"It looks good on me, don'tcha think?" "I'm waiting for you." "You don't get it, do you?" "As long as I wear this ring..." "ya can't win." "Come on." "Come on." "Don't think you've won anything!" "These chains will hold you for eternity and you will never use the powers of the ring." "Never!" "35 YEARS LATER" "What?" "Ya gonna finish that?" "All of it." "I thought the portions here were kind of small." "You're not getting mine." "Come on, Gabrielle..." "You're playing with your food." "No, I'm relishing it." "You got a problem?" "I don't appreciate people staring at me while I'm eating." "Are you Xena?" "Yeah, who wants to know?" "My name is Beowulf." "You got business with me, Beowulf?" "I gotta talk to this man, Gabrielle." "In the time of ancient gods, warlords and kings a land in turmoil cried out for a hero." "She was Xena." "A mighty princess forged in the heat of battle." "The power..." "The passion..." "The danger..." "Her courage will change the world." "XENA, THE WARRIOR PRINCESS" "All right." "What's this about?" "Nothing." "Do you want my food?" "No, I've lost my appetite." "Still keeping secrets from me after all these years..." "Look..." "It's something I did a long time before I met you." "I just don't feel like talking about it right now." "All right." "I'm not trying to shut you out." "You know our friendship's the most important thing in my life..." "...but in this case..." "Xena..." "You don't have to tell me." "Part of being a friend is letting people keep secrets." "I respect that." "Ok." ""Gabrielle, I've gone to take care of some unfinished business." "This mission is so dangerous I'm afraid I won't survive." "And I can't ask you to die with me once again." "Whatever happens know that my love for you is endless." "Xena"" "I know Xena wouldn't have done this if she didn't feel this was something she had to do by herself." "I debated whether to respect her wish but I can't." "Her path is my path." "I've been following her now for weeks." "Her trail has taken me north." "Due north Farther north than I've ever been." "Excuse me." "Does your tapestry have a story behind it?" "You're not from around here, I take it." "No." "Well, these women that ride the flying horses..." "They're called Valkyries." "Odin's elite guard." "Odin?" "King of the norse gods?" "So, are the Valkyrie gods?" "No." "They are mortal but Odin teaches his favorite Valkyrie some runes." "Runes?" "They are magical, old norse writings." "They contain chants that give great power to the one who knows them." "This one..." "Here..." "She looks different from the rest." "Yes." "Now what was her name..." "Xena." "Xena?" "Do you know about this Valkyrie, Xena?" "Studying her has been the passion of my life." "Have you seen her recently?" "Look..." "Xena's reign of terror ended almost 35 years ago." "She's long since disappeared." "My name is Gabrielle." "I have come a long way to find out about this Xena." "Please, will you tell me what you know?" "She came to us from a distant land in the east." "She called it "China"." "We call it "the land that sent us a demon"." "Hey, there, who'd you mess with?" "No one is capable of doing this to me without my consent." "What kind of an idiot has himself crucified?" "I don't wish to take part in the struggle of life anymore." "Why would you wanna do that?" "I am Odin." "King of the norse gods." "It is my duty to bring peace to the norse country." "Yet, as I sit in Valhalla and watch the bitter struggle called life on this Earth, I ask..." "Are we doomed to live in a constant state of endless conflict?" "Damn straight." "That's what makes life so worth living." "You know, every day I wake up and I feel pumped by the knowledge that there is always someone around the next corner Someone for me to challenge, to fight, and to conquer." "Someday, someone may conquer you." "Precisely..." "Which is why I don't have time to waste chatting with a god who doesn't know what to do with his immortality." "Wait." "Who are you?" "The name's Xena." "You know, you can't escape the struggle, Odin." "Ya gotta embrace it." "Xena brought Odin out of his despair by sharing with him her lust for life." "He, in turn, made her a Valkyrie." "Xena excelled in her new role but it was only a matter of time before she came into conflict with the woman who was the leader of the Valkyrie and Odin's lover." "...Grinhilda." "They outnumber us two to one, and they have superior weapons." "Maybe we should surrender." "Wrong!" "It's a Valkyrie." "Did someone say "surrender"?" "What does surrender give you?" "The ability to fight another day." "A chance to see their families again." "And the berserkers who were chasing them will have an opportunity..." "...to show mercy." "This is a battlefield!" "The only thing to do here is fight." "Your pursuers come over that rise in seconds." "So you can surrender and crawl back to your hovels and the everlasting scorn of your kinfolk or... you can go out in a blaze of glory and fight and die in Odin's name!" "Odin!" "Odin!" "And what exactly do you desire?" "Pour me some wine and I'll have to show you after dinner." "Grinhilda..." "You're late." "Where have ya been?" "Well, I've been escorting slain soldiers to their quarters here in Valhalla." "They're all good soldiers, willing to die with Odin's name on their lips." "Escorting the dead is our sacred duty." "There's no joy in that duty when brave young men are killed over a senseless battle for greed." "Greed is one of the fundamentals of life." "It's like sex." "It's like the will to power." "It's survival." "Not their survival." "No, not theirs but theirs is a greater reward." "...Dying with a sword in their hand, honors their lord and master Odin and earns them a place at his eternal banquet." "Odin, this is madness." "Oh, I don't know, Grinhilda." "Makes some sense to me." "If you're embracing her worldview there is no room here for me." "I'll go." "I loved her once." "Trust me, sire..." "You can live without love." "Poor Xena..." "Poor Xena?" "You haven't been listening very well, have you?" "Xena thought that she could live without love." "I know that she can't, 'cause she's my friend." "Is there anything else you can tell me to help me find her?" "Camp here tonight." "I'll come visit you this evening." "I'll tell you what I know." "Maybe something will help." "I'd appreciate that." "I don't know the details of Xena's mission but I'm beginning to understand her goal." "She wants to correct some great wrong she did in the past." "My dear friend's curse is to spend the rest of her life seeking a redemption she'll never allow herself." "Brunhilda?" "Is that you?" "Brunhilda?" "You're pretty good." "You cut me with my own sword." "That's impressive." "I can't tell whether you're better than me or not, though and to prove it, I think one of us would have to die." "And I don't want that." "Why did you attack me?" "To prove to you that I am worthy to fight alongside Xena." "If what you're telling me is true and Xena's still alive I am on the verge of realizing a lifelong dream." "I'll be able to meet the great Xena." "Let me help you find her." "I know these woods like the back of my hand." "If you can tell me everything that you know about Xena and these Valkyries I bet I could figure it out." "All right." "Where did I leave off?" "Xena won Odin from Grinhilda." "Right." "And of course, that wasn't enough for Xena." "You learn quickly." "That's the power you're going to give me?" "But couldn't I do that by just rubbing together a couple 'a sticks?" "Well, couldn't I?" "No." "You've only just begun exploring it." "You can go much further." "If you keep practicing, one day you'll be able to harness all your energy into a flame that will burn for as long as you wish." "Turn all of my bodily energy into a bonfire..." "Sounds like self-sacrifice." "I'm not into that, Odin." "Xena, I have given you everything I give to the other Valkyrie." "I want more." "Like what?" "Odin..." "I'm..." "Tell me about the Rheingold." "Oh, I see." "Where are you going?" "I can't give my love to someone who doesn't trust me, Odin." "I can't." "Your love?" "What are you talking about?" "I thought you could live without love." "I lied." "Xena..." "I had no idea you felt this way." "The first thing you should know..." "The Rheingold is very dangerous to someone who hasn't forsaken their love." "Xena is moving up the Rhine searching for the Rhine maidens." "How does she know about the maidens?" "You told her..." "She knew you wouldn't tell her if you thought she had forsaken love so she acted as if she was in love with you, didn't she?" "That's ridiculous!" "How would she know that the power of the Rheingold is only available to those who have forsaken their love?" "Everybody knows what the gold does to a loving heart." "The local bards sing songs about it." "The local bards know this?" "You ought to mix with the people more, Odin." "What they don't know is how to find the Rheingold." "Now, however, Xena does." "Give me back command of the Valkyrie." "I can stop her." "So Xena headed for the Rhine river in hope she could get the Rhine maidens to lead her to the gold." "But Grinhilda and the other Valkyrie weren't far behind." "They couldn't stop her, though, could they?" "Get her." "So now, only the Rhine maidens stood between Xena and ultimate power." "Sister, come join us." "Our new friend is delightful." "I think I love her." "You fall in love too easily, sister." "I love her too." "Be quiet!" "She's my friend." "I can't show you that." "Come on, just a peek." "It's strictly forbidden." "Well..." "How can I be a Rhine maiden if I don't see it?" "You want to become a Rhine maiden?" "Sure." "Then I can play with you all day." "Follow me." "Where is it?" "The Rheingold..." "You mustn't touch it." "Yes, I must." "Are you mad?" "The Rheingold will only bring about your destruction." "Only if I haven't forsaken love." "Have you?" "Yep." "A ring forged from the Rheingold would give Xena ultimate power." "And once she put it on, she became invincible." "Xena wouldn't need a ring." "She's a great fighter." "She's probably the best." "You love her very much, don't you?" "She's my best friend." "I know her like I know my own heart." "A friendship like that is something to be envied." "It has a price, like everything." "A price you love paying." "Yeah." "She feels the same?" "I hope so." "She must." "She must be on a very dangerous mission, otherwise she probably wouldn't have left you behind." "That's what her note said." "You miss your friend, don't you?" "Sure." "She is very beautiful." "Yes, she is." "I only saw her the one time but..." "she seems special." "Who knows how I'd feel if I got to know her." "Oh, you'd like her." "Of course, neither one of us will live long enough to see her again, anyway." "We'll be there soon." "Good." "The people up here think of you as a demon." "So they should." "Can you think of anything yet?" "Any reason she would have come north?" "No." "Ever since that Beowulf came." "Beowulf?" "Are you Xena?" "Yeah." "Yeah, he had this... this lock." "It had two ravens on it." "Two ravens?" "Then I know why she came north, Gabrielle." "She's on a suicide mission." "Well, this is it." "...The end of the line." "Stay strong, Garielle." "23 warriors... ripped apart." "The lucky ones died right her." "The unlucky ones dragged back to the beasts's lair..." "Eaten alive." "Friends of yours?" "Many friends." "Two brothers." "I will do anything to avenge them." "I'm ready to die myself." "Whatever happens, Beowulf, I'm with you." "What do they call this beast?" "Grindl." "Maybe we can take Grindl down with us." "It's big and it's slow." "You know this monster pretty well." "I should." "I created it." "I'm sure they went to the eastwyn bog." "How far are we?" "Well..." "We should camp here tonight." "That way, in the morning..." "No, no." "We're not gonna camp." "We're going to travel through the night." "Then we'll be there by morning." "I just hope we don't run into Grindl along the way." "Who's Grindl?" "What's Grindl's a better question." "All the while I was growing up I heard stories about a monster trapped in an abandoned mine above the bog." "Held by a raven lock?" "Exactly." "Ravens are the sign of Odin." "He crafted that lock himself." "Supposedly, it was unbreakable by human hands." "What happened?" "The ring happened." "The one that Xena made out of the Rheingold." "That ring's gotta go back to the Rhine maidens." "If one of us survives." "The ring!" "Get ready for round two." "This is it, isn't it?" "You do realize this may mean your death." "Xena's path is my path." "I wish I had a friend like you." "You do." "It dragged her off." "I don't know whether she's dead or alive." "Xena?" "No." "Xena..." "TO BE CONTINUED..."