3-22 Sacrifice, Part 2

First air date May 11, 1998.

The episode starts out with scenes from last week's "Sacrifice". Everyone is in the
temple watching Hope, covered in plastic-wrap looking goo, emerging from the cocoon. Xena starts to
attack her, but Hope uses mind control, and swords, daggers, and axes hanging on the walls start
flying at Xena. She uses her Chakram to deflect them.

Xena throws her Chakram at Hope and it cuts her on the arm, hurting her a little, then sticks into
the stone wall. Using her mind control, Hope makes it fly back to Xena and hits her in the belly,
throwing her backward, but no real damage. More weapons starts to fly but Xena use her Chakram to
cut a chain and a huge shield falls from the ceiling and she and Gabrielle roll it towards the
entrance as the swords, etc, bounce off it. Callisto starts to use a fireball on X&G but Hope tells
her they have more important things to do and Callisto teleports herself and Hope away.

Xena berates Gabrielle about saving Hope. Gabrielle tells her about Ares and the Fates and Xena's
life. Xena says she would gladly die to rid the world of Hope, but Gabrielle isn't ready to lose
her.

Xena mentions that the face she loves more than anything else in the world (Gabrielle's) is also
the face of the one she hates the most (Hope). (Almost exactly what Gabrielle told
Xena-in-Callisto's-body way back when.)

Hope has Callisto use a fireball to change the plastic goo into the clothes, and staff, Gabrielle
is wearing.

Ares goes into the Temple of Dahak and tells the Fire-That-Is-Dahak that the gods will fall and he
doesn't regret joining him. The Fire growls and Ares changes that to serving him.

Xena, Gabrielle and Seraphin enter a town where the villages are being rounded up to be sacrificed
to Dahak. Xena fights Dahak's hooded men.

Ares appears to Gabrielle and she asks how he likes being Dahak's slave. He reminds her about
Xena's death if she kills Hope. She says Hope still has to die.

Callisto and Hope are in one of Ares' temples. Callisto destroys some of it. Ares appears. Callisto
wants to fight but he tells her he is on their side now. Hope says they both want the hind's blood
dagger. They fight some anyway until Hope stops them. Hope and Ares begin kissing. Callisto can't
stand to watch and disappears.

Xena, Gabrielle and Seraphin look over a cliff to see hooded men herding people to Dahak's temple.
Seraphin says she won't be used to betray her god and jumps off the cliff. Xena jumps after her,
grabbing her dress with one hand and a vine with the other. Callisto is standing there looking down
at them. Xena throws Seraphin up, then herself.

Callisto now wants to help Xena since she thinks Hope is just using her. She tells them about Ares
and Hope. She thinks Xena knows where the hind's blood dagger is and will help them if Xena will
kill her with it. Seraphin breaks away from Gabrielle and runs off.

Hope comes out of the temple, touches the stone hand railing and sees a vision of Hercules putting
the dagger in the stone. She breaks it away with her mind, but no dagger.

On the trail Callisto is trying to convince Xena to let her help them. Gabrielle tells Xena it is
a good idea. Xena goes along with it.

Hope sees Joxer and asks him about their relationship (he thinks she's Gabrielle). He stammers but
can't answer. Hope asks about Xena and Gabrielle's relationship. He says Gabrielle loves Xena more
than anything else in the world. She is perturbed about it. Then she asks about the hind's blood
dagger but he doesn't know anything.

In another village Xena, Gabrielle and Callisto start to help out against the hooded men. Gabrielle
takes children to safety. Xena fights the bad guys and Callisto throws fireballs at anyone and
everything. Hope walks into the village and watches all this.

Xena sees her, and thinking it's Gabrielle, drags her away intending to tell her where the dagger
is hidden. When Hope turns her back, Xena draws her knife and asks what her sister's name is. Hope
asks what sister. Hope's mind throws Xena away. But before Xena can use her Chakram again, Ares
appears and takes Hope away with him.

In Dahak's temple Hope tells the Dahak-Fire that she now knows that Gabrielle and Xena are weak.

Xena, Callisto and Gabrielle, with Joxer behind her, are on horses. Joxer get knocked off with a
tree limb. Xena gets pissed, hits him, calls him names, and runs him off.

Joxer is captured by the hooded men.

That night Xena takes a walk and Ares appears. He tries one more time to get her to join them. Xena
figures out that Hope is pregnant. Gabrielle walks up and says it isn't possible. Ares tells her
she is going to be a grandma.

Ares says Hope's child will be the first of six soulless destroyers who eat the living and will
kill all the gods.

Xena, Gabrielle and Callisto are on a bluff overlooking Dahak's temple. Gabrielle walks off into
the woods. Hope comes to see her and asks her to join them. Gabrielle tells Hope she is sorry ---
that the poison didn't kill her the first time.

Xena tries to talk Gabrielle into not going into the temple. Gabrielle won't stay out. Xena tells
her again how good Gabrielle has been for her, and she gave her life meaning and joy. They hug,
then head toward the temple.

Xena and Gabrielle go inside and start fighting the hooded men. Ares tells Hope they will have to
go through him to get to her. Xena throws her Chakram up to cut a chain that holds a large cover
and it falls down onto the Fire pit, covering it, stopping Dahak.

Xena yells to Joxer, who throws the hind's blood dagger to her. Ares dives through the air after
it, but Xena catches it. She threatens him with it. Then Callisto throws a giant fireball at Ares.
He sails through the air and crashes into a wall, covered with fire and is down for a while.

Xena starts toward Hope with the dagger. She is slowed but not stopped by Hope's mind control. She
slowly backs Hope toward the edge of a lava pit.

Ares yells to Gabrielle about Xena's fate. At the last moment, Gabrielle uses her staff to vault
over the Fire pit, grabs Hope and they fall down into the lava pit. Xena and Joxer scream after
them. There are two fiery explosions as they hit the lava.

Callisto starts laughing, saying watching Gabrielle die makes everything worthwhile. Xena, in a
rage, plunges the knife into Callisto's belly, telling her, "no more living for you." Callisto
slowly dies. Ares disappears.

.........

Another great episode. And a helluva season cliffhanger!

So, where to start? Everyone did an amazing job. But it was Callisto who stole the show. She was so
deliciously evil, and so much fun to watch.

It seems to me that maybe Xena's Chakram was just about as feared by Hope and Ares as the hind's
blood dagger. It was able to cut and momentarily weaken Hope.

I wonder if Hope's unborn child would grow to term as fast as Hope did. And I wonder if Hope was
going to be pregnant five more times if everything had worked out like they planned.

More rocks falling down on poor Callisto, trapping her - again!

Ares told Hope he would protect her, but just as soon as Xena had the hind's blood dagger, he
backed off.

Did Xena know it was Hope all along in the village? What tipped her off?

And if she knew it was Hope instead of Gabrielle, why didn't she . . . ? No, I guess even Xena
can't stab someone in the back, no matter how evil.

When Gabrielle attacked Callisto on the cliff, maybe she shouldn't have yelled and warned her.

Gabrielle looked pretty confident riding a horse.

And, what? Callisto couldn't have just transported them to Dahak's temple ??

Since I know nothing about the Hercules episode and the HB dagger, I guess I can't comment on how
Xena knew where it was.

It seems like Ares could have just held out his hand and the dagger would have come right to him.
And with her mind power, Hope could have also. Surely they weren't caught that much off guard.

Were the Fates only weaving Xena's life thread? What about all of the other people in the world?

The look on Gabrielle's face as she fell into the lava pit - 'I love you' ? 'Good bye' ? 'I'm
sorry, Xena, I couldn't let you die. Hope is my daughter, and my responsibility' ?

Any other suggestions?

Along with the episode, there were many extras on the DVD. Hudson Leick did the video commentary as
she did for 'Sacrifice' but this time she was better. She seemed more interested in the episode,
and had a few more stories to tell.

She said that at the end of filming the episode, Lucy and Rob were to be married, and Lucy didn't
want to be hit during their fight scenes so she wouldn't have any bruises for the wedding.

She mentioned a few times about how muscular Renee's abs and legs were, and that she could kick her
(Hudson's) and Callisto's ass.

There was the question of whether Callisto really wanted to live when Gabrielle died, or was she
still playing Xena? Rob, Steven Sears, and the director of the episode said Callisto didn't expect
Xena to kill her, but Hudson said just the opposite -- Callisto was happy Gabrielle died, but still
wanted Oblivion.

There were a few deleted scenes, and it's too bad some were cut.

There was a nice talk between Xena and Callisto by the campfire. And on the trail, Callisto trying
to convince Xena to let her help.

And there was a section where some of them were remembering Kevin Smith. Everyone had only good
things to say about him Hudson, in particular.

I was kind of disappointed that there was only one short clip of Lucy, and of Renee talking about
the episode, and nothing about Kevin.

Have we actually seen the last of Callisto?

Just how pissed are the other gods at Ares? Any retribution?

And how will Gabrielle come back at the beginning of Season Four?

I can't believe we've finished with S3. Half way done. Looking forward to Season 4.

And the Disclaimer was a hoot - "Gabrielle finally went off the deep during the production of this
motion picture." (Somehow, I have trouble calling a TV episode a "motion picture.")

A very good season ending episode, a 9.5 out of 10.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

3-22 Sacrifice Part II 9.5

3-21 Sacrifice Part 1 9

3-20 Vanishing Act 7

3-19 Tsunami 7

3-18 Fins, Femmes and Gems 8

3-17 Forget Me Not . 8

3-16 When In Rome . 8

3-15 King Con 6

3-14 Forgiven 8

3-13 One Against An Army 9.5

3-12 The Bitter Suite 9.5

3-11 Maternal Instincts 9.5

3-10 The Quill is Mightier. 8

3-09 Warrior-Priestess-Tramp 8

3-08 King of Assassins 6.5

3-07 The Debt II 9

3-06 The Debt 9.5

3-05 Gabrielle's Hope 9

3-04 The Deliverer 9

3-03 The Dirty Half Dozen 8

3-02 Been There, Done That 9

3-01 The Furies 6.5

Average score so far