Xena: Warrior Princess 6x14 "Path of Vengeance" Reaction
Added 2023-02-25 22:30:49 +0000 UTC
Comments
It’s recently occurred to me that Spike is like Ares from ‘Xena: Warrior Princess’. Ares as a God was toxic for Xena the same way soulless Spike was toxic for Buffy. For Spike - he had no soul and so his nature compelled him to do evil things. For Ares - it was literally his birthright to create and facilitate war. ARES: “I am War. It’s what I do!” SPIKE: “Hello, Vampire! I’m supposed to be treading on the Dark Side.” But nevertheless, both characters loved the lead female protagonists sincerely if not unconditionally and that’s why they were both given a shot to love. Xena could have gotten rid of Ares if she wanted to. Buffy could have staked Spike if she wanted to. Spike only became fully selfless and good when he got his soul back. Ares was only fully selfless and good when he became mortal. They’re very alike in that it literally required forces beyond their control for them to be humanized just like the human characters were by default. They couldn’t do it themselves. Nor were they really supposed to because the argument for both was that “you can’t change your nature”. I absolutely disagree with that argument but I completely understand why that argument exists and is considered canon by the creators and fans alike because there’s something intriguing to be explored about it. If a supernatural conscious being cannot change its nature, it means that it does not have free will. And that’s also a point frequently made with other characters in both shows. Human characters. In which case the question to answer then becomes can nature at least be shifted if not changed? And if it can - what is able to shift it? Love? Compassion? Support? Understanding? All of the above? I fundamentally understand nature as change itself so surely you can understand why I disagree with the argument that nature cannot be changed. It’s because - to me - the way any conscious being ever works and progresses the way it does is because it undergoes change constantly. And that goes for both the natural and supernatural. Therefore it’s accepted without question that Spike and Ares can be good without an internal moral compass because they have external moral compasses to make up for it in Buffy and Xena. For me it’s all about interaction and influence with the human experience that humanIzes the “non-human” and has nothing to do with what their “nature” is. If all you know is evil, you’re going to be evil in the same way you’re going to be good if all you know is good. And the way I understand Spike and Ares as moral characters is that they simply just can’t differentiate due to having no internal moral compass themselves. But that doesn’t mean that they can’t be given an external moral compass and they can’t learn from it because free will or not, they still have consciousness. Regardless what their nature makes them do, they’re able to be aware of what they’re doing and are able to choose which moral direction they do it in whether it be in the direction of evil or in the direction of good. When it comes to actual humans however, it’s a bit more complicated than that because humans do possess an internal moral compass and free will. And if awareness and choice wasn’t possible for Spike and Ares as non-humans… then Spike wouldn’t have intentionally and determinedly battled for his soul and Ares wouldn’t have wilfully given up his Godhood. That of which made it possible for them to change. So despite their nature being more in control of them than they were it - they still had the awareness and choice of shifting it even if they couldn’t change it. So the while the argument that Spike and Ares could not change their nature is true for both of them - that truth can still be argued against anyway because it was clearly 100% possible for them to shift it. And I guess that’s what I really mean when I say I disagree.
Girl4Music
2023-11-30 00:21:24 +0000 UTCGabrielle would have been able to beat Varia if it was a two-handed weapon challenge rather than fisticuffs. If Gabrielle had her staff or sais she would have won the fight. That's what set Gabrielle apart as a warrior. The fact she was a two-handed weapon wielder. Xena could fight two-handed too. It’s just Gabrielle had a lot more co-ordination with it thanks to Renee, who was always better at the physical stunts than Lucy was.
Girl4Music
2023-11-29 23:53:43 +0000 UTCThe brutality of this boxer ring fight Gabrielle had with Varia in ‘Path Of Vengeance’ and Gabrielle just gets fucking butchered. She didn’t have to do it. She chooses to - once again - for Xena ‘cause Xena is trying to help and save her daughter. Which again, only proves to me that Eve is Gabrielle’s daughter as well. Would she go through this shit if she wasn’t? Or is it really just because that’s how much she loves Xena? But yeah, Gabrielle’s level of love and loyalty and dedication to the ones she loves is fucking insane. What won’t she do? Crazy woman. Amazing woman.
Girl4Music
2023-11-29 23:50:27 +0000 UTC
