Movie: Xena Series Finale, Director’s Cut.

Action/Adventure. Drama. Lesbian subtext.

Actors:

Lucy Lawless_Xena

Renee O’Connor_Gabrielle

Michelle Ang_Akemi

??_Yodoshi

Summary: The Land of the Rising Sun is under attack! A ghost is apparently devowering souls at an alarming rate, so a ghost tea-house hostess named Akemi asks the help of a monk to deliver a message to the Warrior Princess, Xena. Upon recieving this message, the Warrior Princess and Gabrielle head out to Japa, upon which Xena tells Gabrielle of her past with Akemi.Then as they arrive on the shores, they find the city of Higuchi in flames. This the work of Yodoshi, and Gabrielle and Xena quickly get the flames out and save the city. It is then a ghost killer, Harukata, tells Xena of the damage she did here last time…

On their final adventure together, Xena and Akemi headout to her fathers palace to form an alliance with her army. However, Akemi has her own plans: when she meets her father, Akemi kills him, exacting her revenge for her family. It is then when Akemi asks Xena to behead her, and it must be with the Kitana. After Xena does so, she cremates the girl’s body and headsout to put them in the family shrine in Higuchi. When word got out of Xena honoring the ashes OF A GIRL WHO HAD KILLED HER FATHER, the townspeople banded together to stop her. After Akemi’s ashes get scattered all over the ice during a fight, Xena gets pissed off and starts spitting fire all over the place…

This rage had supposedly killed 40,000 people. The next day, when Yodoshi’s army gathers to fight Xena, she learns why Harukata could not destroy the soul-eating ghost known as Yodoshi: he’s mortal and only a SPIRIT AS MIGHTY AS YODOSHI would be able to stop him. Later on, right before the battle, Xena and Gabrielle share a touching moment in a war room-where her new armor is laid out. Xena shows Gabrielle the pinch, after that, Xena tricks Gabrielle into performing the pinch on her and tells us this memorable quote:

“If I only had thirty seconds to live, this is how I want to live them, looking into your eyes.”

When it’s time, the pinch is taken off and they head out for battle. Once on the field, a memorable battle between 1000 soldiers and Xena ensues. When Xena is finished with the army, she is beheaded by the general and the body is taken to a camp. However, the soul is in the teahouse with Akemi. They start to rejoice, but happy moments are short lived when Yodoshi comes a-bargin’ in. When Gabrielle, the monk and Harukata arrive after Yodoshi is gone, Gabrielle is told that she must go to Mount Fuji-San with Xena’s ashes to bring her back to life from the waters of the Fountain of Strength before sundown tomorrow. Gabrielle heads out to the camp, and Akemi and Xena catch up with Yodoshi on Fuji-San. When Gabrielle arrives with the warrior princess’ ashes, she finds herself in the middle of a battle to end all battles. When the Warrior Ghost-ess is wounded, Gabrielle drinks from the Fountain of Strength and kisses Xena, bestowing onto her the powers of the mystic pool. The Warrior Ghost becomes a Warrior Godddess and finds Yodoshi, where she cuts his head off and releases all the souls that have been trapped inside him. At afternoon, Gabrielle is about to dump the ashes of Xena into the fountain when Xena tells her that “For those souls to reach a state of peace, they must be avenged. I can’t come back.”

Either hours later or the day after, Gabrielle is sailing on a boat alone with Xena’s ashes:

Gabrielle: [sailing back across the sea, holding Xena’s ashes close] … “A life of journeying has brought you to the farthest lands, to the very edge of the earth.”
Xena: [appearing beside her friend] … “And to the place where I’ll always remain … your heart.”

Xena: “So where to now?”
Gabrielle: “I think we should go south to the land of the Pharaohs. I hear they need a girl with a chakram.”
Xena: “Where you go … I’m at your side.”
Gabrielle: “I knew you’d say that.”

Review: Touching, absolutely touching. From the emotion to the battle scenes. All were worthy of fame. I really liked the part when Xena was fighting the army alone, and has been an inspiration to my stories. And the emotion…I just hope I can find a guy that cares about me the way Xena cared about Gabrielle. To this day, I still cry when I see Gabrielle alone on the boat with Xena’s ashes in the final scene.