From: owner-chakram-refugees-digest@smoe.org (chakram-refugees-digest) To: chakram-refugees-digest@smoe.org Subject: chakram-refugees-digest V4 #189 Reply-To: chakram-refugees@smoe.org Sender: owner-chakram-refugees-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-chakram-refugees-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk chakram-refugees-digest Saturday, July 24 2004 Volume 04 : Number 189 Today's Subjects: ----------------- [chakram-refugees] Endgame [cr ] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sat, 24 Jul 2004 00:32:56 +1200 From: cr Subject: [chakram-refugees] Endgame Just got as far as Endgame in my viewing of the Season 4 DVD's. As always, it's a delight to watch. (No NOT because of those half-naked Amazons (yawn)). Mostly because of the best new character for ages, Amarice. She's even more sarcastic (and has even better lines) than Xena. But watching the interaction between them is a joy - seeing Xena raise an eyebrow at some of Amarice's more outspoken comments. Right from their first encounter - "Xena? I thought you'd be - taller" through their entry to the Amazon village XENA All right, we need to build a defense for this village. AMARICE What's left of it. and on to the end of the ep: GABRIELLE You are a kid. AMARICE Right, and you're a warrior. Besides I need to see more of the world. I was thinkin' about what you said, Xena, about not finding my answers at the end of a sword and it seemed to make sense. Then I started thinkin' about old Pompey, and it seems to me he found an answer at the end of yours. (I love the mock-ingenuous way Amarice looks up at Xena at that point.) .... Amarice is irreverent, iconoclastic and as sceptical as I am. How could I not love a character like that? ;) It's refreshing and fun to see Xena being challenged by someone as sceptical as herself. Gabby never could do that without preaching. Come to think of it, it was just so good, after a whole season of seeing Xena get preached at by Gabby, and Eli, and told what to do by Krishna, and sent to jail, and preached at by villains even - Najara and Aidan - it was just such a refreshing change to see the good old Warrior Princess back in charge. Anyway, I was a bit disappointed that in the interview with Steve Sears and Eric Gruendemann, they never mentioned Amarice. I would have been interested to know why she was introduced. She was a major new character and obviously intended as such (Jennifer Sky got star billing at the head of the 'Guest Stars' credits). And but for her landing a lead role in Cleo 2525, Amarice would presumably have been around much longer. I had assumed Amarice's introduction it was to make up for Gabs's pacifism, except that Steve Sears (or was it Eric Gruendemann) mentioned that in this ep they were already getting Gabby ready to fall off the wagon as far as that went, obviously the Gabspaz was already in mind. The Gabspaz could have been an isolated event, but the new fightin' Gabby that appeared on 'Chakram' was obviously there to stay. Was it that TPTB intended Amarice to 'fill in' for Xena while Lucy was pregnant, sarcasm and all, and when she got the role in Cleo they promoted Gabs instead? (This is conjecture, but I'd love to know the answer). Anyway, to other matters. I'd noted, without really comprehending, Brutus's statement that Ephiny's death was an accident. But now I realise that was completely true. Brutus and Caesar's army were interested in Pompey and not at all in Amazons. It appears likely that the skirmish was caused by the Amazons attacking Brutus's troops, in mistake for Pompey's men, and that the Romans were entirely on the defensive and innocent of starting that one. This casts a different light on Xena's decision to release Brutus back to his army. I'd always thought that was a great act of faith in his good intentions. But in fact, all it required was a belief that Brutus would follow enlightened self-interest. Brutus's army had no orders or interest in fighting Amazons, and nothing to gain by fighting their way through the Amazons to get to Pompey. Far better for them to attack Pompey's flank while he was occupied with his attack on the Amazons. And in fact, from Xena's point of view, even if Brutus had headed the army straight for the Amazons, that was no more than where they were headed already. In other words, Brutus could not make the Amazons' situation any worse, and he would almost certainly make it better. So there was nothing to lose and a lot to gain by releasing him. Oh yeah, lovely line of Xena's: "It's not about balance any more". It sounds as if it has all sorts of implications - I'm not sure what they are but it sounds great. This episode bolsters my belief that Xena was one of the unacknowledged forces behind the Amazon nation. (I'm looking for the right word though, and 'force' isn't it. 'Influence' is too vague and not strong enough. 'Creator' may be too strong and implies a positive result which, as we know from Sin Trade flashbacks, was not always the case. Anyway, the Amazons never fully acknowledged the major part she played in their history both for good and evil which was, arguably, greater than that of any Amazon, even including Alti.) This is reflected in Xena's promise to Ephiny's spirit - "Ephiny, this will not go unpunished. I will not let the Amazons just die away. That I promise you." Did Xena know Caesar was going to reject any treaty with the Amazons? Was she just setting up Brutus for disillusionment with Caesar? (Steve Seasr certainly seems to think so in the interview). Certainly it came as a rude shock to see Caesar arbitrarily burning the treaty without even waiting to hear Brutus's summary of the terms. "If they're not under my control they're a threat". Spoken like a true megalomaniac. ========================================================= This has been a message to the chakram-refugees list. To unsubscribe, send a message to majordomo@smoe.org with "unsubscribe chakram-refugees" in the message body. Contact meth@smoe.org with any questions or problems. ========================================================= ------------------------------ End of chakram-refugees-digest V4 #189 **************************************