From: owner-chakram-refugees-digest@smoe.org (chakram-refugees-digest) To: chakram-refugees-digest@smoe.org Subject: chakram-refugees-digest V9 #4 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 Sunday, January 17 2010 Volume 09 : Number 004 Today's Subjects: ----------------- [chakram-refugees] Gods [cr ] [chakram-refugees] Antony & Cleopatra and Looking Death in the Eye. [cr <] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sat, 16 Jan 2010 21:42:52 +1300 From: cr Subject: [chakram-refugees] Gods The toll of gods in 'Motherhood' was quite spectacular. The only prominent gods left alive were Aphrodite and Ares (and Ares was no longer a god). And Celeste, who went her own way as always. However, further reflection reminded me that there's a whole host of gods in Herc and Xena, many of whom got killed by one hero or the other. I compiled quite a long list (and I may have missed a few). Here it is: Zeus Killed by Herc in GFC Hera Eaten (?) by Zeus in GFC Ares Still alive in 21st century Aphrodite Survived Athena Killed by Xena in Motherhood Artemis Ditto Poseidon Ditto, on the beach Discord Ditto Hephaestus Ditto Hades Ditto, in the tavern Deimos Ditto Mercury Seen on Herc, survived Apollo Seen on Herc, obnoxious, but Herc didn't kill him Triton Seen on Herc, survived Strife Killed by Callisto in Armageddon Now - ("Well, now we know the stuff works" - Callisto) Serena (the Golden Hind) De-immortalised by Ares, killed by Strife Terpsichore Mentioned in Lyre, Lyre Calliope Mentioned in A Tale of Two Muses Celeste Survived The Furies Killed by the chacky in Coming Home - count that as one for Xena Nemesis De-immortalised by Hera, survived Lachrymose Presumably, survived miserably Dahak Killed by Herc Hope Killed by Gabrielle (twice) 'Sin' Lord of the underworld (Be Deviled) - survived Callisto Killed by Xena in Sacrifice, but it didn't 'take'; later became an angel Velasca Trapped in lava by Xena/Callisto; presumably still there, waiting... Kal Killed by Xena in 'Chakram', with one Caligula Killed himself (at Xena's suggestion); count one for Xena The Titans Killed by Herc in Full Circle Odin Survived both Herc and Xena Frigga Seen in the Herc Norse eps; survived Thor Ditto Loki Ditto Baldur Ditto Kernunnos Irish god, killed by Herc or Morrigan (can't recall which) Morpheus In 'Dreamworker' - I think he survived Proteus In 'Protean challenge' - shapeshifting god - survived The Fates Seem to have survived Bacchus Killed by Xena in GJWHF Dumuzi Assyrian (?) god, killed by Herc in 'Descent' Dionysus Mentioned in early Herc ep Persephone Hades' girlfriend ('The other Side') - presumably survived Demeter Goddess of seasons, Perspehone's mother, ditto Cupid Presumably survived Bliss Cupid's child - presumably survived Krishna Hindu god, survived Hanuman Hindu god, survived Indrajit Hindu demon, killed by Xena Michael Archangel, probably the only villain to survive an attack by Xena Mephistopheles Lord of the underworld (well, one of them) Killed by Xena Lucifer Angel, left as Lord of the Underworld by Xena Yodoshi Killed by Xena Okay, that's about it. I make the score Herc 7, Xena 14, Gabrielle 2 (counting Hope twice) Xena's the winner by a mile! But did anyone realise the scale of godly carnage wrought by Herc and Xena over the years? :) cr ========================================================= 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. ========================================================= ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 16 Jan 2010 20:39:52 +1300 From: cr Subject: [chakram-refugees] Antony & Cleopatra and Looking Death in the Eye. Antony & Cleopatra is where (as Rob Tapert said in the commentary) Season 5 got back on track after the baby thing. With the baby parked out of the way in Alexandria (?) Xena was free to do her Warrior Princess stuff again. Though the setting was far from her usual haunts, still Egypt is always good for an interesting episode. Michael Hurst made the most of the beautiful sets, in that respect it almost rivalled the Debts. And he managed, by having (mostly female) Egyptian palace staff drifting past in the background in twos or threes, to give an impression that Cleopatra's palace was a fully staffed seat of government, being quite efficiently run by the staff (as it would have been) and that unseen arrangements were being made, or possibly plots hatched. Besides, they looked decorative. I think that Shiana, as Cleopatra's personal assistant, was probably running the whole place. I also think that if Xena had shown signs of selling out to any of the Romans, she might have woken up dead one morning. :) In a way this episode was a sideline from the season arc, the decline of the Greek gods. Though it did introduce Octavius, who became significant later, and it disposed of Brutus, who had become very unscrupulous in the time since Ides of March. Having to kill the boss before he has you quietly disposed of probably has that effect on people. Ably written by Carl Ellsworth, who didn't write anything else except Looking Death in the Eye - - which was also a very good episode. The Greek gods are always entertaining, never more so than when Ares and Athena are bickering. It's a pity it missed out on a commentary (or even cast&crew interviews) on the DVD set. Anyway, it was (as Rob Tapert or was it Chris Manheim said in the interviews for 'Livia', I think) a good way to solve the baby problem without actually killing the baby. And, as someone who loves irony, I think the most ironical moment in the entire series was when Ares, showing the 'dead' Xena more respect and genuine feeling than he ever had before, entombs her in the ice cave and is sufficiently respectful to place Gabrielle alongside her - thus, of course, completely derailing Xena's cunning plan. Also interesting was Celesta (Death)'s refusal to accept orders from Athena. Athena suspected she might survive the death of the gods, and she probably did since she wasn't on the casualty list in Motherhood. This makes Celesta possibly the only important god (other than Ares and Aphrodite) to survive Xena's purge. (Of course there are a shoal of minor gods, like Lachrymose and Cupid and Triton and Anoia, goddess of things stuck in drawers - oh no, sorry, wrong universe, scrub Anoia - but they probably don't matter). cr ========================================================= 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 V9 #4 ************************************