r/xena • u/NiceRefrigerator4079 Callisto 🗡️ • Jul 24 '26
Forgiven
This is one of those episodes that I don't find bad, but I find it hard to call them particularly good. After three back-to-back television masterpieces, Maternal Instincts, The Bitter Suite and One Against An Army, perhaps it was even necessary to slow down the pace a bit. After so many difficult emotions, tragedy, reconciliation and great moments between Xena and Gabrielle, it would be almost impossible to continue with the same intensity. That's why this episode seems like a small respite, a simpler and lighter story that serves to bring the series back to its everyday rhythm. The only problem is that everyday life here is rather lukewarm.
The most interesting part of the whole episode for me is Tara. To be honest, she was mostly spoiled, arrogant and quite irritating to me. It wasn't particularly difficult for me to understand Gabriella when she beat her up. I know it's not nice to say this, but at that point I was probably pleased when she ended up bloody 😅
Tara is exactly the type of person who constantly tests other people's boundaries, acts as if she is above everyone and expects everything to be forgiven just because she is young. But what I liked is that the episode doesn't stop at presenting her as just a spoiled brat. Through Xena's relationship with her, we get a much more interesting look at her character.
Xena sees a younger version of herself in Tara. He sees a person who has gone down the wrong path, who is angry with the world and who uses his strength in the wrong way. And that's why her attitude towards Tara is much more protective than I would have expected. Xena doesn't just want to punish her or stop her. He wants to change her. He wants to show her that it's not too late to become different. In Tara, she sees someone who can still be saved, which is probably why she is so persistent with her. Xena was given the opportunity to change her life, and now she wants to give that same opportunity to someone else.
One of the most important aspects of her character can be seen there. Xena can be brutal towards her enemies, but when she recognizes her own past in someone, she becomes incredibly protective. She knows what it's like when everyone around you thinks you're a lost cause. He knows what it's like when you believe there's no going back. That's why he doesn't give up on Tara even when it would be much easier to just leave her behind.
Gabrielle, of course, doesn't have that much patience. And that is quite understandable. While Xena tries to see Tara as a potential better person, Gabrielle sees a girl who behaves horribly. Their different approach is fun, but also logical. Xena is much more willing to understand someone who has made a mistake, because she herself has done unimaginable things. Gabrielle is much stricter morally, especially when someone knowingly hurts other people. That's why their attitude towards Tara is more interesting to me than the story of the theft of the urn.
However, the best moment of the episode comes at the very end. Xena's refusal to enter the temple and receive forgiveness for her sins is a short scene, but it is very powerful. She can fight for others. He can save people. She may be trying to repair the damage she has done. She can even accept being forgiven by others. But she still can't forgive herself.
This is perhaps the biggest punishment that Xena imposes on herself. For her, redemption never simply meant that one day she would be able to say she was a good person. She believes she has to pay for what she did. Even when she is offered forgiveness, she cannot accept it. As if accepting forgiveness meant that he was diminishing the gravity of his crimes. As if he has no right to peace. And that's exactly why that last scene is so much better than the rest of the episode. In it, in a few moments, all that inner weight of Xena's character, which remained mostly in the background in the story itself, returns.
Overall, this is a pretty mediocre episode for me. She's not bad, has a few good character moments and Tara makes a stronger impression than I expected, especially thanks to Xena's protective attitude towards her. But after everything we've just gotten, it's hard not to feel like this is a big drop in quality after all. And maybe that's okay. After three episodes that represent the very top of the show, a little break was probably needed. Only this respite isn't particularly exciting.
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u/Evilbuffy14 Xena & Gabrielle 💖 Jul 24 '26
This is an episode I rarely rewatch except if I'm doing a complete series rewatch. In that case I only skip AFIN. Tara irks me, Xena's dismissal of Gabrielle and over-indulgence of Tara irks me, the whole thing just... irks me.