Crusader

The episode opens with Xena and Gabrielle fighting what appears to be a generic group of thugs as a veiled rider approaches. One of the thugs tells this mysterious stranger that they are getting their rear ends kicked, and the rider leaps into action. In the ensuing fight, she nearly kills Gabrielle, but holds back the death strike at the last moment.

She reveals that she is a servant of "The Light," and invites Xena and Gabrielle to join her in her battle to rid the world of evil. Gabrielle is fascinated by this woman, who seems to embody the balance that she herself is seeking in her life; the reverence and compassion for life that she feels, coupled with the fighting ability of her friend Xena.

As the story progresses, we learn that Najara is not all she appears to be. She is, in fact, a dangerous zealot that fervently believes in the rightness of her cause, regardless of the harm it may bring to innocents caught up in her darkness-cleansing wrath.

In the end, Xena defeats the Crusader, and Najara is sent to prison to face the justice she never gave her own victims.

Najara is wonderful character. When this episode first aired, I hoped that she would be the new "nemesis" for the warrior duo, since Callisto had (apparently) been sent to her final rest in Sacrifice at the close of season three. In fact, I feel that Najara offered a moral challenge never really present in the many struggles Xena faced against the personification of her own inner demons.

The appearance of Najara was a preview of the spiritual crisis that would follow Gabrielle through much of the fourth season, especially given the events of A Good Day, one of the previous episodes.

Fanaticism is what made Najara so dangerous. She wasn't evil (at least, not in the traditional fantasy hero sense); she was simply convinced that her way was the only way. The fact that she was pursuing these goals in the service of Good (which she called "the Light") made it more subtle and insidious than any overt threat to life and limb.

I have to admit when the episode first aired, the "Coming up next…" preview bothered me. I knew that there would be a showdown between Xena and Najara, and just wasn't sure how it was going to come about.

It wasn't until Najara told Gabrielle later in the episode that she only killed when absolutely necessary that I suddenly realized what had been bothering me -- the way she had been slicing through those slavers would have put our Warrior Princess to shame. The pieces clicked at that point, and I could relax a little bit.

When Najara is talking to Xena and Gabrielle about the Light, you could tell that she was talking more to Gabrielle than to Xena. It was like she could sense that Xena wasn't really open to her philosophy. Her initial greeting to them tied into that as well. Gabrielle had not lost the goodness inside her, despite the trials, whereas Xena had "chosen to fight the darkness inside." A comment that implies only Xena's continuing quest for redemption kept Najara from putting her down like a rabid dog.

Watching the episode again, I could tell that Gabrielle was really interested in what Najara was talking about. She was more hesitant about Najara's cult than she was in Britannia with Khrafstar in season three (in The Deliverer), but when it appeared that Najara was sincere, Gabby signed on.

There is one minor gaffe I picked up on the first time I watched this episode, and I caught again the next time around. When Najara declares she is starting her hospice, Gabrielle is willing to jump on board, despite the fact she doesn't know that Xena isn't coming back! What happened to the Gabrielle of the previous episode (Locked Up and Tied Down) who had apparently accepted her job to keep Xena's darkness in check? While I was perfectly willing to believe she would ask to be initiated into the Light, her motivation for doing so at that moment felt wrong to me.

The concern Xena and Gabrielle have for each other is clearly demonstrated by their actions in this episode. Xena is willing to leave Gabby in order to save her from the vision of their deaths (one of the other threads running through the fourth season). Gabby is willing to leave with Najara, even after she has learned the truth, in order to save Xena's life. Just knowing that the other is alive, even if they aren't together, is worth any personal sacrifice. This is absolutely consistent with their characters, and makes me question those fans that claim that the relationship between Xena and Gabrielle in later seasons didn't clearly demonstrate their feelings for one another.

This episode has two wonderful fights, one in a tavern just before Gabrielle leaves with Najara. We see that Najara can beat Xena, setting up a nice rivalry. In the second battle, our faith in Xena's prowess is reassured. The nearly flawless execution of their plan, and the affirmation of Gabrielle as Xena's conscience when she keeps Xena from letting Najara plunge to her death both make the climactic battle a worthy addition to the Xena canon of great action sequences.

Perhaps the single most chilling moment in this episode is the last line. Najara says, "I forgive you Gabrielle." Knowing the depth of Najara's fanaticism, it seems clear that she blames Xena for leading the bard astray.

All in all, I have to rank this episode fairly well. On the surface it is an engaging action tale, as many of the episodes are. Underneath it, however, are the currents that run throughout the fourth season and beyond; is fighting justified when it is for "The Greater Good"? Is there a line that can be crossed in that fight? Is it possible for Gabrielle to find peace with the life she has chosen at Xena's side?

The answer to that last question, we later learn, is an unequivocal yes, but it is good to look back at the early days of this spiritual quest and see how it all started.

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