Xena: "This is it. This is its lair."
Gabrielle: "Are you sure about this?"
Xena: "I'm sure."
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Beowulf: "So, what's the plan?" |
Xena: "I defeated the Rhine Maidens to steal their gold, not for the wealth it could have brought me, but for the power foretold by Odin's rune stones. I melted down the Rheingold, harnessing all its power into a single ring … a ring that could give a mortal the power of a god …"
[Xena holds up the ring to inspect it, but an arrow flies past her, snags the ring and deposits into the hand of Grinhilda.]Beowulf: "You mean this monster that's been killing my people is actually Grinhilda, the Valkyrie?"Xena: "Give me that ring. I've thrashed you before, Grinhilda. I can do it again."
Grinhilda: "I won't let the power of the Rheingold fall into the hands of a monster like you."
Xena: "It's no use to you. You know what the runes say. Unless you have forsaken love, the power of the ring will destroy what you value most."
Grinhilda: "The runes also say that anyone who puts on the ring has a surge of godlike strength before the destructive power kicks in."
Xena: "You gamble that you can beat me before the ring destroys your essence."
Grinhilda: "I'll take that chance to destroy you. The Valkyrie had honor once, before they learned to prize the thirst of blood. You taught us that, Xena."
Xena: "Let's see if you took notes."
Xena: "It's a whole new you, Grinhilda. Now we see what you prize most, Grinhilda. You've lost what you hold dearest in your heart -- your humanity, your beauty." … [cuts off Grinhilda's deformed finger and then places the ring on her own hand]
Brunnhilda: "Then why didn't you just use the ring to kill her?"
Xena: "Killing her would have been kind compared to what I had in mind for her."
Xena: "As fearsome as she was in her new form, she knew that she was no match for me with the ring. She fled. Using chains I'd stolen from Odin and Grinhilda's own necklace that I used as a lock, I transformed this mine into her prison. Then, I drove Grinhilda towards her fate. I knew that being trapped in that hideous form would be the ultimate torture for Grinhilda. I wanted her to suffer with her ugliness forever …"
Xena: "Don't think you've won anything! These chains will hold you for eternity and you will never use the power of the ring! Never!"Xena: "I wasn't going in that cage without the ring, and Grinhilda wasn't about to give it to me. It was a stalemate. I knew that the power of the ring would be useless for her unless …"
Gabrielle: "She learned to forsake love."
Xena: "That's right. Thirty-five years is enough to drive the love out of anyone's heart, and once that happened, the power of the ring was hers. She broke free. Now, nothing would stop her murderous rampage … [hears a roar in the not too far distance] … You ready for this?"
Xena: [flags down the monster] … "Come and get some. Come on. Come on. What are you waiting for? Come on. That's it. Come on."
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Beowulf: [from a nearby ledge with a really big boulder balanced on it] … "Here she comes." |
Xena: "You know you want it. You remember me, don't you? Come on. Come on."
[The monster enters the cavern, but stops just shy of the ledge. It looks around, and smelling a rat, takes back off down the mine shaft.]
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Xena: "Stay here!" |
[The monster attacks the foursome. In the fray, one of the shaft supports is weakened and becomes unstable.]
Xena: "Beowulf, get to the other side!"
Beowulf: "What about you?"
Xena: "Don't worry about me. Go!"
[Xena throws her chakram at the unstable support beam and the ceiling of the mine shaft comes crumbling down separating her and Grindl from the Gabrielle, Brunnhilda and Beowulf.]
Beowulf: "Gabrielle, are you hurt?"
Brunnhilda: "Are you alright?"
Gabrielle: "Xena! …[realizing she's cut off from Xena] … Xena!"
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