Few shows typify the 1990’s era of sword and sorcery shows more than Xena: Warrior Princess. A recovering evil warlord, Xena sought redemption by using her formidable combat skills and acumen to protect the innocent. The series has a cult following today, long after its original run ended in 2001.
Even now it’s rare to find a series like that starring a strong female protagonist, let alone one that got six seasons on the air. Keeping that all in mind, there are still a few things that never made sense.
The Gods Must Be Crazy
A big part of Xena’s journey are the gods of the time. As her story is in ancient Greece, the gods she most frequently encounters are from the Greek pantheon. Other pantheons do appear depending on where she is and the needs of the story. But more often than not, Xena is doing something that the Greek gods absolutely do not like. Eventually, she’s even personally responsible for the deaths of many of them. Given the power levels of these gods and Xena’s destiny which they must see coming, one cannot help but wonder why they didn’t just permanently take her out.
Gabrielle’s Strange Choice
Xena’s path is not a lonely one. Throughout the series, she is accompanied by Gabrielle, a young woman from a farming village. Gabrielle starts off quite naive but grows over the following six seasons to become a formidable warrior in her own right.
But the question of why Gabrielle chose to follow Xena in the first place isn’t really answered. Sure, the series shows how she wanted more from her life but going from the farm to being the understudy to one of the greatest warriors around is a huge leap.
Few Female Directors
Xena has long been viewed as a show with strong feminist message due to having two strong female leads in Xena and Gabrielle. While that is certainly true, that message did not extend behind the camera. Out of the 134 episodes over six seasons, only a small handful were directed by women. Given the nature of the series, it would have been a perfect chance to put more women in the director’s chair but that did not happen. The producers have since expressed regret about this.
Xena Is Not A Goddess
Xena can throw a chakram so hard that it ricochets off ten heads, then right back into her hands. She can leap from person to person or climb a wall by the digging the tips of the fingers into the tiniest of cracks. Entire armies tremble at her name and run in fear.
But despite all this, she is not a goddess, or even a half-god like Hercules. She is ostensibly a normal human being in peak physical condition. With that in mind, many of the feats she performs are even more impressive and sometimes confusing in scope.
Joxer The Mighty
While Gabriel is the most common person to follow Xena around, there were others including Joxer the Mighty. Joxer is part of a powerful family of warlords and warriors. He is neither of those things, and is in fact one of the most inept people in Xena’s circle of friends and allies. More often than not, Joxer is more trouble than he’s worth. Fans didn’t initially like the character but grew to appreciate him as comedy relief, kind of like Xena did. Still, it’s a wonder she let it get to that point.
Historical Figure Magnet
A huge part of Xena are the historical figures from the era she runs into. Julius Caesar plays a huge role in her origins as a warlord as well as her life moving away from that career path. But the weird thing about her life is the sheer numbers of historical figures she encounters, including Brutus, Cleopatra, Genghis Khan and Homer.
In the context of the series, Xena is a prominent figure in the world but it’s still kind of odd how many real life historical figures she encounters, helps and possibly kills.
Multiple Actors Played Multiple Roles
It’s not an uncommon thing for an actor to play more than one role on a show, like their own twin or a doppelganger. But the numbers of actors who do that on Xena is actually quite impressive. Lucy Lawless and Renee O’Connor played at least dozen or more different parts between them. Karl Urban, Ted Raimi and Kevin Smith (not that Kevin Smith) each play multiple roles. Somehow, they make it all work but sometimes it’s a little much. While some had to be played by the actors to make the stories work, there are more than a few of those parts that should have gone to different actors.
Xena And Gabrielle’s Relationship
One of the key elements of the series was Xena and Gabrielle’s relationship. Throughout the run of Xena, it evolved to the point that many fans speculated that they were in fact a couple. This was never confirmed in the series, though the actors have since said they believe it to be the case. While the implication of the relationship was there, it was never made official.
So, if the relationship wasn’t official, it makes things a little more confusing. The era might not have been ready for it but the producers should have gone for it if only to keep things clear.
The Finale
The end of the series was a two part episode in which Xena realized that she had to sacrifice herself to save the souls of everyone she has killed. That is a lot of souls. Xena allows herself to die while Gabrielle tries to find a way to resurrect her. Both warriors are successful in their respective missions but Xena refused to be revived. Gabrielle took over Xena’s role as a protector of the innocent. It was an ending that angered fans as it was highly unsatisfying and it didn’t give Xena the ending she had earned. It also didn’t fit with the type of character Xena was; a fighter.
Gabrielle’s Missing Swansong
Part of the reason the ending of the series doesn’t work is where it left Gabrielle. Her story was a exceptionally open ended, giving fans little to work with as to what was next for her. The assumption is that she continued Xena’s mission on her own but there’s nothing to confirm that. For fans who had been there since episode one, it would have been nice to know how her life turned out after the loss of Xena. A spin off series would have been in order but that was reputedly never even discussed.
