Crusade
Written by RJ Stewart
Directed by Paul Lynch
Xena and Najara, a radiant young woman who preaches about the Light, compete for Gabrielle's heart and soul.
Tropes
- A Day in the Limelight: The episode begins in Najara's point of view as she finds out that two women are attacking her warriors... who just happen to be Xena and Gabrielle.
- Arrow Catch: Najara, one of the few mortals besides Xena shown to do so.
- Anti-Villain: Even after being thwarted and her cult is dispersed, Najara is not too hung up about her defeat. She doesn't even tell Gabrielle of Xena's vision.
- Batman Gambit: Since Najara is more capable than it would seem, Xena fakes putting Gabrielle in a death trap. The concern for Gabrielle's well-being leaves Najara too distracted to fight as effectively.
- Boyish Short Hair: Najara.
- Continuity Nod: Fragments of Xena's fight with Najara were first glimpsed in the vision she had in Adventures in the Sin Trade.
- Establishing Character Moment: Najara gets defined early in the episode. Just before she stabs Gabrielle with her sword for attacking her people, she stops, drives her sword into the ground and apologizes for attacking them.
- Expy: Najara is basically an amoral version of Joan of Arc
- The Fundamentalist: Najara is unwavered by her belief in the Djinn at any time and feels it her duty to be the sole judge in evil people.
- Hearing Voices: Najara claims she is guided by beings called the Djinn.
- I Did What I Had to Do: Najara cops to being a killer, but to her, it's justified because the people she kills are evil (slavers, pirates, etc.) and circumvent a weak legal system with bribes. Of course, she refuses to consider the possibility that she could be wrong and has harmed completely innocent people.
- It's Personal: Xena wants to stop Najara because of her extremism, but she admits the beating she took earlier is another incentive to take her down.
- Love Is a Weakness: Xena pretends to do a Face–Heel Turn and put Gabrielle in a compromising situation in order to throw Najara off her game.
- Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane: It isn't clear whether she truly hears spirits in her head or if she is only imagining things. Made more ambiguous when she revealed that she knows about Xena's vision of her and Gabrielle's deaths.
- Underestimating Badassery: Xena underestimates Najara's skills, getting a beating and losing one of her good chewing teeth.
- Unstoppable Rage: Just when it seemed that Najara has been defeated, she emerges with a scream of rage and proceeds to pummel Xena with broken debris.
- Utopia Justifies the Means: Najara wants to make the world a better place by any means necessary.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: Najara, with an emphasis on the "well intentioned". She's written and played with such nuance, that it's difficult to judge her too harshly.
- What Measure Is a Mook?: Xena correctly guesses that Najara wouldn't care if one of her troops die because she doesn't care about them the same way she does Gabrielle.
