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Gabrielle: "What's this about?" |
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Gabrielle: "Still keeping secrets from me … after all these years." |
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Xena: "I'm not trying to shut you out. You know our friendship's the most important thing in my life, but in this case--" |
[Gabrielle awakens in the morning to find Xena gone and a scroll in her place.]
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Xena: "Gabrielle, I've gone to take care of some unfinished business. This mission is so dangerous I'm afraid I won't survive. I can't ask you to die with me once again. Whatever happens, know that my love for you is endless." |
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Gabrielle: [keeping a journal of the events that followed] … "I know Xena wouldn't have done this if she felt 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." |
Gabrielle: "Excuse me, does your tapestry have a story behind it?"
Merchant: "You're not from around here, I take it."
Gabrielle: "No."
Merchant: "Well, these women that fly the horses, they're called Valkyrie, Odin's elite guard."
Gabrielle: "Odin? The King of the Norse gods? So, are the Valkyrie gods?"
Merchant: "No. They are mortal. But Odin teaches his favorite Valkyrie some runes."
Gabrielle: "Runes?"
Merchant: "They are magical old Norse writings. They contain chants that give great power to the one who knows them."
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Gabrielle: "This one, here … she looks different from the rest." |
Gabrielle: "Do you know about the Valkyrie Xena?"
Brunnhilda: "Studying her has been the passion of my life."
Gabrielle: "Have you seen her recently?"
Brunnhilda: "Xena's reign of terror ended almost thirty-five years ago. She's long since disappeared."
Gabrielle: "My name is Gabrielle. I've come a long way to find out about this Xena. Please, will you tell me what you know?"
Brunnhilda: "She came to us from a distant land in the east. She called it Chin. We call it the land that sent us a demon …"
Xena: "Hey, there. Who'd you mess with?"Brunnhilda: "Xena brought Odin out of his despair by sharing with him her lust for life. He, in return, 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 …"
Odin: "No one is capable of doing this to me without my consent."
Xena: "What kind of idiot has himself crucified?"
Odin: "I don't wish to take part in the struggle of life anymore."
Xena: "Why would you want to do that?"
Odin: "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, I ask, 'are we doomed to live in a constant state of endless conflict?'"
Xena: "Damn straight. That's what makes life so worth living. You know, everyday I wake up and I feel pumped by the knowledge that there is always someone around the next corner … someone for me to challenge, fight and conquer."
Odin: "Someday, someone may conquer you."
Xena: "Precisely … which is why I don't have time to spend chatting with a god who doesn't know what to do with his immortality."
Xena: "The name's Xena. You know, you can't escape the struggle, Odin. You gotta embrace it."
Soldier: "They outnumber us two to one, and they have superior weapons. Maybe we should surrender."Gabrielle: "Poor Xena."
Xena: "Wrong."
Soldier: "It's a Valkyrie."
Xena: "Did someone say 'surrender'? What does surrender give you?"
Grinhilda: "The ability to fight another day, a chance to see their families again, and the berserkers who are chasing them the opportunity to show mercy."
Xena: "This is a battlefield. The only thing to do here is fight."
Soldier: "Odin!"
Xena: "Odin!"[The boys run off to fight, and are consequently slaughtered by the berserkers.]
Odin: "And what exactly do you desire?"
Xena: "Pour me some more wine, and I will show you after dinner."
Odin: "Oh … Grinhilda, your late. Where have you been?"
Grinhilda: "Well, I've been escorting slain soldiers to their quarter's here in Valhalla."
Xena: "They're all good soldiers willing to die with Odin's name on their lips."
Grinhilda: "Escorting the dead is our sacred duty. There is no joy in that duty when brave, young men are killed over a senseless battle for greed."
Grinhilda: "Not their survival."
Xena: "No, not theirs, but theirs is a greater reward. Dying with a sword in their hand honors their lord and master, Odin. It earns them a place at his eternal banquet."Grinhilda: "Odin, this is madness."
Odin: "Oh, I don't know, Grinhilda. Makes some sense to me."
Grinhilda: "If you're embracing her worldview, there is no room here for me. I'll go."
Xena: "Trust me, Sire, you can live without love."
Brunnhilda: "Poor Xena? You haven't been listening very well, have you?"
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Gabrielle: "Xena thought she could live without love. I know that she can't, because she's my friend. Is there anything else you can tell me to help me find her?" |
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Gabrielle: [writing in her scroll] … "I don't know the details of Xena's mission, but I'm beginning to understand the goal. She wants to correct some great wrong she did in the past. My dear friend's curse is seeking a redemption she'll never allow herself." |
Gabrielle: [hears a suspicious sound nearby] … "Brunnhilda? Is that you? … Brunnhilda?" … [readies herself for an attack]
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