Last of the Centaurs – Director: Garth Maxwell/Writer: Joel Metzger
This one starts with some centaurs in the woods being attacked and killed by a band of men. One of the centaurs (who’s actually Xenon, Ephiny’s son) gets away, though he does take an arrow in the arm. In town, Xena and Gabi are at the market when Ephiny’s spirit appears to Gabi (who can see and hear her because she once gave Ephiny her Right of Caste), telling her Xenon is in trouble. They soon figure out what the trouble is when a crier shows up with a Wanted poster bearing Xenon’s likeness on it.
The crier tells them Lord Belach has put a bounty on Xenon’s head, so they go to see him. Xena is shocked to find that Belach looks exactly like Borias
and she realizes he’s the son Borias abandoned when he first got together with Xena. (Strangely, Belach doesn’t recognize Xena.) Belach claims Xenon kidnapped his daughter (Nika) and now he’s mad at all the centaurs and wants to eradicate them. Xena points out that Borias was a hero to the centaurs, but Belach hates his father for abandoning him and his mother. Ephiny can feel 
Xenon’s vibes and leads Xena and Gabi on his trail. Xena feels guilty for ruining Belach’s life and wants to show compassion towards him, even though Gabi thinks he’s dangerous. They find Xenon (who also doesn’t recognize them) and convince him that Ephiny’s spirit led them there. They find out he didn’t kidnap Nika, she went with him willingly because they’re in love … and she’s pregnant with his child.
Obviously, Belach doesn’t know about Nika being pregnant with Xenon’s child, but Xena thinks that knowledge might soften his stance. On the way to meet Xenon’s centaur friends, Xena tells Gabi how she stole Borias from
his wife and son shortly after they met (which we see in a flashback). They find all the other centaurs slaughtered and Xenon wants revenge, but Xena tells him she’ll handle it. She goes to see Belach, revealing her identity and telling him about Nika’s pregnancy. After pounding Belach’s guards, Xena forces him to come with her. They ride through the forest and Xena takes out Belach’s men who are pursuing them.
Belach tells Xena how he and his mother (along with the army Borias 
abandoned) ended up in servitude after Xena took him away. Belach hates Borias, but Xena says he’s more like his father than he might want to admit. She forces Belach to look at the pit full of slaughtered centaurs, leaving him for his men to find. Nika’s labour pains have started and they find a cabin in a clearing in which to hide. Some of Belach’s men find the cabin, but Xenon leads them away. A couple of the men decide Belach will pay more to ransom his daughter than for Xenon’s
head, so they go into the cabin to get Nika. Xena shows up in time to pound them and to deliver Nika’s baby-boy centaur (which she does with another C-section). Gabi thinks Xena should’ve just killed Belach, but Xena still feels guilty and wants to give him another chance. Belach shows up outside holding Xenon captive and offers to trade him for Nika.
Xena frees Xenon and they fight Belach and his men, aided by Gabi. Nika 
brings the baby out to stop the fight and Xena tells Belach his father turned into a decent person once he got away from her influence. We get another flashback (to Solan’s birth and Borias’s death in Past Imperfect) and Xena tells Belach his father died trying to see his son, not wanting to lose a second one. Belach comes around and calls off his men. Nika introduces him to his grandson, whose name is
Borias. Belach gives Nika and Xenon some land to live on and Ephiny takes over Gabi’s body so she can say a proper goodbye to her son (and apparently everyone can see Ephiny when she’s using Gabi’s body this way). Later, Gabi admits she was wrong about Belach and praises Xena’s wisdom in giving him the benefit of the doubt.
This is an all right episode (#84 on my all-time list), that wraps up some 
loose ends with Ephiny, Xenon, and the centaurs. That seems to be a running theme for this final season: tying up loose ends and saying goodbye to various characters and concepts. Xena’s guilt over her past makes her try to understand Belach and give him more chances than she normally might. Gabi urges Xena to just kill him, so it’s kind of a role-reversal for them. Gabi is probably still feeling the loss of the Amazons (in To Helicon and Back), so seeing the centaurs wiped out might have hit her especially hard. It probably hit Xena hard too,
since she blames herself for Belach’s attitude, as well as all the depredations she visited on the centaurs in her warlord days. Xenon is said to be the last centaur (except for his son), but there were at least two centaur enclaves. Maybe they amalgamated like the Amazons did, so the centaurs killed by Belach really might have been the entire population (though there could be others outside of Greece).
It’s nice to see Ephiny again, although her appearance is a bit contrived. Her connection to Gabi is interesting, since Gabi later gave her Right of Caste to Eve. But Eve probably lost that when she was Livia, so maybe it reverted to 
Ephiny. The idea of a dead person sticking around to watch over a loved one is something we’ll see again in the final episode. I also think it’s cool that when Gabi tells Xena she’s talking to Ephiny’s spirit, Xena believes her without question. It shows the trust that’s grown between them. It’s also cool to see Ephiny turning to her old friends for help with her son; Xena and Gabi certainly understand mother issues.
Noticeable Things:
- Going by the timeline, Xenon should be about 30 here, and I guess Belach would be in his late 40s. Centaurs probably age differently than humans, so it’s hard to tell how old Xenon might be just by looking.
- When they first meet Belach, Ephiny tells Gabi that Xena’s shocked reaction is because he looks just like Borias. But how would Ephiny know that? Does she have some kind of mystical connection with Xena that lets her read Xena’s thoughts? Or maybe Ephiny is old enough to remember Borias when he and Xena were trying to conquer Greece. The Amazons were involved in the Battle of Corinth, so Ephiny might have seen Borias with her own eyes. She certainly would’ve heard stories about him from the centaurs when she was married to Phantes.
Favourite Quotes:
- “Word of advice for you, kid. Never step between two people and their passion.” Xena’s warning to Belach as a child, which she repeats to get him to recognize her as an adult.