So, the show-runners of Xena pushed the Reset Button and brought Xena and Gabrielle back to life, rendering their death completely meaningless. Honestly, its like Marvel Comics! So how to go on from here? The show-runners start with a scene where Ares meets Kal, another god of war that has never been mentioned before but according to Ares, he too is trying to claim Xena. Ares also mentions that he got the Dark Chakram instead of Kal ages ago. Why are the writers suddenly creating new gods and new artifacts? They have already imploded the Xena Universe with the existing ones! A man is tested - he tries to take *a* chakram from an altar, but spontaneously combusts. We then see that the altar has the Taoist symbol of Yin and Yang. So Kal is the God of War in Taoism because we are told he is the god of war *in the region* were the altar is located? I'm sorry guys, but Kal is *not* mentioned in the list of Taoist Deities. So, here we go again... Amarice has saved the pieces of Xena's chakram in the hopes that it can be fixed. Then comes the "actual" twist of the teaser: Xena has lost her memory! Cue title sequence! Yawn...
In this episode one thing is stated *canonically*: Xena's chakram is *sharp*. Unfortunately, continuity-wise, the chakram has been either blunt, sharp or worse - both - in the same episode. Idiots. We are then distracted by an attack on Xena et al. by Kal's servants. led by his mysterious champion in a "scary" ornate full helmet. I must admit that the fight is pretty good, and the sight of Gabrielle picking up twin sais and fighting with them Elektra-style really raises one's pulse.
Eli handily knows some man who knows a lot about ancient scriptures and therefore might provide an answer to Xena's condition. In a surprising scene, Joxer confesses his love of Gabrielle to Eli and asks advice on declaring his love to Eli. Eli, useless as always, mumbles something about Love being the most powerful force of them all (Err... Wasn't God the most powerful?). Duh! Gabby and Eli then have a boring conversation how Xena is not herself - hello! WE CAN SEE IT! Fortunately, Kal's men attack Amarice and we get another nice fight scene leading to an exciting cliffhanger before the commercial break.
After the commercials (unless you're watching a recording that has none) we get an anti-climax. Boo! Xena surrenders to Kal to save her friends. Ares soon shows up and fights Kal. Surprisingly, this is a very short and boring fight. It should be frakkin' EPIC! But no. Xena sees a picture of chakram in the wall, touches it and reclaims some of her memories. She then sneaks away while the gods duke it out. Turns out that Eli's friend was the man who died in the beginning. So Eli starts to go through his scriptures. Meanwhile, Joxer asks Xena advice on Gabrielle. Oh no... why can't they spare us? Ares then shows up to seduce Xena, which is good, because every time Kevin Smith turned on the evil charm, he held the viewer's attention utterly. R.I.P.
Eli finds out that the item Kal and Ares are after is the Chakram of Light, that can be held only by the purest of souls - well tell us something we haven't already figured out because of the mention of the Dark Chakram! What's that? The Chakram of Light can kill any God? How does that make sense? Is it God's ultimate weapon against His petty rivals he's already overthrown as shown in "Fallen Angel"? This is just so silly. No point of going through how it all ends. The scene where Eli blocks Ares' way almost made me cry in frustration! There is a cool sneaking-in sequence with some surprise twists, but overall the story makes no sense in the end. From this point on, it is useless to try to get a coherent picture of the Xena Universe - you can only tag along for the ride and check your brain at the door. Still, when there are good fights, you will be entertained. 7/10.
In this episode one thing is stated *canonically*: Xena's chakram is *sharp*. Unfortunately, continuity-wise, the chakram has been either blunt, sharp or worse - both - in the same episode. Idiots. We are then distracted by an attack on Xena et al. by Kal's servants. led by his mysterious champion in a "scary" ornate full helmet. I must admit that the fight is pretty good, and the sight of Gabrielle picking up twin sais and fighting with them Elektra-style really raises one's pulse.
Eli handily knows some man who knows a lot about ancient scriptures and therefore might provide an answer to Xena's condition. In a surprising scene, Joxer confesses his love of Gabrielle to Eli and asks advice on declaring his love to Eli. Eli, useless as always, mumbles something about Love being the most powerful force of them all (Err... Wasn't God the most powerful?). Duh! Gabby and Eli then have a boring conversation how Xena is not herself - hello! WE CAN SEE IT! Fortunately, Kal's men attack Amarice and we get another nice fight scene leading to an exciting cliffhanger before the commercial break.
After the commercials (unless you're watching a recording that has none) we get an anti-climax. Boo! Xena surrenders to Kal to save her friends. Ares soon shows up and fights Kal. Surprisingly, this is a very short and boring fight. It should be frakkin' EPIC! But no. Xena sees a picture of chakram in the wall, touches it and reclaims some of her memories. She then sneaks away while the gods duke it out. Turns out that Eli's friend was the man who died in the beginning. So Eli starts to go through his scriptures. Meanwhile, Joxer asks Xena advice on Gabrielle. Oh no... why can't they spare us? Ares then shows up to seduce Xena, which is good, because every time Kevin Smith turned on the evil charm, he held the viewer's attention utterly. R.I.P.
Eli finds out that the item Kal and Ares are after is the Chakram of Light, that can be held only by the purest of souls - well tell us something we haven't already figured out because of the mention of the Dark Chakram! What's that? The Chakram of Light can kill any God? How does that make sense? Is it God's ultimate weapon against His petty rivals he's already overthrown as shown in "Fallen Angel"? This is just so silly. No point of going through how it all ends. The scene where Eli blocks Ares' way almost made me cry in frustration! There is a cool sneaking-in sequence with some surprise twists, but overall the story makes no sense in the end. From this point on, it is useless to try to get a coherent picture of the Xena Universe - you can only tag along for the ride and check your brain at the door. Still, when there are good fights, you will be entertained. 7/10.
