[1] XENA: WARRIOR PRINCESS premiered the week of
September 4, 1995. It quickly became the most highly
rated new syndicated hour of the 95-96 season. The show
also became a cult hit attracting a very active fan
base. XENA: WARRIOR PRINCESS was based upon a character
who appeared in three shows which had aired on
HERCULES: THE LEGENDARY JOURNEY earlier in 1995. These
three episodes are commonly referred to as the "Xena
Trilogy" and consisted of the episodes WARRIOR PRINCESS
(HTLJ #09), THE GAUNTLET (HTLJ #12), and UNCHAINED
HEART (HTLJ #13). The following essay considers the
episode WARRIOR PRINCESS (not to be confused with XENA:
WARRIOR PRINCESS episode #15, WARRIOR...PRINCESS),
which featured the debut of the character, Xena.
NEXT TIME, GIVE ME A WOMAN WHO WANTS TO KILL ME WITH KISSES.
[2] Said plea was the punchline of a HERCULES: THE
LEGENDARY JOURNEYS episode titled WARRIOR PRINCESS.
WARRIOR PRINCESS was the energetic story of best
friends torn apart by the machinations of a seductive
woman. A woman who used her wily and potent charms to
induce one friend to attempt to kill the other. The
punchline referred to Iolaus, who was both the cuckold
and the speaker of the line. The woman which inspired
his plea, was Xena, the warrior princess.
Herk and Iolaus, friends 4 ever
[3] Iolaus in mythology was Hercules' nephew and fellow
Argonaut. In HERCULES: THE LEGENDARY JOURNEYS, Iolaus
was Hercules' best friend and primo fighting buddy.
They even attended the 10th Anniversary convention for
Argonauts together! These guys were thick. So thick,
that if their legendary loyal friendship were to be
challenged, it would have to be by something, or
someone, mighty spectacular.
[4] What possibly could put a wedge between such a
superlative friendship? Just like in high school, it
turned out to be a woman. But not just any woman. Fear
ye, all who would study the strange and enlightening
tales of Hercules, the high school which would
matriculate the likes of Xena, Warrior Princess.
Unlike Iolaus and Hercules, Xena had no basis in
traditional Greek mythology. She was concocted anew to
test their renowned friendship. And tested it, she did.
HERCULES: THE ROAD TO XENA
[5] WARRIOR PRINCESS aired after six Hercules films
starring Kevin Sorbo and eight episodes of HERCULES:
THE LEGENDARY JOURNEYS. Iolaus, played by Michael
Hurst, appeared in several of the movies including the
first one, HERCULES AND THE AMAZON WOMEN. Ironically,
AMAZON WOMEN had an actress by the name of Lucy Lawless
playing the part of an Amazon lieutenant. Lawless
eventually was hired to play Xena in WARRIOR PRINCESS.
Too bad it was not Lawless's character who got to bump
off Iolaus in HERCULES AND THE AMAZON WOMEN (do not
even ask how Iolaus got killed only to continue on as
Hercules' best pal -- myths work in mysterious ways).
Perhaps it is good she was not, since then the irony
would have been unbearable: the Amazon lieutenant would
have succeeded where would Xena fail.
[6] After his first foray with Hercules in AMAZON
WOMEN, Iolaus continued showing up in HERCULES: THE
LEGENDARY JOURNEYS. By the airing of WARRIOR PRINCESS,
there had already been much care and attention in
developing the Hercules and Iolaus friendship. Iolaus
betrayed occasional bouts of flakiness, but his
exuberance and loyalty to Hercules always glowed
through. Iolaus was portrayed exhibiting classic human
frailties and failings which were always present in
some degree. This was his Achilles heel for Xena to
exploit.
THE FOOL-PROOF PLAN
[7] The character Xena was created for the episode
WARRIOR PRINCESS, which was written by John Schulian
and developed by Schulian and Robert Tapert. The script
asked and answered the questions of what would happen,
how would it happen, and what kind of woman could pull
it off, if a woman were ever to dare to come between
Hercules and Iolaus.
[8] Xena was presented as a ruthless, ambitious,
disciplined, and extremely focused warrior who was
obsessed with being the best in her field. What better
way than to display her success and superiority than by
directing Hercules' death?
[9] Xena's insidious plot not only required the big
guy's demise, but also his disillusionment and pain.
She wanted to mess with his mind. Xena believed that
Hercules could be killed if he were distracted. What
better distraction could there be than killing your
best friend?
[10] It was fool-proof. Xena would entice Iolaus to
kill Hercules. If Iolaus was successful, she would be
triumphant. If Iolaus wasn't successful, that could
only mean that Hercules had just killed Iolaus, his
best friend. Hercules' disorientation after doing the
foul deed would allow Xena to strike him at his
weakest. Either way, Hercules was dead meat.
[11] It was an ambitious plan. Xena would have to
endear herself to Iolaus and then slowly turn Iolaus
against the best friend he ever had. Xena was up to it.
XENA, THE TEMPTRESS
Xena, about to make a deal with Draco
[12] Xena was no stranger to seduction. She used it on
her officers and she easily used her charms on Iolaus.
Xena represented one of the most deeply rooted
subliminal fears a man can have: a woman who uses sex
not only to make him write bad checks (and love it) but
also to see the logic in killing his best friend (and
only friend?)
PLAN DOOMED TO FAILURE
[13] Xena executed her plan flawlessly, although losing
Estrogon, an ultimately disposable warrior minion,
would not have earned her a perfect 10 in the
Manipulation Olympics (but no doubt her artful use of
Theodorus, an earlier disposable warrior minion, would
have gained her points). Xena moved everyone in the
show like a master chess player, including Hercules. It
would have been a fool-proof plan but for one
misconception on Xena's part. She did not understand
Hercules' motives. Xena would not even get a hint as to
his motives until the HERCULES episode, UNCHAINED
HEART.
[14] In WARRIOR PRINCESS, Xena was clearly clueless.
She did not understand that no matter how annoying she
could make Iolaus act (and she made him act EXTREMELY
annoying), Hercules would never kill Iolaus
intentionally. Xena understood revenge, the heat of
battle, and how to use people to her advantage, but she
did not understand the brawny demi-god who was on a
mission of service to atone for the sins of his
father's people. That was the fatal flaw to her grand
scheme.
LUCY LAWLESS: A QUICK STUDY AND DARN LUCKY
Lucy Lawless or Mel Pappas -- you decide
[15] The casting of Lucy Lawless in WARRIOR PRINCESS
was the result of many coincidences. She simply was at
the right place at the right time after meeting the
right people. Lawless first came to the producers
attention when she was cast in the supporting role of
Lysias in HERCULES AND THE AMAZON WOMEN. Her acting
career, which had started a few years prior in earnest,
was beginning to take off. She had appeared in a short
art film (PEACH), a TV movie (RAINBOW WARRIOR), and an
episode of THE RAY BRADBURY THEATRE (FEE FIE FO FUM),
to name a few of her credits. When HERCULES: THE
LEGENDARY JOURNEYS shifted to a weekly hour format,
Lawless was cast again in another supporting role as
Lyla, a centaur's "moll", in AS DARKNESS FALLS.
[16] Lawless was not the producers first, second or
even third choice to play Xena, Warrior Princess. She
was actually the seventh! The first actress to be cast
as Xena fell ill a few days before primary filming of
the episode. The producers then scrambled to find a
replacement. They went through five more actresses over
a long weekend. All of the actresses refused. One of
the frantic producers thought of Lawless. Even though
they feared that they were contributing to the joke
that there were only really twelve different actors in
New Zealand, the other producers agreed. They put in a
call to Lawless. She was on holiday and was in a remote
area camping with her family. The producers sent a
person to hunt her down. Luckily, she was located and
within a few days she was on the set filming WARRIOR
PRINCESS.
XENA: THE GREAT MORAL SHIFT
[17] The episode WARRIOR PRINCESS is precious among
Xenaologists because it shows Xena in her feral, pre-
redemptive state. By the time THE GAUNTLET (HTLJ,
episode no. 12) and UNCHAINED HEART (HTLJ, no. 13) were
made, Xena was already beginning to soften up and make
her first ethical and moral stands (not to mention the
first frizzing out of her hair). Consequently the Xena
concerned with honor debuted in THE GAUNTLET while the
Xena concerned with restitution did the same in
UNCHAINED HEART.
[18] The Xena in WARRIOR PRINCESS was quite scary in
her singlemindedness and pure delight in trickery,
seduction, politics, and the thrill of the chase. She
was also pretty hot on herself.
[19] Lucy Lawless played Xena more broadly and less
uptightly than she did in the later HERCULES shows and
the series. The WARRIOR PRINCESS Xena would just as
soon sleep with someone as kill them if it got what she
wanted. As the Borg were the perfect foes for The Next
Generation crew in Star Trek; Xena was the perfect
nemesis for Hercules. And as the Borg produced Hugh,
who became a 'good' borg, so did Xena become good, and
was rewarded by her own weekly series (the Borg only
got a major motion picture!).
If you would like to read further about WARRIOR
PRINCESS in a scene by scene analysis, see companion
piece to this essay: THE ANNOTATED "WARRIOR PRINCESS"
in this same issue.
