact, since her champion defeated the Queen, technically Gabi is the Amazon Queen now. Gabi as an Amazon PrincessAfter Xena defeats Melosa, we see the Amazons bowing to Xena, but I guess they were still treating her as Gabi’s proxy (not to mention they were impressed that someone had just beaten their Queen). Steve Sears has said that the producers hadn’t really considered all the implications of Gabi being Queen, but they figured Gabi is only Queen when she’s actually there. The rest of the time, Melosa acts as her regent (and after Melosa is killed, Ephiny fills that role). As to why Terreis would give her Right of Caste to a stranger, she obviously saw a kindred spirit in Gabi. Terreis was the type of person who tries to find the good in people rather than the bad, who looks for commonalities rather than differences. (As opposed to Ephiny, who believes anyone who isn’t part of her tribe is probably an enemy.) Gabi threw herself over Terreis’s bodyGabi hesitates to execute Phantes without a second thought, in spite of all the arrows raining down … hardly surprising, since she was ready to die to keep Xena from being wrongly executed in The Reckoning (and this isn’t the last time we’ll see Gabi do something like that). Gabi was also hesitant to kill Phantes, even though refusal meant her own death. If Xena and Ephiny hadn’t interrupted, I think Gabi would’ve refused and allowed herself to die rather than kill a helpless person (and Steve Sears says the same thing). Terreis obviously recognized a kindred spirit in Gabi, someone who’s brave, loves knowledge for its own sake, and tries to see the good in people. Sounds like the makings of a pretty good Queen.

We also learn a bit more about Xena’s past here too. We get another mention of the famous Battle of Corinth, which was a major turning point in Xena’s life and will be explored more in future episodes. We find out the Centaurs were the only ones to successfully resist Xena’s conquering army, Tyldus reunited with Phantesalthough she killed quite a few of them. According to Steve Sears, the Amazons also took part in the Battle of Corinth, which is where their enmity toward the Centaurs comes from, and is why their tribes are scattered all over the map. I think Xena probably harbors some guilt about the damage she’s done to the Amazons, both at the Battle of Corinth and after (which we’ll see in Adventures in the Sin Trade). Xena obviously knows Amazon ways, but can never bring herself to join them, even though it seems like a natural fit. As we’ll see in Orphan of War, some of Xena’s discomfort in dealing with the Centaurs probably has to do with giving up her son Solan to them … although it was Kaleipus not Tyldus who was leading the Centaurs at that time. I assume there were numerous Centaur leaders and Xena dealt with them at different times (and Kaleipus would’ve kept Xena’s connection to Solan secret, so there’s no reason Tyldus would know about it).

Noticeable Things:

  • Gabi’s dancing with the Amazons is really goofy; Renee said she wasn’t sure what the director wanted from her in that scene, so sheGabi's funky dance moves decided to ham it up. Apparently, she wasn’t asked to dance again for quite a while (although, as we’ll see in later seasons, Renee’s actually a pretty good dancer).
  • The chobos that Xena and Melosa fight with are actually called escrima sticks, but when he was writing the episode, Steve Sears couldn’t remember the name. He happened to look out the window and saw a woman eating a churro, so he twisted that into “chobos”, planning to fix it later. Obviously, he never got around to it, but I kinda like the name chobos … it does have a vaguely Greek sound to it, unlike escrima sticks.
  • Gabi regales the Amazons (and Centaurs) with some of her and Xena’s adventures: events from Dreamworker, Cradle of Hope, Path Not Taken, and The Titans are specifically mentioned.

Favourite Quotes:

  • “It’s a man’s world, Gabrielle; not because it should be, but because we let them have it.” Terreis’s (and Steve Sears’) theory about victimization and how people need to stand up for themselves and take back their power.
  • “I’m sorry, you must have me mistaken for a pet.” Gabi showing some fire when Ephiny tries to order her around.
  • “Hey, she puts up with me fine.” Gabi defense when Ephiny wonders how Xena can stand Gabi’s endless chatter.
  • “We’ll see how long that lasts.” Xena’s cynical (and prophetic) response when Gabi swears she’ll never keep secrets from her again.