^[1] Although the bond between Xena and Gabrielle has been tested and torn during the first three seasons of Xena: Warrior Princess, it has remained strong. It has maintained its strength despite the different and often opposing views of the two partners. A key area of conflict between Xena and Gabrielle has been their individual attitudes toward war and peace. Xena is the pragmatic, take-no-prisoners warrior, easily swept up by the thrill and excitement of battle. To Xena, war may be an evil, but it is sometimes a necessary evil. Gabrielle is the idealistic, often naive pacifist, shocked and appalled by violence. To Gabrielle war and killing are horrors to be avoided at all costs. One of the finest episodes to demonstrate these differences and bring them to a boil is THE PRICE (44/220).

The Horde Attacks

^[2] Xena and Gabrielle are attacked by the Horde, a deadly band of savage warriors. Xena has a history with the Horde, having faced them years before in a brutal battle where her army was "stripped of their flesh and tortured as they were skinned". Indeed, the Horde is one of the few enemies to strike true fear and terror in Xena.

^[3] Trying to escape by boat, Xena and Gabrielle run into several wounded and dying men. Gabrielle, always thinking of others first, wants to help them. Xena, realizing that to stop could mean their own deaths, pushes on. Xena has already begun to revert to the cold, pragmatic warrior she once was. In battle, people die, and you cannot save everyone without risking your own neck. At the last moment though, she stops paddling long enough to rescue one of the wounded, perhaps because of Gabrielle's influence, or perhaps because Xena still has some compassion left.

Attitude Toward the Enemy

Xena's goal is simple -- 'Kill 'em all!'.

^[4] From the beginning, we see the different attitudes between Xena and Gabrielle toward "the enemy". To Xena, the Horde is an inhuman mass to fear and hate, an enemy which she must flee or fight. Though Xena has faced the Horde before, she has never made an effort to understand them, to learn why they attack. The Horde is simply a killing machine which must be stopped. Gabrielle finds it hard to accept the Horde as simply "savage" without some motive behind the savagery. She needs to understand why they attack. Though obviously terrified by the Horde, Gabrielle still pauses to question Xena, "What are they? They must want something". Xena says simply, "Nobody knows." The true answer is nobody is too interested in finding out.

^[5] Xena knows she is going to have to dredge up her old warrior ways to fight the Horde. She tells Gabrielle, "Things are going to get worse. Especially with what I have to do to get us out of here". Xena is preparing both herself and Gabrielle for her reversion to the old Xena, the cold Xena, the Xena who fights hard and dirty to defeat her enemy. Gabrielle does not yet understand the significance of this remark, but she soon will.

Defending the Fortress

^[6] Xena and Gabrielle escape to a fortress manned by Athenian guards. These men, under siege by the Horde, have given up all hope. When one soldier is told to man the walls, his cold reply is, "Who cares. We're dead anyway". To defend the fortress against the Horde, Xena realizes she must take command. When the Athenians learn who Xena is (the price of fame in Ancient Greece) their spirits perk up. With her reputation and skills as a warrior, Xena may be their only chance for survival. She quickly assumes control of the army, plans strategies, barks orders, and reverts to the warrior she used to be. This paints a picture of Xena as she once was, brutal commander of armies, sharp tactician, all focused on killing the enemy and winning the battle. This is not quite the Xena we know, and she's not the Xena Gabrielle knows, but it may be the only Xena who stands a chance of defeating the Horde.

^[7] As Xena plays the role of commander to defend the fortress, Gabrielle turns to her natural role of care giver to help the wounded and dying. Gabrielle shows Xena the makeshift hospital she has created. This leads to the first chill between them. Xena knows that saving the wounded and dying cannot be a priority if the fortress is to survive. She wants the food and water rationed to the healthy, fighting soldiers, even if that means the wounded will die. This is a simple reality of war, a basic fact of survival. Gabrielle, naive to the ways of war, is shocked by this attitude:

               GABRIELLE
You expect me to decide who lives and
who...
               XENA
I want men outside, Gabrielle. You
figure it out. And let Menticles know
when they die. We need them out on the
wall.

               GABRIELLE
         (to herself)
I can't. I can't.

Xena the Warrior

^[9] The next skirmish between the Athenians and the Horde is fierce. As one Horde warrior retreats from the fortress, Xena hurls an ax into his back. Gabrielle witnesses this act with horror. This is no longer just a fight for survival; this is a bloodthirsty battle, with both sides fighting dirty. Gabrielle challenges Xena's lust for killing:

               GABRIELLE
What is going on with you?

               XENA
I'm trying to save our skins. Those
things outside will kill us all.

               GABRIELLE
This is insane. You're letting these
men die. You axed that man in the back.

               XENA
He was inside our battlements. He saw
our defenses. I couldn't risk it.

               GABRIELLE
I can't believe this, Xena. You're
scaring me.

               XENA
This is war. What did you expect?
Glamour? There are no good choices,
only lesser degrees of evil.

A Clean War?

               GABRIELLE
There is a choice: to stop fighting.

               XENA
They aren't like us. There is nothing
about them that we can or should
understand.

               GABRIELLE
But have you even tried?

               XENA
I know them. There's nothing.

               XENA
Don't you ever question my authority or
methods in front of my troops. I told
you I'd do whatever it takes, and if
that means killing him later, I'll do
it.

               GABRIELLE
Your troops? I don't understand.

               XENA
We didn't ask for this. If they want a
fight to the death, they're going to
get it. What part of that didn't you
understand?

               GABRIELLE
You. Who are you, Xena? What happened
to the Xena that I know?

               XENA
That Xena can't help us now. If losing
her is the price for saving us all,
I'll pay it. It's just a part of me I
didn't think I'd need anymore.

A Truce?

^[14] Throughout the episode, the Horde is continually reduced, by Xena and the Athenians, to animals. Xena describes them hunting like a pack of wild dogs. During the interrogation of the Horde prisoner, one of the Athenians says, "Look, the animal understands, but he's not going to help us". Reducing your enemy to animals makes it easier to hate and fear them.

^[15] Gabrielle tries to communicate with the Horde prisoner. She slowly reaches out her hand to touch him, but he recoils. Gabrielle now realizes that both sides are blinded by fear and hatred. Both sides have lost their humanity, the price one pays in war. She knows that unless someone makes an effort to stop this, the battle will rage on until everyone is dead. Gabrielle leaves the safety of the fortress and risks her own life to bring water to the wounded Horde outside.

^[16] Gabrielle seems to have placed herself in obvious danger, yet the Hordesmen leave her alone and, instead, collect their dying warriors. They interpret her action as a truce, which allows both sides to gather their wounded. Gabrielle's effort serves as a wake-up call to Xena. This is the first break in the battle, and it was achieved not through force, but through a compassionate act of self-sacrifice. Xena now sends men to Gabrielle to help with the wounded. She brings back the same Horde prisoner she tried to torture before, this time to prove a point. She draws her sword on him. He backs down, not because of her skills as a warrior, but because he thinks himself unworthy of her. Xena realizes she and the Horde do have something in common, a code of honor.

Kaltaka is the Key

               XENA
Kaltaka turned out to be the key. When
you went out there, they thought it was
a truce to retrieve the wounded. I let
my fear and hatred blind me to
everything.

               GABRIELLE
Sometimes the past can do that. Xena,
if I had been through what you've been
through...

               XENA
No. No. You understand hatred, but you
have never given into it. You don't
know how much I love...that.

^[19] A show of force is needed to end the hostilities. Instead of a full-scale battle, however, it must be a fight between Xena and the leader of the Horde. Though Gabrielle at first questions this strategy, she accepts Xena's judgment. She sees that Xena has gotten past the fear and hatred that crippled her before. Gabrielle is able to trust Xena's instincts again. Xena defeats the Horde leader in a personal skirmish but refuses to kill him. Losing his army's respect, he is killed by his own men, who then retreat into the woods. The battle is over--for now.

               XENA
They'll be back. Maybe not this year,
but some day.

               GABRIELLE
Can anyone stop them?

               XENA
Yeah. But it won't be warriors. It'll
be someone like you. I just hope that
wherever the Horde is from, they have
a Gabrielle.

Stronger Together

^[21] Xena and Gabrielle spend much of the episode at odds, world's apart on their feelings toward war and peace. Yet, once they repair their differences, the two are stronger together than apart. Gabrielle's compassionate gestures open a break in the battle, but Xena must still show force to defeat the leader of the Horde and gain the respect of his men. THE PRICE (44/220) shows that peace is a difficult but necessary process. The next time Xena and the Horde meet, they may still meet as enemies, but the combined efforts of Xena and Gabrielle have brought the possibility of peace a bit closer.