Dream Vacation - Day 8 (aka Xena 1st Time Viewing)

Robert got up early this morning with Thomas who took him to the bus station. Robert is heading to Dublin for his flight over to London for his week in England. I still have a few more days here in Northern Ireland with Thomas.

Today was a day of relaxation. We've been on the go for the past six days so we opted to do nothing but hang out, watch TV and enjoy each others company.

Thomas is a HUGE Xena fan and I've seen the show on and off over the years. So we decide to start at the beginning and see how many episode we could watch in a day. Since Xena is first scene in Hercules: The Legendary Journey we had to watch a few of those episodes starting with...

S1 Ep9 "The Warrior Princess" : Iolaus is seduced by the cunning and cruel Xena, Warrior Princess, who aims to use him to destroy Hercules, leaving her free to take over the world…

I enjoyed this episode but was a bit confused as Xena is a bad, bad person. And I know from the few episodes I have seen of the Xena series she is not bad. Figured there had to be more to the story.

Next was S1 Ep12 "The Gauntlet" : Xena is betrayed by her lieutenant, Darphus, and forced to walk "the gauntlet". Determined to get her revenge, she forms an alliance with Hercules, who tries to make her see that there is more to life than vengeance and evil.

Yep.. I knew that she had to turn good and this is the beginning or her journey. I really enjoyed this episode. 

And the final Hercules episode she was in was S1 Ep13 "Unchained Heart" : Hercules, Salmoneus and Iolaus team up to fight Darphus, who has risen from the grave and plans to feed Hercules to Ares' dog of war Graegus. In the end, Ares loses his most valuable pawn as Xena turns her back on evil once and for all.

And finally Xena's redemption. Thomas told me that Xena was suppose to die in this episode but she had become a fan favorite so instead of killing her off they spun her off to her own series.

We then moved on to Xena.

First was S1 Ep1 "Sins of the Past" : Xena renounces her warlord past and begins burying her weapons. She later retrieves them to save a group of villagers from being sold into slavery. Gabrielle convinces Xena to allow her to travel with her.

I nice continuation for her redemption from the last episode of Hercules. Of course I like the addition of her sidekick Gabrielle. She's a good comedic foil for Xena. 

Then we watched S1 Ep2 "Chariots of War" : When Xena is injured during a fight, the widowed Darius and his children look after her. Xena is left with the dilemma of whether to settle down with them or continue her fight to protect the innocent.

I really enjoyed this episode. We got to see a completely different side of Xena. A more motherly side and it was a nice change.

We continued with S1 Ep3 "Dreamworker" : Morpheus kidnaps Gabrielle so he can make her his bride. In order to be married, Gabrielle must lose her "blood innocence". Using her wits, she manages to avoid causing any blood shed. Xena enters the dream world so that she can save Gabrielle, but while there she must battle her own evil side before she can accomplish her rescue.

Another really good episode, this one really focused on Gabrielle and her innocence. I liked how far Xena was willing to go to save her.

Fourth episode of the season, S1 Ep4 "Cradle of Hope" : When a baby is prophesied to inherit the throne, King Gregor and his councilor, Nemos search for the newborn babe. Meanwhile, Xena and Gabrielle meet Pandora, while searching for the mother of an abandoned baby.

Another fun episodes, I liked their take on Pandora's box and that they discover that the box is empty. Xena tells Gabrielle The box was empty, but Pandora was still carrying our hope, they agree to tell her the truth, that Hope has been and always will be safe, that it's inside every one of us... nice message. I liked the struggle the King went through and in the end accepts the baby as his heir, rather than as a usurper. 

Next up is S1 Ep5  "The Path Not Taken" : A weapons dealer kidnaps a princess so he can profit from the resulting war between two feuding kingdoms. Xena pretends to be the ruthless warrior she once was, in order to gain access to the dealer's base. While there, Xena meets an old lover, Marcus. Marcus prevents Xena from rescuing the princess, but later sacrifices his own life to save her.

So many good episodes in a row.. here is another one. Enjoyed the story, action and character development. We continue to see different sides of Xena.

And the final episode for the evening S1 Ep6 "The Reckoning" : Ares plots to get Xena back into his fold by framing her for the murder of some villagers and organizing a lynching. Xena is put on trial and Gabrielle sticks by her throughout. Xena fools Ares into thinking she is joining him again, and he brings the dead villagers back from the dead.

The good episodes continue. We get the introduction of Aries, we find out that Gabrielle is extremely loyal to Xena. I really like how Xena tricks Aries in to saving the men she is accused of killing.

So we managed to watch 9 episodes of Hercules/Xena and I have to say I really enjoyed them all. I can see me continuing to watch this series on my own. Thanks Thomas for sharing your love of this series with me.

Tomorrow we head into Belfast for more sightseeing...