Xena Reviews: Season 5, Episode 12

God Fearing Child – Director: Philip Sgriccia/Story: Chris Manheim/Teleplay: Robert Gaston Orci, Alex Kurtzman

This one starts with Zeus hearing a prophecy from the Fates that the birth of a child not begotten of man (in other words, Xena’s baby) will herald the end of the gods. Xena and Gabi run into Hercules (who has a stuffed hydra named Iolaus for the unborn baby) and they’re attacked by Proxidicae, soldiers sent by Zeus. They pound the Proxidicae and learn that Zeus wants Xena’s baby dead.

Xena kills one of their attackers before Hercules can warn her that killing one just makes the rest stronger. They run before the Proxidicae can recover and Xena tells Hercules she wants to go after Zeus before he can kill her child. She figures Hades’ Helm of Invisibility will let her get close enough to kill Zeus … if Hercules will get her a Rib of Cronus, one of the few things capable of killing a god. Hercules says he’s willing to do pretty much anything to save Xena’s child, but wants to try talking to Zeus first. Xena tells him to give it a shot, while she and Gabi head for the Underworld to get the Helm (and Hercules warns her that her baby will be stillborn if she gives birth in Hades). Xena and Gabi use the Alcyonian Lake to descend to Hades (a trip Xena has made before, when she retrieved the Helm for Hades) and Hercules heads for Olympus to talk to Zeus. But Zeus refuses to change his mind (even when Hera suggests that maybe the time of the gods is over and they should just accept it), so Hercules disowns him and leaves. Xena and Gabi make it to the Underworld, but the Proxidicae follow and stalk them through Tartarus. Zeus asks Ares to keep Hercules busy while he goes after Xena, but Ares is reluctant, since he still has a thing for Xena. He agrees to help as long as Zeus doesn’t mind him killing Hercules (who he’s always been jealous of because Herc is Zeus’s favourite) and Zeus reluctantly acquiesces. Ares attacks Hercules, blasting him with fireballs and when Hera shows up, Hercules figures he’s as good as dead.

Hera ends up blasting Ares, knocking him out and surprising the shit out of Hercules. In Tartarus, Xena and Gabi find Solan, who’s continually watching scenes from his life play out in front of him. Solan tells Xena he chose this fate to avoid the perpetual oblivion of the Elysian Fields, where you repeat the same day over and over, waiting for your loved ones to show up. Xena tells him that’s to keep people from missing their loved ones, but Solan would rather see Xena than forget about her, even if it means being stuck in Tartarus. In the world above, Hera tells Hercules she knows what he’s after and offers to help him get the Rib of Cronus, which no one of mortal blood can find. In Tartarus, Xena tells Solan she’s taking him to the Fields once they get the Helm, but he’s afraid she’ll forget about him now that she’s having another baby. She assures him she’ll always love him and tells him how he was a vision of hope for her, setting her on the path back to goodness (although it took about nine years and meeting Gabi for that lesson to finally sink in). They find the Helm but it turns out to be a trap, with Hades and the Proxidicae waiting for them.

They fight the Proxidicae and Hades and Gabi gets the helm, putting it on and kicking some ass invisibly (which gives the stunties an excuse to do some cool backflips and tumbles). Hera tells Hercules she’s willing to risk death to save Xena’s baby and says humans are the one creation of the gods that she’s actually proud of. She also hopes that Hercules just having the Rib of Cronus might make Zeus back off. Ares lets Zeus know that Hera is helping Hercules and Zeus realizes their plan, telling Ares he’ll take care of them himself. Hera leads Hercules to the cave where Cronus’s bones are resting. In Tartarus, Gabi goes ahead to scout invisibly and Ares shows up, offering to help Xena and her baby, in spite of the risk it supposedly represents. Ares tells Xena he wouldn’t mind being mortal if the two of them were together and Xena gets pissed off, thinking it’s just another of his games. She asks him to admit he loves her, but he can’t say the words and she takes off. After she’s gone, Ares actually does say he loves her and I can’t help wondering if Invisible Gabi was lurking nearby and heard his admission. They find the portal to the Elysian Fields, but it’s guarded by Hades and some Proxidicae. Xena gives Solan the Helm so he can slip by the guards and she and Gabi come out to kick some more ass. They take down the Proxidicae and Xena reflects Hades’ fireball right back at him with her chakram. Solan makes it through the portal and Xena says goodbye, then tells Gabi they’d better get back to the mortal realm since she’s having labour pains.

They emerge near some ruins and fight the Proxidicae, with Xena’s labour pains getting worse. Hercules gets the Rib of Cronus and Zeus shows up to stop him. Hera blasts Zeus and Hercules goes to help Xena, using the Rib to kill the Proxidicae. Xena goes into full labour and calls for Gabi, while Hercules promises to deal with Zeus. Zeus kills Hera and goes after Xena, blasting Hercules with thunderbolts when he gets in the way. As Gabi delivers Xena’s baby, Zeus prepares to kill her (yes, it’s a girl), but Hercules jumps him and uses the Rib to kill him. Zeus dies (with an appropriately Shakespearean death scene for the classically-trained Charles Keating), telling Hercules he’s proud of him even now, and the skies darken as the other gods feel Zeus’s passing. But the weather soon clears and none of the other gods drops dead, so apparently the Fates’ prophecy didn’t mean that Xena’s baby would immediately wipe them out. Xena names the baby Eve (which was suggested by Solan in Tartarus) and tells Hercules she’s sorry he had to kill his father. Gabi and Herc leave Xena to bond with her daughter.

I’m of two minds about this episode (which is why it’s at #85 on my all-time list); I like the Xena and Gabi stuff (and obviously the birth of Xena’s baby is a momentous occasion), but the Hercules stuff just drags for me. I find myself wanting to fast-forward through it to get back to the interesting stuff … Xena and Gabi. Meg Foster is great as Hera and Charles Keating is perfect as Zeus (and I always liked him as Carl Hutchins on Another World), but I’m just not that invested in those characters because I’ve never been a big Hercules fan. (And that was before I found out what an asshole Kevin Sorbo is in real life.) Apparently, Sorbo didn’t like the idea of Hercules killing his own father and wanted it to look accidental, but the way it’s edited looks to me like Hercules plunges the Rib into Zeus’s chest on purpose.

As I mentioned above, the best part of the episode is the interplay between Xena and Gabi. They act like a married couple here (which I believe they basically are) and it’s great to see that Gabi is the one who delivers the baby, since they’re both kinda going to be Eve’s mothers. Xena tells Gabi to leave before Zeus shows up, but naturally Gabi refuses and she doesn’t hesitate to follow Xena to Tartarus, nor does she argue when Xena decides to give the Helm to Solan. It’s interesting to see the contrast between Gabi’s love for Xena and Ares’ feelings for her; he says he loves her, but I think he only loves the Dark part of her, while Gabi loves all of Xena, good and bad. The fact that Ares can’t say “I love you” to Xena’s face is very telling … Gabi says that all the time. Maybe Ares is afraid admitting his love will make him vulnerable (or weak), but Gabi knows that love just makes you stronger.

Noticeable Things:

• Xena and Gabi descend to the underworld via the Alcyonian Lake (like Xena did in Mortal Beloved), but they return through some kind of cave. In mythology, there was supposedly another entrance to Hades, at the southern end of Greece on Cape Tainaron; maybe that’s where they came out.
• Xena mentions Ares trying to recruit Gabi; she could be referring to Succession or Seeds of Faith.
• When in labour, Xena gets kinda surly with Gabi and is alternately too hot and too cold. Lucy said those are real things that happen during childbirth and she used them to make it seem more realistic. I think Lucy had already given birth in real life before this episode was shot, so the experience probably fresh in her memory.

Favourite Quotes:

• “What is it about him that you have never seen in me?!” Ares asking Zeus why Hercules is his favourite.
• “This is the first thing that I have done right in an eternity.” Hera letting Zeus know she has no regrets about helping save Xena’s baby.