Amac Productions

I want to get off this ride.

Maybe too much really well written angst isn’t good for the soul.

Especially when my girlfriend is cracking jokes about hope and it turns out to be a demon child’s name, HOPE. We’re going to have Hope for a long time, she said.

Hope.

The person.

The character.

The tiny evil baby born of Dahak in not a metaphor for r*pe, but the actual thing.

Ugh, yuck.

A demon spawn that manages to murder a grown man within hours of being born. Oh freaking dear. What in the world have we gotten ourselves into?

Like nothing is going right.

I think my reviews are getting more unhinged with each angsty episode, I apologize, just hang in there with me.

Nothing is going right.

Gabrielle is pregnant from this horrible ceremony thingy they did to. The banshees want to protect her until the child is born.

Gabrielle lets them!

She pits them against Xena.

Xena goes straight up murder on the tiny baby, which while justified probably could have been better explained to the mother of said baby before pulling the sword.

I feel like that type of thing needs a conversation when we’re not armed.

Just saying.

We’ve got King Arthur’s Knights of the Round Table who are deciding whether or not they should kill Gabrielle to kill the baby. Some say yes, some say no.

Unfortunately, one of the dudes who said yes and seemed so nice was murdered by said baby. So maybe his friends had a point.

Xena pulled the sword from the stone.

The two guys try it themselves since she managed it so casually, but they cannot. Apparently, Xena is the King of England now.

Well shit.

Oh, and Gabrielle lied to Xena’s face.

She didn’t chuck the evil baby into a gorge. Instead, she put her in a nice little basket and sent her up the river reminiscent of an early season one episode when they found a baby in the river.

Got to love those callbacks.

Oh, and Xena hunted Gabrielle down when she took off trying to protect Hope.

She even complimented her that Gabrielle was getting better at this type of thing. Guess she’s regretting teaching her everything she knows now, huh?

On the flip side, we have Gabrielle who knows that the relentless Xena will keep pursing them until she finds them. As she nearly does.

Except Gabrielle is pretty smart and tucks her daughter away and even puts on a little show about how she turned on her mother. Even pretending in the cave to prove to Xena her daughter is truly dead.

Except she’s not.

As the audience we know this. We see baby Hope float down the river.

Unbeknownst to Xena.

Later that night, Gabrielle prays out into the world for Hope to be good.

Which appears to be a longshot.

I think Xena had a point in killing the baby who was clearly born of the evil ceremony they concocted for Gabrielle to lose her blood innocence allowing this child to be born. Hope is clearly something evil. She managed to kill a full-grown man within hours of her birth.

She was walking around for crying out loud.

Gabrielle was pregnant for like two days. Nothing about this birth seems right.

Even the moment she gave birth was violent and dark with a storm swirling all around them.

On the other hand, for Gabrielle I can see her point too.

After everything that happened, she couldn’t help but hope that this baby was something positive to come out of it. That moment when she holds the baby for the first time and begs Xena not to let them hurt the baby, I was with her. I’m like yes, Xena protect the kid.

And she does.

Even convinces others to help her protect them.

And at first, all seems well.

The baby may be growing quickly, but she appeared normal in every way until a man died, and she was the cause. Because I doubt Gabrielle committed a murder.

Even after last week’s episode. Nope.

But the baby born of evil god? Yeah, I’ll buy that.

Gabrielle even seemed fine with Xena watching her daughter like a hawk to ensure she grows up good as Gabrielle wishes.

Except that the moment Hope steps out of line, Xena reaches for her sword, and for some reason expects Gabrielle to be cool with her murdering her child.

I don’t care if it’s a demon child.

She carried her, gave birth to her, and named her. Some affections have already cemented Xena. How would you like it if someone took a sword to Solan? I imagine, you’d respond in a similar manner as Gabrielle did to protect your child.

Not your brightest move.

This episode was so weird because few things truly happen. A baby is born, a man dies, and the baby is hidden is essentially the gist of the episode.

But it cracked so much with so little.

For the first time in the series, much like last week’s Xena and Gabrielle truly find themselves at odds.

And it’s not like it has been before. With a simple argument and they come to an agreement at the end of the episode or in the middle of it. Like when she felt her warrior friend was innocent of murder, but Xena was convinced, he was lying. Even at odds in that episode, it all turned out alright. No harm done.

Not between these two friends.

Except this time is different.

Those episodes included open and honest communication.

Not deceit, lies, and suspicion.

Xena didn’t believe Gabrielle truly tossed her baby down into an abyss. Going so far as to search the nearby cave and force Gabrielle out of her way.

Then she believes her when all she finds is a rat.

Except Gabrielle is lying.

And Gabrielle for the first time lets Xena fall from her pedestal in her eyes as she becomes a sort of monster willing to kill Gabrielle’s child, despite her friend’s pleas. So much so, she tucks her child away in secrecy to keep her safe from her best ‘friend.’

They normally come to a mutual understanding of each other or the situation. Even admitting when they’re wrong or the other was right.

Not in this episode.

Here, cracks have formed in their relationship for the very first time. Much like Xena failing to save Gabrielle for the first time last week, another first has been had.

Xena falls from grace a bit in Gabrielle’s eyes. And unknowingly, Gabrielle has sewn seeds for future distrust and issues by hiding her child and lying to Xena.

While Xena may not know it yet, there’s a split between them.

One that’s never been there before.

It feels like Gabrielle is now holding Xena at a distance while Xena believes everything is going to go back to normal. That they’re on the same page. They both believe that Hope was evil. Except they’re not.

How long can that secret be kept?

How long before Hope reveals herself? Because at this rate, she’s going to be an adult in mere episodes. She’s going to come back. That much is certain.

How in the world is Xena going to handle that betrayal when she does?

How is Gabrielle going to handle falling from grace in Xena’s eyes when she does?

I imagine the fallout of this action isn’t going to be good for so many reasons. Even beyond just their relationship. Gabrielle has unintentionally unleashed who knows what on the world.

What’s Dahak’s plan? What does he need his daughter for? Is she his vessel? Will she bring about destruction?

How the hell do you stop her?

Will Gabrielle understand that Hope might be truly evil? Therefore someone she cannot save. What will she do if faced with that decision?

Save her daughter or the world?

Or worse.

Save her daughter or save Xena?

Up until now, they’re the most important things to each other. The ones they cross all the lines for and do anything for. Hope is between them now whether they know it or not.

Nothing good is going to come of this.

Except maybe my girlfriend’s utter delight at all the angst and my suffering due to it.

I am not looking forward to it, and I am all at the same time. Someone save me! Or don’t. I don’t know. It’s a very confusing time in my Xena watch through. I don’t know if I’m coming or going anymore.

Gah.

Well, onto the next… she says with an absolutely terrified tone in her voice.

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