A Friend in Need Part II – Director: Rob Tapert/Story: Rob Tapert, R.J. Stewart/Teleplay: R.J. Stewart
This one starts with Xena burying her armour (kinda like she did in Sins of the Past) before going to confront Morimoto’s army. Xena knows she has to die to have any chance of finishing Yosdoshi, but she’s going to take as many of Morimoto’s men with her as possible. Xena seems to be in Dark mode here, but does use memories of Gabi to
inspire her during the fight. (She did refer to Gabi as her “source” in One Against an Army.) Meanwhile, Gabi has realized Xena’s plan and rushes to stop her, but it’s too late. After a long fight against overwhelming odds, Xena is killed and Morimoto cuts off her head.
Gabi arrives too late, finding only Xena’s chakram drenched in blood. Xena appears in the teahouse with Akemi and the other two girls. On the 
battlefield, Harugata dispatches the souls of the dead before Yodoshi can feed on them, but Gabi refuses to believe Xena is dead. In the teahouse, one of the girls (Miyuki) summons Yodoshi with her enchanted anklet and he forces Xena to grovel before him. Xena later tells Akemi that she’s there to kill Yodoshi and heads into the woods, followed by Miyuki. She runs into Gabi in the woods, who tries to give her the chakram. But when Xena is unable to touch it, Gabi realizes Xena is dead.
Harugata shows up and kills Miyuki (who was spying on them) so Xena can take the summoning anklet. Kenji and Harugata tell Gabi that she can bring
Xena back to life if she burns her body and puts the ashes in the Fountain of Strength on Mount Fuji before tomorrow’s sunset. Xena introduces Gabi to Akemi (calling Gabi her soulmate) and Akemi does a tattoo on Gabi’s back to protect her. Gabi takes the sacred katana and goes to Morimoto’s camp to retrieve Xena’s body, which has been desecrated. Morimoto is waiting and challenges Gabi to a duel.
Gabi defeats Morimoto quite easily, but refuses to grant him an honourable 
death, since he’s been acting without honour. Apparently his men agree, since they don’t stop Gabi from taking Xena’s remains. At the teahouse, Xena summons Yodoshi so Harugata can kill him, but Yodoshi is stronger than they expected. He kills Harugata and Kenji and almost drowns Akemi before Xena wounds him and he flees. With his dying breath, Harugata tells Xena that Yodoshi has drunk from the
Fountain of Strength, so if Xena does the same she can kill him with the sacred katana. Gabi gets to the mountain, but Morimoto is waiting to stop her from getting to the Fountain. Gabi kicks his ass, but the urn with Xena’s ashes falls over a cliff.
The urn lands in a bird’s nest but before Gabi can retrieve it, Yodoshi, Xena, 
and Akemi show up. Yodoshi freezes the water in the Fountain before Xena can drink it and blasts her with his power. After eating an icicle, Yodoshi absorbs Akemi’s soul. Gabi goes to get water from the Fountain for Xena and Yodoshi blasts her in the back, but Akemi’s tattoo protects her and rebounds the fireball onto Yodoshi. Gabi gives Xena the water with a kiss and Xena gains tremendous strength (and
ends up in her usual armour). While Gabi goes to get the ashes, Xena fights Yodoshi. They’re evenly matched now and Xena kills him, freeing Akemi and the souls of the 40,000 people from Higuchi. Gabi gets the ashes but has to kill Morimoto with the chakram before she can get to the Fountain. Just as she’s about to put the ashes in the Fountain, Xena stops her, explaining that she has to stay dead for the 40,000 souls to find peace (because she’s technically responsible for 
their deaths). Gabi’s ready to bring her back anyway, but Xena convinces her that it would be wrong to condemn all those souls just for their own happiness. Xena tells Gabi she’ll always be with her and fades away as they watch the sun set. Later, Gabi sails homeward, accompanied by Xena’s spirit, and contemplates heading to Egypt to continue her adventures.
This is technically a very well-done episode (which is why it’s #77 on my all-time list), with some great fight scenes and wonderful character
moments. It also brings both Xena and Gabi’s overall character arcs (which we’ve been watching since the first episode) to satisfying conclusions: Xena finally finds her redemption and Gabi becomes a full-fledged hero in her own right, Xena’s equal is every way. At the same time, it does a huge disservice to Xena and Gabi and to the fans. They (and we) earned a happy ending and they’re denied one at the last minute because of a technicality. It’s fitting that Xena redeems 
herself with a big sacrifice (something she’s learned from Gabi), but it sucks that Gabi has to suffer for it. I guess it underlines how much Gabi loves Xena, since she’s willing to sacrifice her own happiness to make sure Xena gets her redemption. (And knowing Gabi, she’d have ended up feeling guilty if she’d brought Xena back and condemned all those souls to an ignominious fate.)
Besides Xena’s redemption, it’s cool to see how far Gabi has come. I think she’s become kind of a combination of who she used to be and what she learned from Xena. Not
only does she beat Morimoto in combat (twice), but she successfully uses the chakram, symbolizing her finally becoming Xena’s equal. In the first duel with Morimoto, Gabi refuses to kill him; Rob Tapert said that was because Gabi isn’t a killer at heart, but Renee said it was because Morimoto didn’t deserve an honourable 
death, since he’d acted so dishonourably. I agree with Renee; I think Gabi has a much deeper sense of honour than Morimoto, though I’m not sure if that’s something she learned from Xena or if it was always part of her … I suspect it’s the latter. Xena and Gabi’s connection is highlighted in this episode, especially in the forest scene. Xena can’t touch the chakram, but she and Gabi can touch each other, which shows their bond transcends even death. That’s reiterated at
the end when Xena’s spirit joins Gabi on the ship and they seem to be able to touch. R.J. Stewart said Xena’s spirit really is there with Gabi at the end, so I guess they’re still technically together. I’m not sure if that’s romantic or kinda sad, since it would keep Gabi from getting over her loss and moving on. Maybe a little of both.
So, this episode is sad because it denies Xena and Gabi (and us) the happiness they so richly deserve. But it also has the sadness of all last episodes, the sadness that hits us when we realize there will be no more 
stories with these characters we’ve come to love so much. Before, we just had to wait a week (or a few months) between episodes to see them again, but that’s not the case here. A lot of fans think When Fates Collide could happen after this story (since it’s technically in-between continuity), which would restore Xena to life and give her and Gabi a second chance at happiness. I’ve also read that the creators planned to make a series of Xena movies after the show ended. It obviously never happened, but if they were planning it they must’ve had some way to bring Xena back from the dead. So even though they didn’t get
around to actually doing it, as far as I’m concerned it could still count as canon. In my mind, Gabi did figure out a way to bring Xena back (I even wrote a fanfic story about one way she might’ve done that) and they went on to have many more adventures together. And when they finally decided to call it a day (like when they got too old to do kicks and stuff), they settled down with Eve and Lila and Sarah and Virgil and all their extended family around them and lived happily ever after. That’s the ending they deserve, and in my head-canon, it’s the one they got.
Noticeable Things:
- Xena and Gabi’s outfits are different here, with Xena wearing a variation on Gabi’s usual clothes, while Gabi wears a form of armour. Maybe it’s meant to highlight how they’ve influenced each other over the years.
- When Xena blows up a wagon full of chemicals in front of Morimoto’s army, it causes a huge mushroom cloud to form. Maybe a tad insensitive, since this episode is set in Japan.
- In Legacy, Xena told Gabi that she was more important than the greater good; too bad Xena wouldn’t accept that argument here.
- A lot of fans seem to think Gabi’s ship is heading into the rising sun in the final scene, but that would mean she’s going east into the Pacific Ocean. We can see land in front of the sun, so I’m assuming this is the setting sun and she’s returning to Greece to put Xena’s ashes in the family tomb before heading off to Egypt.
- There was supposed to be a scene last episode with Xena and Gabi meeting Eve in Chin. That ended up getting cut, but we can assume it took place and Gabi probably stops there on the way back to let Eve know what happened. Maybe Eve is even on the ship with her.
Favourite Quotes:
- “I had to learn from you enough to know the final, the good, the right thing to do.” Xena admitting how much Gabi has changed her, while justifying breaking her heart (along with ours).
- “I’ll always be with you, Gabrielle.” Xena assuring that even in death, she’ll never leave Gabi.
- “Where you go, I’m at your side.” Xena letting Gabi know their adventures aren’t over yet.
- “A lifetime of journeying has brought you to the farthest lands, to the very edges of the Earth.” Gabi summing up Xena’s life in one sentence.
- “And to the place where I’ll always remain … your heart.” Xena’s reply.