- Ares, God of War: [to Xena's dead body, about him, Xena and Gabrielle] You're with her now. I handled you all wrong. I know that. She knew what you needed -unconditional and unselfish love... And I couldn't give that to you. But I appreciated you in ways she never could: Your rage... Your violence... Your beauty. When you sacrificed yourself for others, you were hers... But when you kicked ass, you were mine. I love you, Xena.
- Ramius: This isn't just any scroll...
- [pause]
- Ramius: No, my friends, I have in my hand, the last known scroll transcribed by the Bard of Poteidaia herself!
- [Joxer suddenly turns around to Ramius; viewers see that he's now an old man]
- Ramius: It describes, in breathtaking detail, the final adventure of Xena, the legendary Warrior Princess, who dared to defy the Gods!
- Joxer: [Joxer takes the scroll and observes it] Let's see!
- [he keeps reading]
- Joxer: This is Gabrielle's handwriting. This is real!
- Ramius: Ah, sure it is!
- Joxer: "Bard of Poteidaia." You know, I - I knew her. You know, she was a friend of mine.
- [pause]
- Joxer: Xena was my friend too.
- Inebriated Patron: [laughs] Xena was my housemaid!
- Ramius: Well friend, we'd best cut you off. What say I start the bidding at...
- Inebriated Patron: Ten dinars!
- Patron #2: Twenty dinars!
- Joxer: Cover your tab!
- Inebriated Patron: You should talk, Joxer, ya deadbeat! Thirty!
- Patron #2: Thirty-five dinar!
- Joxer: [Joxer tosses a bag full of change on a table] Sixty-five dinars!
- [pause]
- Joxer: SOLD!
- [Joxer takes the scroll and leaves the tavern]
- Ramius: [shocked] Sixty-five dinars?
- Theon: [Old Joxer sits inside his barn with a scroll. His young son and daughter come running in] Is that a story about the harpies, Daddy?
- Kara: What is it? What is it?
- Joxer: No. It's, uh, it's, um, well, it's a story about a beautiful warrior princess.
- [looks at his kids]
- Joxer: Wanna hear a story about a beautiful warrior princess?
- [his kids gather around and nod eagerly]
- Joxer: Okay. Okay...
- [Joxer clears his throat and then reads the scroll]
- Joxer: "Her, uh, her celebrations at Thebes in Egypt were cut short because Xena, the mighty warrior princess, fought both night and day for the life of her newborn child as she continued to sing the rage of her Olympian foes.
- [pause]
- Joxer: Their ceaseless battles finally drove her to the Fates in search of answers...
- Joxer: [Old Joxer continues to read Gabrielle's scroll that revealed Xena's and Gabrielle's fight with Athena and Hades] "After narrowly escaping with our lives, we took shelter for the night in the company of Octavius, the new leader of the Roman army and a new ally unknown to the Gods."
- Ares, God of War: If you ask me, Sis, and you haven't, I can think of no better expert to pose your query to than Death herself.
- Athena: Celesta, we're doing everything we can to ensure our survival, but we can't finish the job until you pay a visit to Xena and her child.
- Celesta: I'm sorry, Athena, Ares, and my beloved brother Hades. You know it's not in Death's nature to discriminate.
- Athena: Even when your own life is on the line?
- Celesta: As long as my flame continues to burn, death will remain a part of life for eternity, Athena.
- Athena: Meaning you might somehow be immune to the prophecy. If I didn't know better, I'd say Death's getting a little cocky.
- Celesta: Prophecy or not, it is forbidden for any mortal to be taken before their rightful time.
- Athena: Celesta! We know you can't help but care for the mortals you interact with so personally, but just remember you can't deny them their rightful time either.
- Xena: So you're the God of Arts and Crafts. What do you do for a hobby?
- Hephaestus: Help my family kill your child by first killing you, Xena.
- Xena: No, that's a perversion, not a hobby.
- Athena: First there was Eli. The masses adored him and the message he conveyed. You killed him.
- Ares, God of War: Again with the Eli. He had to die, Sis. How many times do I have-?
- Athena: His death sparked the uprising against us that Xena capitalized on at Amphipolis, where you chose to fight at her side I might add. What's left to come?
- Hephaestus: Athena, Xena took Celesta.
- Ares, God of War: Well, I guess you got your answer.
- Celesta: Xena, you should know that my brother, and Athena, and all Olympus will stop at nothing to find me.
- Xena: Then they'd better hurry up, because if I'm not mistaken, Celesta, when this candle burns out, you die. Imagine that. Death of Death herself. And me and my kid will live forever.
- Celesta: Xena, this isn't like you. Or you, Gabrielle. At one time you both fought to free me.
- Xena: You're right, somehow motherhood has made me harder.
- Celesta: Even giving birth to a child isn't enough to sway someone so grounded in their beliefs.
- Xena: And how is that?
- Celesta: By holding me here, you're condemning to eternal suffering those who would otherwise find their peace.
- Xena: Death can end suffering Celesta, but suffering just begins for those left behind. I won't allow it any longer. I can't lose what's left of my family... And I *won't* lose another child.
- Ares, God of War: Come on, give us a head start! I don't think that's too much to ask, do you, Sis?
- Athena: I think it is.
- Joxer: [as young Joxer falls to his knees to the wreckage, Octavius rides in with Romans] Unbelievable.
- Octavius: Where are they? Joxer, good to see you again. Where's Xena and Gabrielle?
- Joxer: Octavius, they're gone. I saw the whole thing but I was too far away. I couldn't help them...
- Octavius: Joxer, they're *not* dead!
- Joxer: [shocked] What? What?
- [Octavius motions with his hand and a soldier comes over with baby Eve; she's alive and did not die in the crash. Octavius takes her and holds her in front of Joxer]
- Joxer: Eve. It can't be. Eve?
- Theon: [Old Joxer is then seen again in front of his children] Dad, how was Eve alive?
- Joxer: Okay, okay. Remember back. What did the Fates tell Xena?
- Kara: That she had to die to save Eve?
- Joxer: That's right. But remember, you can't take what the Fates say literally. They said, "Only..."
- Clotho: [in a flashback with Xena talking to the Fates] Only in the essence of death will the child find salvation and the Twilight be set in motion.
- Joxer: You see, Xena never intended to kill Death at all. It was Celesta's tears she really needed. The essence of Death... The only thing Xena realized that could simulate the appearance of their deaths to the gods, but only after convincing the gods that Eve had also been killed.
- Theon: But, Eve was in...
- Joxer: Eve was in the wagon.
- Joxer: [flashback to younger Joxer with Octavius] Eve was in that cart.
- Octavius: No, Joxer.
- Joxer: [flashback with Octavius leaving with Eve. Xena places a false Eve in the basket] Eve was safe. The tears were collected. Next, release Celesta without it looking suspicious. Gabrielle got captured on purpose. Trying to rescue me made her capture look like it was unplanned. Gabrielle revealed Xena's location. The rest of the plan played out. The gods assumed Xena and her child were inseparable. My guess, my hope, was that Gabrielle drank the tears first. From that point, all they had to do was put on a convincing show. To the gods, Gabrielle was killed in the crash; Eve was dead- consumed in the burning wreckage. And even if they weren't completely convinced, what better way to solve that problem than by Xena taking her own life? The effect of the tears would soon wear off with Xena, Eve, and Gabrielle presumed dead by all of Olympus, the perfect cover. The perfect advantage.
- Gabrielle: Xena, what Athena said about your not trusting me with Eve...
- Xena: Hey... It's not a matter of trust where Athena's concerned. Giving Eve to you would've bought her a few more seconds, but we both know they would've killed her if they could've, regardless of who's arms she was in.
- [Xena picks Eve up]
- Xena: We got lucky. She's just a baby.
- [Xena watches as Hephaestus make a helmet]
- Xena: So you're the god of arts and crafts...
- [Xena backflips into the cave]
- Xena: ... what do you do for a hobby?
- Hephaestus: Help my family kill your child by first killing you, Xena.
- Xena: No, that's a perversion--not a hobby.