The Story: Part 2.
On a distant hill Dagnine and his wizard
buddy spy on the village, all the while trying to read Xena's
lips through a medieval telescope. It seems that Dagnine is a bit
power hungry and can't wait to get his grubby little hands on
that Ixion stone. ("Ixion" was the father of the Centaurs. When
he had the choice of making them "wicked" or "noble", he chose
"noble". This legendary gem is said to hold the spirit of centaur
evilness that was created and not used, promising that anyone who
possesses the stone and drinks of it's elixer will BECOME the
wicked centaur.) Dagnine knows that the Ixion Cavern where the
stone is kept is somewhere nearby and hopes to get Xena out of
his way. Down in the village, Gabrielle confronts Xena over her
past actions and her decision to leave her son and never tell him
who she really is. Xena storms away to discuss with Kaleipus in
his hut her wishes for Solan to NOT become a warrior like her,
after which she encounters Gabrielle again outside. It seems
Gabby still isn't very understanding of Xena's decision to not
tell her son who she is.
Gabby is told, basically, to "mind her own business". Back up on
the hill, via a good lip-reading session, Dagnine then learns of
Solan's existence and makes plans to kidnap him.
Gabrielle approaches Solan in the
forest, wishing to speak with him. The boy is still hesitant as
he knows she is Xena's friend. Gabby tells him that Xena is not
the same merciless warrior she used to be, that Xena has changed.
That she, like Gabby, is his friend. Still wary, Solan proudly
brandishes his father's sword, evidently planning to be a great
warrior someday, and asks her curiously why she carries a staff
instead. Gabby begins to explain why staffs are better than
swords when Dagnine's goonies make their next appearance. Gabby
does some good thumping on the bad guys, all the while yelling
for Solan to "run!". The boy ignores her advice and stands his
ground. Next thing we know our beloved sidekick gets THWAPPED on
the back of the head and knocked out. Solan, of course, gets
hauled off to the enemy camp.
Once she regains consciousness, Gabby
informs Xena that the boy has been captured. Xena goes after her
son, first by sneaking into Dagnine's tent and knocking him for a
loop, then by climbing a tree and snagging the cage her son is
being kept in with her whip and throwing him the key. Solan grabs
for his father's sword which is stuck in the ground nearby.
Unfortunately, they get spotted and the cage drops before the boy
can get out. The ground collapses and the cage falls through.
Xena jumps down and catches the hand of her son, who miraculously
did manage to unlock the door. She wraps the whip again around
the tree and begins to pull them up. As the archers are ready to
skewer them both, Xena looks at Solan and says "Do you trust
me?". Solan nervously nods "Yes". Xena lets go of the whip
and they fall into the cavern below.
By an uncanny stroke of luck the cavern
they fall into just happens to be the Ixion Cavern. They
approach the shrine of the stone only to discover that it is
empty! Apparently, Borias had taken it long ago and hidden it
for protection. Solan sees that the handprints of his father are
still distinguishable in the dust and places his hand on them in
wonder. In need of a quick escape before the bad guys get there,
Xena breaks off a nearby root hanging from the wall and blows
into
it, creating a horn-like sound. Uptop, Gabby and the centaurs
hear the call and come running. Dagnine also soon arrives with
his gang in tow. Eventually, Xena and Solan scamper up the rope
their rescuers have lowered for them before they can be
pulverized by the baddies. And just when we thought that all was
well, Solan drops the sword of Borias and it falls back down the
hole.... where a good-sized emerald dislodges
from it's handle. Lo and behold, it is the Ixion Stone! Dagnine
grabs it and holds it triumphantly.
Conclusion: "I'll kill Xena! I'll kill
Hercules! I'll take Athens!" Dagnine says, "I've got so much to
do, I'll have to make a list!" He gets his sorceror buddy to
whip him up an Ixion cocktail, dry iced, and viola!... he
transforms into one UGLY centaur. Back at the village, Xena and
the gang are preparing for the new Industrial Strength Dagnine.
They set up a giant crossbow on a launcher and make their plans.
Before too long the evil centaur himself makes his ominous
appearance, Borias' sword in hand, while his bad guys attack from
behind. (Here we see Gabby again do some excellent staff
wielding and a nifty little flip.) After doing in some good
guys, Ixion-Dagnine grabs Kaleipus by the throat, which earns him
a nice swift acupuncture thwack with her fingers below the pony
tail by our Warrior Princess. After a
little chit-chat with her, he manages to grab Xena by the throat
as he explains that it was HE who really killed the revered
Borias. Xena does a quick move and escapes his grasp, sending
her sword flying to cut the rope on the launcher. The giant arrow
hits its mark and Dagnine falls to the ground.
The crowd begins to chant "Xena, Xena, Xena...".
Final Moments. In a touching scene by a
lake, Xena sits next to her son as he gazes out to the water.
She struggles with telling him who she really is, yet decides
against it. "We'll always be friends," she tells him, "don't you
ever forget that." Solan tosses the sword out into the water and
announces that he no longer wishes to be a warrior. Xena tells
him that his mother would have been proud.
In the end, Xena walks away, fighting
back the tears as she once again must leave him behind.
(Just as a side historical note; the
real "SOLON" was an Athenian lawgiver and poet, one of the Seven
Sages. Elected "archon" (government leader) of Athens in 594 BC,
he repealed the repressive laws of DRACO and freed those enslaved
for debt. Source: The New American Desk Encyclopedia;
1989 Edition.)
SYNOPSIS 2:
This synopsis is by Bluesong.
Xena and Gabrielle are in an area of centaurs, an area that
Xena's army once conquered. However, she negotiated a settlement
with the centaurs, telling Gabrielle that she told the centaurs
she'd never come back to that area. But now an evil warlord
named Dagnine was after the Ixion stone, a stone which holds all
of the wickedness of the centaurs in it. Apparently long ago
someone was given a choice with the centaurs -- they could chose
wicked strength or nobility; the choice was nobility, and the
rest was placed in this stone. Xena and Gabrielle are jumped by
Dagnine's henchmen, but they beat them, but not before the
centaurs show up also. Xena throws down her weapons and tells
the one-eyed centaur that she's not there for anything ... or
anybody, only to stop the evil Dagnine.
A small boy named Solan jumps from a tree and attacks Xena,
saying she killed his father, and he is her greatest enemy.
One-eye looks at Xena and nods as the boy runs off. Xena says
"he's my son." Gabrielle of course is a bit shocked but there is
no further explanation. However, apparently a man named Borias
was Xena's lover and Xena bore his child about 9 years ago; he
turned "good" before Xena did, though, and he died keeping her
army away from this evil Ixion stone. (It's never clear if this
is a man or a centaur.)
They all go to the centaurs village and Xena watches
Solan; Gabrielle thinks Xena should tell the boy she's his
mother, Xena gets mad at Gabrielle and pushes her away
(physically). Xena has a "flashback" -- she gave the boy to the
one-eyed centaur to raise in an effort to make a deal and to keep
the child safe.
Back to the present. Someone spies on them with a crude
telescope; Xena even senses this (she is so GOOD!). This person
finally does enough lip-reading to understand that Solan is
Xena's son, hidden all this time to keep her enemies from getting
him. So the evil Dagnine decides to take the boy. Xena talks to
the boy at his "parents" grave -- he's been told both his mother
and father are dead. Later, Solan and Gabrielle are attacked by
about 6 men; Gabrielle valiantly fights them off but gets clubbed
in the head anyway, and Solan is taken. The evil Dagnine puts
Solan in a cage. Gabrielle finds Xena and Xena goes to get
Solan.
Xena talks to Dagnine, who was one of her soldiers, once, and
then punches him out. She tries to get Solan, but ultimately
they end up falling through thin ground into a cavern. Solan
breaks his arm. Xena sets it. They get out of the cave but
Dagnine has the Ixion stone. Back at the village, Xena and
Gabrielle have a tender friendship-defining moment where
Gabrielle feels she failed Xena by arguing with her when Xena is
obviously in emotional turmoil over Solan. She wants to be there
for Xena. "Always. Always." Xena says.
Dagnine eats the stone and he turns into this hulking evil
centaur. Xena sets a trap for him; he comes to the centaur
village to get her. His henchman come in the village the
backway; Gabrielle fights them off, and while Xena's fighting
Dagnine, she sees Gabrielle in trouble & saves her with a toss of
the chakram. Then finally Dagnine is killed, but before he dies
he admits that he's the one who killed Solan's father (and Xena's
lover). Xena later finds Solan by a lake; they talk briefly.
Solan throws his sword in the water and says he doesn't want to
be a warrior; Xena says his mother would be very proud. She
walks away. The end.
COMMENTARY 1:
This commentary is by Tricia Murphy.
The characters of Dagnine and his goons
were just so darn funny, in a twisted kind of way. The kind of
guys who make bad boys fun to watch. This episode seemed a bit
more violent than most. However, in true XWP tradition, swords
were never bloody after having been used. And the chakram, which
ended up buried in some unfortunate bad guy's chest, wasn't
either.
My conclusions. First, this was an
unnerving display of understandable emotional weakness and
turmoil for Xena, yet it showed us the down-to-earth side of her.
Like the soft, penetrable part of a mighty dragon's armor that
every knight aims for, this tough-skinned warrior has a woundable
heart. And that is what makes her, for us, human.
Second, Gabrielle gets quite harsh
with Xena as they argue over how a mother could ever give up a
child. In return, Xena treats her as if she will never
understand, how could she... or anyone else who had never been
faced with that decision? In an instant, this seemed to place
their friendship on some pretty shaky ground. Though, later on
Gabby apologizes for her questioning Xena's actions, she states
that she isn't saying she agrees with her decision, but will
always be there for her. While this difference of opinion could
set them up for a real emotional falling apart in the future,
it's hard to say if the producers will ever follow through with
this branch of the plotline. (Though I could just be making a
mountain out of a molehill, I would still like to see this
resolved at some point.)
Third, though Gabby got knocked out in
one scene, I saw a real improvement in her fighting skills.
Renee O' Connor has definitely been practicing!
Things to watch for: (1) Keep an eye on
Xena's costume. To us, it seemed the design had changed a bit
from last season; (2) The scene with Xena riding on Kaleipus'
back was well done, though they ran by in somewhat of a blur. I
plan on watching this episode again on tape, as I swear there is
one scene where a horse is standing with it's head down and the
man is standing at just the right camera angle to look like a
centaur. Hmm...
COMMENTARY 2:
This commentary is by Carmen Carter.
I should preface my remarks on ORPHAN OF WAR with the confession that
I've never been particularly happy about the prospect of Xena's motherhood. And
I can't say that I've changed my mind on that issue. However, if she had to
be a mother, this episode handled the subject very well, and was further
blessed with a decent kid actor to play against Lawless. The result was
some very touching scenes between Xena and Solan. To my relief, Lawless
managed to portray Xena as noble and self-sacrificing without sliding into
maudlin sentimentality; not an easy balance to maintain. And the last shot
of the episode, a freeze-frame on Xena's emotional turmoil after leaving
Solan, was really quite stunning.
The main strength of the episode was that Xena's past relationship with
Solan's father was used to explore issues of right and wrong, of good and
evil. Xena's lover turned against her to fight for a just cause, and
discussion of that conflict reveals some additional shading to Xena's
reformed character.
An additional bonus was a new and admirable centaur character, Solan's
"uncle," to add to the Xena universe. Also, Gabrielle has been practicing
with her staff over the summer because she exhibited a few new stunts in
her fighting repertoire, including a fabulous back flip that appears to be
Renee in flight, not a stuntperson. Brava! And it was great to see Renee
O'Connor listed in the opening credits!
For those (like myself) who notice these things, the Xena/Gabrielle
relationship was considerably underplayed in this episode. Although there
were a few scenes affirming strong friendship between the two women, their
interaction was devoid of the emotional intensity or nuances of intimacy
which were threaded throughout the last episodes of first season. However,
one episode isn't enough to gauge whether this is going to be a trend for
second season. I, for one, hope it isn't.
The glaring flaws in the episode centered on the villain and his
Merlin-mystic cohort. They were portrayed in a broad, comic-book style, and
the worst offender was the actor who played Dagnin. [Xenites will recognize
him as the slimy warlord from HOOVES & HARLOTS.] His over-the-top
performance was in jarring contrast to the more modulated performances by
everyone else, and by the dramatic tone set by Xena's emotional conflicts
over her son.
CHANGING TIMES
Changing Times is by Debbie White.
In ORPHAN OF WAR (26/201), Xena deals with
several things from her past: the centaurs she once fought, one
of her old soldiers, and her son by Borias. Gabrielle learns more
about being a true friend as Xena deals with her past and
present.
The Changing Xena
"You have things here I can only dream about. Things I would
want for my son."
-- Xena to Solan, ORPHAN OF WAR
Xena is better in how much information
she gives to Gabrielle. Xena usually does not like giving
information about her past, even when Gabrielle needs to know it.
This time, though, she tells Gabrielle that she fought the
centaurs, that she was after the power of the Ixion stone, and
that Dagnine was once her soldier. Still, she decides not to tell
Gabrielle about Solan until he attacks Xena and declares he is
her greatest enemy. Even when she tells Gabrielle about Solan,
she does not want to talk about it. When the subject is intensely
personal and Xena regrets her past choices, she avoids
Gabrielle's judgment of her actions. This may be why she hides
so many things from Gabrielle in the first place.
Some fans were upset that Xena has a
son. Considering how many times she has used her body to get
suicidal loyalty from her officers, the fact she has a child is
not too surprising. What is interesting is that Xena clearly
loved the father, Borias. She tells Solan that she sang with him,
which she does not often do, and that they were very close once.
Xena clearly respects Borias, too, because she says, "He found
his way much sooner than I did" and that he saved her from
finding the stone and killing off the centuars. Perhaps that is
why she choose to have his child.
That Borias went against Xena for the
greater good might have been a wake-up call for her. When Xena
gives Solan up to the centaurs, she not only says it is to keep
him from being used against her, but so that he will not become
like her. It did not stop her from being a warlord, but it may
have been one of the wake-up calls that kept her from losing all
of her conscience and becoming unredeemable.
It is also interesting to see how Xena
interacts with Solan. When he asks her about Borias, she answers
him with the truth: that he was great because he stopped her, but
that he once was evil, too. She does not try and paint a good
picture of herself, either. She makes it clear to him that if
Borias had not stopped her, she would have wiped out the centuars
who are now Solan's friends and family.
Xena respects Solan enough to tell him
the truth, but hides the fact that she is his mother. The only
hint she gives Solan is that she can sing, like his fictional
mother. When she resets his broken arm, she holds him like a
mother but talks to him as a friend. In the end, Xena decides not
to tell him she is his mother, though she comes very close to
telling him.
Xena told Gabrielle that she feels like
she does not have the right to tell Solan because she gave him
up. She sees that Solan already has a family that loves and
cares for him, which she still cannot provide for him. Also, she
has already taken his vision of a totally herioc father from him.
Her being his mother would take away his loving "mother", too. So
she allows him to forgive her for her past crimes that he has
come to terms with, and lets him remain free of all she would
bring, both good and bad.
There are a few more interesting things
in this episode. First, Dagnine did not know Xena had a son, yet
he was a soldier in her army. Xena and Borias must have kept the
child a secret so he could not be used against them. If Xena
remained a "tent commander" and Borias was the one actually
making sure the orders were carried out, then it could have been
hidden fairly well. Also, despite the fact Xena does not want
Solan to be a warrior, she compliments him on not freezing in a
fight. Either she is taking to heart letting Solan choose his own
way, or in all fairness had to compliment him on the skills he
has.
A small final point is that when Xena
was fighting the centaur-Dagnine, she still throws her chakram to
kill a soldier fighting Gabrielle. The thing was that Gabrielle
was holding her own just fine. On the other hand, eariler, she
sends Gabrielle to go get the centaurs to come help save Solan.
It seems like Xena trusts Gabrielle to get help, but not survive
in a fight without her, yet.
The Changing Gabrielle
"She always does what's right, even if it hurts her."
--Gabrielle, ORPHAN OF WAR
When Gabrielle learns about Solan, she
immediately berates Xena for leaving him, even if it was to
protect him. Gabrielle thinks Solan deserves to have a mother.
Later she even tells Solan she does not understand how people can
hate Xena so much, because she has really only seen the good
Xena. Still, despite the fact Gabrielle thinks she knows what is
right, she apologizes to Xena. She realizes that she should have
been less judgmental and more of a friend, which is what Xena
needed. Gabrielle is slowly learning how to be a friend to Xena
while keeping her moral code.
Still, Gabrielle keeps giving Solan
hints that Xena is his mother. She tells him that he is ahead of
the game when he says he cannot do backflips. She also tries to
get Solan to forgive Xena, though she would probably do that,
anyway. Still, she just cannot stand back and let Xena decide to
tell Solan or not.
Gabrielle's attitude about her staff is
interesting. She tells Solan that she is not a warrior, even if
she fights to protect herself. She says that a sword makes you a
target because the edges threaten people, where as a staff has no
edges and will not provoke a fight. She has also learned enough
now that she offers to teach Solan how to use a staff. Despite
that, she still is not good enough defend both Solan and herself
from mutiple attackers.
Finally, Gabrielle has obviously
learned more about centaurs. She knows the totems are centaurs
totems in the beginning and knows that centaurs are easy prey in
the woods. She also just hops on a centaurs back when they are
about to take off. Her confidence and knowledge is growing.
Timeline
Xena tried to take the Ixion stone "ten
years ago." Xena gave up Solan into centaur care for "nine
years."
I would take this to mean that near the
end of the 'ten years ago', Xena started fighting the centuars
with Borias. After a few months, Borias turned on her, she gave
up Solan, and she stopped fighting these centaurs.
HIGHLIGHTS:
Highlights by Tricia Murphy.
This episode is a "must-see" and gets a
definite "grab-the-tissue-and-get-ready" rating. For those who
have children, or are just the caring sort, the scenes between
Xena and Solan as she struggles with keeping her relation to him
a secret are emotionally torturous. Perhaps in the future he'll
learn of his true identity. I have little doubt that we haven't
seen the last of Xena's Solan. Especially if any of Dagnine's
goonies survived to get the word out of his location.
The centaurs themselves are one of my
favorite entities in the series. I can't get enough of them!
What must it be like to say your lines with a staight face, all
the while stepping side-to-side like a horse while you speak?
And who the heck is doing all that whinnying, neighing, and other
horse noise in the background? I love it!
I also enjoyed the little scene with the
young centaur engaging in some horse-play with Solan and the
other children as they kicked around a ball. One line from this
episode that I found memorable was during that short scene; "Hey!
No high-hoofing!"
THINGS TO LOOK OUT
FOR
These things are by Beth Gaynor.
Coming soon
TRANSCRIPT
Click here to read a transcript of ORPHAN OF WAR.
DISCLAIMER:
No sleazy warlords who deem it necessary to drink magic elixirs that turn them into scaly centaurs were harmed during the production of this motion picture.
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