Xena is finally reunited with Gabrielle in Poteidaia, but something is haunting the town—the Destroyer, child of Hope. But that must mean that Hope is alive. Is Gabrielle really who she says she is?
Summary[]
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Xena is stunned to find Gabrielle in Poteidaia.
As Joxer places flowers on Gabrielle's memorial at Dahak's shrine, Xena, convinced that her friend is still alive, pulls herself out of the abyss. She tells Joxer she had a vision about Gabrielle and believes she must have gone home to her family in Poteidaia. Xena then takes off for Gabrielle's village with Joxer right behind her.
Joxer meets Gabrielle's family.
When they arrive, Xena spots Gabrielle.
Act One[]
Xena and Gabrielle reunite with a tearful embrace. As Gabrielle explains how she survived the fall and eventually made her way back home, Joxer suddenly comes running up to them. A group of villagers has gathered around the remains of a shepherd. Everyone believes a rogue bear is responsible, but Xena knows otherwise.
Xena and Gabrielle? are attached by the Destroyer.
Later that evening, after Xena got a cold reception from Gabrielle's family, Xena and Gabrielle go out to the barn to wait for the beast responsible for the carnage. Around dawn, the monstrous creature bursts out of the darkness. A fierce battle ensues and Xena manages to escape the beast by blinding it with the light from a lantern. She and Gabrielle run back to the family house with the monster close behind.
But when the sun rises, the monster retreats. A bloodied and battered Xena realizes that she's just faced Dahak's grandchild, the Destroyer. She tells Joxer that Gabrielle really isn't Gabrielle—it's Hope!
Act Two[]
Xena tells Joxer that Gabrielle is really Hope
Naturally, Joxer doesn't want to believe Xena. But Xena explains that when the monster did not attack Hope in the barn, she realized Hope's true identity. Later that day, Gabrielle's sister Lila tells Hope that Xena wounded the creature.
Xena reunites with the real Gabrielle.
Concerned for her son, Hope sets off for the Destroyer's lair, bringing the unwitting Lila with her. Xena follows and soon catches up with the pair. When Hope sees Xena, she creates a distraction, forcing Xena to stay with Lila. Xena sends Lila home and continues after Hope when she comes across the real Gabrielle.
Act Three[]
Xena and Gabrielle reunite in an embrace filled with joy. Xena asks Gabrielle how she survived the lava pit and Gabrielle tells her, she doesn't remember much, only the fire and the rocks and falling. She apparently blacked out and woke up in a hospice and sent word for Xena. Xena tells Gabrielle that Hope is alive.
Joxer is captured by Hope to use as bait.
Meanwhile, Hope arrives at the Destroyer's lair and finds him unscathed. She realizes that Xena is onto her. Joxer is tied up and hanging in front of the Destroyer's cave. Hope tells Joxer that her child will awaken soon and be hungry.
Hope turns Gabrielle's family against Xena and threatens to harm them.
As Xena and Gabrielle walk back to the village, they devise a plan to destroy Hope and her evil son. Gabrielle is worried about the thought of Hope with her family, but Xena tells her she wont harm them because she needs them as leverage. Xena enters Gabrielle's home, to find both Gabrielle's parents and Lila very upset with her, when she sees Hope, who is battered, bruised and cut. She glares at Xena and uses her powers to make the two swords on the wall float behind Herodotus and Hecuba, ready to kill them. Herodotus tells Xena to leave and never return, when Xena hears about Joxer going to face the Destroyer, she rushes to rescue him.
Gabrielle is hiding in the barn. She looks out at the house and sees her mother step out. Hecuba empties a bowl of water and sobs before going back in the house. Gabrielle leaves the barn.
Gabrielle confines with Lila over Hope's true identity.
Lila enters her bedroom and takes a sheet off the bed and shakes it out and when she puts it down, Gabrielle is there, having come in through the window. Gabrielle closes the door and tells Lila to be quiet, as well as tells her that the person in the other room is not her, but she wants to harm them all. Gabrielle tells Lila a story about there childhood when they were both lost in the snow, which gets Lila to believe her. Gabrielle tells Lila to act like everything is normal and to be careful because Hope is very smart. Just as Lila leaves, Gabrielle looks in a mirror and sees Hope's reflection in the mirror.
Xena lures the Destroyer to town and saves Joxer.
Dusk has fallen, as Joxer struggles to get free as the Destroyer growls. The chakram flies and cuts Joxer down before digging into a tree. Xena tells Joxer to run to the village and tell everyone to light torches and keep them burning until she arrives. Xena lures the Destroyer to town.
Act Four[]
"It's turned into quite the family reunion. What is it now? Four generations?
Back at Gabrielle's home, both Gabrielle and Hope have a mother and daughter talk. Hope remarks that it's now Four Generations, as well as mentions her grandson the Destroyer. Gabrielle asks Hope why she isn't dead and Hope tells her that her father Dahak saved her. Hope asks Gabrielle why she never loved her and Gabrielle tells her she does, but she has to stop her. Hope remarks for Xena, but Gabrielle says for everyone.
Just as The Destroyer roars are heard, Gabrielle sneaks out the window and Hope says goodbye to her mother, prompting that she has no use for her anymore.
The end of Hope.
Xena runs into the barn with the Destroyer right behind her as Gabrielle enters with open arms. Thinking that Gabrielle is Hope, the monster embraces her as Xena thrusts her sword into his back.
Suddenly, Hope bursts through the door and finds her son mortally wounded. Thinking that his mother betrayed him, the Destroyer seizes Hope, plunging his deadly quills deep into her chest. Mother and son slump to the floor in a deadly embrace.
Tag[]
"I'm searching for answers, too. But how we look for them doesn't matter, as long as we look for them together."
Gabrielle is outside the barn and Xena sits beside her, a while after Hope and the Destroyer's death. Gabrielle questions everything that has happened and asks if nothing is really over. Xena tells her that she was once trapped in a cycle of violence and hatred. And no matter how she tried to break free, something always pulled her back until Gabrielle. Gabrielle sits next to Xena and puts her arm around her, resting her head on Xena's shoulder, happily reunited with her friend at last.
Disclaimer[]
- No Spike-Skinned, Beast-Like, Incredibly Hungry Offspring who can't stand the sun were harmed during the production of this motion picture.
Background Information[]
Behind the Scenes[]
- Lucy Lawless said that the hair clip that Xena wore in this episode was one of the many ones that the producers were trying out to decide on a permanent one.
- The Previously on "Xena" segment at the beginning of this episode is the only one in Xena: Warrior Princess history that does not depict the events of the previous episode. Instead it depicts events from "Sacrifice I".
Key Events[]
- This episode marks the death of Hope.
- This is the last episode of the series to deal directly with the Dahak storyline. The storyline itself would permanently end several months later on Hercules: The Legendary Journeys.
- Although Hope was supposed to have six Destroyers with Ares, this episode reveals that only one survives.
- Events that are described in "Soul Possession" take place between the previous episode and this one.
Goofs[]
- Hope seemed to be completely unaware of Lila in "Sacrifice II", which implied the same about Gabrielle's parents. How she was aware of their names and the fact that Gabrielle lived in Potedia is unknown.
- It was never explained why Xena emerged from the Lava Pit at the beginning of this episode.
- In the scene where Xena is talking to Joxer and sharpening her sword, her Chakram constantly disappears and reappears on its hook.
- During the scene where Xena and Gabrielle reunite, whilst Joxer tries to kill Hope, Hope knocks Joxer into a tree. The stunt double's face is in clear view.
- It would have been impossible for Lila not to have seen the floating swords behind Herodatus and Hecuba, as she looks behind them several times.
- During the scene where Gabrielle first meets Lila and tells her the story of being lost in the snow, she puts her hand over Lila's mouth. Her hand changes position between shots.
Other[]
- Chakram Count: 2
- To cut Joxer free.
- To attempt to hit (and possibly kill) the Destroyer, although intercepted and embedded into a plank of wood.
- This episode unintentionally becomes a reference to the episode, The Way.