Gabrielle must make a difficult decision regarding her allegiance to Xena after she gives birth to the daughter of Dahak, the Evil One.
The first scene tells you that the events from The Deliverer are far from over. Gabrielle has bad dreams about killing Meridian. She feels she should be punished for what she did. When the Banshee’s tell Gabrielle she is the “Chosen One” I knew no good could come of it. Gabrielle hits the nail on the head when she wonders if the reason the Banshee’s wanted to worship her was because of the evil growing inside of her. So what changed her mind once the Demon Seed was born?
Gabrielle doesn’t actually strike me as the maternal type. I guess once the hormones kick in and you realise that you created this little being you learn to love it regardless. And once in love, I guess you’re blind to certain things. Little facts that wouldn’t normally add up don’t seem to matter when you cradle your little bundle of evil… I mean joy in your arms. Just because your best friend is a woman of the world and has actually experienced a normal pregnancy and birth, it doesn’t mean she knows more than you.
And where does she get off trying to kill your child every opportunity she gets. I guess under those trying circumstances, I would have to lie to my best friend too.
With just a few words the rift begins. Xena wants to kill Hope for killing a guard and Gabrielle sets the Banshees on her. Gabrielle is willing to throw away this friendship to protect her child, and who’s to say she was wrong? She only rejoins Xena in the end to protect her child. If Xena believes Hope is dead she won’t pursue her. If Gabrielle stays with Xena she can keep an eye on her. Maternal instincts have changed Gabrielle. She even manages to be insulted when Xena doesn’t believe that she threw Hope over the cliff.
Xena removing the sword from the stone would have been a nice touch at any other time but was an unnecessary distraction in a tense episode.
Disclaimer: Despite witnessing the bizarre and somewhat disturbing birth of Gabrielle’s Hope, no farm animals were harmed or traumatized during the production of this motion picture.
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