The Warrior Princess

This episode, from the first season of Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, marks the third appearance of Lucy Lawless in the Xenaverse. (She had previously appeared as Lysia in Hercules and the Amazon Women and Lyla in the episode As Darkness Falls.) Her latest character would soon catapult the unknown Kiwi actress into international stardom.

Not surprisingly, the story focuses mostly on the relationship between Hercules and Iolaus. Xena serves primarily as the villain-of-the-week, and a plot wedge driven between the two friends. Her character receives a little bit of development, but the information presented here doesn't seem to agree with the story we learn later.

For example, if Xena really was a scourge of the known world less than a decade earlier -- as we learn in episodes like Destiny and Past Imperfect -- why hasn't Hercules heard of her? The warlord we meet in this episode certainly doesn't give the impression of a major military commander.

In fact, the Xena we meet here bears little resemblance to the one we meet just a few episodes later in The Gauntlet. Still, despite the differences and inconsistency, there are some glimmers of the woman we will later come to love.

For example, Xena shows a keen tactical mind right from the beginning. Hercules is a threat to her, and she moves to eliminate that threat. She has clearly studied her opponent and has realized the best way to get to him is to sneak under his radar by using his best friend. (Incidentally, this is a tactic that will be used against her by the Olympians in the fifth season finale of Xena Motherhood.)

Xena also displays some impressive fighting skills. She defeats several of her men in hand-to-hand combat in her opening scene, and shows her fierce temper and sharp tongue when she berates them for getting beaten by a woman. In addition, Lucy's performance clearly captures the fiery spirit of this woman, and her desire for military conquest.

In fact, there isn't anything here that directly contradicts what we learn later -- at least, not exactly. She mentions to Iolaus that she has three brothers, but we have only met two of them since, and there hasn't even been a mention of the third. She also implies that the reason she is conquering the Arcadian highlands is to protect her own homeland.

If looking at the first couple of seasons of Xena in comparison to this individual episode, one difference becomes obvious almost right away. The Xena of The Warrior Princess is a vastly more sensual creature. She is also much more cunning and manipulative than her later incarnation -- though we are all aware that Xena is still a master manipulator.

Until the fifth season, however, Xena didn't really use her feminine wiles to achieve her goals. I find this rather interesting. It appears that when it came time to develop the character for her own series, the powers that be tweaked her more along the lines of a traditional action hero. This change appears as early as The Gauntlet where it is clear she no longer leads her troops by getting them to lust after her -- a tool she uses to great effect in this episode.

This is not to say that the reformed Xena isn't feminine -- I'm sure that a cursory scan of the hundred-odd episodes will reveal cases where she did use her sexuality as a tool. (Her seduction of Ares in Amphipolis Under Siege springs instantly to mind.) But in general, it would appear that her sensuality was toned down considerably when it came time to reform the Warrior Princess for her own series.

Kevin Sorbo and Michael Hurst do a wonderful job in this episode as well. The conflict between the characters provides some excellent dramatic tension and prevents this episode from becoming too cliched. Indeed, it sets a precedent for later events like the infamous Rift of Xena's third season. I feel that Herc and Iolaus's conflict, however, is resolved a little too neatly, and the tension isn't pushed as far as it could have gone, simply because we are certain where the story is going to end up. These are typical "shortcomings" in a television adventure series, simply because of the limitations placed on production.

Looking back on this episode years later, it is easy to see how Xena became so successful. This episode is only a rough sketch of the fascinating, multi-faceted character we would later come to know, but many of the elements are there right from the beginning. In my opinion it isn't the best of the original Xena Trilogy (that honor easily goes to The Gauntlet, but it certainly deserves recognition for starting the whole phenomenon.

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