Xena: Warrior Princess season 5

The fifth season of the television series Xena: Warrior Princess commenced airing in the United States and Canada on September 27, 1999, and concluded on May 22, 2000, and contained 22 episodes.

Xena: Warrior Princess
Season 5
DVD cover
No. of episodes22
Release
Original networkUSA Network
Original releaseSeptember 27, 1999 (1999-09-27) –
May 22, 2000 (2000-05-22)
Season chronology
← Previous
Season 4
Next →
Season 6
List of episodes

The fifth season aired in the United States on the USA Network. The season was released on DVD as a ten disc boxed set under the title of Xena: Warrior Princess: Season 5 on October 19, 2004, by Anchor Bay Entertainment.

The episode "Antony and Cleopatra" has been discussed as a reworking of Shakespeare's play of the same name.[1]

Episodes

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No.
overall
No. in
season
TitleDirected byWritten byOriginal air dateProd.
code
911"Fallen Angel"John FawcettStory by : Robert Tapert & R.J. Stewart
Teleplay by : R.J. Stewart
September 27, 1999 (1999-09-27)V0903
Joxer, Eli and Amarice take Xena and Gabrielle's bodies and prepare to take them back to Greece to be buried. Meanwhile in Heaven, Xena and Gabrielle are greeted by some angels when they are attacked by a gang of demons led by Callisto.
922"Chakram"Doug LeflerChris ManheimOctober 4, 1999 (1999-10-04)V0901
Having been resurrected, Xena has no memory of her life as a warrior. Ares and another war god pursue her in order to get her to find the Chakram of Light. Meanwhile, Joxer plucks up the courage to tell Gabrielle that he loves her.
933"Succession"Rick JacobsonSteven L. SearsOctober 11, 1999 (1999-10-11)V0902
When Ares suggests he will someday need a successor, the warrior woman he is sleeping with, Mavican, suggests it should be her. This gives Ares the idea of sending her along with Xena and Gabrielle through a vortex to an alternate dimension to battle. First Xena doesn't understand why she could see the battles between Gaby and Mavican while unable to participate herself. It turns out that she and Gabrielle share one body in this place, one in the day, the other in the night. Mavican captures Gabrielle and decides rather than kill her, she should keep her alive as live bait, so she knocks Gabrielle out. When Gaby awakens in a bamboo cage, the sun rises and Xena takes her turn in the cage. When Ares mentions that he had never realized she would make a good successor, Xena finally realizes it is Gabrielle and not Mavican that he is talking about. With Xena forbidden to kill Mavican, she simply causes Mavican to admit she needs Ares' help in defeating Xena, which in Ares' view disqualifies her as a successor. So Xena and Gabrielle are returned to the natural world while Mavican is sentenced to eternity in the odd dimension.
944"Animal Attraction"Rick JacobsonChris ManheimOctober 18, 1999 (1999-10-18)V0905
Xena finally discovers she is pregnant and Gabrielle finally gets a horse of her own. The two women meet Talia, an old friend of Xena.
955"Them Bones, Them Bones"John FawcettBuddy Williers (aka Steven L. Sears)November 1, 1999 (1999-11-01)V0908
Xena realizes that Alti's spirit has been harming her baby's soul in the spirit world. She, Gabrielle and Amarice go to find Yakut, so she can help Xena fight Alti and save her baby's soul.
966"Purity"Mark BeesleyJeff VlamingNovember 8, 1999 (1999-11-08)V0907
Xena, Gabrielle and Joxer head to Qin so that Xena can retrieve Lao Ma's Book of Wisdom to stop in falling into the wrong hands. When they arrive Xena is greeted by Pao Ssu and K'ao Hsin, the twin daughters of Lao Ma. Pao Ssu has the secret of the Black powder and wants to use it to rule Qin.
977"Back in the Bottle"Rick JacobsonStory by : Robert Tapert & Steven L. Sears
Teleplay by : Steven L. Sears
November 15, 1999 (1999-11-15)V0909
After being defeated by Xena, Pao Ssu's spirit join with that of her brother Ming T'ien. They team up with Khan and his army so they can attack Qin. Xena uses the wisdom left by Lao Ma to stand up against the army alone.
988"Little Problems"Allison LiddiGregg OstrinNovember 22, 1999 (1999-11-22)V0913
Xena is accidentally trapped in the body of a young girl Daphne, by Aphrodite. Aphrodite and Gabrielle need to find a way to reverse it before sunset. Meanwhile, Xena helps Daphne's father through his grief.
999"Seeds of Faith"Garth MaxwellGeorge Strayton & Tom O'NeillJanuary 10, 2000 (2000-01-10)V0912
Ares feels threatened by Eli and decides to kill him. Xena and Gabrielle swear they will protect Eli from Ares, but he tells them they cannot use violence to save his life. The newly-angelic Callisto re-appears, bringing several shocking revelations with her.
10010"Lyre, Lyre, Hearts on Fire"Mark BeesleyAdam Armus & Nora Kay FosterJanuary 17, 2000 (2000-01-17)V0911
Xena, Gabrielle and Joxer head to Melodia, Greece's musical capital, to participate in a battle of the bands to retrieve the Golden Lyre. Meanwhile, Joxer is embarrassed by his brother, Jace.
10111"Punch Lines"Andrew MerrifieldChris ManheimJanuary 24, 2000 (2000-01-24)V0910
Gabrielle upsets the God of Despair, Lachrymose, and he shrinks her and Argo. Gabrielle tries to keep the situation from Xena, until she can make the god laugh and break the spell.
10212"God Fearing Child"Phil SgricciaStory by : Chris Manheim
Teleplay by : Roberto Orci & Alex Kurtzman
February 7, 2000 (2000-02-07)V0915
Zeus is informed that Xena's baby will bring about the end of the gods so he decides she must die. Xena and Gabrielle steal Hades' Helmet of Invisibility to hide from the gods and Hercules vows to protect Xena and her baby from the gods.
10313"Eternal Bonds"Mark BeesleyChris ManheimFebruary 14, 2000 (2000-02-14)V0916
After the birth of Eve, the gods continue to pursue Xena so they can kill the baby. During the fighting, Joxer is wounded by a poisonous sword and he and Gabrielle race to find the cure.
10414"Amphipolis Under Siege"Mark BeesleyChris BlackFebruary 21, 2000 (2000-02-21)V0919
Xena takes Eve back to Amphipolis to meet her grandmother. While there, Athena says she will lay siege to the village until they give up the baby. Cyrene rallies the other villagers to support Xena and the baby as they stand in defiance against Athena.
10515"Married with Fishsticks"Paul GrinderKevin MaynardFebruary 28, 2000 (2000-02-28)V0914
Gabrielle is knocked unconscious and awakes in a fantasy world, where she is a fishwife to Hagar (Ted Raimi) with no memory. Her husband is using Gabrielle as his wife to win an election. Meanwhile, her friends are all trying to steal him for themselves.
10616"Lifeblood"Michael HurstStory by : Rob Tapert & R.J. Stewart
Teleplay by : R.J. Stewart and George Strayton & Tom O'Neill
March 13, 2000 (2000-03-13)V0924
Xena is shown a vision, which reveals that the Amazons have strayed from their roots. The Amazons summon the Utma, a woman from the future, who will lead their people. Incorporates footage with Selma Blair from a rejected spin-off pilot, Amazon High.
10717"Kindred Spirits"Josh BeckerGeorge Strayton & Tom O'NeillApril 17, 2000 (2000-04-17)V0918
While at the Amazon camp, Gabrielle ponders whether to stay and rule the Amazons as queen or continue on her journey with Xena. Meanwhile, Joxer has been caught peeking at the Amazon women and is sentenced to the penalty of mortal combat.
10818"Antony and Cleopatra"Michael HurstCarl EllsworthApril 24, 2000 (2000-04-24)V0904
When Cleopatra is murdered, Xena takes her place in order to put a stop to a war between Antony, Brutus and Octavius that will devastate Egypt. Inspired by the Battle of Actium and the events leading to it.
10919"Looking Death in the Eye"Garth MaxwellCarl EllsworthMay 1, 2000 (2000-05-01)V0920
Still pursued by the gods, Xena comes up with a plan to fake their deaths so that the gods will cease their endless quest to kill Eve. Unfortunately Ares, believing them really dead, takes Xena and Gabrielle and entombs them on a cave on Mount Aetna.
11020"Livia"Rick JacobsonChris ManheimMay 8, 2000 (2000-05-08)V0921
Twenty five years later, Eve has become Livia, a Roman warrior and protégée of Ares. Xena and Gabrielle wake from their slumber and find Joxer married to Meg. He tells them he thought they were dead. They meet Joxer's son, Virgil and Xena goes up against Livia in battle.
11121"Eve"Mark BeesleyGeorge Strayton & Tom O'NeillMay 15, 2000 (2000-05-15)V0922
After being beaten by Xena, Livia takes her troops and kills whole villages. Joxer stands up to her but she kills him. Xena decides that Livia is not Eve; Eve is dead. After being bested in a fight, Xena prays to Eli to save Eve.
11222"Motherhood"Rick JacobsonStory by : Robert Tapert
Teleplay by : R.J. Stewart
May 22, 2000 (2000-05-22)V0923
Eve, now reformed, is tormented by her past misdeeds. The gods discover she is still alive and Eli's God gives Xena the power to kill gods as long as Eve, now a messenger of Eli, lives. Xena battles the gods and kills Poseidon, Hephaestus, and Discord. Athena sends the Furies to plague Gabrielle, who snaps and mortally stabs Eve while Xena is distracted by Ares. Xena, mistaking Gabrielle for an Olympian assassin, seriously wounds Gabrielle in turn by throwing her chakram at her, gashing her head and rendering her unconscious. A sudden attack by the remaining gods (except Ares, who points a sword at Eve) results in the death of Hades and Deimos. Aphrodite, asked by Xena, transports Xena, Eve, and Gabrielle to the Greek Pantheon; Artemis attempts to kill Xena with arrows only to have them thrown back at her that results in death. While battling Athena, Xena realizes that Eve is dead, thus draining her of her power to slay gods. As Athena is about to kill Xena, Ares relinquishes his immortality to heal Gabrielle and resurrect Eve, allowing Xena to kill Athena.

References

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  1. ^ Tigges, Wim (December 2010). "Xena Rules: A feminized version of Antony and Cleopatra". Feminist Media Studies. 10 (4): 441–455. doi:10.1080/14680777.2010.514117. S2CID 147527659.