Next up, Episode three Dreamworker.
In my opinion this episode is one of the standouts for this season. It is highly relevant to Xena’s redemption arc. Having an episode like so early in her story is perfect because we are treated to a visual representation of Xena’s internal struggle between the light and dark side of her being. It is also a good outing for season one Gabrielle and is an important step in the mentoring relationship between Xena and Gabrielle.
But I'm getting ahead of myself. Lets dive in and see what we are dealing with.
We open on Gabrielle role playing with a sword. Not that kind of role playing get your mind out of the gutter. It seems so unnatural seeing this version of Gabby with a sword, or any weapon really.
It really looks like a young peasant girl play fighting with her fellow village kids. She is not a warrior and she is not a fighter. It is important set up for the rest of her journey throughout this episode. Gabby may have skills but this isn't and shouldn't be one of them.
Xena comes along and scolds her for playing with her sword. Its not a toy. We learn through this exchange that gabby is frustrated by the fact that Xena won't teach her to fight with a sword. Gabby was under the impression that if she travelled with xena she would learn to be xena. Unfortunately xena has other ideas. Gabby wants to be able to defend herself and we get this little gem from Xena:
“Don’t confuse defending yourself with using a weapon. When you pull a sword, you have to be ready to kill.”
Simple words of wisdom from someone who really knows. Xena took her first life at about the same age as gabby when defending her village by taking up arms against its invader. There was no turning back from that and she wants to spare Gabby that loss of innocence. Plus Xena knows that Gabby isn't ready to kill. She wants to teach gabby but not how to kill; she wants to teach her to survive. Weapons do not necessarily equal survival. This is the first time we really see Xena offering some real training and wisdom. Her first step as a true mentor.
We are then treated to Xena’s rules of survival:
Xena: “All right. The rules of survival. Number one. If you can run, run. Number two. If you can’t run-- surrender, and then run. Number three. If you’re outnumbered, let them fight each other, while you run. Number four--”
Gabby “Wait-- More running?”
Xena: “No. Four is where you talk your way out of it, and I know you can do that. It’s wisdom before weapons, Gabrielle. The moment you pick up a sword, you become a target. And the moment you kill--”
Gabrielle: “The moment you kill-- What?”
Xena: “Everything changes. Everything.”
The most important lesson that Xena could teach Gabrielle as this point in their journey together. Don't be so quick to lose your innocence because there are no take backs.
And yet despite Xena, the one in this friendship with all the experience imparting some life saving wisdom, Gabby ignores it all. They are attacked and while Xena is fending off the bad guys Gabby decides to not only pick up a sword but also to do Xena’s war cry drawing attention to herself. And then they come for her. Of course, teaching her a valuable lesson about following Xena’s advice.
Into town we go and its super creepy with its lack of women and people salivating at gabby’s innocence. Xena goes to get some necessities and Gabby decides to go and scope out a sword because you know thats working out so well today. Xena meets the creepy and inhospitable shopkeeper and a blind mystic who is being poorly treated. Someone get that man a discrimination lawyer pronto. Meanwhile Gabby is trying out different swords pretending she is some amazing warrior, but alas she can't lift most of them. Enter the breast dagger:
Gabrielle: “You mean, it’s designed to pierce the breast into the heart of your enemy.”
Careful Gabrielle, your inexperience is showing. Of course its designed to fit snuggly between a woman’s breasts. Seems really uncomfortable to me. That blade rubbing against your breasts. No Thanks. Also what if you have a small bust? No breast dagger for you.
Gabby walks out breast dagger inlace, chest pushed out and Xena immediately knows something is up. She is pretty sure that Gabby’s bust didn't stick out so much earlier. And then the dagger falls out and I'm not sure how that happened but it did and Xena is equal parts disappointed and unconvinced at Gabby’s attempt to lighten the mood. Gabby clearly learned nothing from the earlier attack and decided ignoring Xena’s advice was a good idea. Xena confiscates the dagger and “pockets” it:
Gabrielle: “Its not like your breasts aren't dangerous enough.”
Admittedly i giggled at that line.
Then Xena turns around and suddenly she is alone and Gabby is gone. Just like that. But Xena being Xena she noticed what we all noticed, something is off about this village and that creepy ass shopkeeper. Xena goes off to do what she does best, intimidate people into giving her information.
We learn from the shopkeeper that every year the mystics come down to the village and take a young maiden to be the bride of Morpheus. Thats why the village sends all its young women away until after the Solstice. I have so many Questions:
1. Surely this town relies on travellers, how has no one heard about how travelling women are abducted from this town every year
2. Why would Morpheus target this village? If there is something special about the girls here surely taking travellers would defeat the purpose of targeting this village?
3. Why don't the mystics just follow the girls to the river and take them from there? Why do they need to take them from inside the village.
Seems like too much stupid for my liking.
Gabrielle being innocent is the unlucky winner of the Morpheus marriage stakes and has been whisked away to her probable doom. Xena decides that she needs to save Gabby so goes off to find the blind old man because he used to be a mystic and we finally get into the heart of the episode.
FYI this episode has so many candles its a damn fire hazard. Just imagine every scene in the real world with an entire candle shop of lit candles and you can already picture the atmosphere.
At the temple of Morpheus, Gabrielle has changed into her virginal white and we are told that she will need to face a series of tests to determine if she is the perfect bride for Morpheus. Its becomes clear that the point of this whole affair is to take Gabby’s blood innocence. That is the real bride. Gabby is a smart arse despite being held captive, and its one of the reasons i love season one gabby.
Meanwhile Xena is told by blind mystic that the only way to save Gabby is to enter the “dreamscape” Morpheus realm. He says it will take months for her to break through until hefts Xena’s arm muscles and decides, nope will only take this beast of a woman days. But still probably too long to save Gabby. Xena decides she has no choice but to try anyway.
Xena needs to be unconscious to enter the dreamscape but don't worry the blind guy who couldn't get the shopkeeper to sell him a halter for his horse is going to guard her. Cant say I'm confident. But don't worry he is a gentleman.
From here, the focus is on Xena and her internal struggle so i don't want to spend too much time on Gabby’s journey. In her first challenge, she is given a sword that breaks almost immediately, because if you want her to lose her blood innocence definitely give her a sword that wouldn't kill anyone. She manages to trick the goons into killing each other by putting Xena’s rules of survival to good use. She employs a similar tactic in the second challenge and manages to avoid killing anyone.The second challenge has an awesome 1970′s Doctor Who set (i use awesome in the ironic sense) and a fiery pit. Fiery pits are a staple in gabby’s journey over the next few years. After two challenges, Gabby doesn't kill anyone and talks her way out of everything.
Back to Xena because her journey is much more interesting. She enters the dreamscape which is a bluish misty set of tunnels from what i can tell. She has had a change of uniform and we are treated to our first set of chinese inspired fashion:
Purple to match the atmosphere, really cumbersome long sleeves. She looks like she is wearing pjs. I don't hate it.
Xena’s dreamscape plays on her past and her conscience. She will face a number of challenges intended to screw with her mind and to distract her from her purpose. She is about to face a difficult and distressing journey.
First challenge: She is surrounded by an army, her army. They have taken another village at her orders. She is feared and obeyed. Lucy plays the unease so perfectly. This was her life, the life she left behind. This isn't the Xena she is now or wants to be. They cheer her name and you can tell that every chant hits her like a knife. She doesn't want this.
We then enter a burnt out village. A throwback to the Gauntlet and the beginning of the end of dark Xena. There is a woman wailing in the background, unseen but definitely heard. The first villager she meets reminds her that this village was destroyed in her name. Xena did this. Then he reminds her that he is just one of millions on faceless victims. She doesn't know his name and she says it “I’m sorry” We aren't meant to think that the apology is just because she wants to get past this without a fight. She is sorry she doesn't know his name. But it feels much more than that. Like she is apologising for the village, for her past for the millions of faceless lives she has left in her wake. She is truly sorry. More and more names are thrown at her and you can see it weighing on her heart. Up to this point she has not had to face her past head on. She may have had to stare down rumours and stories but these are the faces of her past. Each and every one of them is a reminder of the evils she has perpetrated against the world. As they crowd her you can see the fear in her face, in her voice.:
Xena: “No, I left this behind me.”
Thats the point Xena, you can't leave this behind. It will forever be with you. Its your conscience reminding you that you did this. This was you and you need to make amends for it. You can't ignore your past and you certainly can't change it. You did this. You can see the realisation in her face. I did this. These are my victims.
Xena: “You’re using the past of a Xena long dead! I’m not her anymore!”
You may not be here anymore Xena but the past is not dead. Not for you and not yet. Morpheus now knows how to hit Xena. Xena needs to believe that because she has changed, what she did in the past is someone else. Something she can leave behind. Morpheus is about to give her the greatest gift of all.
The crowd disappears and she runs to the next area where again she is met with a single man. Her last kill. Then we meet that catalyst for everything in her life, her first kill. Im impressed that despite all her years of killing, Xena still remembers his name. You never forget your first i guess. They taunt her. You were once like gabrielle, an innocent. Now look at you, a life of death and destruction in your path. This is what awaits Gabrielle. She will soon be like you.
Xena then realises she can take control and uses the dreamscape to her advantage. I think this scene says a lot about where Xena is in her journey. When its about her she is filled with fear, resentment and an impossible need to forget. She loses control over her surroundings when the focus is on herself. But when they start talking about gabrielle and the fact that gabrielle could possibly be faced with a similar challenge in the future, then she has the ability to take control of her surrounding. Xena is able to put aside everything to save her friend, but is not yet in a position to put it aside to save her own soul.
The final challenge in Xena’s journey is of course the most important. Morpheus takes heed of the emotions Xena has shown throughout the dreamscape and jumps on the one thing that Xena has not yet figured out, what to do with the two parts of her soul. Xena thinks she can push the darkness away and treat her past like the past of someone else, another Xena. Morpheus uses that to his advantage but in doing so ultimately loses the battle.
Xena’s next challenge is....
I need to say straight up, its very clear that Lucy has a lot of fun playing evil xena. That evil, joyful laugh and the facial expressions as she taunts our xena. there is a lot of joy and letting go in the performance. Sometime i think Lucy is more suited to Evil Xena than our Xena. Its a chance to tap into that dark side of the soul and let it flourish, particularly when our Xena is working so hard not to let it out at all.
This exchange between the two Xena’s is important. Its really where Morpheus gets it wrong.
Evil Xena: “You can’t go through that door until you have the key. And you can’t go through life trying to deny that I’m the real you. We were so happy all those years. Don’t you remember? Putting fear into all. Pushing aside those who stood in our way. Taking what we wanted. Ah, those were the days.”
Xena: “That wasn’t me. That was never who I really was.”
Evil Xena: “Oh. Well, let me ask you this. Back then, didn’t it feel right? Everything we did felt right. If felt-- good”
Evil Xena: “Oh, how would you know? You think this goody-goody act of yours is going to last? There’s no glory in being a hero-- ask around. You’re weak without me, Xena. But the fire is still there. Join me.”
This exchange really shows how naive Xena is about the ease in which she can move beyond her past. She wants to forget the past. That wasn't me, thats not who i truly was. Its not who i am. This is the true me. I will fight for good, i will be good and i can pretend that i was never bad. But we have talked about this before. In Sins of the Past, Xena rescues her buried armour and fights because she knows thats who she is. She knows that she can't truly leave the past behind her and instead she should embrace her strengths and use them to save others. This Xena in this episode appears to have forgotten that moment. Over the last few weeks she has acted like SOP is the awakening of the true her and she can leave everything else behind. She is convinced that she has almost been reborn and that means, carving off her past and focusing only on the present and the future. That was always going to hold her back.
She decides that she needs to kill the past, and that means killing her darkness. She is so very wrong.
There is a nicely shot battle between the two Xena’s. Of course they are well matched but Evil Xena always seems to get a slight apprehend. And thats because our Xena is trying to block that part of herself that comes from her past deeds. She is trying not to tap into that dark part of herself and is putting so much energy into that that she can't battle to her all potential. She needs to let go. Stop trying to be something you are not. Stop holding back.
Then finally we reach the key, Morpheus final misstep:
Evil Xena: “No, no, my sister. You can’t leave. You still haven’t found the key. You take for granted all your gifts and talents-- me. Everything you are today came from me. Every spark of noble quality that made you a great leader-- me. The strength that made men tremble at your name-- it all came from me! You understand?”
Xena: “I understand. If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t exist. Whether I like it or not, you’re the key. You’re the key. There’s only one way out of this Dreamscape-- you!”
Finally Xena realises that she can't ignore her past, she can't ignore the darkness, she can't pretend that was a different person. Suddenly she realises, without the dark i wouldn't be Xena. Without the dark i wouldn't be standing here today, i wouldn't have met Gabrielle, i wouldn't have the opportunity to do good in the world. I’m a warrior because of my darkness, i have these skills because of the darkness. I can't ignore it anymore. It is a part of me. I need to embrace it, and use it but not give in to it. Together, my light and my dark are the essence of who i am. I will used my darkness and my past to inspire the good i will do in my future. In this moment we see the merge of the two parts of her soul and she can finally be the Xena she needs to be.
Its a massive step towards her redemption journey. Redemption is meaningless if you pretend that was someone else. If you recognise that you screwed up, its going to make your redemption more meaningful and interesting. I love this episode because of Xena’s journey to understanding. Its important and interesting.
Our Xena defeats Evil Xena by throwing her into a rock. This will come back in later episode. This throwing your soul into a rock thing is apparently really popular. This final win oversleep allows Xena to break trough the dreamscape and save Gabby from being forced to protect herself by taking a life.
Xena wins, the blind guy is not blind anymore and he gets his job back at the temple of Morpheus and promises to turn the place around. We find out that the bad guy has been punished to live out his own dreamscape. Seems like a really extreme punishment if you ask me but its not my religion.
We then see gabby and Xena sitting by the lake and we get our He-Man-esque moral of the week moment. Xena throws a stone into the lake and imparts some more wisdom.
Xena: “See how calm the surface of the water is. That was me once. And then-- The water ripples and churns; that’s what I became.”
Gabrielle: “But if we sit here long enough it will go back to being still again. It will go back to being calm.”
Xena: “But the stone’s still under there. It’s now part of the lake. It might look as it did before, but it’s forever changed. Come on-- let’s go.”
I feel like this is for Xena more than Gabby. She realised throughout this episode that her past has changed her and she can never go back. All she can do is recognise it, embrace it and use it so inspire her.
Even though its only been three episodes, it has been a massive journey from Sins of the Past to this episode. At the beginning of SOP, Xena is turning her back on her life because she was afraid her dark side would pop up. Xena thought she would struggle to keep it hidden and that it was a curse she needed to put behind her. Here she realises that she can't turn her back on her past. Her darkness made her, it is her but she controls it. If can't take over if she doesn't let it. Its such an important moment in her journey towards redemption.
TL;DR: Gabby decides she needs a sword. Xena says no. Gabby is abducted by mystics and they try to make her kill people but she decides to listen to Xena’s advice. Xena enters a dreamworld faces her demons and accepts her past in time to save Gabby. Finishes with a He-man Moral of the Week.
*Screencaps taken/borrowed from http://www.angelbacchae.com.
*Script extracts taken/borrowed from www.whoosh.org.
