Xena Reviews: Season 6, Episode 7

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

This one starts 35 years ago, with the still-evil Xena forging a ring out of gold. She’s attacked by a monster, who she forces into an old mine. Xena confines the monster in the mine with a padlock in the shape of a double-headed raven, but in the struggle, the monster takes the ring from Xena’s finger. Xena tells the monster she’ll never be able to use the ring and rides off (flies off, actually, on horseback). In the present, a Norseman named Beowulf finds Xena and Gabi in an inn and shows Xena the raven-head lock, now broken.

Xena is upset at seeing the lock and immediately talks with Beowulf, but won’t tell Gabi what’s wrong. Gabi respects that, but Xena ends up leaving that night, writing Gabi a note to say she’s going to right a terrible wrong from her past but doesn’t want to bring Gabi along because it’s too dangerous. Naturally, Gabi follows her, travelling far to the north on Xena’s trail. Gabi hears the legend of the Valkyries, who led the souls of dead warriors to Valhallla in Odin’s name, and learns that Xena was once a Valkyrie herself. A woman named Brunnhilde (who has been watching Gabi ever since she arrived) practically worships Xena (at least, the bloodthirsty Xena of 35 years ago), and offers to tell the story of how Xena became a Valkyrie, so we get a lengthy flashback. Xena came to the Northlands 35 years ago and found Odin crucified in a tree. He’d done it to himself because he was bored with life’s endless conflict, but Xena convinced him that the conflict was what made life worth living. Odin made her a Valkyrie, which pissed off Grynhilde, the head of the Valkyries (and Odin’s lover). Xena’s influence turns the Norsemen into killers instead of warriors, but Odin is so smitten with her that he ignores Grynhilde’s protests. In the present, Gabi feels bad that Xena had given up on love and Brunnhilde offers to meet her later to continue the story. But Gabi gets a surprise later when someone tries to sneak up on her campsite.

It turns out to be Brunnhilde, who “attacks” Gabi to prove that she’s worthy of fighting beside Xena. Brunnhilde continues the story and we get another flashback. Xena was learning the secrets of the Valkyrie from Odin (like how to generate flame from her own body), but wanted more. She asked about the Rheingold, which could convey incredible power on whoever used it, but only if they’d forsaken love (otherwise, it takes away what you value most). Xena convinced Odin she loved him, so he told her where the Rheingold was. Gryhilde knew Xena was playing Odin, so she went after her with the other Valkyries, and Xena kicked their asses. Grynhilde pulled Xena off her flying horse, both of them plummetting towards the ground.

They both survived the fall and Xena pounded Grynhilde, but spared her life. Xena found the Rhinemaidens, who guard the Rheingold, and convinced one of them to show it to her. Xena punched her out and stole the gold, forging it into a ring (as we saw at the beginning of the episode). In the present, Gabi and Brunnhilde talk about Gabi’s relationship with Xena an it seems like Brunnhilde is kinda hot for Gabi (who’s completely oblivious, naturally). When Gabi mentions Beowulf and the raven lock, Brunnhilde figures out where Xena’s heading and Gabi insists they walk all night to get there as fast as possible. Xena and Beowulf arrive at a house where the monster Grendel killed a bunch of Beowulf’s friends. (And Beowulf also seems to have a thing for Gabi, which doesn’t bother Xena at all.)

Xena and Beowulf wait in the cabin for Grendel to show up and when she does, we see she’s the same monster Xena shut up in the mine all those years ago … and is still wearing the ring that Xena forged from the Rheingold. Xena and Beowulf fight the monster, who kicks the crap out of them. The next morning, Gabi and Brunnhilde arrive and find Beowulf unconscious in the cabin. Gabi finds Xena’s bloodstained armour, but Beowulf says Grendel dragged Xena away … and he doesn’t know if she’s dead or alive.

This is a pretty good episode, the first of a trilogy that’s roughly based on some old Norse and Germanic stories about heroes like Beowulf and Siegfried. But for me, this is the weakest episode of the trilogy (which is why it’s #43 on my all-time list while the other two are much higher), mainly because Xena and Gabi are separated for most of it. Also, most of the story is told in flashbacks (some of which are repeated in the next two episodes), which again means no Gabrielle. It’s interesting to see the old Xena acting all wild and manipulating everyone, but it gets a little boring after a while. The big fight with Xena and Beowulf taking on Grendel is cool, but the rest is pretty much all exposition.

It’s also a bit disappointing to see Xena trying to leave Gabi behind again; shouldn’t they be past that by now? I’m not sure if it’s just the danger Xena’s worried about (since she does basically consider this a suicide mission), or if she doesn’t want Gabi to know what an asshole she was back then. Either way, she should’ve known Gabi wouldn’t stay behind. I wonder if Xena actually did expect Gabi to follow her? Before going into the cabin to wait for Grendel, Xena looks off into the distance and says, “Stay strong, Gabrielle.” Was that just a wish for Gabi to stay strong if Xena died, or did she know Gabi was on her way there? It’s also funny to see that both Beowulf and Brunnhilde are attracted to Gabi, although (as we’ll see next episode) they’re attracted to her for different reasons.

I can’t help wondering exactly when the flashbacks take place in Xena’s life. 35 years ago would be about five years before she met Gabi (if we take off 25 for their time on ice, plus the five years she and Gabi travelled together before that), which means it was after Borias died and Xena had to give up Solan. That fits with her having forsaken love, but what was she doing so far north? When she first meets Odin in the forest, her chakram is hanging off her saddle, but she never uses it. Since Ares is the one who gave her the chakram, this must be after he started exerting his influence on her (which I think was after Borias and Solan, when she was at her lowest ebb, so that fits). Maybe Xena and Ares had a falling out (before she learned to use the chakram properly) and she headed north to get away from him for a while. According to Brunnhilde’s story, Xena came there from Chin, but that makes no sense since Borias isn’t with her and she’s obviously not pregnant. Maybe the legends were mixed up, or maybe Xena made a return visit to Chin after breaking ties with Ares.

Noticeable Things:

• At the inn, Xena tries to get some food from Gabi after wolfing down her own, but Gabi refuses. But when she sees how troubled Xena is by Beowulf’s visit, she offers Xena the rest of her food.
• When Gabi goes north, she puts on a long duster-style coat, but underneath she still wears her Amazon outfit, which can’t be all that warm.
• When Xena is with the Rhinemaidens, one of them claims to be in love with her after knowing her for a whole minute. If you read between the lines, the implication is that Xena seduced the Rhinemaiden to get her to show her the Rheingold, but that gets glossed over.

Favourite Quotes:

• “Whatever happens, know that my love for you is endless.” The conclusion of Xena’s goodbye note to Gabi.
• “Xena’s path is my path.” Gabi letting Brunnhilde know how much Xena means to her.
• “Someday, someone may conquer you.” Odin’s prescient warning to Xena in the past. Odin was talking about force of arms, but Gabi ended up conquering Xena with love.