Xena Reviews: Season 4, Episode 16

The Way – Director: John Fawcett/Writer: R.J. Stewart

This one starts with Gabi getting philosophical and Xena wondering if her future incarnation as the Mother of Peace means she should renounce violence in this life. They’re attacked by demons masquerading as an eel and some beetles. They pound the demons, but Xena hesitates to kill during the fight and gets wounded. The demons admit they were sent by Indrajit (Father of Demons) to stop Xena and Gabi from reaching the Avatar. Xena worries about her lack of focus, wondering if becoming a peacemaker in her next life means she has to give up being a warrior now.

They find the Avatar and he turns out to be Eli. He heals a sick kid, but doesn’t seem too happy about it. Eli admits the pressure is getting to him; being the Avatar means following the Way of Love and knowing the Truth, which is a heavy burden. Xena and Gabi warn Eli about Indrajit and offer to travel with him, but Eli doesn’t want them risking themselves on his behalf. But with his non-violent Way, there’s not much he can do to stop them joining him, so he reluctantly accepts. Hanuman shows up in their camp that night and grabs Xena.

After convincing them he’s harmless, Hanuman tells them to go to the Great Temple and ask for Krishna’s help against Indrajit. They’re followed by demons and have to hide amongst the trees. Xena mentions her spiritual conflict to Hanuman and he tells her each person only has one Way and they have to embrace it. Gabi is intrigued by Eli’s Way of Love, trying to stop the endless cycle of violence in the world. They get to the Temple, but demons attack Xena. While she’s fighting, Indrajit flies down on a carpet and grabs Eli and Gabi. (I’m not sure why he took Gabi too … maybe he can sense her Goodness, or maybe he knows she’s become Eli’s disciple.)

Hanuman tells Xena to pray to Krishna for help in saving Gabi and Eli. He says Krishna is used to people worshipping him, so he might pay more attention to someone like Xena, who’s cynical about gods. In Indrajit’s temple, Gabi looks for a way out, but Eli accepts their fate. Eli tells Gabi that his battle with Indrajit is spiritual, so as long as he’s true to his Way of Love, he’ll defeat Indrajit. He and Gabi meditate ad even when Indrajit threatens to hurt Gabi, Eli doesn’t react. Xena meets Krishna, who tells her she can’t let her future lives dictate this one and that she has to embrace her own Way. He points out that it’s better to die following your Way than to live following someone else’s. Krishna assures Xena that if she’s true to her Way, he’ll help her defeat Indrajit. Gabi’s meditation is broken when she sees Xena chained up and beat to shit on Indrajit’s throne.

When a demon moves to kill Xena, Gabi kicks its ass, but it turns out “Xena” is really Indrajit. He gloats about luring Gabi from her Way with a simple illusion and starts choking her, hoping to get Eli to fight him. But Eli is true to his Way, which means he can’t save Gabi. But Xena can, cutting Indrajit’s hand off with her chakram. Indrajit isn’t too worried about losing a hand, as he soon grows four new arms. He attacks Xena, overwhelming her and cutting both her arms off, to Gabi’s horror. Xena calls on Krishna, who transforms her into an avatar of Kali (Goddess of Death, whose likeness is painted on Indrajit’s walls). As Kali, Xena has some extra arms of her own and she kicks Indrajit’s ass, cutting his head off at the end of the fight. Xena is restored to her own body, with her arms intact. Gabi apologizes to Eli for failing her first test and he reminds her that the Way of Love is hard and she may fail again. Eli heads back to Greece to spread the word of Love. Gabi decides to embrace the Way of Love and renounce violence, so she throws her staff in the river. Xena figures that’s the end of their relationship, but Gabi stays she’s sticking with her, pointing out that all rivers run to the see, so she’s sure they’ll end up in the same place, even if their paths are different.

This is a pretty good episode (#57 on my all-time list) and formally establishes the difference in philosophies that we’ve seen in Xena and Gabi since the beginning of the show. Gabi has always wanted to heal rather than hurt and preferred peace over violence, so it makes sense Eli’s Way of Love would appeal to her. But (as R.J. Stewart pointed out in an interview) Eli’s Way shouldn’t necessarily be adapted by everyone. If everybody renounced violence like Eli has, nobody would be left to stand up against Evil, which means Evil would run rampant. The world needs warriors like Xena to fight Evil, so people like Eli can be free to make things better. Eli admits that his Way is difficult and that sometimes feeling everyone’s pain is a burden, but he keeps at it because he has to be true to himself.

Xena realizes that she has to be true to her Way too … the Way of the Warrior. It’s not exactly shocking that Xena was meant to be a Warrior, but it’s nice to finally see her throw aside her doubts and embrace fighting for just causes. Xena and Gabi’s paths seem to be opposed to each other, but that isn’t so simple either …they each have contradictions even within themselves. Xena is a Warrior, but has learned restraint from Gabi, not always using violence as a first resort, but only when it’s necessary. And Gabi’s first instinct may be towards a peaceful solution, but she’s learned from Xena that not all problems can be solved peacefully and that sometimes you have to fight for what’s right. That puts Gabi at odds with Eli’s Way of Love, but she has to be true to herself. It also seems to put Gabi and Xena at odds, but their love binds them together. And Gabi throwing her staff in the river and pointing out that all rivers eventually flow to the sea could be taken to mean that she hasn’t seen the last of fighting.

It seems like Gabi failed the test when she attacked the demon to save who she thought was Xena, but I think Gabi actually passed that test. Everyone talks like there’s only one proper path for each Way, but I think there could be many paths. Look at Xena … she’s definitely a Warrior, but you could say that Ares, Callisto, the Amazons, even Joxer are also on the Way of the Warrior, yet none of them are anything like Xena. Instead of one path that everyone follows, I think each Way is like a multi-lane highway, with everybody heading to the same destination, but not always in the same lane. So if the Way of the Warrior can accommodate a diverse bunch of Warriors, the Way of Love could include different philosophies too. Gabi’s Way of Love isn’t necessarily the same as Eli’s; her Way of Love may include fighting in certain circumstances. It’s interesting to note that Gabi didn’t renounce her peaceful stance until she thought Xena was in trouble. But she was acting out of her love for Xena, so as far as I’m concerned, she didn’t fail the test … she was true to her own particular Way of Love. It’s just that her Way may include violence when necessary, especially where Xena’s concerned. Of course, Gabi hasn’t realized that yet, but she will by the end of the season.

Noticeable Things:

• There was some controversy about this episode, with some Hindus apparently taking exception to some of the content (especially Xena head-butting Hanuman, which was cut). The producers put a disclaimer at the beginning of the episode to smooth things over.
• Speaking of Hanuman, I find it interesting that none of the villagers are freaked out at seeing one of their gods in the flesh.
• Xena says she’s heard about the Way in Greece, Chin, Anatolia, and now India. I’m not sure when they were in Anatolia … maybe it’s a reference to Crusader, although that was supposed to take place in Phoenicia.

Favourite Quotes:

• “I’m just an angry, ass-kicking … Warrior.” Xena realizing she’s been following her Way all along.
• “Sorry I took you so far from your Truth.” Xena apologizing for diverting Gabi from her Way, not realizing yet that they are each other’s Truth.
• “Xena, do you think I could have understood the power of selfless love if it weren’t for our friendship?” Gabi letting Xena know that she’s learned as much from her as Xena’s learned from Gabi.