Season Three - 1997/98
The Furies
Ares pursuades The Furies to lay the twin penalties of insanity and persecution on Xena for falling to avenge the murder of a member of her family. As The Furies' curse takes effect, Xena starts acting very strangely and almost at once Gabrielle releases and pursuades Xena to investigate. Discovering the penalty is for failing to avenge the murder of her father, Xena sets off for home to find out more from her mother. Once there they learn that it is Xena's mother who killed her father and Xena decides to kill herself rather than her mother - meanwhile Gabrielle follows up on a lead on a very similar case only to discover that obeying The Furies' instructions is no remedy. Taunted by Ares, Xena manages to trick him into making The Furies actually appear in the temple to witness her carrying out their sentance, and proceeds to head there with her mother. Once there Xena uses Gabrielle and her mother's testimony to prove to The Furies that there is a real chance that Ares is in fact her father, and then issues a challenge to Ares to fight her.
Episode: 3.1, US airdate: 29 Sep 97.
Guest Stars: Kevin Smith (Ares), Darien Takle (Cyrene).
Been There, Done That
Xena wakes up to the sound of a rooster crowing, and sits up as Joxer enters carrying some goose eggs in his helmet. Gabrielle surfaces from under a pile of straw. Then a horseshoe falls from above Joxer, falling into his hat, cracking all the eggs and splashing the yolks all over his face. The three of them rise and go off in search of new horseshoes for Argo, and come across a feud in the market square. Joxer tries to intervene and gets killed by one of the swordsmen. Come evening Xena and Gabrielle hold a funeral pyre for him, and rather shocked and clinging to each other for comfort, they go to sleep. The rooster crows and once again Joxer enters the stable carrying goose eggs in his hat. Xena has a serious case of Deja Vu, but is overjoyed to see that Joxer is still alive, and pushes him back before the horseshoe can fall on him. She tries to explain to both Gabrielle and Joxer that she's seen this day before and tries to change things. This time she stops Joxer from getting involved in the feud in the marketplace, only to find that he gets involved in a seperate feud in an alleyway.
Once again the day repeats itself, and this time Xena stops the cause of the original duel by ensuring that an old deaf man is not knocked down by a passing chariot. Despite her efforts, the same two men still pick a fight over a different, even more trival dispute, and this time Gabrielle tries to stop the alley fight and is killed by one of the two swordsmen. The next time round, Xena ties up Joxer and Gabrielle and attempts to stop the fighting herself. This effort too fails. Xena then decides to learn more about the feud between the main two families to see if she can resolve the feud through knowledge rather than direct intervention. This time she manages to stop the feud and pursuade the leaders of both feuding families to put asside their differences; this still fails to break the cycle. Xena then discovers that a phial of poison is missing from the local potion maker, and discovers that the daughter of one of the feuding houses has taken it because she is in love with a young man from the other house and knows it can never be while the families are feuding. The next day she endeavours to reach the woman before she takes the poison but arrives a moment too late; finding the man he confides in her that Cupid has set the town to repeat the day of the woman's death time and time again until a hero comes to release them. But he says there is no way that Xena can reach the woman after the rooster calls but before she takes the poison. The rest of the day, a somewhat distracted Xena is measuring up the town. The following morning Xena unleashes her Chakram along it's carefully planned trajectory, saves the deaf old man and shatters the phial of poison just before the woman drinks it. The day starts one final time, but this time Joxer brings turnips rather than goose eggs... they're free at last.
Episode: 3.2, US airdate: 6 Oct 97.
Guest Stars: Ted Raimi (Joxer), Deverick Williams (Tybelus), Joseph Murray (Neron), Rebekah Davies (Hermia).
The Dirty Half Dozen
Ares decides to equip the army of a young warlord, Agathon, with armour made from the steel of Ephestos thus making them all but invincible. On hearing of this, Xena proceeds to rescue various of her proteges from her warlord period from prisons or execution and tries to pursuade them to join her in a mission against Agathon. She picks each of them for skills she believes will help with the battle with Agathons soldiers; their first encounter is less than successful although they do avoid getting slaughtered by using hand to hand combat techiniques. They travel in somewhat uneasy alliance to Agathon's castle, where Xena manages to break in with their assistance but she is soon captured and she, Glaphyra and Gabrielle are soon imprisoned in Agathon's castle.
Episode: 3.3, US airdate: 13 Oct 97.
Guest Stars: Kevin Smith (Ares), Jon Brazier (Walsim), Stephen Ure (Monlik), Katrina Hobbs (Glaphyra), Charles Meisure (Darnelle).
The Deliverer
While travelling Xena and Gabrielle come across a slave train and decide to free the slaves. When one of the now-free slaves tells them that he was seeking help in a battle against Julius Caesar who has invaded Britainnia, Xena insists on returning with him to help. Soon after their arrival, Gabrielle and the former slave are captured and Xena meets up with Boadicea, a former foe who is now battling Caesar. Xena rescues Gabrielle and prepares to stand against his army with Boadicea, while Gabrielle takes shelter with the priest in his temple. Soon she discovers that he is part of a satanic cult trying to bring the evil god Dahak into the world. In trying to stop a ceremony, Gabrielle unwittingly stabs the priestess of the cult and the evil is released. Xena is distracted from the battle with Caesar by the gathering of storm clouds over the temple and races to rescue Gabrielle. She finds Gabrielle suspended in the air by talons of fire but does manage to free her and they escape. An ensuing explosion knocks out all of the walls of the temple leaving a very familar framework standing - Stonehenge.
Episode: 3.4, US airdate: 20 Oct 97.
Guest Stars: Jennifer Ward Leyland (Boadicea), Karl Urban (Caesar), Cathering Boniface (Meridien), Kevin Smith (Ares).
Gabrielle's Hope
Gabrielle is still tortured about the moment she killed the priestess and is unable to sleep. As she and Xena head towards the coast in order to leave Britainnia, they are greeted by three banshees. Making their escape Xena and Gabrielle reach the port, where Gabrielle waits in an inn while Xena looks for passage back to Greece. In the inn, Gabrielle suddenly has craving for lots of strange and bizzare foods, which she proceeds to eat. In the middle of her meal, a mob of villagers start to attack the inn and try to kill Gabrielle; at the same time Xena is attacked by a group of religious knights. Making a break for the mob, Xena and Gabrielle head for the cover of the wooded hills, where Gabrielle realises she's pregnant, and a fairly long way through the pregnancy at that. Searching for answers as to what is going on, Xena takes her to the castle from which the religious knights operate where she tries to find out what is going on by eavesdropping on their conversations. She discovers that Gabrielle is carrying the child of Dahak, and goes back in just enough time to help Gabrielle give birth to a daughter. Xena is very concerned about the child, but Gabrielle pursuades her that the child can be taught not to be evil, and that it should be given a chance at life. Gabrielle names her child "Hope" to reflect her belief that she can be a force for good despite being the offspring of Dahak. Xena agrees to give her a chance and is distracted by a battle outside. When she returns, she finds Gabrielle sleeping and one of the knights brutally murdered in a locked stronghold that only contained the knight, Gabrielle and Hope. Xena is now convinced that Gabrielle is terribly wrong about Hope and that she is already evil. Gabrielle takes hope and runs with Xena in hot pursuit. When Gabrielle realises that Xena means to kill her daughter and will not listen to "reason", she decides to abandon her daughter and then tell Xena that Hope turned on her and was killed. Xena isn't completely convinced but reluctantly takes Gabrielle's word for it.
Episode: 3.5, US airdate: 27 Oct 97.
The Debt, Part I
Xena and Gabrielle are ambushed in their sleep by a group of Ninja warriors who are in pursuit of a messanger who is looking for Xena. Having defeated the Ninja Warriors, Xena is unable to help the messanger who has been fatally injured in the fight, but listens to his message which says "The little green dragon has become too big and must be made small again". At this Xena starts to set off for the Kingdom of Chin, where she tells Gabrielle that she must repay an old debt. Gabrielle asks if this means that she must kill somebody, and Xena answers that it does. Xena starts to explain how after her encounter with Caesar, she and Barias journeyed to the east in search of riches and hatched a plan to set the royal families of the kingdom of Chin to fight each other. Reaching the port where Xena must board a boat to Chin, Gabrielle decides that she can play no part in this and tells Xena that she will not come on a mission of murder; she asks Xena not to throw away all the changes for good that Xena's made in the last two years but Xena insists she has no choice but to go. We learn that Xena tried to kidnap the son of one of the kings of Chin and became an embarassment to Barias who arranged to let her be captured by the King. Once captured she was hunted down like an animal but at the last moment was given the chance to escape by a mysterious woman, Lao Ma, who ran one of the other kingdoms in the name of her sick husband, their King. Sensing a kindred spirit in Xena, Lao Ma, starts to show her some of the ancient chinese magic which gives Xena the ability to defy gravity! Back in the present, Xena reaches the Kingdom of Chin, and makes her way into the castle to find and kill Ming T'ien, the son who Xena kidnapped many years ago. Raising a dagger high above her head, she's about to strike at what she believes is the sleeping prince, only to find Gabrielle lying there instead.
Episode: 3.6, US airdate: 3 Nov 97.
Guest Stars: Marton Csokas (Borias), Jacqueline Kim (Lao Ma), Grant McFarland (Ming T'su).
The Debt, Part II
Captured by the Palace Guards, Xena is thrown into the dungeon. Meanwhile Gabrielle asks Ming T'ien to let her see Xena, a request that he denies saying that she is awaiting trial on charges of treason and cannot be seen by anyone. When Xena is found guilty of treason, and is sentanced to death, Gabrielle is finally allowed to see her. In the meantime, we learn more about Xena's time with Lao Ma and that Ming T'ien is in fact her son. Gabrielle is distraught that she has caused Xena to be imprisoned and begins to realise that Ming T'ien is a cruel and evil despot, and that maybe she should have trusted Xena more. Learning from a fellow prisoner that Lao Ma was recently killed by her own son, Ming T'ien, Xena resolves to kill him. Xena is taken from the dunegeon to be executed and just before the executioneer moves forward to carry out his job, Ming T'ien gives Xena a gift his mother asked him too just before he killed her. It is a small hairclip which Xena knows contains a sharp metal spike that was Lao Ma's favourite weapon - to her this is the sign that Ming T'ien must be killed. As she lies strapped to the executioneers table, Xena summons up the ancient magic taught to her by Lao Ma and breaks free and destroys the palace. In a face down with Ming T'ien in front of Gabrielle, Xena says that by defeating him and demolishing the palace she has made him small again. Believing the work done, Gabrielle turns to leave just as Xena launches the hairclip at Ming T'ien quietly killing him as he sits on his throne. When Gabrielle compilments Xena on doing the job without killing Ming T'ien, Xena chooses not to reveal to her the truth that she did kill him at the end.
Episode: 3.7, US airdate: 10 Nov 97.
King of Assassins
Autolycus is involved in the theft of a precious sword which goes wrong when he and his acomplace are disturbed by the warlord who owns it. When his acomplace kills the warlord, Autolycus is rather scared and tries to backout of the rest of the plan, but the threats of his acomplace pursuade him to stick to it. Later on in a market square, Autolycus meets up with a man who he mistakes for his acomplace, but upon also meeting up with Gabrielle comes to realise that this man is Joxer, not his evil brother Jett - his acomplace. They soon realise that Jett plans an assasination of a visiting dignatory staying in the castle. Autolycus proceeds with Jett's plan for now, while Joxer and Gabrielle try to break into the castle but end up getting captured. While Autolycus discovers that Jett's intended victim is Cleopatra, Gabrielle singularly fails to escape from her cell in the dungeon when she tries copying Xena's technique. Soon Joxer and Jett are both on the run around the castle, while Autolycus makes an approach to Cleopatra on the pretext of acting as an agent for Xena's services. When Joxer and Gabrielle are released by a guard after being mistaken for Jett, they are taken before the captain of the guards and explain the consipiracy - not realising that he is behind it. Fortunately he mistakes Joxer for Jett and lets him go - before long they are all converging on Cleopatra's room at which point Xena appears just in time at which point a big fight ensues. Jett is eventually arrested and after a talk with Joxer is taken away.
Episode: 3.8, US airdate: 17 Nov 97.
Directed by: Bruce Campbell
Guest Stars: Gina Torres (Cleopatra), Ted Raimi (Joxer/Jett), Bruce Campbell (Autolycus), Jonathon Hendry (Pontius).
Warrior... Priestess... Tramp
A warlord is somewhat surprised when Xena appears before him talking about love and disarms herself; not believing his luck he has her captured and tied to a stake. Gabrielle arrives and thinks that Xena must be testing her, and true to form she comes through and they both escape, except that it turns out not to be Xena after all, but Leah. Leah is the high priestess of the local temple of Hestian Virgins. Finding the real Xena, Gabrielle introduces Leah and they set off to find out why Leah was tricked into a suicide and by who. Back at the temple they find that Meg has been pursuaded to stand in for the "missing" Leah by one of the priests, Bailey. In order to find out more about him and his motives, Xena goes undercover pretending to be Meg, while Meg hides and with Gabrielle's help Leah pretends to be Meg -- the only problem is that Meg runs the local brothel. Meanwhile, Meg accidentally lets slip to Bailey that Xena is there and he dispatches the guards to kill Leah at the Brothel. It basically goes on like this for most of the episode...
Episode: 3.9, US airdate: 12 Jan 98.
The Quill Is Mightier
Aphrodite is more than a little miffed when some kids scrawl pro-Xena slogans all over her temple, and then has a go at Ares. Ares points out that although Xena is the hero of the piece, it is Gabrielle who is building her up with all her stories. As a result, Aphrodite decides to enchant one of Gabrielle's scroll as Xena pursuades Gabrielle to try writting fiction. Gabrielle awakes the following morning to find that her story is coming true, and having defeated a horde of barbarians single handed, comes to realise that the scroll is enchanted. Heading for a local town, Gabrielle decides to use the power of the scroll to do good, but soon realises that she's got to be very careful in the phrasing of what she writes. Deciding to go for the large goals, she decides to write that War lost it's power, and Ares appears before her as a mortal. Trying to rectify that, she manages to make Aphrodite a mortal too. Trying to summon Xena back, she manages instead to bring Minya into their group, and while trying to work out a limerk to cheer up the now rather desperate Gabrielle, Joxer manages to conjour up three naked dancing Gabrielle's - much to the real Gabrielle's annoyance. After several other unsuccessful attempts to resolve the mess, they settle down to sleep where upon Joxer resolves to sell his scabbard to get Gabrielle a gift to say sorry for the events of the day. Unfortunately this leads to the enchanted scroll falling into the hands of a merchant as unbeknowst to Joxer, Gabrielle had hidden the scroll is his scabbard. When the resulting chase ends in the caves to which Gabrielle has sent the various "mistakes", Gabrielle regains possession of the scroll just long enough to write that the scroll finds Xena. The assembled party of oddities then runs off after the scroll, leaving Gabrielle, Joxer, Ares and Aphrodite behind. Soon Xena arrives pulling a massive cart of fish, holding the scroll and explains how Gabrielle's wording had sent her on a wild goose chase. Working out how to end the enchantment, Xena proceeds to deal with an army poised to attack the valley in a very unique way - by pelting them with fish - while Gabrielle tries to record the events truthfully without embellishment. Soon Ares and Aphrodite are back to normal, and the army is defeated.
Episode: 3.10, US airdate: 19 Jan 98.
Guest Stars: Kevin Smith (Ares), Alexandra Tydings (Aphrodite), Alison Wall (Minya).
Maternal Instincts
Xena and Gabrielle return to the Centaur village at the invitation of Kaleipus, Solan's foster father as guests at a ceremony to sign a treaty of peace. Meanwhile a young girl frees Callisto from the lava pit - determined to get her revenge, Callisto burns the tottems of peace at the entry to the Centaur village. Back in the village, Gabrielle is overjoyed to meet up with Ephiny and her centaur son, Xenan and tells her of the events in Britainnia and of Hope (supposed) death. The young girl who released Callisto then sneaks into Gabrielle's hut and starts telling her of threats from the "monster woman" and of a message for Xena. In front of Xena, the girl who calls herself Fayla, reports Callisto as saying "She knows your little secret and will take it to the grave". Desperate to save Solan, Kaleipus and Xena arrange to hide him in the ixion caverns nearby while Xena distracts Callisto. Preparing for her part in the plan, Gabrielle bumps into Fayla in the shop and discovers that she is in fact her daughter - Hope. After tricking Callisto, Xena and Gabrielle return towards the village to find Kaleipus mortally wounded. Gabrielle talks with Hope and tells her why she had to abandon her in Britainnia and is taken in and sends Hope to the same safe place as Solan is. When Xena hears what has happened she is livid and goes to the safe place only to find Solan dead and Hope gone. The heart-broken Xena is finally pursuaded to fight it out with Callisto by Xenan's scared expression and a major battle ensues, from which Xena bearly escapes with her life. Following the children to their hiding place in the caverns, Callisto walks into Xena's trap - where after a heart-to-heart Xena manages to trap Callisto in the falling ruins of a temple. Meanwhile Gabrielle realises how Hope had tricked her, and poisons Hope and contemplates killing herself too. Later that evening Xena and Gabrielle stand at the funeral pyres for their respective offspring, and Gabrielle desperately tries to make contact with Xena but fails and they each walk off alone.
Episode: 3.11, US airdate: 26 Jan 98.
Guest Star: Hudson Leick (Callisto), Amy Morrison (Hope), Danielle Cormack (Ephiny).
The Bitter Suite
Joxer arrives at the Amazon village and talks with Ephiny about Gabrielle who is undergoing an Amazon purification ritual. Ephiny tries to explain to Joxer how desolute Gabrielle was and how she has to get through it, but Joxer will have none of it. Xena is mourning her own way on the top of a snow capped mountain where she is visited by Ares who pursuades her to go on a rampage of vengenance. Xena arrives in the Amazon village and captures Gabrielle despite the efforts of their friends to stop her; dragging her behind a horse, Xena takes her to a cliff where she tries to throw her over the edge. Awakening at the final moment, Gabrielle attacks Xena and they both fall over the cliff and into the water far below. In a surreal world, Xena is fished out of a river by Callisto dressed as a court jester, who proceeds to sing to her with the aid of a bizzare chorus of an eagle, a bull, a snake, a terrier, and a Sphinx. Gabrielle is fished out of the river by Joxer and is somewhat embarrased to find herself naked. Xena, guided by Callisto, is taken to a castle where an army of soldiers sing her praises and Ares sings of his enfatuation with her. Meanwhile Gabrielle, guided by Joxer, returns to a vision of her home village Poteadia. Each encouraged by their people, Xena and Gabrielle head towards a door where they confront each other, and Xena kills Gabrielle. After Joxer pronounces Gabrielle dead, Ares sings of how he can help Xena as her consort. At the end of his song, he and all the others disappear leaving Xena cradling Gabrielle's dead body - until an accusing Gabrielle appears behind her. Together they are transported to derelict temple where their accusations against each other build to a deafening crescendo. They sing of their pain and for a while seem to be building bridges, but then the accusations start again until Gabrielle is grabbed by the firey talons of Dahak and they find themselves back in his temple - Xena tied to a cross, Gabrielle strapped as a sacrifical victim on the altar. A spirit appears from a coffin and awakens six figures - all of them tied together by hate - Ceasar, Callisto, Ares and Kraftstar plus alter-egos of Xena and Gabrielle. As Xena's alter-ego prepares to kill Gabrielle, and Gabrielle's prepares to break Xena's legs with a hammer, Xena and Gabrielle sing a duet about love overcoming hate and the figures one by one explode and disappear. Making their escape Xena and Gabrielle find a waterfall with Solan waiting on the other side; Gabrielle goes through but Xena is burned when she tries and is then tormented by the one remaining evil spirit - Ming T'ien. Singing a plea to Gabrielle and Solan to forgive her, Xena finally manages to pass through the waterfall and the final spirit disappears. After a moment with Gabrielle, Xena goes to Solan and as she hugs him finds herself back in the real world with Gabrielle in her arms, their love for each other restored.
Episode: 3.12, US airdate: 31 Jan 98.
Guest Stars: Hudson Leick (Callisto), Kevin Smith (Ares), Ted Raimi (Joxer), Danielle Cormack (Ephiny), Willa O'Neil (Lila).